Random House recently announced its 20 bestselling Vintage Classics for 2012 but the two books I’ve most coveted from this retro series didn’t make the list. Both are books I’ve been meaning to read for ages. That is: Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road and Raymond Carver’s What We Talk about When We Talk about Love.

It won’t stay that way for long, though, as Random House has a great special right now on Vintage Classics, where if you buy two you get a writing journal for free. Even without the journal, at $12.95 apiece, the books are a steal.

The lovely thing about these reissued classics is that the cover designs look so good they’ll remain stylish even after I’ve inadvertently squished them in bed or at the very blustery bus stop. Timeless. Accessible. There are certainly more “doubles” I’ll be hankering after given that William Maxwell, Scott Fitzgerald, Helen Simpson, Elizabeth Bowen, Derek Jarman and Haruki Murakama are on Vintage’s list.

All this is before I’ve properly checked out Vintage Classics for Children — although I did note that The Silver Sword, The Secret Garden, Peter Pan and Grimm’s Fairy Tales were among last year’s top 20 bestsellers. I haven’t read a riveting children’s book for ages so  I’m off to take a better peek — after which I’ll go shopping. In 2013, when it comes to the classics I’ll vote with my feet.

I should add, however, that HarperCollins recently launched its A&R Australian Classics series joining an increasingly competitive classics market with the Random House Vintage Classics (as detailed above), Penguin Classics, Text Classics and Allen & Unwin’s House of Books.

Penguin Books Australia and the McGrath Foundation also recently launched a new series, Pink Popular Penguins, to assist the McGrath Foundation continue promoting breast health awareness throughout Australia.