Christmas Is All Around Us

I was sorting through some old books today, and while I didn’t find much that I wanted for my own, I did come across some interesting finds. There was a lot of pulp, and most of the books I had never heard of, but I could tell by looking at the covers that they were probably not worth the time to read.

Yes, I was judging books by their covers.

I did find one that immediately caught my eye as a keeper. Perhaps you can see why:

And another that I took the cover from because I was highly amused by it. You may need to zoom in on the image to see the quotes above the characters’ portraits. I giggled out loud. Perhaps this is only funny to me because I’m not very familiar with popular television shows that are drawn from the same kind of material.

That part of my day got me to thinking about how infatuated I am with book covers. If I could pick any dream job, book cover designer would be up near the top of my list. The truth of it is, it really does matter, a lot, what the cover of the book looks like. And the designer doesn’t even have to read the book because sometimes an eye-catching design has absolutely nothing to do with the story. Case in point:

I’m in love with book covers that employ a creative use of text. After all, unless it’s a picture book, it’s best to know exactly what you are getting yourself into, i.e., a whole lotta words. These old Pelican books are good examples of using text to make an impressive design.

One of my favorite contemporary authors, Jonathan Safran Foer, must have a killer cover designer working for him. His quirky, modern use of text perfectly complements the unique layout of his novels. This one is even better in person because it’s embossed!

I’m always drawn toward the cover designs that are similar to books that I have read and loved. I think that seeing the same image over and over again and anticipating the opportunity to read another chapter makes an indelible impression when you find that what’s inside is simply amazing. A few examples of books I’ve loved and hence love their covers:

But to prove that my eye for beautiful cover design is impartial to the content, I will (somewhat begrudgingly) add one example of a book that has repeatedly caught my eye, but will never end up in my hands (yes, I’m a book snob).

And a few more examples of books I have never read and maybe never will, but whose covers make them seem like they would be interesting to meet and get to know better.

And my last example is a pure contradiction of everything I have said so far in this blog post. Sometimes, just sometimes, you read a book that is really and truly wonderful, and someone has the gall to give it a cover design that makes it look like a cheap romance novel.

How very unfortunate.