“Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover” is a regular feature on Pop! Goes The Reader in which I pay tribute to some of the best and brightest the publishing world has to offer in the way of book cover design. This feature is inspired by Katie’s feature Cover Love on her blog One Page At A Time. The idea is being used with her gracious permission.
I think we’re all familiar with the age-old adage “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. And you know what I have to say about that? Rubbish! Covers are an invaluable part of a book’s package. A truly great cover can tell you a lot about the novel contained within its pages. Book covers can also catch your attention and attract you to a novel you might otherwise ignore. So go ahead, judge a book by its cover – We all do it!
While the exact definition and understanding of what constitutes ‘Literary Fiction’ might continue to elude me, one thing is for certain: This genre has some of the most beautiful and conceptually interesting book covers I’ve ever seen and it’s my pleasure to highlight even a small sampling of them on the blog today. Some of my favourite covers this week include The Girl Who Slept With God by Val Brelinski, Amnesia by Peter Carey, Minnow by James E. McTeer II, How To Start A Fire by Lisa Lutz, In Case Of Emergency by Courtney Moreno, The Small Backs Of Children by Lidia Yuknavitch, Quicksand by Steve Toltz and Oh! You Pretty Things by Shanna Mahin.
The Illuminations by Andrew O’Hagan ● The Fox And The Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith ● The Girl Who Slept With God by Val Brelinski
Amnesia by Peter Carey ● Five Night Stand by Richard J. Alley ● Minnow by James E. McTeer II
Love Me Back by Merritt Tierce ● How To Start A Fire by Lisa Lutz ● In Case Of Emergency by Courtney Moreno
The Small Backs Of Children by Lidia Yuknavitch ● Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum ● Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey
The Four Books by Yan Lianke ● Eat My Heart Out by Zoe Pilger ● The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis
The Life and Death of Sophie Stark by Anna North ● The Half Brother by Holly LeCraw ● Quicksand by Steve Toltz
Oh! You Pretty Things by Shanna Mahin ● The Money Shot by Neil LaBute ● The Book Of Strange New Things by Michel Faber.
Now it’s your turn! What are some of your favourite Literary Fiction covers? Did I list one of your favourites here or is there one I forgot that just has to be included? Let me know in the comments!
4 Responses
Although I think Middle Grade has the absolute best covers, Lit fic is a close, close second. LOVE your picks for this round and I spy a few new-to-me books to check out!
No lie – when I first heard Stephen Toltz had a new one coming out I legit had a meltdown. Years ago (pre-blogging) I fell madly in love with A Fraction of the Whole (its 600 pages fly by and it was originally 800 which I would have loved to read!) 🙂 I might have made an absurd noise when I saw you included Quicksand!
Leah recently posted…The Sound of Glass by Karen White
A+ job there, Leah..flailing hard over a book and getting his name wrong. WHOOPS.
Leah recently posted…The Sound of Glass by Karen White
These are some lovely covers for sure! 🙂
Lola recently posted…Made for You by Melissa Marr
Eye candies! As always.
Shelumiel recently posted…REVIEW: Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith