Book Wars a weekly feature hosted between two book review blogs – A Life Bound By Books & Much Loved Books!

It’s a fact that book lovers know all about the covers of the books they covet. Often when a title is released here in the US, it’s sometimes vastly different across the pond in the UK. So, Michelle from Much Loved Books and I have come together to create Book Wars to talk about the difference in covers when it comes to the US vs. UK versions.

We hope from time to time authors will chime in with their thoughts as well. We welcome everyone to comment and share their thoughts too! The more the merrier!

Before we get to this weeks Book Wars, we have a winner to announce.The Book Wars winner for Every DayBy: David Levithan is...!!!!!! Thank you to everyone who voted for both books, and for picking a winner.

Also, there's a poll at the bottom of the post that we'd love to hear your input for the two covers! Tell us which one YOU love the most.

Left: US - Right: UK

Title: Clockwork Angel
Series: The Infernal Devices #1
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: US - Margaret K. McElderry Books, 544 Pages, (September 1st, 2015), UK - Walker Books, 479 Pages, (September 6th, 2010)
Add to Goodreads: USA Version | UK Version
Order online here: USA: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository UK: Amazon UK, Waterstones, W H Smith, The Book Depository, Foyles

Synopsis: When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray arrives in England during the reign of Queen Victoria, something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Friendless and hunted, Tessa weeks refuge with the Shadowhunters, a band of warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons. Drawn even deeper into their world, she finds herself fascinated by - and torn between - two best friends and quickly realizes that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

About the Author:

Hello Goodreadsers. Here's my official bio:

"Cassandra Clare was born overseas and spent her early years traveling around the world with her family and several trunks of fantasy books. Cassandra worked for several years as an entertainment journalist for the Hollywood Reporter before turning her attention to fiction. She is the author of City of Bones, the first book in the Mortal Instruments trilogy and a New York Times bestseller. Cassandra lives with her fiance and their two cats in Massachusetts."

Find Cassandra Online: Website | Blog | Twitter| Facebook

Let the Wars Begin: Its now time to make our decision, let's see what we think about the covers and pick our favorite cover.

Lisa This week is a bit different because the cover we have shown is the original US cover and the one I actually own, however the covers have since changed to the one shown above.

I really like BOTH the US and what's shown as the UK cover! I used to think that the cover shown as the UK version was so dramatic however the new US cover is pretty amazing! I like that it just so fits! I like how it's a bit brighter than the UK cover... and I also like that they've kept the images that are under the back ground to keep this in line with the original books.

So, it's without a doubt that the vote for this week, even with how much I love my original cover... is the NEW US version.

Which one do YOU like best?

Michelle This is an easy week for me this week. The UK cover has been around for a while with various stages of font design, and although it's been published for a few years, I wanted to do this today to include the newly designed US covers. The UK cover is very nice, and under any other circumstances I would have chosen this as my favorite, especially with the London background, but the new covers for the US books are AMAZING. I am so in love with the US covers for this series. I love how it focuses on an different characters for each book. I love everything about the makeover for the US book, and I really need to have these sitting on my shelf. It's a very easy US win for me this week, but which cover gets your vote?

VOTE for YOUR favorite cover of Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare NOW!

Book Wars a weekly feature hosted between two book review blogs – A Life Bound By Books & Much Loved Books!

It’s a fact that book lovers know all about the covers of the books they covet. Often when a title is released here in the UK, it’s sometimes vastly different across the pond in the US. So, Michelle from Much Loved Books and I have come together to create Book Wars to talk about the difference in covers when it comes to the US vs. UK versions.

We hope from time to time authors will chime in with their thoughts as well. We welcome everyone to comment and share their thoughts too! The more the merrier!

Before we get to this weeks Book Wars, we have a winner to announce. The Book Wars winner for Deep by Kylie Scott is... the US!!!!!! Thank you to everyone who voted for both books, and for picking a winner.

Also, there's a poll at the bottom of the post that we'd love to hear your input for the two covers! Tell us which one YOU love the most.

Left: US - Right: UK

Title: City of Bones
Series: The Mortal Instruments
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: US - Margaret K. McElderry Books, 544 Pages, (September 1st, 2015), UK - Walker Books, 512 Pages, (July 2nd, 2015)
Add to Goodreads:vUSA Version | UK Version
Order online here: USA: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository UK: Amazon UK, Waterstones, W H Smith, The Book Depository

Synopsis: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...

About the Author:

Hello Goodreadsers. Here's my official bio:

"Cassandra Clare was born overseas and spent her early years traveling around the world with her family and several trunks of fantasy books. Cassandra worked for several years as an entertainment journalist for the Hollywood Reporter before turning her attention to fiction. She is the author of City of Bones, the first book in the Mortal Instruments trilogy and a New York Times bestseller. Cassandra lives with her fiance and their two cats in Massachusetts."

Find Cassandra Online:

Website | Blog | Twitter| Facebook

Let the Wars Begin: Its now time to make our decision, let's see what we think about the covers and pick our favorite cover.

Lisa When I first heard they were changing the covers I wasn't sure what to think. It seems like that's the thing to do... change covers multiple times for books and or series. I get it to a point, however it's tough on us readers who try to get sets to match or when we fall in love with new covers and have to purchase books over and over again.

It's happened to me before for certain books and I'm sure it'll continue throughout my life, yet there's only so much money and it takes away from being able to buy other books.

So for me, changing covers is a doubt edge sword.

When I look at these two, I love the new US cover. I love the feel of it, the art, the warm color pallet chosen and I love that we still have Jace on the cover.

Now, the UK cover... I'd love it just as much if not more than the US cover if they'd have chosen a different color. When I think of shadowhunters I don't see the color magenta/hot pink.

The deals in the wings from what I can see in the pictures online are beautiful. I'd love to see this one up close and person to get a better idea of it's beauty and see if the overall color changes my idea of the new look.

So, this week... my vote goes to the new UK cover. I love the original one with Jace to seeing that he's still our cover model was a huge plus in getting my vote this week.

Give us YOUR vote below! Which new cover is your favorite for this beloved series??? One quick click is all you need to cast your vote.

Michelle This is such an easy choice for me this week. When I first saw the UK covers I wasn’t too fussed on them, I enjoyed seeing how they were designed and the work that went into them, but they weren’t anything special.

However, I had already seen the USA covers, and it was instant love. I could not see any other cover to represent this book. I love how it represents Jace, I love the rune in the background...I just love the overall effect.

It’s a very easy USA vote for me this week, which cover gets your vote?

VOTE for YOUR favorite cover of City of Bones by Cassandra Clare NOW!

"Waiting On" Wednesday is an event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. The purpose of this weekly event is to spotlight a soon-to-be-released book that you are very much anticipating. "Waiting On" Wednesday will also give bloggers an opportunity to share ideas for our TBR lists.

Title: The Fill-In Boyfriend
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: HarperTeen, 352 Pages (May 5th, 2015)
Add to: Goodreads
Order here: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository, Amazon UK

Synopsis: When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she sees a cute guy waiting to pick up his sister, she enlists his help. The task is simple: be her fill-in boyfriend— two hours, zero commitment, a few white lies. After that, she can win back the real Bradley.

The problem is that days after prom, it's not the real Bradley she's thinking about, but the stand-in. The one whose name she doesn't even know. But tracking him down doesn't mean they're done faking a relationship. Gia owes him a favor and his sister intends to see that he collects: his ex-girlfriend's graduation party — three hours, zero commitment, a few white lies.

Just when Gia begins to wonder if she could turn her fake boyfriend into a real one, Bradley comes waltzing back into her life, exposing her lie, and threatening to destroy her friendships and her new-found relationship.

Title: An Ember in the Ashes
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Publisher: Razorbill, 443 Pages (April 28th, 2015)
Add to: Goodreads
Order here: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository, Amazon UK

Synopsis: Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom. It’s a story that’s literally burning to be told.

LAIA is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.

ELIAS is the academy’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor.

When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the empire itself. 

*covers are always subject to change.

Title: Tuck Everlasting
Author: Natalie Babbitt
Publisher: Macmillan, (The anniversary edition is on sale January 20, 2015)
Add to: Goodreads
Order here: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository, Amazon UK

Check out more info about the book: here

Synopsis: Tuck Everlasting asks readers “What if you could live forever?” Doomed to, or blessed with, eternal life after drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about trying to live as inconspicuously and comfortably as they can. When ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles on their secret, the Tucks take her home and explain why living forever at one age is less of a blessing than it might seem. Then complications arise when Winnie is followed by a stranger who wants to market the spring water for a fortune.

Upon the book’s publication in 1975, Natalie was greeted with concern from parents and educators who were stunned to read a book about death written for children. She is an author who challenges her readers and thinks the best questions are the ones without answers.

This 40th anniversary will introduce a whole new generation to this timeless classic. The book has sold over 3.5 million copies in the US alone, and has never been out of print since publication.

2015 marks the 40th anniversary of Natalie Babbitt’s celebrated, ground-breaking title Tuck Everlasting (Anniversary edition on sale January 20). In celebration of the anniversary, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group will publish a special anniversary edition featuring an introduction from Wicked  author Gregory Maguire.

And with the 40th anniversary we - the bloggers for the blog tour - have been asked to answer this question:

"What if you could live forever?"

Gosh this is a rough question... I think I'd do it. I mean there's just so much to do, see, read... The hardest part in choosing is I think it'd be lonely if I was alone. I couldn't make the choice to live forever if I was going to be the only one. Talk about rough watching all of your friends and family around you grow old and pass away, or suffer from illnesses.

That's part of the question that I get stuck on the most. It's what would make this the hardest choice for me. Oh and I think I'd want to be independently wealthy... or I'd have to be because I'd assume I'd have to move around a lot to not give anything away.

So, saying that this would be a rough choice, I'd have to answer some tougher questions first.

What about you? If you could live forever... would YOU?

Natalie will be in conversation with Gregory Maguire at Symphony Space in New York City on Sunday, January 25 at 1:00 PM. Alexis Bledel, star of the 2002 movie adaptation, will read from the book. 

About the Author:

NATALIE BABBITT is the award-winning author of Tuck Everlasting, The Eyes of the Amaryllis, Knee-Knock Rise, and many other brilliantly original books for young people. She began her career in 1966 as the illustrator of The Forty-Ninth Magician, a collaboration with her husband. When her husband became a college president and no longer had time to collaborate, Babbitt tried her hand at writing. Her first novel, The Search for Delicious, established her gift for writing magical tales with profound meaning. Knee-Knock Rise earned her a Newbery Honor, and in 2002, Tuck Everlasting was adapted into a major motion picture. Natalie Babbitt lives in Connecticut, and is a grandmother of three.