For the 2015 Reading Challenge, I’m blogging through one category per month, in order. (Don’t worry—you don’t have to read them in order.)
So far we’ve covered:
- a book you’ve been meaning to read
- a book published this year
- a book in a genre you don’t typically read
- a book from your childhood
- a book your mom loves
- a book that was originally written in a different language
- a book ‘everyone’ has read but you
“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” the saying goes. But most of us do it anyway.
I certainly do: I can’t think of a time I’ve chosen a book for its cover art alone, but I pick up books because they have a beautiful cover and a great title all the time. (The title is on the cover, after all, and I think this is a huge part of making snap judgments about what we want to read.)
Of course, this cuts both ways. Just this weekend I recommended a book to a friend, and I explicitly told her to disregard its terrible cover. (It was The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber, and if you’re anything like her, you’ll cringe when you click over and take a look!)
I’ve been very careful about which books I’m choosing to highlight here. It’s hard for me to talk about books I don’t like here on the blog (although I am trying to do this thoughtfully). It’s too easy to remember a book you saw on MMD (especially if it has a great cover) and not remember anything else I said about it. That’s why I’m sharing (with one exception) books I chose because of the covers, then ended up reading and loving.
If you’re thinking about reading a book based on the cover, share what it is in comments, and those of us who have read it can weigh in. (I’ll share mine: please tell me what you think!)
7 books I chose because of the cover:
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry
Where’d You Go, Bernadette?
Secrets of a Charmed Life
Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living in a Fast-Moving World
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
All the Light We Cannot See
Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore
The books I’m currently considering reading because of the cover: The Making of Us by Lisa Jewell, The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty, Oh! You Pretty Things by Shanna Mahin. Have you read any of these? I’d love to hear your thoughts in comments.
What books did you decide to read because of the cover? What books have great covers that are catching your eye? Tell us all about them in comments.
58 comments
I read Hello, Love by Karen McQuestion. I have to admit I was pulled in by the adorable dog on the front cover. The story is sweet if predictable.
I know there are others that got my attention simply by the beauty of the cover though the titles escape me at the moment 🙂
It’s hard not to judge a book by it’s cover. When you are browsing (whether online or in a bookstore) you are presented with the cover and title first. Something must compel you to pick it up to even find out what it’s about!
I just read girl at war last month.I just picked by its cover. I started it and finished it in two days
I won a prize at my local library during their Adult Summer Reading Program. It was a book Bingo theme, and one of the categories I read from to complete my bingo was a book read *solely* based on its cover. I hated picking it out! I decided that meant I couldn’t read anything about the book, and that I couldn’t base it on an author I’d read before. I ended up picking up “A Thing of Beauty,” by Lisa Samson. I liked it! I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Shows me I can be surprised by going outside of my comfort zone.
I read “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand”. I ended up really enjoying the book.
I choose many books based on the cover- picture and title. The most recent one that I’ve read was “The Sweetness of Forgetting.” It turned out to be a book that I loved.
I thought Sweetness was really well done. Glad you enjoyed it.
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter. I couldn’t resist the nostalgic, technicolor picture of the little Italian village on the coastline. The book did not disappoint either!
Yes, that was a wonderful cover! It made me want to read the book AND get myself to Italy.
I read and enjoyed Mr. Penumbra’s 24 hour bookstore. The fun read shows that our increasing dependence on data might not always be the best option. Old school books and collections will always be important.
Both The Light Between the Oceans and Life after Life drew me in due to their covers. Also the YA book The Game of Life and Death attracted my attention with the title and cover. I didn’t realize Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore cover glowed in the dark. Fun – I’ll have to pull it out and take a look.
Ok, lightly veering off topic. As a writer, this strikes terror in my heart because it seems to indicate (and my gut knows this already) that if a publishing house chooses a ‘meh’ cover for one’s work, it’s probably a bigger deal than we’d like to think…
I’ve heard this (depressing) stat: book sales are 1/3 cover, 1/3 title, and 1/3 author recognition. I feel like I owe you some kleenex to wipe away your tears …
I read Where’d Ya Go Bernadette earlier this year for the “Book Cover” challenge category and loved it. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought the cover was fun and intriguing, which could also describes the book. I’ve added a few more titles to my want to read/buy from this post. Thanks!
I loved Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour bookstore, but didn’t expect to. All the Light We Cannot See has a beautiful cover and story! Loved it too!
I’ve selected The Book of Broken Hearts because of the cover. I read a review that made it sound good, but as soon as I saw it, I knew I’d have to save it for this month’s challenge.
Actually, looking at my stack of books for this month, I really like a lot of their covers. 🙂
http://momsradius.blogspot.com/2015/08/books-i-plan-to-read-in-august.html
Yep, those are great covers. (Although I put off reading Cinder for too long because the cover creeped me out.)
I worked at Amazon for many years and everytime I shelved Wicked I wanted to read it based solely on the cover. It was the first gift by one-day husband would give me. And for our first anniversary he took me to see the musical. We later took our daughter to see it for Christmas when she was 8-years-old. So my cover-coveted book had a happy ending 🙂
PS I ended loving all of Gregory Maguire’s books
I love this so much! Best wishes to you all!
Love the way Wicked has been such an important part of your life!
“Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English,” “The Hangman’s Daughter,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and “Watership Down.”
“The Hangman’s Daughter” was good, but not great. The other three are among my favorite books of all time.
(I actually passed over “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” because the cover annoyed me! I should probably re-think that choice.)
I think Bernadette is a great beach read but it’s not one I recommend a lot. And you’re not the only one who was put off by the cover. What I really want to know is if the people who didn’t care for the cover weren’t going to like the book anyway. 🙂
I picked it up at Half Price Books yesterday afternoon. I’m a third of the way through, and so far it’s okay…I don’t hate it, but I definitely don’t love it.
I didn’t like the cover to Bernadette, but decided to read it after a close friend loved it and thought I would like it. I really didn’t get into it at all. Maybe that’s just a coincidence?
Well, I’ve finished it.
I’m glad I read it so that I know what people are talking about, but it isn’t anything I will read again. I don’t think it’s a terrible book; it just isn’t my thing…but I have a friend who would looooove “Bernadette”, so I’m going to give it to her!
All the Light We Cannot See was definitely a book that I choose to read because of the gorgeous cover and title (and I loved it).
I read Twenties Girl because of its fun cover featuring a girl wearing (what else!) a dress from the twenties. Love that decade.
I loved “Where’d You Go, Bernadette”! I thought the format was fun, and the story was such a page turner!
I just finished listening to “The Girl on the Train.” It is set in London and hearing it read by British people really added to it. It started out kind of slow, but then I had to know what happened!
I read 24 Hour Bookstore, and, and it just wasn’t as good as I thought it would be – I thought it would have more action and I felt it was anti-climactic 🙁
I read Little Beach Street Bakery based on the cover – the UK version has an adorable cover (I ordered that version from Amazon) – I enjoyed the light and breezy read for the beach 🙂
I’m reading Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai. The story is wonderful and the cover is very colorful.
I read Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore a couple of months ago (not for the cover, because the premise sounded right up my alley), and was totally freaked out when I woke up one night to find it glowing on the nightstand next to me. I guess that’s a fun and unique way to design a cover, but I can’t say I really want a glow-in-the-dark book on any bookshelf in a room where I sleep.
Hahaha! I’ve heard similar stories from quite a few fiction-before-bed readers. (I’m totally one of them.)
I read the Chemical Garden trilogy after the cover of the second book really caught my eye. The covers are absolutely GORGEOUS, and I loved the series! Thought-provoking and creepy and disturbing, in all the best ways!
I started The Storied Life of AJ Fikry last night and sniffed my way through the ending this afternoon. What a lovely new friend to have made! Now I want a bookshop where I can buy a paperback of it. (Because almost all my real book friends are paperbacks.) Till then, I’m off to hunt Scribd for Mr. Penumbra. Thanks for a great recommendation.
“Because almost all my real book friends are paperbacks.”
I find this very interesting. 🙂
“State of Wonder” by Ann Patchett. The gold embossed paperback version with scrolling leaves and butterflies spoke to me…I knew nothing about the book and had never heard of the author but I was compelled to purchase it. I’m looking forward to [finally] reading it, instead of just using it as decor…;-)
The cover of The Fatal Tree by Stephen Lawhead caught my eye at my library’s new books shelf. Of course I had to read the first 4 books in the Bright Empires series, The Skin Map, The Bone House, The Spirit Well, and The Shadow Lamp first. I loved this series.
I love the covers for all of Kate Morton’s books … they are all so evocative and English and slightly Gothic. Luckily, they always end up being great reads as well.
My cover obsession goes back to childhood, when my friends and I chose our Nancy Drew books from the library solely on the basis of the cover art. The best ones were the ones from the 40s and 50s, which featured actual spooky scenes, often with some tiny villain-like person sneaking into a window in the corner somewhere. The ones from the 70s were more symbolic and abstract and not nearly as appealing.
And while we’re on the subject: Does it bug anyone else when the cover design for a historical novel doesn’t get the time period right? That is one of my major pet peeves.
Last year I read “Poldark” by Winston Graham (yes, the book the fabulous BBC series is based on). Although it takes place in Cornwall in the late 1700s, there was a tiny figure on the cover who looked like a modern American cowboy, wearing jeans and a ten-gallon hat. It bugged me no end. I know; I need to get a life.
*Raises hand* That’s a totally legitimate pet peeve in my book. 🙂
That. Drives. Me. Insane.
But I’m also the person sitting next to you in the movie theater squirming uncomfortably and quietly hissing when Hollywood messes with history. If you were in Dallas too see the Lincoln movie with Daniel-Day Lewis and heard a woman exclaim, “What the h–l!?” at the last scene with William Lloyd Garrison (played by Tommy Lee Jones), that was me getting irate with a HUGE re-writing of history!
I’m not even going to talk about “Braveheart.”
**to see**
Because typing.
I’m with you on that one!
This is the first month I haven’t done exhaustive research to find the perfect book to fit the category. I took two seconds to decide on a book from the library shelf because I liked the cover and title. And then I read it in a day. Couldn’t put it down. Hmmm, maybe a strategy for selecting books from now on? Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal.
I keep coming across that book too. It’s a great title for sure—I’ll be interested to hear how you like it.
I love a good book cover! I’ve been known to hold onto a book simply because it was pretty.
I’m also obsessed with how often book covers look alike: https://instagram.com/p/vlZdHwiydM/
In the case of All the Light We Cannot See, I mistakenly read the other book because they looked so similar. #mistake
On my “to read” list because of its pretty cover: Fierce Convictions by Karen Swallow Prior.
Oh my goodness! I’ve read All the Light, and I’ve seen The Steady Running of the Hour, but I’d never seen them side by side. They are SO similar!
I loved Where’d You Go Bernadette? and will probably read it again the future. Thank you for the recommendations, I’ve added a couple to my list!
I am loving Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore! Such a great find!
Great post, Anne!
Books I decided to read because of the cover:
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman (one of the best books I’ve read in years)
Oh! You Pretty Things by Shanna Mahin (currently
reading and loving)
Kitchens of the Great Midwest
by J. Ryan Stradal
The Ice Cream Queen of
Orchard Street by Susan Jane
Gilman
What Was Lost by Catherine
O’Flynn (check out the UK
cover)
Villa America by Liza
Klaussmann
Before I Met You by Lisa
Jewell
The Restoration of Otto Laird
by Nigel Packer
Read Bottom Up by Neel Shah
Happy reading and thanks for the great recommendations!
Books with eye-catching covers I’m considering reading:
Love Fortune and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius
The Secret of Raven Point by Jennifer Vanderbes
The Betrayers by David
Bezmozgis
Ana of California by Andi Teran
Landing Gear by Kate Pulling
Peony in Love by Lisa See
Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia
The Shore by Sara Taylor
Oops. I meant ‘Landing Gear’ by Kate Pullinger?
Also, ‘Saint Mazie’ by Jami Attenberg
I recently read City of Ember due to it’s simple, bold (and gold!) cover. Covers like that immediately catch my eye. 🙂 I liked the easy read so much (and even read some parts aloud to my 8 and 9 yr olds) that I’d like to read the rest of the series! And of course, all those Anna Bond books with gorgeous, to-die-for covers make me want to read those classics! The only one I’ve read out of those is Anne and part of Little Women. (gasp! hangs head in shame..)
Wait…aren’t you supposed to judge books by their cover? haha. I’ve long been a book cover snob. I hate staring at an ugly book on my table.
I chose Shadow and Bone as my based-on-the-cover entry. I was only mildly interested in the book, but loved the cover so much that I got it anyway. I’m also a fan of all the paper cut out covers that you see in MG novels lately, like Shiver, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, and A Tale Dark and Grim.
The Lake House by Kate Morton. Loved the way it was written – switching from present day to the past.
The Good Girl by Mary Kubica. Again written in such a way to keep the reader guessing. Glad I judged by the covers!
I picked up my first Terry Pratchett as I was drawn to the cover and now have a complete discworld collection.
Oh yes. Always. I can skip over entire chunks of books by noticing the color of the spine. Black/red, black/gray, modern type, bold type, italic-modern-bold-all caps type: not for me.
Fluorescent colors: skip. Dark blue/black: skip. Guns: skip. Men running: skip. White/black/red: skip. Battleships, Nazi symbols, lightning bolts: skip.