I told you over the summer that John Green was bringing a new, sideways book format to America this fall, and now the New York Times has a closer look at the format — with animated GIFs!

Ms. Strauss-Gabel began her mission to import flipbacks to America this year, when she received Dutch editions of two of Mr. Green’s novels. She was startled by their size and ingenious design — the spine operates like a hinge that swings open, making it easier to turn the pages.

The only problem with the flipback format: these books cost $12 each. I guess the "mini" that they're using to describe the format doesn't refer to the price. I was hoping these books would be more like mass-market paperbacks in price, meaning less than ten bucks. Twelve dollars is just enough to push them out of impulse buy territory.