**One of the shoppes in town specializes in sprayed edges. The books have intricate art decorating the ends of the pages. I decided to stop by and see some of them for myself. They have many colors and pictures and I can only wonder how long it took to paint this all by hand. I pick one up to add to my collection and stop by the coffeehouse after for a nice cup of tea. The air is warm and the sun is shining bright, so I enjoy my day as I walk around.**

There has been a HUGE increase in special editions getting released recently. If you’ve been to a bookstore recently, you will have probably noticed that there are a lot of special editions, or first print runs with sprayed edges and art on the end-pages. Whether it is being overdone or not is a different topic all together, but right now we’re going to talk about books that should have special editions.

• The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

What do I have to do to get a special edition of this book? I have loved this book for so many years now and I actually own three copies of it, but none are special editions. This is one of my favorite books, and I would love to see it with a new cover, sprayed edges, and basically the whole package. So Ms.Matson, what can I do to get a 10 year anniversary edition next year? I would love to see it.

• A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

This became one of my all-time favorite series back in 2021. The characters, the world, the story . . . all completely sucked me in. And there are practically no special editions. Fairyloot did some but the only thing they changed was that they made the UK paperback into a hardback, so nothing else was changed. The Bookish Box also did one that has an amazing spine, but other than those two, I haven’t really seen anything. I would love to see a redesigned Fairyloot one since they started redesigning some of their old books.

• Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

This book blew up and there still haven’t been special editions of it, at least from what I saw. B&N did one, but it only had sprayed edges. There is so much potential for this book to have a new cover and sprayed edges. I love when books also have art either on the book or under the dust jacket, so maybe something like that as well. Whatever it is, this book was amazing and should definitely have a special edition.

• Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

I have absolutely no idea what could be done for this series, but I know that I love it and it deserves the special edition treatment. They recently just released new paperbacks for the series and The Bookish Box did special editions, but truthfully I don’t love a lot of the Bookish Box editions like these and the Cursebreaker series. Maniscalco’s other series, Kingdom of the Wicked, saw a lot more special editions, but I think this one was so much better and would love to see someone redesign it.

• The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

I don’t think there are any special editions of this series at all, and there should be! It is such a good series and the covers could be really cool since it’s dystopian. A quote stamped on the hardback could be a really nice touch as well. The whole series could have a matching vibe and maybe a spine that connects.

I actually usually don’t get special editions, unless it’s a B&N one for a new Brigid Kemmerer or Inheritance Game book, but I do love getting to see them all and would probably only get them for my favorite books. I especially love looking at how intricate the sprayed edges are. What do you think about special editions? Overrated, great only for your favorite books, or amazing? Also, what does your ideal special edition look like? Sprayed edges, art on the book or under the dust jacket, and/or bonus content? I would love to hear.

xoxo,

Just another reader