
Once in a while thoughts cross my mind that I would like to put out there because I’m interested in others’ opinions or because I’m afraid that they’re so fleeting, I’ll forget them otherwise. Mostly bookish, maybe sometimes not so bookish, but no matter what, I value the input of anyone who is open to sharing their own opinions in response.
When it comes to my bookshelf, I separate my books according to language and whether they’re fiction or non-fiction. When it comes to fiction, I arrange my books according to author. At the same time, I want things to look neat, so one thing that annoys me more than anything else is mismatched covers.

Divergent series
This is why I’ve been trying not to buy series anymore until all the books have been published, so I can match them all together. Take my beautiful Hunger Games series. When the UK special editions from Scholastic were published, I just had to have them.

Hunger Games series

Under The Never Sky series
Who else can relate? Am I being oversensitive? And what am I missing? Why do the paperback versions of series not match a lot of the time?
Oh my gosh this drives me crazy! I’ve got so many series or books by the same author that are different sizes and it hurts my head trying to fit it on the bookshelf neatly. Both my Outlander series and Vampire Academy books are 2 different sizes through the books, and my biggest issue is that I can’t actually get them all in the same size. I tried – coz I’m weird like that. But I can’t decide which is worse – tiny or large differences.
As I read a lot on the move – commuting, or travelling (packing), I try to buy the smallest version of a book possible – paperback, small format. I don’t understand why publishers don’t use standardised book sizes!
Aaah, the life of a reader and (somewhat fussy) book hoarder. Sigh.
Chels recently posted Review: The Fault In Our Stars
I knew I’m not alone in this! Tiny differences irk me but it’s the big differences that really make me mad. And believe me, I don’t think you’re weird. After my experience with differing sizes, I’ve made it a point to hunt down the same-sized books too. ALthough, I don’t really care about a standardized size per se. Different sizes gives character to books. But I don’t want that variation within a series. Then again, when it comes to paperbacks, I do like it very much when tradeback books are in the same size.
Joséphine @ Dudette Reads recently posted THE RULES FOR DISAPPEARING by Ashley Elston
When I had my brother-in-law order me the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness in the US, I made sure that he gets 3 books in its matching set. But mostly the physical books I buy are standalone, so I don’t have this problem. I can understand your woes. I have issues with this, too.
Dre @ Sporadic Reads recently posted Blog Tour + Book Review 119 : Nogiku Series by SJ Pajonas
Yeah, in the past I usually just bought standalones too. But last year I decided to buy a few series, and that’s when this discrepancy really started to get on my nerves. Good thinking on asking him to get the complete set! US versus UK covers are another matter altogether too.
Joséphine @ Dudette Reads recently posted THE RULES FOR DISAPPEARING by Ashley Elston
I mainly just buy ebooks so I don’t have this problem, but if I did buy print books it would really bother me if my covers didn’t match. In fact, I have the first four (?) Harry Potter books in paperback and the final ones in hardcover. I hate it! I think I have a HC/PB split with the Twilight series, too. But I’m also frugal so I’m not going to go out and buy duplicates with the right binding unless I can find decent-looking copies at a used book sale sometime.
I do love those Hunger Games covers!
Jenna @ Rather Be Reading YA recently posted Audiobook Review: Deja Demon by Julie Kenner (Adult)
Thankfully I don’t have a hardcover-paperback split among any of my series but it would definitely drive me up the wall too. Hmmm. Used book sale is actually a good idea! Just that I’ve not really come across any of late. All I can do now if make sure my future series book purchases match or go the ebooks route like you.
Those Hunger Games covers are some of my favourites on my shelf :)
Joséphine @ Dudette Reads recently posted THE RULES FOR DISAPPEARING by Ashley Elston