I love reading, but I also adore books as physical objects. This is why I am in love with Penguin. Especially today. In fact, I can barely contain the love I feel for these bright, beautifully designed book sets & their matching posters (HINT: Scroll down for some Shepard Fairey). SWOON!!!

  1. Roald Dahl Collection, 16 books, $115
  2. Philip Marlowe Mysteries by Ramond Chandler, 8 books + 1 poster, $80
  3. Classic Boys’ Adventure, 12 books + 1 poster, $110
  4. James Bond Modern Classics by Ian Fleming, 14 books, $140
  5. The Nick Hornby Collection, 6 books, $65
  6. The Complete Cases of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, 8 books + 1 poster, $65
  7. Arabian Nights (ancient stories from Persia, India, & Arabia), 3 books, $200
  8. HG Wells Science Fiction Classics, 9 books, $100
  9. Gothic Classics: Tales of the Supernatural, 10 books + 1 poster, $90
  10. George Orwell & Shepard Fairey, 2 books + 2 posters, $160
  11. The Bill Amberg Collection (leather-bound, classic novels), 6 books, $380
  12. Charles Dickens Collection, 16 books, $165
  13. Jane Austen Red Classics, 6 books, $40

I was reading The Penguin Blog, which is UK-based, and found out about these awesome Penguin Sets. There are 13 sets of books which contain a bunch of novels of a similar theme or by the same author, and each set has covers designed by a single artist.

What’s more, FIVE of the sets also have an accompanying poster (or two). The BEST of which is the George Orwell set because it includes TWO posters (1984 and Animal Farm) designed by Shepard Fairey (of Obama Poster fame).

Each Penguin set includes 2 to 16 books (and 0 to 2 posters) and run from $40 to $380 (the priciest collections aren’t necessarily the ones with the most books).

Click to see the rest of the posters and details of the most expensive “luxury” books. (Also, more of my rambling.) Or, check out the UK Penguin Sets page (I can’t find a US Sets page, but you can order to the US)! (more…)