Hello booklovers and welcome to today’s episode which is an overview of
of some of the beautiful books on my radar that are due for release throughout the rest of 2022.
I'm a little bit later with this than planned - you can probably still hear from my crackling voice
that I've been unwell - but i hope there are still some new titles to tempt you from the following.
Also, if you're new to my channel I do keep running lists of upcoming special editions as
well as pre-order incentives and other fun things on my website so you don't have to wait for these
biannual videos if you're a keen collector - I update the website every week. I'm going to rest my
voice by jumping right into the books. Let's start with some ever popular classic titles and series!
I very much like the Chilton Classics series - these are surprisingly weighty and beautifully
made pocket-sized hardcovers with textured cover designs. Photos don't tend to do them
justice really, but the upcoming titles are Peter Pan by James Barrie, Good Wives by Louisa Alcott
(for American readers, this is the second half of what you know as Little Women - it was originally
published in two parts and English publishers have kept up this tradition, while US publishers
typically put them together), The Age of Innocence, Silas Marner, Far from the Madding Crowd,
a collection of poetry from the Romantic period, the script of Romeo and Juliet, and a new cover design for
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, which is one of the first books Chiltern put out a few years ago .
Next, I’d like to draw your attention to the upcoming releases from Beehive Books.
I’ve previously done a rave review for their edition of Oscar Wilde’s Fairy Tales collection, and
I have been collecting them all – they are huge, oversized editions, with stunning artwork
and a very interesting selection of titles, mixing forgotten classics with old favourites.
Coming soon we have The Great Gatsby, which is gorgeously illustrated by the Balbusso twins Anna and Elena,
And later this year we have A Voyage to Arcturus illuminated in psychedelic glory by Jim Woodring,
with Lafcadio Hearn’s Kwaidan Collection of Japanese stories
illustrated by multimedia artist Kent Williams due out early next year.
Another newish series I've covered before are the letters of Barbara Heller. essentially
Essentially, she takes excerpts of correspondence included in various classic novels and expands it out t through
meticulous research to create calligraphy facsimile letters that add a touch of
interactivity to reading the book. This year's contribution is Jane Austen’s Persuasion –
here's a quick look at how Pride and Prejudice turned out, to give you a feel for how it should look.
Sticking with Austen, there is a beautiful deluxe edition due out later this year
with gorgeous illustrations by fashion designer Bill Donovan.
Earlier this year I also reviewed the new Painted Editions series,
and we already have more titles in that scheduled for release –
upcoming are the usual suspects with Jane Eyre, Little Women, Persuasion – and in an interesting
turn of events, a more recent title with Agatha’s The Mysterious Affair At Styles –
this is the first of her published novels and was written in the middle of the First World War.
And I’ve also previously reviewed some of Marjolein Bastin’s classics
which are initially released in German. The English edition of her vision of Little Women is due for release
later this year, and again i'll add a snippet from my Pride and Prejudice review to give you an idea
of how this one's likely to look. Along with pretty nature illustrations, she also adds elaborately
designed removable ephemera to these books such as a self-made newspaper, maps, invitations and more.
I do keep collector’s guides on my website for other collections such as
Penguin’s Vitae and Deluxe Classics which have new titles coming out as well if you’re interested.
I did want to call out a couple of these - particularly the Penguin Deluxe paperbacks which have a new cover design
by fashion artist Reuben Toledo - who many may know from his Penguin "couture collection".
He's doing the Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton.
And I also wanted to especially call out some upcoming titles by Harper Design
which seemed to be based on the Season's Editions series which finished last year -
the one with a pretty die-cut dust jackets which i know many people were collecting, They're doing
a new non-numbered edition of the long sold out Pride and Prejudice, and they're finishing
up the rest of Austen's most popular titles by adding Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park.
Next I have a little Tolkien section – of course he's always a popular author,
but with the Lord of the Rings television series coming out later this year, you can expect to see
a lot of beautiful new Tolkein editions taking advantage of a new audience.
The Complete Guide to Middle Earth with more than 50 beautiful illustrations by Ted Nasmith – several exclusive
to this edition – will be made available in a standard and deluxe slipcased edition.
The Silmarillion – also known as the ‘First Age’ of Middle Earth and the forerunner to
The Silmarillion – also known as the ‘First Age’ of Middle Earth and the forerunner to the Lord
of the Rings editions released last year. The standard edition has green stencilled page edges,
and the deluxe edition is slipcased and quarterbound in beautiful bright blue leather.
These books will feature text printed in two colors, Tolkien's own illustrations for the books
in color, along with some extra shorter works that are bundled in. The limited edition also includes
two poster size fold-out maps of Beleriand, a booklet by Christopher Tolkien and an art card.
Standard and deluxe editions of The Fall of Númenor with Alan Lee illustrations are also
coming out soon. This collects many of Tolkien’s writings on the ‘Second Age’ of Middle-Earth
which will be the setting of the upcoming TV show, making this one a particularly timely release.
And The Making of Middle Earth is being re-released with
a pretty clothbound cover design and updated text.
This volume is filled with photographs and artwork, and commentary on books, films, games, and shows.
Now, I'm going to stay in the fantasy genre for my next collection of books
I’m looking forward to The Princess and the Scoundrel, which is a wedding story for
Princess Leia and Han Solo and promises to be fun.
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean is a dark fantasy about six old families that live
on a diet of stories and legends which sounds awesome. I'm getting the waterstones edition with black sprayed page edges.
Coming in September there's a lot of buzz about Rebecca Kuang’s
grim dark dystopia Babel: An Arcane History
Her Poppy War trilogy was excellent, and this novel about the power of language sounds great.
There are a few special editions for this one, including one at Waterstones and one at Barnes & Noble.
If you’re a Cassandra Clare fan, there’s a 15th anniversary special edition of
City of Bones coming soon which has fancy new cover artwork and letter from the author.
And Barnes and Noble are also doing their own exclusive edition of Chain of Gold
with special foil stamped cover and gilded page edges.
Talking about anniversaries, The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle turns 55 and we have sweet new edition by Gollancz of this fantasy classic.
Gollancz is putting out a limited edition with extra foiling and sprayed page edges that you can
only order from them directly. Both standard and limited editions will also have
a new introduction by Patrick Rothfuss.
Anno Dracula by Kim Newman has a 30th anniversary edition coming out just before Halloween
which will be signed with sprayed edges, decorative end papers, additional material, and an introduction by Neil Gaiman.
Time travel classic Kindred by Octavia Butler also appears to have a special edition coming out, but I'm not sure what the features on this one are yet.
Stephanie Garber’s sequel to the Once Upon a Broken Heart series is due out in September –
all of the UK first printings will have one of four hidden designs gilded on the case under the dust jacket.
Last time these sold out very quickly. In the US, Barnes & Noble also have their own
exclusive edition with a special case stamp, and they're re-releasing matching editions of the
first volume as well if you want a matching set and you missed it the first time around.
And Leigh Bardugo has a graphic novel prequel for the Shadow and Bone series which will tell
the origin story of the Darkling. This one has a pre-order offer for a lenticular poster if you're
in the US or Canada, along with a chance to win a trip - so submit your receipts if you're pre-ordering.
Another genre I enjoy are myth retellings, so i'm looking forward to Natalie Haynes'
Medusa story Stone Blind. In the UK there are a couple of gorgeous special editions with really
spectacular sprayed page edges available at Waterstones and local indie bookstores.
Also exciting to see are lots of cool new editions of the Dune series coming out in October.
I loved the deluxe edition of Dune that came out a couple of years ago, which had reversible cover art,
a stamped quote on the case under the dust jacket, and stained page edges - it was really beautifully done -
and this year they're releasing matching editions of the sequels Dune Messiah and Children of Dune
which will have the same cool features. And if you're really keen, Barnes and Noble are
even releasing a new cover design for the first book in the series.
I loved Shannon Chakraborty's City of Brass trilogy, so i've already pre-ordered
The River of Silver, which is a collection of short stories set in the Daevabad world.
And we can't forget the illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
which has been two years in the making and boasts two illustrators this time as well.
If you order this one directly from Bloomsbury before the 10th of September, there are free matching
tote bags that they'll send out. The deluxe edition is clothbound and comes with a special art print too.
There are even two more special editions of last year's hit Empire of the Vampire by
Jay Kristoff hitting the shelves in October - even before the second volume comes out!
There's a special illustrated edition with a new cover and full color illustrations by
Bon Orthwick, and a special gold jacketed hardback put out by Waterstones.
The second Witcher book Sword of Destiny is also getting a special illustrated edition.
And The Ultimate Discworld Companion by Paul Kidby is being released in a special
Dunmanifestin edition to match some of the earlier gorgeous deluxe Pratchett editions they've released.
It has a foil embossed cover with bonus content and extra artwork.
Pre-orders for this one are eligible for an exclusive print as well.
Alright – I’m going to jump to young adult and children’s books next
because I’m an unapologetic reader of all genres.
Another author I follow is Frances Harding, and I have pre-ordered her Unraveller,
which is about a boy who has the power to lift curses from other people, but doesn't know how to remove the one that's threatening his own life.
I've pre-ordered the waterstones edition with sprayed page edges.
The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave is a re-release of a sweet popular children's fantasy title that came out in 2016.
Another collector's edition re-release is The Wishing Spell - the first in
Chris Colfer's Land of Stories series - I can't believe it's been 10 years since this first came out.
These are publisher photos because i don't have a copy yet - you can see it's got a fold-out map,
gold embossed design on the case, and lots of beautiful color illustrations as well.
The School of Good and Evil by Soman Chainani is also getting a collector's edition release -
primarily I assume because this book will be getting a Netflix adaptation later this year.
It's the first in a delightful middle grade series which parodies fairy tale tropes to hilarious effect.
I am a huge fan of MinaLima’s interactive classics, and the next book they're releasing is
a collection of 23 classic fairy tales called Snow White and other fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm.
It includes the most popular tales such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel,
Hansel and Gretel, etc - all with Minalima's beautiful artwork and interactive features that include
a pop-up forest and movable mirror for Snow White, a three-dimensional ballgown for
Cinderella, and a pop-up tower for Rapunzel.
If you're looking for inexpensive children's books to collect, I know a lot of people are into the Puffin clothbound series -
Charlotte's Web by EB White and a collection of Greek hero tales by Roger Lancelyn Green
are getting their foiled and clothbound series treatment soon.
The Fairy Atlas is a lovely magical picture book - I don't have pages from this yet, but Anna Claiborne also collaborated with Miren Asiain Lora
for The Mermaid Atlas, and i'll show a couple of pages from this to give you an idea of what to expect.
I'm going to finish up with a bit of a random assortment of other books I'm looking forward to
over the next six months.
First up, Nectar of the Gods is a mythical cocktail book. It's a little gimmicky for sure, but it includes
many myth stories or retellings along with each of the drinks,
and gorgeous bright illustrations which accompany amusing instructions, so i'm waiting for this one to arrive for my shelves soon.
The Dungeons and Dragons Ultimate Pop-up Book looks super fun
and the paper engineering is by Matthew Rreinhart who does spectacular work.
With a very fun looking new Dungeons and Dragons movie Honor Among Thieves coming out in March 2023, I think we can safely anticipate a resurgence of popularity in DnD collectibles.
Another pop-up on my wish list is the reissue of the Brambly Hedge Journey through the Hedgerow.
This is a very sweet children's title that's been long out of print, and it's very expensive to obtain
so it'll be nice to be able to afford copies again.
Minalima have a fun looking Harry Potter celebration book The Magic of Minalima scheduled for release in October -
this will be a nice one for fans of Harry Potter and paper engineering books as well, because it also includes interactive elements.
They've listed examples of these being the Marauder's Map, the Black family tapestry, and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
Following some recent tiktok popularity, Colleen Hoover’s twisty thriller Verity is getting a
special collector's edition with a gold cover, a letter from the author and an exclusive new chapter.
I'm a huge Agatha Christie fan, so I'm looking forward to the collection of contemporary
Miss Marple short stories by a variety of great mystery writers due out in October.
First editions of Marple from the UK will be collectors editions with a bespoke gold foiled design
underneath the dust jacket, and there'll be some cool point of sale merchandise to accompany this one
in UK bookstores - I've seen postcards and even a St Mary Mead newsletter.
Terry Pratchett's long been a favorite author, so i'm looking forward to his upcoming biography A Life With Footnotes.
This is based on Terry's own writing for his autobiography that he was working on when he died,
and it's been completed by his manager and friend Rob Wilkins with the help of friends and family.
Waterstones have two special editions for this for the true fan, which include bonus material
and one of them is clothbound as well.
Now, i know a lot of people aren't fans of Barnes and Noble's collectible classics and I'm the first to admit the bindings aren't that strong and the omnibus editions have
really thin paper, but I do have a soft spot for how lovely they look on a shelf, how well
they catch the eye, and they do encourage people to pick them up and get engaged in the material -
so i actually have a pretty decent collection of these, and it seems they're shipping
internationally again which is good news for those of us not living in the States.
Upcomin are two new Star Wars Legends collections and an Indiana Jones adventure omnibus which I
don't have cover art for yet, but all three are coming out before the end of this year.
The bounty hunter trilogy includes The Mandalorian Armor, Slave Ship and Hard Merchandise, and
Tales of Kenobi includes Kenobi by John Jackson Miller and The Approaching Storm by Alan Dean Foster.
And finally, I’m also a sucker for sprayed page edges. I don't subscribe to book boxes to get
these because honestly i don't have much use for the non-book paraphernalia they come with, and I
struggle enough finding shelf space for the books that I know I love, but I do buy quite a lot of fun
contemporary editions from Waterstones. They're just basic hardbacks with a bit of extra pizzazz, but
they don't typically cost any extra and they hold their value much more than a standard
massed printing hardback. If you're not in the UK, shipping looks a bit brutal for the first one or
two titles in your cart, but after that they only charge one or two pounds for each additional book
and then they send them all separately as they're released for no extra charge,
so I usually pre-order a bunch at one time and it works out brilliantly.
I'm not going to list everything here - they're all included on my page of upcoming special releases on the website
if you want a longer look - but a couple of my highlights range from Richard Osman’s next mystery,
to a new James Bond adventure by Kim Sherwood, to Barbara Kingsolver’s Dickens retelling Demon Copperhead,
to TJ Klune’s middle grade fantasy Wolfsong, to Olivie Blakes sequel to The Atlas Six, The Atlas Paradox,
to a collection of romance stories in Rainbow Rowell’s Scattered Showers, just to give you a taste.
Barnes and Noble also sometimes offer these sorts of things in the US as well - for example
there are two really pretty sprayed edge editions coming out for TJ Klune paperback titles this year.
As usual, thanks so much for watching - I've included links to as many of
these special editions as I could fit into the description box below
and I do have all of them plus more listed on my website.
I'd love to know what you're looking forward to in the next few months so do please share in the comments.
'Til next time, bye!