“Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover!” is a semi-regular feature on Pop! Goes The Reader 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. They 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!
For the second instalment of Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover, I decided to take a look at the covers of the historical fiction genre! Below please find a selection of some of my favourite covers in this genre for both the young adult and adult markets.
Now it’s your turn! What are some of your favourite historical 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!
26 Responses
Ah look at all the gorgeous covers! <3 I totally love Lauren Willig's The Ashford Affair. As well as Donna Thorland's The Turncoat, Alison Atlee's The Typewriter Girl, Ann Hood's The Obituary Writer, and John Shors' Temple of a Thousand Faces.
Jess @ Literary, etc recently posted…Film Friday: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
I had such a blast looking up the covers you listed, Jess! I particularly liked the covers for The Turncoat and The Obituary Writer and really loved the use of typography on The Typewriter Girl. It seems that no matter how hard I try I always manage to forget a few worthy covers 🙁 It’s a shame I didn’t include those on my list this week!
Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover – Issue Two: Historical Fiction
Wow, I actually haven’t heard of a lot of these historical fiction books (what does that say about me?). But all of the covers are absolutely stunning. I think the typography just does it all for a lot of them. Amazing post, Jen! Thanks for sharing.
Jen recently posted…Stacking the Shelves (#7)
If it makes you feel any better, there are a few on this week’s list I hadn’t heard of either before I began compiling this post. It’s so much fun to search through Goodreads when I make these every week – The covers to look at are endless! It’s a great way to add to my TBR pile (Not that I need any help doing *that*) 😆
Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover – Issue Two: Historical Fiction
Those are pretty =)
I didn’t recognize any though. Must have to do sth with the fact that I live in Germany and most of the time the translated books have different covers 😀
Out of all the ones you showed here my favorite one is Debutantes…can’t really say why but it has something.
I’m glad you liked it, Barbs 😀 I’ve always found covers from other locales fascinating! Often times I find that the European and/or UK covers often exceed that of their American or Canadian counterparts.
Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover – Issue Two: Historical Fiction
I think book covers are *slightly* evil because they make me want ALL THE BOOKS <.< (who am I kidding, I would want all the books even if they didn't have gorgeous covers) I love the cover of Chasing the Light, although apparently I'm like a little kid because pretty colors definitely attract my attention. Really enjoying these book cover posts! <3
Lexi recently posted…Review: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
I know what you mean, Lexi 😉 Just when I thought my TBR pile couldn’t become any more unwieldy, I started this feature and now it’s grown exponentially in size. I’m my own worst enemy 😆
I was really taken with the cover for Chasing The Light as well 😀 Vibrant colours are always one of the best ways to attract my attention, too!
Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover – Issue Two: Historical Fiction
I am one of those weird readers who doesn’t really look at covers before buying a book. (Or, I might on a self-pub if I’m not sure if I should buy it or not). And that’s good – there’s only one or two covers among those you’ve shared that would have made me buy the book…
Great feature Jen 🙂
Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews recently posted…Review: The Good, the Bad and the Undead (The Hollows #2) – Kim Harrison
Thanks, Lexxie! 😀
I must admit, I’m a little jealous of your ability to disregard a book’s cover. I would be lying if I said they didn’t often factor into my considerations as to which book to read next.
Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover – Issue Two: Historical Fiction
The cover of Born Wicked is one of my all time favorite covers. I am so annoyed that they went in a different direction with book two.
DIna recently posted…Water Cooler Picks
I couldn’t agree more, Dina! While I didn’t mind the cover for its follow-up, Star Cursed, I thought it was far more generic and wasn’t half as lovely as the cover for Born Wicked.
Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover – Issue Two: Historical Fiction
Love these! I don’t think I’ve ever realized how many historical fiction books focus on having models on their covers (or maybe it’s just your selection)! The only other one I’d add is The Book Thief. I love the one with Death skipping with the MC. Sort of creepy, but very strong (for me)!
Asti (A Bookish Heart) recently posted…Bookish Reviews: The Grisha Novellas
I tried my best to choose a varied selection but I found that the historical fiction genre does tend to have far fewer illustrative covers, which are my personal favourite, and far more that feature models on their covers. I did try to steer clear of the ‘girl in big dress’ concept which really seems to dominate the genre, much to my disappointment as I’ve never been a fan of that particular sort of cover art.
Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover – Issue Two: Historical Fiction
These are all gorgeous! I’m not a huge historical fiction reader, but would love to have these books on my bookshelf just for the covers. 🙂 The only one I’ve read from your this selection is Debutantes, which I picked up (mostly) for the cover. And the cover didn’t disappoint, it was a lovely book.
Cayce recently posted…[Rant Alert] The Saccharine Sweet Words of Affection
I’m glad to hear that, Cayce! 😀 I’ve always been interested in checking out Debutantes, but was holding off as I only recently finished another series that was very similar. I thought it would be best to wait a little while to avoid being over-saturated with that sort of story. I’ll definitely be sure to add it to my TBR list now, though!
Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover – Issue Two: Historical Fiction
Yes yes! I LOVE historical covers! And I totally forgot to put BORN WICKED on my list, dangit! lol
Okay, and I hadn’t seen the cover for SHE RISES before now, but wow! SO GORGEOUS!
Katie recently posted…Review: Frostbite, by Richelle Mead
I know, right? I had never heard of She Rises before I began compiling this week’s post but I was absolutely blown away by the cover. Illustrative designs get me every single time!
Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover – Issue Two: Historical Fiction
Woooow, so many gorgeous covers! I was keeping a mental list of my favorites as I looked through all of them, but it got to be too many and I couldn’t keep up.
I really love the ones for Above All Things and Ocean Swept, though.
Kelley (Another Novel Read) recently posted…Almost Here! (August 2013)
I completely agree – I think it would be nearly impossible for me to narrow down the selection and choose only one as my favourite cover. That said, I think A Hundred Summers, Ocean Swept, Jacob’s Folly, She Rises and Tell The Wolves I’m Home would be a few of my favourites (I told you I couldn’t choose only one!) 😆
Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover – Issue Two: Historical Fiction
I love these posts, they are so gorgeous! Historical Fiction is my favorite genre and the covers of these are so awesome I will have to look the books up. My favorites are Tell the Wolves I’m Home and A Hundred Summers 🙂
Alise recently posted…Review: Transparent
Oh my goodness, Alise, thank you so much 😀 I’m so glad to see that people are enjoying this new feature as I love to put these posts together each week! Both of the books you listed are two of my favourite covers as well!
Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover – Issue Two: Historical Fiction
This is legit my new favorite feature, mostly because although most deny it EVERYONE does it. I’ll probably end up emailing you covers..judging.
Frasier recently posted…Any Other Name by Emma Newman
*Hugs* I look forward to receiving them 😉
Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Top Ten Best Opening Lines Of A Novel
I love this feature of yours, Jen! So many books to add to my TBR shelf — again! 😉
Nikki @ The Paper Sea recently posted…Teaser Tuesday: Pages for You
Oops! Sorry about that? 😆
Jen @ Pop! Goes The Reader recently posted…Top Ten Best Opening Lines Of A Novel