Interlude: Something About Gods...

One of the finest books ever written surely? And if you happen to have mislaid your signed first edition of American Gods from back in the day... well, I guess this looks very much like a worthy replacement:

There's going to be a lot of press about this as a TV show when it lands but even if it's the finest TV ever made, it still won't eclipse the novel. If you're in the market for such a thing of beauty you can get yourself a copy right here.

Everything Neil Gaiman touches may turn to gold but everything Dave McKean works on was gold before it even left his head.

SOMETIMES A BOOK CAN BE MORE THAN A BOOK

Every house needs a copy of at least one Ian Fleming book. This is the law in so far as I understand it and Casino Royale is a fine place to start. I stumbled across this new edition of it this morning and while it looks innocuous enough on the outside...

...inside of its slipcase and internally, it's got it's own licence to kill. Take a look at what the Folio Society have done with it - courtesy of Fay Dalton:

That's a little bit special don't you think? This kind of publishing is what marks the difference between chewing something up as an e-book for the love of the story and going out of your way to spend £35 on a single edition for no other reason than it's worth owning. Whatever your opinion on publishing right now, this is the future: Books for the story plus books because they're worth owning.

They might look a touch on the 'stuffy' side over there at Folio but holy mother, they know what they're doing. Check out some of these illustrations that they've put into The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - which is one of the best books I ever read as a kid. These illustrations from the hand of Bill Bragg:

They also have a damn fine line in their Myths and Legends series that's worth a look and as I look there today, they've got some great pricing on more than a few items you might (should) want on your shelf. You can pilfer through it yourself from the links but before I go spend some money, here's some of the illustrations I fell in love with from their release of Frankenstein:

While you're in the vicinity, check out this linocut in Hound of the Baskervilles.

I'll stop now - but that looks like Christmas figured out for the next few years.