Book Obsession: Penguin Classics from Australia
Book lovers have certain obsessions. Whether it’s getting that specific copy of a book that has a certain cover, or buying only hardbacks if possible, or collecting first editions. There are lots of obsessions to choose from. I have an obsession with the Classic Penguins. But not the ones here in the US. The ones that are available in Australia, the ones with the tri-band covers.
They’re much cleaner looking than the typical ones we have here, and I like the uniformity of the covers. Nothing fancy, no pictures that seem incongruous – just bands of color, with the title and the author. Classic. It’s so fascinating to see modern novels with the classic covers. I have tried to order the books from PenguinAus, to no avail. They don’t ship outside of Australia. My former Aussie roommate brought me back three of them from her visit home for Christmas last year, and the craving has been with me ever since. I peruse Instagram for pictures of these books. I admire book cover collages and pine over the wallpaper that exists of various color tri-band Penguins. I have journals that look like these books.
Okay, yes, this might border on obsession. I even found tote bags of these Penguins at a local bookstore, and have been toting (no pun intended) around a bag that features Virginia Woolf. But I wanted to do something like the pictures I saw online. I’m not the most crafty person…or crafty at all, really, but I bought the Penguin postcard packs of “Postcards from Penguin” and the Puffin postcard collection (children’s books), and decided to make my own wall collage. It’s easier than you think, and the hardest part was deciding which books to include in it, since each pack has 100 postcards, and I wasn’t about to make a 200 postcard mural. You just pick the postcards you want, figure out how you are going to order them, and then put them up in alignment, or however you want to stagger them. Below is a picture of part of my mural. I’m pretty proud, if I do say so myself.
My own wall of Penguins.
Do you have any book obsessions? Have you brought your love of books into your home decor in any way? I’d love to hear different DIY ideas and readers’ favorite things.
