Saturday, April 20, 2013

Saturday Discussions: Do you re-buy books?

So it seems like a trend nowadays for series to get a cover change at least once before it is finished. While I think this is really annoying, sometimes it can be for the best. For instance, Shatter Me went from this:
Girl in a white dress with a glittery starburst in the background that has nothing to do with the book.

It was changed to:
Interesting, stange, arresting and completely unique much like the writing style underneath it.

This was such a good move, I can't even describe my happiness.

However, sometimes we get things like Across the Universe by Beth Revis. I love this series but three cover changes? One for EACH new book that was released? That's just craziness and sadly, I think they got worse.

First cover:
This cover is gorgeous and arresting and out of this world beautiful.

Second set:

This set is okay. I basically like that A Million Suns could sort of match the first cover from Across the Universe.

Third set:

Sorry, I fell asleep. I mean, really? You go from the first gorgeous cover to that? No freaking way.

So with all these cover changes, I want to know if you re-buy your books so you can have a matching set.

For me, it used to matter a lot. I used to have to re-buy the book so my set could look beautiful on my bookshelf. It just made sense to me. But as cover changes kept getting more and more ridiculous, I started hesitating. Now, I'll only re-buy books if I really like the new covers.

However, I feel like most cover changes hurt the books rather than help them because the covers never live up to the first one and I don't even want them on my shelf.

What about you, do you re-buy?

And to end this, here's a list of series made worse with cover changes:
  • Nightshade series by Andrea Cremer
  • Across the Universe series by Beth Revis
  • Fury series by Elizabeth Miles
  • Anna and the French Kiss (series) by Stephanie Perkins

7 comments:

  1. I couldn't justify spending money on the same book just to have matching or different covers. For me, there would be no function for having multiple copies of the same book since I don't have bookshelves to showcase my fantastic books. Even if I did, I don't think I would do it though. I'd rather spend money on new books to read. The only way I'd spend money on a book I already have is to replace it because it's falling apart. Like my third Harry Potter book. It needs replacing because the pages are falling out.

    - Jackie

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  2. I hate when they do cover changes mid-series. *sigh* Most of the time I do not like the redone covers. I don't really re-buy books, I just suck it up if they change part way.

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  3. The only books I've re-buyed over and over again because of the covers have been Maria V. Snyder books, and that's because I am obsessed with the woman's work and the covers are ALL gorgeous. Oh, and the Harry Potter ones because my first set was in tatters (as in pages flying everywhere and covers completely ripped off)

    As for the others...I got so frustrated when they changed the Across the Universe ones. I have the second set, and had to buy the third one with that uninteresting green foliage cover! Ugh. But I am not rebuying them.

    Then the Stephanie Perkins ones. Omg, I wanted to cry. Whoever decided to suck all the FUN and QUIRKYNESS and YA-NESS out of those covers should seriously get their brain checked. I'm considering buying the third and final book for kindle, just so I don't have to look at it beside the other two.

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  4. I never re-buy books. I guess that is the whole reason to switch covers. Most of my Dark Tower books by Stephen King have different covers. Sucks.

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  5. You know, sometimes I wish I could re-buy them, but I don't have the money for it :) I'm slowly starting to a "don't care" feeling, because in the end, it's about the inside.

    Mel@thedailyprophecy

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  6. I only tend to re-buy if my book is damaged, only in rare cases do I do it if I absolutely adore the covers. To be honest most of the time they change them for the worst, like Across the Universe and I just don't buy them at all. I still want my books to match so I'd rather have an incomplete series than an odd series. I'm waiting for Shades of Earth to come in at the library so I can read it but I won't buy it. Those covers are just eugh!

    I just can't justify spending out all that money, I can barely afford to buy them once, let alone multiple times, so I just don't bother at all.
    Really wish publishers etc would think about that before they did it.

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  7. I don't really rebuy books at all (because I'm a broke college student. :P) but I will admit that I won a copy of Delirium by Lauren Oliver and then I purchased another copy to get the second "special edition" cover. I also would love to own all the different versions of The Hunger Games trilogy. That series has such great international covers! :)

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