Wuthering Heights cover redesign: I hate you

If you've noticed the earth moving and it hasn't been the devastating earthquake in Haiti, it is probably Emily Bronte rolling over in her grave.

HarperCollins has redesigned the cover of Wuthering Heights in favor of a new Twilight-inspired design. Wuthering Heights is a favorite book of vampey main characters Bella and Edward. So, a classic has been given the fresh young face of a badly written romance novel. Could it get any worse? you ask. Oh, but it can. If the Harper US version isn't bad enough, check out the Harper UK version with that pseudo-Art Nouveau/Curlicues typeface and cover shot that is inconsistent with the photography on the Twilight series. Oh, and let's not forget to mention that tag line: "Love never dies." Read more here at Media Bistro and here at Guardian.

Is this new cover design a smart move on part of HarperCollins in order to draw more teenagers to a classic, or it is another case of compromising great material in favor of extra sales? You know what I think. What do you think?

Left to right: Twilight cover; HarperUK Wuthering Heights cover; HarperUS Wuthering Heights cover

Give me a Treehouse, or give me Death.

I want to live in a tree house. I once read a feature in a magazine that profiled several different real treehouse houses and rooms. That only fueled the 20-year old fire that grew out of the spark that was Swiss Family Robinson (and to add two more layers of destiny: my long-time crush Tommy Kirk and my ever-increasing desire to become a woodland creature or fairie, or both).






So for starters I want this book, The Treehouse Book, so I can learn how to build my own and live there. This book sounds good, too: New Treehouses of the World.

And I don't want some lame looking Hobby Lobby house on stilts. It has to be a new shape and creation all its own. It needs to either be elvish or be made entirely from salvaged materials, with circular doorways and lots of nooks and crannies for reading, storing, and looking out at the other trees and woodland creatures. Lots of details and opportunities for working by hand. But it can't be pretentious. It must be authentic, and it will be, if it's a true treehouse and not a faker low-level, crafty, perfectionist one.

Check out this lucky fella, the tree house guy.

Cole & Son

Cole & Son has beautiful wallpaper. I've loved this Woods print for years. But the question is, which color scheme is the best?