Friday, February 3, 2012

On Judging Book Covers

I was perusing some books the other day for a possible review and the book covers from publishing house Atticus Books totally caught my eye. Now, I know there's no shortage of bad books with decent covers out there, but have you ever noticed that there's an insanely small amount of good books out there sporting incredible covers? What's up with that? If I ever get a book published you can be sure I'm going to insist on good cover art.

Props to Atticus Books for investing in good cover art and extra props to them for writing me back in less than a day when I asked who their artist was. The books at Atticus Books that really caught my eye are those designed by UK designer Jamie Keenan.
So yes, I know the adage 'don't judge a book by it's cover', but I have to say a good cover certainly draws me in. I've been known to hold out for a book until I can get it with a more attractive cover, and -so bad- known to buy a book for solely it's cover. Anybody else into book covers like me? 

Btw- I've downloaded one of these books and am looking forward to reading it during the semester break. Sadly my reviews don't usually send me a free hard copy of the book, so I'm without cover art (hence the blog post, ha).

What are you reading now? I'm reading a book that's about to get a bad review, so I won't bother sharing the title. However, my book club is meeting in a couple of weeks to discuss Abraham Verghese's 'Cutting for Stone', a book I highly recommend. Incidentally, I held out for the red umbrella version of this book. =)

8 comments :

Allison said...

Not too much time to much for reading these days, but when I do browse for a book, I do judge a book by it's cover. I'm definitely a visual girl.

I guess the same principle applies to picking out a wine. The label has to look good to make it into my cart.

Shallow? Hmmm...Maybe.

Monica said...

I love a nice cover too. Have you seen the British children's edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? It is awful and it is the one I ended up with. Of course. I am currently re-reading it and am seriously considering getting one of the other editions.
The covers you posted are gorgeous. I especially love the "The Great Lenore".

Juliette said...

I had a feeling I wasn't alone! =)

@Allison: I wouldn't say it's shallow; it's discerning, right? ;-)

@Monica: I haven't seen the HP books (can't get into them at all somehow), but I agree w/you about 'The Great Lenore'. I think it's especially well done given the book's summary. 'Kino' is also particularly eye-catching for me. I downloaded both of them and can't decide which to read first!

Antje said...

Juliette,

my book club will be reading Cutting for Stone next month as well!!!
I absolutely LOVE this book and hope we will have a great discussion.
Thanks for the recommendation.

likeschocolate said...

I am sad to say that I do judge a book by it's cover at least when it comes to actual books. People are a different thing.

Carolyn said...

Of course I judge a book by the cover! ha. Actually, browsing the covers at the bookstore is a good way to gather graphic design inspiration.

Lizzie said...

How about this? http://linocutboy.blogspot.com/2012/01/hitchcocks-vertigo-linocut-book-cover.html

Juliette said...

@Lizzie - that's the perfect cover for that book!

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