Buying a fresh pack of coffee the other day, I noticed a label on the packet announcing a free mug with any two purchases. I should have been suspicious right off the bat: if something seems too good to be true, it usually is. However, intrigued, I decided to check out the URL once I got home.

As it turns out, the mug in question is hideous and gimmicky. That particular shape seems to be awfully common in mugs these days, and to be honest, I hate it. Mugs should be cylindrical, not frustrums—I have yet to see a mug of that shape I don’t dislike. The red isn’t terrible, but the fingers make me shudder. When I read the following on the competition page… well, you’ll see.

Simply hold up your mug with your fingers positioned in the imprints and you’ll see that “the future is in your hands”.

Happily, there are better mugs in the world, and recently I’ve been lusting after one of these Penguin Classics mugs (which are obscenely expensive). Although I think I prefer the classic orange, it has to be the right book, and I’m quite tempted by The Big Sleep. If I had to have an orange one, I’d probably end up plumping for The Great Gatsby. Obviously anything you choose has to be something you’ve read and enjoyed, and preferably one that says something about your tastes and tendencies.

While we’re on the subject of Penguin Classics, I should probably mention Penguin by Design: A Cover Story 1935-2005, which I first noticed in the shops just before Christmas. Originally I planned to get it for someone else, but I couldn’t think of anyone appropriate, so I put it to the back of my mind. Replete with colour photographs, it tells the story of seventy years of Penguin paperback covers and, by extension, the evolution of book cover design over that period. Generous readers are welcome to get it for me!