By the way, Melina, we haven’t been properly introduced, my name is Bond…James Bond.

A while back I picked up a copy of Ian Fleming’s Moonraker. I just finished it this morning on my way in to work. It’s the first James Bond novel I’ve ever read, much less owned, and I really liked it.

I hadn’t been really interested in the book series, but, on a trip out to a bookstore in Ojai, I found a copy of this book. Here’s why I bought it: I liked the cover art. The colors and the typeface are perfect for this throw back design. The girl looking up over her shoulder at the rocket, the eyes in the clouds, everything just comes together perfectly. The whole ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ thing clearly does not always apply. Most books that later become movies have their covers pillaged and replaced with a screen shot from the movie. (This is wrong and should not be allowed. Ever.) So, yes, I bought the book because I liked the cover. It’s not shallow; I’m appreciating the graphic design, or something like that.

It was a quick read, and a lot of fun. I had just read a book about Nazi war crimes, and I needed to read something a little less disturbing. There were no gadgets or crazy romances, and some parts were more like a police novel than a spy thriller (who knew James Bond ever dusted for fingerprints?). The book is set not long after World War II, and it’s a world where James Bond really makes much more sense if you think about it.

I’ll probably be checking out some other Fleming stories, definitely if I can find more with similar covers.