Listmania Monday: Sprayed Pages



One of my FAVORITE design features right now is the sprayed page (also called stained, tinted, or gilded edges). This is where the exposed edges of a book's pages along the top, side, and bottom of the book are painted with color (gilded refers to using gold, silver, or other metallic finishes). It's a super expensive process when professionally done by a printer, but it makes the books look soooooo pretty! You can learn a bit about the process here. Because it's expensive, most titles that you'll see with it are rare special & collector's editions, but lately, these pages have been popping up more and more. In case anyone else is as obsessed with these beauties as I am, I thought I'd make a list of all the ones I've found.

Note 1: title/edition - author (country / store or subscription box) - color of pages
If it's stated as widely available, it *should* be offered via most retailers specific to that country.

Note 2: For series, I'm going to put sequels with the first book in the series instead of putting them in alphabetically.

Note 3: I have included links for books that were still available when I published this list. If you are interested in ordering any of the books, please check with the retailer to make sure it's the edition with the sprayed pages. I am not responsible for purchases of the wrong edition. If there's one you want but can't find, try AbeBooks.

Note 4: There may be spoilers in here for upcoming book boxes. Read at your own risk.

Aurora Rising - Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (US - BookishSignsAndMore; UK - Goldsboro, Illumicrate) - purple, pink, or black; purple, pink

The Beholder - Anna Bright (UK - Fairyloot) - light pink
Birthday - Meredith Russo (UK - Illumicrate) - rainbow

Caraval - Stephanie Garber (hc: Goldsboro, pb: Waterstones, Tesco) - gold, red, gold
└Caraval ARC - Stephanie Garber (UK) - red
└Legendary - Stephanie Garber (hc: Goldsboro, pb: Waterstones) - silver, orange
└Finale - Stephanie Garber (hc: Waterstones, Fairyloot) - red, stenciled card symbols
└Caraval deluxe set - Stephanie Garber (UK - Fairyloot) - red (on sale 9/21 at 1 pm BST in Fairy Trove)
Carve the Mark - Veronica Roth (UK - Waterstones) - blue
Catwoman: Soulstealer - Sarah J. Maas (UK - hc: Illumicrate, pb: Waterstones) - pinkish purple
Circle of Shadows - Evelyn Skye (UK - Fairyloot) - lavender
City of Bones 10th anniversary - Cassandra Clare (US - widely available) - gold
Colour Me In - Lydia Ruffles (UK) - ombre pink/purple/blue
The Cruel Prince - Holly Black (UK - Illumicrate) - unknown (on sale for public 8/25 at 4 pm BST) (they will do editions of books 2 & 3 next year)
└Queen of Nothing - Holly Black (UK - Fairyloot) - unknown stencil (on sale for public 8/28 at 1 pm BST in Fairy Trove)

Dance of Thieves - Mary Pearson (US - BookishSignsAndMore) - teal?
Vow of Thieves - Mary Pearson (US - BookishSignsAndMore) - medium blue
Dark Age - Pierce Brown (UK - Illumicrate) - black stenciled
The Deathless Girls - Kiran Millwood Hargrave (UK - Waterstones) - crimson/maroon
Descendant of the Crane - Joan He (UK - Illumicrate) - red
The Devouring Gray - Christine Lynn Herman (UK - possibly just Waterstones) - pink
Doppelganger Chronicles - G.P. Taylor (US) - gray
The Dragon Republic - R.F. Kuang (UK - Illumicrate) - blue

An Ember in the Ashes - Sabaa Tahir (UK - Goldsboro) - black
└A Torch Against the Night - Sabaa Tahir (UK - Goldsboro) - black
A Reaper at the Gates - Sabaa Tahir (UK - Goldsboro) - black
Empire of Sand - Tasha Suri (US - Fox & Wit) - red
Empress of All Seasons - (UK - Illumicrate) - black
Enchantée - Gita Trelease (US - Fox & Wit) - gold
The Enemy series - Charlie Higson (US) - the entire series is sprayed black

Fangirl paperback - Rainbow Rowell (US - widely available) - green
Frogkisser! - Garth Nix (Australia) - yellow

Ghostgirl: Homecoming - Tonya Hurley (US) - silver
Gideon the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir (US - 1st edition; UK - Illumicrate) - black, unknown
Girls of Paper & Fire - Natasha Ngan (US - Fox & Wit, UK - Fairyloot) - purple, pink
└Girls of Storm & Shadow - Natasha Ngan (UK - Fairyloot) - turquoise
The Giver Quartet omnibus - Lois Lowry (US) - red
Grasshopper Jungle - Andrew Smith (US - 1st printing only) - electric yellow/green
Grim Lovelies - Megan Shepherd (US - Fox & Wit) - unknown

Harry Potter 20th anniversary (Philosopher's Stone & Chamber of Secrets) - J.K. Rowling (UK - widely available) - assorted house colors in solids or stripes
Heart of Iron - Ashley Poston - (US - Owlcrate) - purple
Heart of Thorns - Bree Barton - (UK - Fairyloot) - red
The Heartbeats of Wing Jones pb - Katherine Webber (UK) - ombre pink/purple
House of Salt & Sorrows - Erin A. Craig (US - Fox & Wit) - unknown

Into the Crooked Place - Alexandra Christo (UK - Fairyloot) - unknown stencil (on sale 9/14 at 1 pm BST in Fairy Trove)
Iron Gold - Pierce Brown (UK - Waterstones & ???) - black, red (no idea which edition was red)

Kingsbane - Claire Legrand (US - Fox & Wit) - black

LIFEL1K3 - Jay Kristoff (US - BookishSignsAndMore) -
DEV1AT3 - Jay Kristoff (US - BookishSignsAndMore) -

Mirage - Somaiya Daud (UK - Fairyloot) - dark purple
The Miseducation of Cameron Post - Emily Danforth (UK - Waterstones) - rainbow
My True Love Gave to Me - Stephanie Perkins (UK) - hot pink
└My True Love Gave to Me Valentine's edition - Stephanie Perkins (UK) - teal
└Summer Days & Summer Nights - Stephanie Perkins (UK) - yellow

The Name of the Wind 10th anniversary DELUXE edition - Patrick Rothfuss (US - widely available, I think) - black
Nevernight - Jay Kristoff (UK - Goldsboro, Waterstones) - red, black
└Godsgrave - Jay Kristoff (UK - Goldsboro, Waterstones) - blue, black
└Darkdawn - Jay Kristoff (UK - Goldsboro, Waterstones, Illumicrate) - black with stars, black, yellow
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern (UK first edition) - black
Nocturna - Maya Motayne (UK - Fairyloot)

On the Come Up - Angie Thomas (UK - Waterstones) - purple
Once & Future - Amy Rose Capetta & Cori McCarthy (UK - Illumicrate) - green
One of Us is Lying paperback - Karen McManus (UK - widely available) - red
Onyx & Ivory - Mindee Arnett - (UK - Fairyloot) - black
Orphanage of the Gods - (UK - Illumicrate) - teal

Queen of Air and Darkness paperback - Cassandra Clare (UK - Waterstones) - red

Red Queen special edition - Victoria Aveyard (US - widely available) - red
Glass Sword special edition - Victoria Aveyard (US - widely available) - gray
War Storm - Victoria Aveyard (UK - Waterstones) - blue
Red Sister - Mark Lawrence (UK - widely available) - black
The Ruin of Kings - Jenn Lyons (UK - Goldsboro) - turquoise

Sanctuary - V.V. James (UK - Illumicrate) - green
Sawkill Girls - Claire Legrand (US - Fox & Wit) - dark blue
The Sea Witch - Sarah Henning (US - Fox & Wit) - dark blue
Sea Witch Rising - Sarah Henning (US - Fox & Wit) - purple
*Note: F&W is selling The Sea Witch and Sea Witch Rising individually and as a two-book set. It is not yet known if The Sea Witch will be the same dark blue as the initial edition or another. F&W mentioned purple edges, but that could be either book.
Seafire - Natalie C. Parker (US - Fox & Wit) - orange
Serpent & Dove - Shelby Mahurin (US - Fox & Wit; UK - Fairyloot) - unknown metallic
The Sisters of the Winter Wood - Rena Rosser (UK - Goldsboro) - yellow
Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo (US - widely available) - black
Six of Crows special edition - Leigh Bardugo (UK - widely available) - red
Crooked Kingdom - Leigh Bardugo (US - widely available) - red
Skyward - Brandon Sanderson (UK/out of US & CA - Fairyloot) - yellow
Smoke Thieves ARC - Sally Green (Illumicrate) - purple
The Song Rising - Samantha Shannon (UK - Goldsboro) - orange
Sorcery of Thorns - Margaret Rogerson (UK - Fairyloot) - green
Strange the Dreamer - Laini Taylor (UK - Fairyloot) - blue
Muse of Nightmare - Laini Taylor (UK - widely available) - orange
Strange/Muse - Laini Taylor (UK - Illumicrate) - gold/silver
The Sun is Also a Star - Nicola Yoon (US - B&N Exclusive Collector's Edition) - purple

The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas (UK - Waterstones) - yellow
To Best the Boys - Mary Weber (UK - Fairyloot) - gray
Tunnel of Bones - Victoria Schwab (US - Fox & Wit) - unknown

These Rebel Waves - Sara Raasch (UK - Fairyloot) - green
This Mortal Coil ARC - Emily Suvada (UK) - red
This Mortal Coil pb - Emily Suvada (UK - Waterstones) - black/white DNA design
└This Cruel Design ARC - Emily Suvada (UK) - blue
This Cruel Design pb - Emily Suvada (UK - Waterstones) - black/white DNA design
This Time Will Be Different - Misa Suguira (UK - Illumicrate) - yellow
The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean Telt by Hisself - David Almond (US - widely available?) - black
The Twilight Saga 5 book set - Stephenie Meyer (UK - widely available?) - red

Vengeful - V.E. Schwab (US - Fox & Wit) - red

We Hunt the Flame - Hafsah Faizal (US - Fox & Wit) - unknown
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West mass market pb - Gregory Maguire (US - widely available) - green
Son of a Witch mass market pb - Gregory Maguire (US - widely available) - red
Wicked Fox - Kat Cho (UK - Fairyloot) - pinkish purple
Wilder Girls - Rory Power (US - Fox & Wit) - unknown color
The Wizards of Once - Cressida Cowell (UK - Waterstones) - orange
The Wizards of Once: Twice Magic - Cressida Cowell (UK - Waterstones) - turquoise
Wonder Woman: Warbringer - Leigh Bardugo (UK - Waterstones) - red


B&N Collectible Editions and Penguin Drop Caps are special edition collectible books (mostly classics) that have gorgeous covers and sprayed or gilded edges. I have the leatherbound bindup of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park and The Lost World, which has silver gilded edges, and Pride and Prejudice which is a lovely mint color.

If you're interested in painting your own pages, check out my own tutorial or you can also find a lot of cool tutorials on other book blogs and youtube. I love this tutorial from Sea Lemon specifically on metallic pages. Vicky Who Reads has a great tutorial for hand-painting your own books with acrylics (she does an ombre rainbow!), as does Lauren's Bookshelf, and if you're more interested in spray-painting tutorials, you can find one through Bookish Wisps. I also found a nice airbrush painting tutorial on youtube from KivoxEnder.

If you're looking for a really cool professional work of art, check out TintedProse or RusticPagesArt on Etsy. They offer different options like sending in your own copy or purchasing a copy from them. Tinted Prose can also paint a book-specific design on the exposed pages (like blue pages with a white moth for Strange the Dreamer, which you can see here)! 

1 comment:

  1. "Enchantee" would be good with gold--I haven't read it yet, but I mean to!

    ReplyDelete