Book Discussion: Strangely Similar Covers

One reading prompt I had during one of last year's challenges was "Two book that look alike." This, I presumed, was open to interpretation, and these are the ones I came up with:

Notice the red doors and the Christmas wreaths, and snow falling. The most noticeable differences are the garlands, sled and dog in the first cover.

There seem to be various themes used as book cover designs that give lookalike covers. 

Profile Silhouette:

Nearly all the silhouettes in these examples seem the same. Many are curly-haired women. Note that two different books by the same author (Chris Cleave) use this design, and that each one has the silhouette looking in opposite directions. 

Apples:

Can we blame Twilight for this cover trend? I was looking at my library recently and saw this book, using an apple core as a statue of a person. That is an interesting idea.

 

Swirl Designs:

This has many possibilities. No two swirls seem exactly the same, but the designs are still very similar. There may be other such covers that that his photo missed.  Here is one I read about a year ago.

Glasses:

Why does it seem to be only girls wearing glasses on covers?  I happened to read the book The Black Kids last summer, not too long after I'd read these two books, both not shown above. 

Note how many of these kinds of covers often show images pictures in the frames of the glasses, and some use the glasses to display the book title.

And I can't believe they didn't show this cover:

 

Shoes:

Just what is the rhyme or reason for these covers having shoes? Do any of these books have much, if anything at all, to do with shoes? And this one I read earlier this year. Why is there a boot on this? at least I was able to use that one for the prompt "show on the cover" that I encountered this year.

Matches:

This blog post pointed out the similarity of the two covers below and wondered "...Fahrenheit 451 is an important influence in Augusten Burrough’s memoir, Lust & Wonder. ..."

The above images and names for covers are just a few examples from this Twitter/X post. Click to see other types of cover designs. Far too many to mention here. 

Animated Covers:

This seems to be common on romance novels these days. Why is this so, this article asks. Even more eerie are those covers without faces. Often the face is not depicted at all, even though the characters is facing forward or to the side as seen below: 

Or the face is entirely hidden behind an object:

And there are probably more examples of each cover design. And other cover tropes I did not get to mention (See the aforementioned Twitter/X link post for some). Any you have noticed?

Posted to Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts at Midnight. 

Summer Reading Challenge @ Brewing Writer

 Doing this one. Begins on June 1. One prompt for each of the summer months.

• June--A book set in a destination you want to visit
• July--A book with summer/sun in its title
• August--A book set on a beach/island

Summer Reading Challenge: Read the Rainbow

Doing this one again at Booklist Queen. The challenge is to read a book with a cover in each of the colors.

Red: 

Orange: White Lies--Jayne Ann Krentz

Yellow:

Green:

Blue:

Purple:

Black: 

White: Every Last Word--Tamara Ireland Stone

A to Z Road Trip

 I will be joining the post-A to Z Road Trip. 

From the A to Z blog:

It's time for the Post A to Z Road Trip 2024! This is a great opportunity to catch up on the many blogs you would have liked to have spent more time visiting, but didn't during the Challenge, and a chance to visit the blogs of people who did the Challenge that you never got to. And, if you're one of those people who did the Challenge but didn't get a lot of visitors, this is a way to let people know that you'd appreciate a visit.

Here's what you do:

1. Sign up for the Road Trip. There's a place where you can put in the URL of a post that you would like visitors to read first. Then, grab a copy of the Road Trip badge from the graphics page (if you want) for your home page to use as a "bumper sticker."
2. Get copies of both the Road Trip List and the Master List. Both will be useful. 
3. Start with the Road Trip list and visit the blogs of the people who signed up there. Take some time to read their blog and their Challenge entries. Leave comments where you feel led to do so, and make sure you identify yourself as a Road Trip participant. Leave a link to your blog so they can return the favor. 
4. Then, if you have the time and inclination to do so, visit some of the blogs on the Master List that you didn't get the chance to visit. Even if they didn't sign up for the Road Trip, I'm sure they'd appreciate a visit.

May Bookish Bingo

 Here is the card for May.

My Books:

1. Cinderella Liberator--Rebecca Solnit (4 squares): Audiobook, Siblings, Humor, Shifter
2. The Clue of the Gold Coin--Helen Wells (8 squares): E-Book, In a Series, Unlikely Team/Misfits, Ancient Culture, Betrayal, Travel (Distance), Ghost, Shady/Sketchy Character
3. The Girl From the Train--Irma Joubert (5 squares): Library Book, Physical Book, Not in a Series, Book Club Read, Free Space

Blogging A to Z Reflections

This week, participants in the A to Z Blogging Challenge will be writing Reflections posts.  The Reflections post sign ups actually begin tomorrow, but I'm posting mine now.

This was the first time I scheduled posts on my blog. I'd drafted all my posts for the event ahead of time (as I'd done in previous A to Z Blogging events), but with my procedure that was this month, I was afraid of being too tired to get my post up before the day was over. With all I had going one for two days, I wasn't sure how often I'd be on my computer those two days. I did get on eventually those days, but the schedule-posting still came in handy. I did not begin the schedule-posting until the fifth day of the A to Z (my procedure was on the 16th), just to see how it works and it worked great for the timeliness of the blog event.

Some interesting themes this year included Disney Channel TV Movies. I began hunting some of these movies down on Disney+, and have watched one or two so far. Two I had already seen, one via VHS from Blockbuster around 2001 and one on DVD from Netflix in 2007. I may watch them again. Another was Romance Tropes in Folklore.  Silly songs was another (this was one of the people who were "unofficially" participating in the A to Z). And there are just too many others to mention, and some I have missed, and hope to get to when the Road Trip begins later this month. 

The graphics on the A to Z Blogging page already have next year's theme reveal post graphics up. But I'm not so sure about a theme for 2025 just yet. It took a while to come up with this year's theme. I'm sure I'll find something in time for next year's reveal. But I won't be thinking of it just yet. 

Z: Zoo Doctor

ZONKS! I can't believe it's now time for ...

Zoo Doctor

Among Barbie's many careers is that of zoo doctor, or pet doctor. On top of that, she's also been a regular doctor. The Pet Doctor was first released in the 1990s.

_____________________________________________________________

And that's a wrap! Hope you have enjoyed this year's A to Z. A Reflections post is coming this week, and the Post-A to Z Road Trip is later in May.

Y: You Can Be Anything

 

You Can Be Anything

"You can be anything" is a slogan used by Barbie to mean just that--you can be anything. The slogan is intended as a symbol of diversity and inclusion. This is the sort of positive message all kids need to learn.

Indeed, the many careers Barbie has held shows that slogan, even before it was a thing. At one time she was a nurse, but she later became a doctor, though she did become a nurse once again. 

Pictured below are just some of the careers represented in this line.

With all that has been said, I now wonder even more why there has not been an official Lawyer Barbie doll. 

________________________________________________________

YOWZA!! Only one day left! Tune into tomorrow to see the finale.

Summer Reading Challenge 2024 @ Beyond the Bookends

Doing this one again.  Begins on May 1 and runs until Labor Day.

1. Book Set at the Beach:
2. Plane Book: The Clue of the Gold Coin--Helen Wells
3. Biographical Fiction: Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker--Jennifer Chiaverini
4. Book Featuring a Weather Event:
5. Set in the Jazz Age/20s:
6. Listen to an Audiobook: Cinderella Liberator--Rebecca Solnit
7. Celebrity Book Club Pick: The Girl From the Train--Irma Joubert
8. Animal Novels:
9. Urban Fantasy:
10. Locked Room Mystery:
11. Dystopian Novel:
12. Book with a Color in the Title: White Lies--Jayne Ann Krentz
13. Book Featuring Women in STEM:
14. Book with a Pool on the Cover:
15. Ultimate Beach Reads 2024:
16. Puzzle Mystery:
17. Young Adult Fantasy:
18. Wedding Book:
19. 2024 New Release:
20. Hotel Novel:
21. Book Set in Scotland:
22. Fashion Books:
23. Next Book in a Series:
24. Romantic Comedy Book:
25. Free Space:

A Few More Things Before the End of the Alphabet Journey

Well, it's almost over. Only two days left for the A to Z. My last two posts have already been scheduled. I've enjoyed it so far and there are several blogs I have visited. When the Road Trip begins in May, I'll get to others I've missed and perhaps revisit those I've already seen. 

It was hard to decide what to include for each post. A friend mentioned Peaches and Cream Barbie, which I vaguely remember hearing about. I must not have remembered when it came time to decide what to post for each letter.  This one came out when I was 13, so I was only vaguely aware of it at that time.

The only Barbie I can ever recall having was this one. I was never that big on the line. I was more about other similar dolls, as I said in this post  (from last year's A to Z blogging event). The hype over the movie was mainly what made me choose this theme.

This blogging journey has also brought to mind several references to Barbie in other media. I wasn't sure how to fit these into the regular A to Z posts, so I will post them here while we are on our last Sunday break.

One that comes to mind is the movie  Never Been Kissed, where the three mean girls all show up as different iterations of the doll at the prom, with the theme of "Famous Couples Through History."  One of the girls is Malibu Barbie, and the others are Evening Wear Barbie and Disco Barbie (Not so sure that these ever were a thing, but it might be true). Disco Barbie's Date (Disco Ken?) looks a bit like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. And they think that Josie's Rosalind (from Shakespeare's As You Like It) is supposed to be "Medieval Barbie." Never heard of that one, either, but my friend found a collector Barbie in Victorian dress (she's fascinated by that era).

Another is from the movie Rat Race, when a girl sees a sign for a Barbie Museum, which isn't what she thinks:

Malibu Stacy, the Barbie parody on The Simpsons, who was the focus of an episode. The name brings to mind the annual Barbie swimsuit lines (which were known by the Malibu name until the mid-80s) as well as Stacy, a British friend of Barbie's from the late 60s/early 70s, who was in the Malibu line. But the doll depicted is based on Teen Talk Barbie from the early 90s, one of whose phrases, "Math class is tough!" generated controversy. 

The 1998 movie Small Soldiers, about interactive military action figures and monsters (smart toys), included a Barbie parody called Gwendy. The Gwendys (voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar and Christina Ricci) are turned into a new army for the soldiers.

And there still may be more I missed. This is only scratching the surface. This may be something to bring up in my Reflections post. The Reflections posts begin this Thursday.

X: Barbie Extra

 

Barbie Extra

The ever-tricky letter X! This is the most I could find for this one.

(link)

Here is the description of the Barbie Extra dolls from the link above:

Barbie® Extra dolls rock bold fashions and bright colors, and they make big statements! Each Barbie® doll has their own unique style that's playful and over the top. And their pets -- each different and all adorable -- have tons of personality, too! Barbie® Extra lets kids explore self-expression through style and offers an exciting fashion and styling play experience with posable dolls. They are all about having fun with fashion with glitter, gummy bears, emojis and stand-out hair -- bringing EXTRA vibes wherever they go. Each sold separately, subject to availability. Dolls cannot stand alone. Colors and decorations may vary.

• When it comes to fashion, Barbie® Extra dolls have a 'more is more' attitude, featuring 15 pieces that include clothing and fashion accessories, as well as a pet and pet accessories.
• ​Play out Barbiecore style with the dolls that inspired the trend.​​​
• A fun and playful look showcases her confident style with pink, teddy bear-print denim shorts paired with a matching jacket with extra-furry sleeves.
• Barbie® doll's accessories -- an ice cream cone clutch, Barbie® nameplate ring, heart-shaped sunglasses and lots of jewelry, including a charm necklace -- add personal expression and unexpected moments of storytelling fun.
• The pet bulldog figure is oh-so-EXTRA, too, with a removable bear-themed beanie, studded collar and adorably grumpy expression.
• Barbie® Extra dolls make a great gift for kids 3 to 10 years old, especially those who love to be extra themselves!

A line of Barbie Extra Mini dolls was also made:

The line only lasted two years (2021-2023), making it one of the more obscure Barbie lines.

W: Walk Lively

 

Walk Lively 

This series came out in the early 1970s. The dolls in this line came with a walk-and-turn stand. No batteries were needed. Only Barbie, Ken and  Steffie appeared in the line, but the Walk Lively feature was also used on Mattel's Miss America dolls. 

 

 

Barbie's friend Steffie may not be well-remembered, as she only appeared in three lines. But Walk Lively Steffie (shown above) is notable in that her closed-mouth head mold has been reused many times. Barbie herself has used the mold, as have many of her friends, including Christie, P.J., Teresa, and Midge, and the one-time Tracy Bride doll. Miss America and the African American Mrs. Heart also used the Steffie head, as did one of Jazzie's friends, Stacie. The 4.5-inch doll line Dazzle from the early 1980s used a scaled-down version of the Steffie head for some of its girl dolls (other girl dolls in that line used a scaled-down Superstar Barbie head mold). I had most of this line.

V: Video Girl Barbie

 

Video Girl Barbie

One of the more obscure iterations of Barbie seen in the movie is that of Video Girl Barbie. Released in 2010, the original toy was a real working video camera that was able to record up to 30 minutes of film and even upload to a computer. As shown with the live-action character, Video Girl Barbie came with a large hole in her upper body that featured the camera lens but was disguised as a fashionable pendant. The doll was discontinued for a unique reason: the FBI saw the doll’s hidden camera as a potential threat to children, saying that it could have been used for child pornography. Though no such incidents were ever reported, Mattel pulled Video Barbie from shelves in 2012. (from this link)

The doll was launched the same year as Instagram (link). The rise in social media most likely had a lot to do with the doll's controversy and cancellation. Had it been released in the 1990s or the early 2000s, would it have caused the same controversy? Though perhaps the FBI might have worried over porn at that time as well.

U: Unicorn

 

Unicorn

This was a tricky letter, and the most I could find was the Unicorn-themed movies, as well as the Dreamtopia Dolls.

Here are some of the unicorn movies:

 

And from the Dreamtopia series:

A commercial for the Dreamtopia Unicorn set: 

The Dreamtopia doll with a removable unicorn headband:

And one of the Dreamtopia unicorns:

T: Teresa

 

Teresa

Teresa was the first regular Hispanic character other than the Hispanic versions of Barbie and Ken. Teresa's story is in this video:

Teresa first appeared as part of the California Dreams series in 1988. She has been with the Barbie line ever since, thus making her one of Barbie's longest lasting friends. She used an often-used head mold of Barbie's friend Steffie (more on this to come) before Teresa received her own head mold. 

Teresa's first appearance.

(From left) Beach Blast Dolls Miko, Barbie,
Christie and Teresa.

The Rollerblade dolls were recalled because the
light-up skates caused sparks.

She has also been in many of Barbie's animated videos. That being said, I now wonder why she wasn't referenced in the movie. But I guess they could only show so many characters in the movie.

S: Shani

 

Shani

"'Shani' means marvelous in the Swahili language and marvelous she is. ..." So began the tagline for The Marvelous World of Shani. Though it was a separate series, Shani (pronounced SHAW-nee) and her friends are retroactively considered friends of Barbie. Shani and her girl friends are the same size as Barbie and her boyfriend the same size as Ken, so they can share clothes. Shani was Mattel's attempt at creating an ethnically correct African American doll line. Previous AA dolls were criticized as having more Eurocentric than Afrocentric features, as many used the same head and body molds as their Caucasian counterparts. Kitty Black Perkins, who was responsible for designing the line, had also designed the Black Barbie doll in 1980. The video below talks about the creation of the Shani dolls and their releases and media reception:

The first wave of Shani dolls in 1991 featured the lead doll and her two female friends, Asha and Nichelle, in convertible gowns. Shani's gown transformed into a bathing suit and cover-up; Asha's into a mini dress and jacket; and Nichelle's into a ballerina outfit. Each one had a different skin tone, facial feature and hair texture. Four different fashion sets were also sold, and the packaging stated that the clothes fit Barbie, too.

(from left) Asha, Shani and Nichelle
in the first year of release.

For the second year, the girl dolls came in two-piece bathing suits (the Beach Dazzle series), and Jamal, Shani's boyfriend, was introduced, wearing a convertible yellow tuxedo. Originally, Jamal had a mustache, but was clean-shaven in subsequent releases. Three more outfit sets were produced, but none for Jamal. Shani's only accessory was also made: a gold-tone Corvette (pictured below), a repainting of Barbie's Corvette from the 1980s. Shani didn't last long enough to get a house or other playsets. 

The box back of the Beach Dazzle Shani dolls.
The bathing suits were made from material used in the dolls'
 first-year gown bodices, but Shani and Asha swapped material since
the original Shani already wore a swimsuit under her gown.

Jamal with mustache

Jamal's party tuxedo could be
converted into a casual outfit.

Two more waves of Shani followed. Another beach-themed line, known as Beach Streak, and a tie-in line to the hit music-and-dance show Soul Train, both with the now clean-shaven Jamal.

After Shani's own line was cancelled, she made one US appearance in the Barbie line as Sun Jewel Shani (below), the annual swimsuit series. She also appeared in the Jewel and Glitter line, sold only on foreign markets. A Dr. Shani doll shown in promotional catalogs was never released (an AA Dr. Barbie was made instead). 

Sun Jewel Shani was
 the last Shani produced.

 

Even after Shani disappeared entirely, reminders have popped up from time to time.  An unrelated line, Asha African American collection (not the same Asha who was Shani's friend), made in the late 1990s, was considered a spiritual successor to Shani. This doll named Asha used Shani's face mold, skin tone and hair texture. The head molds for Shani, Asha, Nichelle and Jamal have been used on other Mattel African American dolls, including Christie and Steven and AA versions of Barbie and Ken. The So In Style (S.I.S.) line from 2009 to 2017 is considered another spiritual successor to Shani. Like Shani, the Grace doll from S.I.S. was incorporated into the Barbie line after S.I.S. was cancelled. Also, the name Nichelle has appeared in the Generation Girl and Fashionistas lines. The Mystery Squad doll line had a doll named Shawnee, pronounced the same as Shani. Both Shawnee and Nichelle Generation Girl oddly used Asha's head mold.