Judging Books by Their Covers

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Judging Books by Their Covers

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1ELiz_M
mei 5, 2013, 12:20 pm

As my available bookshelf space is rapidly diminishing, more and more I find myself choosing to buy prettier editions rather than just the cheapest editions. So, I just wanted a place to learn about pretty new editions/series and so on.

2Dzerzhinsky
mei 5, 2013, 12:28 pm

But--of what kind of books?

3ELiz_M
mei 5, 2013, 12:38 pm

I have become enamored with Penguin's Great Loves series; I am likely going to ditch my current copy of Giovanni's Room in favor of the Great loves edition to match the other books I own in this series:


4ELiz_M
mei 5, 2013, 12:47 pm

>2 Dzerzhinsky: The good ones, of course ;)

5ELiz_M
Bewerkt: mei 5, 2013, 1:01 pm

Message 1 notwithstanding, I am still generally in the mode of student book buying -- the majority of my books are paperback and bought used. So a few weeks back, I was delighted to find an inexpensive Penguin Classics book designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith:



Now I want to own several more:



6nymith
mei 5, 2013, 1:16 pm

I daydream of owning books published by the Hesperus Press and NYRB on the strength of their aesthetic appeal, but also due to the often obscure and/or foreign works they publish.

I make it a habit to trade in anytime I see a hardcover or good looking trade paperback of a book I already have. But I don't deliberately seek out upgrades - that is what Goodwill is for.

7ELiz_M
mei 5, 2013, 1:16 pm

I recently read Michael Kohlhass and quite enjoyed the experience; the book was just the right size and well-layed out. I love the idea of the series, but I wish it did not look as if it was sponsored by Pantone:

8ELiz_M
mei 5, 2013, 1:34 pm

>6 nymith: Oooooh! I have never heard of Hesperus Press! I do love many of the relatively obscure books reissued by NYRB, but the current design aesthetic does not appeal to me. However, I did specifically buy their War of the Worlds due to the illustrations by Edward Gorey:

9ELiz_M
mei 5, 2013, 1:47 pm

>6 nymith: And now I will have to keep an eye out for:

10overlycriticalelisa
mei 5, 2013, 2:11 pm

the new york public library edition of jane eyre is beautiful. i don't know how to link a photo of it for you, so here's a link to my review, which has the cover: http://www.librarything.com/work/2204/book/96409114

the edition has replicas of plates with art of the story throughout, and a copy of a handwritten letter that charlotte bronte wrote in the beginning. it's *lovely*.

11kswolff
mei 5, 2013, 3:26 pm

Or these terrible sci fi and fantasy covers:

http://www.goodshowsir.co.uk/

12ELiz_M
mei 5, 2013, 3:31 pm

>10 overlycriticalelisa: "The New York Public Library Collector's Editions is a series of favorite masterpieces of world literature featuring rare and beautiful materials from the Library's collections. An elegant, distinctive design -- foil-trimmed covers with matching endpapers; compact, easy-to-hold size; and modern, readable type -- makes the books perfect gifts or collector's items."

Hhmmm, I wonder if the NYPL shop has sales. These sound beautiful; I will have to stop by and leaf through one or two of them!

13ELiz_M
Bewerkt: mei 5, 2013, 3:39 pm

>11 kswolff:


I'm speechless.

14ELiz_M
mei 5, 2013, 3:48 pm

Another publisher I find intriguing is Archipelago Books, "a not-for-profit press devoted to publishing excellent translations of classic and contemporary world literature." I discovered them either through a book fair or because I was trying to hunt down a copy of

15ELiz_M
Bewerkt: dec 29, 2018, 8:57 am

Ok, this has entertained me through several loads of laundry, but it is time to stop procrastinating the rest of my chores. So, last one for now is yet another Penguin series (I swear, I don't work for them!).

Drop Caps:


I was beginning to warm to these editions until they came out with "K". Sue Monk Kidd? Does Penguin not have the rights to anything by Kafka? Kerouac? Kippling? Kundera?

16nymith
mei 5, 2013, 4:26 pm

15: Kafka is scary, Kipling isn't PC, Kerouac wrote for young men and Kundera's stuff is full of sex and philosophical nattering. Judging by the six above, my inner Amazon shopping algorithm says Kidd is the best choice to go with those "safe" selections.

17kswolff
mei 5, 2013, 5:15 pm

16: But how can "safe" literature actually exist and not become some bland tasteless lump of boringness? The prose equivalent of beige? Sounds like the recipe for middlebrow populist garbage. Screw it, read some Genet and Bataille

18nymith
mei 5, 2013, 7:50 pm

17: "Safe" in my book just means clubbable in the average reading group made up of young to middle aged women. This means everything from "inspirational" misery lit (God help us) to the obligatory Margaret Atwood to nominees for the Orange Prize, with an occasional lofty classic thrown in - usually of the Austen/Dickens variety. They do not read Durrell or Mishima. This means they do not interest me.

However, I don't think being a literary snob means adopting some kind of hipper-than-thou attitude that automatically believes the less known books are the best ones. In the end I don't really give a damn about how "transgressive" or "cool" a writer is supposed to be. I read The Portable Beat Reader - most of those guys were all hat and no cattle. On the other hand, Great Expectations was brilliant. Safe? Not safe? Who cares! Talented? Not talented? That's the real criterion.

But hey, I own Genet and don't own Kidd. Talk about your hipster judgments...

19kswolff
mei 5, 2013, 9:44 pm

18: I read The Portable Beat Reader - most of those guys were all hat and no cattle. Very true. Kerouac has not aged well. William S. Burroughs on the other hand. And as far as safe goes, who here has read Sade?

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls1hyj45EY1qag2f8o1_1280.jpg

It is tough to be a lit snob without going full hipster on things. A weakness I'm sure many of us share. But the sophistication of snobbery is also built upon a certain degree of prejudice. There are some things we simply won't waste our time reading, whether it's the groupthink flavor-of-the-week of the middlebrow or the kewl transgression of some writer with a penchant for 4-letter words and erotic acrobatics.

I'm a big French lit fan, despite my ignorance of the language, but I adore Honore de Balzac

But we might be getting off track with the "safe" thing. Back to pretty covers!

20nymith
mei 6, 2013, 12:31 pm

19: Haven't read Balzac yet, just Victor Hugo. Savage Romantic splendour in all its glory. I read his Hunchback of Notre-Dame twice along with Les Miserables. I'm planning to try Zola next.

Back on topic, another publisher I'm fond of is Konemann. They put out a bunch of classics in compact hardcovers. Printed in Hungary. I own about ten of them, all with dark green dustjackets. Things of beauty.

Then of course there are Everyman's Library editions. Although I find their design team strikingly unimaginative they are still beautifully bound books.

21CliffBurns
mei 6, 2013, 12:53 pm

Binding and appearance are nice, but it's also important to secure complete, authorized, unexpurgated versions of the text.

Beautifully laid out for easy reading, generous margins and spacing.

Readability becomes more and more important the older I get. Recently, I was forced to secure a pair of reading glasses--either that or hideously expensive "progressive" lenses, which optometrists love to try to foist on you.

22mejix
mei 6, 2013, 1:06 pm

>21 CliffBurns:
They've tried to make me wear bifocals. The bastards!

23CliffBurns
mei 6, 2013, 1:56 pm

I met a chap in Montana who ground lenses for a quarter of a century and he insisted progressive lenses are a scam and optometrists are raking in buckets of money at the expense of the rest of us. When I explained that with my normal, everyday glasses I was finding it difficult to read, he said: "Take them off." And, it's true, I read far better without them. But with the new reading glasses, they give perfect focus...at 1/3 of the cost of progressives.

24mejix
mei 6, 2013, 7:13 pm

>23 CliffBurns:
I am suspicious of disposable contact lenses too. I've always felt that non disposable just make more sense financially. Which is why they are being discontinued. I'm sure all these companies are owned by Halliburton.

25kswolff
mei 6, 2013, 10:57 pm

24: What are your thoughts on black UN helicopters, water fluoridation, and Alex Jones?

26mejix
mei 7, 2013, 10:29 am

>25 kswolff: halliburton too?

27anna_in_pdx
mei 7, 2013, 2:36 pm

We are having a vote on whether to add fluoride to our water here in Portland right now. It is an issue that really brings out a lot of strong feelings.

28overlycriticalelisa
mei 7, 2013, 2:38 pm

hey, someone else in portland!

::waves::

i had no idea water fluoridation was such a huge issue; yes, it certainly has brought out a *lot* of strong feelings here...

29kswolff
mei 7, 2013, 11:23 pm

27: Why not show Dr. Strangelove before that enlightening debate with its various shades of left- and right-wing crackpottery? (What's the plural of crackpot?)

30oldstick
mei 8, 2013, 5:25 am

Is there any reason why it shouldn't be 'crackpots?' I feel a siren from QI coming on!

31RobertDay
mei 8, 2013, 8:13 am

29: Portland, Oregon - Enlightenment? (And 'crackpottery' sounds just fine.)

32alco261
Bewerkt: mei 20, 2013, 12:57 pm

Dit bericht is door zijn auteur gewist.

33anna_in_pdx
Bewerkt: mei 8, 2013, 12:01 pm

*sigh* I am avoiding the subject with many of my friends, because they sound like lunatics when they get going on this subject. My partner is against it because he likes our water not to have anything added to it but he says it is a purely aesthetic preference and he is not a conspiracy theorist. He also thinks the ubiquitous yard signs that say "No Flouridation Chemicals" are silly because of the redundancy of the scare word "chemicals".

We do have very nice water here, it's quite pristine, but I don't see the harm in adding a little bit of fluoride to help with Portland kids' dental health. But I bet it gets voted down.

34kswolff
mei 8, 2013, 6:50 pm

33: We do have very nice water here, it's quite pristine, but I don't see the harm in adding a little bit of fluoride to help with Portland kids' dental health. But I bet it gets voted down.

It's hard not to have contempt for people who oppose something this obviously beneficial. These people make Social Credit credit crackpot Ezra Pound look sane.

And how can you have an "aesthetic preference" for something you can't even see? It's like eating gluten free without having celiac disease. Not sure what's worse, the presumption or the posturing?

Check out this cover:

http://www.fluoridealert.org/uploads/fluoride-deception.jpg

35anna_in_pdx
Bewerkt: mei 8, 2013, 7:12 pm

Yeah when I first moved back here after being in Egypt for many years, I went to get braces because my teeth had regressed (had braces in high school but lost my retainer). The orthodontist looked in my mouth and the first thing he said was "You aren't from Portland, are you?" I said "Well no, we didn't move here until I was 15, why?" and he said "your teeth are too good. You were obviously brought up somewhere that put fluoride in their water." Whereas my partner has so many fillings and bridges that you can barely see his original teeth. He blames genetics. I think not.

Anyhow, there are things that people are not really reasonable about. I have a long list of issues I may be irrational on, but this is not one of them.

ETA: Boy is this ever off topic. Sorry. Back to book covers.

36overlycriticalelisa
mei 8, 2013, 7:29 pm

when i moved to portland and went to the dentist 6 months later i was told the same thing - "looks like you moved here not long ago and your teeth are already suffering for it." same reason - growing up with fluoride in the water.

i am totally for fluoridation but understand some of the arguments against it; i just don't agree with any of them really.

37augustusgump
mei 8, 2013, 9:17 pm

Nowadays that so many people drink bottled water, I wonder how much difference it makes.

38augustusgump
mei 8, 2013, 9:33 pm

An interesting piece on "gendered book covers." The author issued a challenge for people to imagine that books written by men were written by women and vice versa and produce a cover. Some of the results are shown.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/07/coverflip-maureen-johnson_n_3231935.htm...

39RobertDay
mei 9, 2013, 8:33 am

> 37: Most bottled water has mineral levels that wouldn't be permitted in tap water, and its biological testing is nowhere near as rigourous as for that put into public supply (in the UK and Europe, at least).

40alco261
Bewerkt: mei 20, 2013, 12:58 pm

Dit bericht is door zijn auteur gewist.

41DavLL56
mei 9, 2013, 9:57 am

Hey! WTF! I was reading about judging books by their covers and blammo! Then the subjected turned to the conspiracy of water fluoridation! Lets back to the subject at hand. Buying books for how they will look on your shelf.

43DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 9, 2013, 11:24 am

Alma Classics, formerly Oneworld classics, does nice covers. Not quite Hesperus, but:

44DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 9, 2013, 12:05 pm

More...

..

45DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 9, 2013, 12:08 pm


..

46DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 9, 2013, 11:58 am

..

47CliffBurns
mei 9, 2013, 11:04 am

Those are truly gorgeous.

48DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 9, 2013, 11:54 am

..

49DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 9, 2013, 2:07 pm

I wasn't crazy about the new Nabokov covers for Vintage, but they look pretty good together and displayed on a wall (they are shadow boxes by different artists/illustrators):



But maybe they aren't photographing well:

http://www.amazon.com/Glory-Vladimir-Nabokov/dp/0679727248

vs.

http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320461978l/54995.jpg

And then there's this beaut:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NrUoFnvMmQw/Tt0y_81mfGI/AAAAAAAABRY/V7CNMYKZtoM/s1600/...

50nymith
mei 9, 2013, 2:02 pm

Oh lovely.... I must get hold of some of those. Thanks for the website link at #43, DanMat.

51nymith
mei 9, 2013, 2:03 pm

49: I do like some of the Vintage book designs, but I'm not keen on the Nabokov set. A bit wacky for my taste.

52DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 9, 2013, 4:32 pm

>50 nymith:

They (Alma) commission (or maybe just accept) new translations as well. This is Goethe's Wilhelm Meister:

http://www.almaclassics.com/wilhelm-meister-p-408-book.html

And this work by Chekhov, largely forgotten. Again a new translation I believe:

http://www.almaclassics.com/sakhalin-island-p-113-book.html

53ELiz_M
mei 9, 2013, 2:42 pm

>41 DavLL56: Thank you.

>43 DanMat:-48 Some of those covers are stunning. I had no idea that Turgenev had written a Faust!

54DavLL56
mei 9, 2013, 5:54 pm

Ahhh! Thanks for getting back to the subject. I never really thought much about the cove art work. The covers posted are absolutely wonderful. I am curious how are the books displayed in anyone collection: cover forward on the shelf or with the spine facing out? I love the shadow box idea! Most of my books are in boxes. I have to look at the books I want display. I like the Librarything feature that displays book covers. I just had a thought of making a collection of artistic cover on LibraryThing. On another note, I would like to display some of my vinyl record album covers on the wall like art work.

55DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 9, 2013, 8:35 pm

I have a nice glass coffee table so I'll have books out that I'm not reading laying on top for casual perusal; otherwise books with similar publishers and covers are next to each other on my shelves. Sometimes the spines are nice. But I tend to remember what I have purchased based on what I can remember of the cover...

I like most covers, but I won't buy something that has a cover or picture that I find ugly. There's not many of those however. If I was enamored by a certain book or cover I might display it book store fashion standing up, cover exposed. But I generally wait until I read them to fully appreciate it. People poke fun of me when I do read my books because I try to be careful with them...minimize creases (particularly creases along the spine), make sure the pages aren't bent or the corners of the cover get too worn. It's strange, I love those nicely worn library books but anything of my own that I've read and haven't been too careful with perturbs me. I think I have too many books to do cover forward display. It's an interesting thought though.

56alco261
Bewerkt: mei 20, 2013, 12:58 pm

Dit bericht is door zijn auteur gewist.

57DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 10, 2013, 10:28 am

...

58DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 12, 2013, 3:28 pm

I like these Vintage covers of Cormac Mccarthy more so than the newer ones...

. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .

59nymith
mei 10, 2013, 10:47 am

58: I have that edition of Child of God. Wouldn't mind having some of the others in the same style. Arresting and bleak.

I have a copy of Tales of the Alhambra from Ediciones Miguel Sanchez. That counts as a pretty book. Here are images from the Spanish language edition:

http://www.todocoleccion.net/cuentos-alhambra-washington-irving-ilustrado-bellos...

60anna_in_pdx
mei 10, 2013, 2:55 pm

57: I used to own that Wizard of Oz edition!

58: My dad has all those prettier older versions of the McCarthy books. I remember reading Suttree at his house.

61DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 10, 2013, 4:13 pm

Ah, Suttree. I read it last summer. Quite the experience! It was on my shelf for about 10 years and I passed it over a few times, but boy oh boy, what incredible writing! Surely his magnum opus. Haven't been as thrilled with the border trilogy but maybe the final volume will pull it together. I liked The Crossing more than All The Pretty Horses.

63msladylib
mei 10, 2013, 7:53 pm

I have a few of these Penguin Classics. The are even a joy to touch!

64nymith
mei 10, 2013, 7:57 pm

In Babylon sits on my to-be-read shelf in large part due to the elegant cover:

http://ca.pbsstatic.com/l/30/9630/9780060959630.jpg

I also enjoy looking at the cover for Roland Barthes' Mythologies. Simple yet intriguing:

http://cache1.bdcdn.net/assets/images/book/large/9780/3745/9780374521509.jpg

66DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 12, 2013, 3:57 pm

Here's Hawthorne's Wonder Book:

67DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 13, 2013, 9:38 am

Junior Deluxe Editions...





. .







68DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 12, 2013, 4:16 pm

-64

That's a great cover for Barthes' Mythologies. Sometimes--actually most of the time--simple and smart (with nice color) wins the day!

70DanMat
mei 12, 2013, 10:24 pm

Ha! Bizarre and random. Is that an ebook cover?

71nymith
mei 13, 2013, 12:12 am

72anna_in_pdx
mei 13, 2013, 12:53 am

Wow, that is a wonderful blog. Tutis seems too hilarious to be true.

73ELiz_M
Bewerkt: mei 13, 2013, 8:57 am

>71 nymith: Amazing! I do almost want to buy some for the absolute absurdity of the covers, but don't want to encourage them to produce more:

74ELiz_M
Bewerkt: mei 13, 2013, 8:56 am

>64 nymith: The In Babylon cover is beautiful!

>67 DanMat: Are the Junior Deluxe editions still in print? I can find some copies online at various booksellers, but no real info on when they were published...? They are charming & if not too hard to find, I might create a small collection for the niece & nephew.

75DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 13, 2013, 10:20 am

>74 ELiz_M:

About 5 years ago I was collecting them, they're usually cheap, ~5 bucks...I have about 7 or 8. Sturdy, that's for sure.

I'd go to a used book store, they're usually mixed in the children's section. For some reason I feel the the online sellers would charge more than a used book store where you might pay a buck or two...but you may see them at garage sales, salvation army, etc.

1950's and 1960's? Some in these pictures I've never seen so they might be harder to find, or cost a little more...



>73 ELiz_M:

Daisy Miller, what has gotten into you? First Italian men, then interplanetary space travel? And I don't recall any bicycles in Treasure Island, that works as a cover for The Third Policeman though. Doesn't look like the person creating them is even doing a cursory wikipedia search....

Father Goriot as a young man? But still, the most egregious to me is the Wrenching of the Nut. Or maybe it's The Gripping of the Nut...

76augustusgump
mei 13, 2013, 6:21 pm

73 et al: Surely these Tutis folks are having us on. This has to be a joke.

Doesn't it?

77nymith
mei 13, 2013, 6:43 pm

76: I like to pretend the guys at Tutis are enraged book-binding fetishists trying with all their might to bring discredit to the ebook.

78kswolff
mei 13, 2013, 7:15 pm

73: I have to admit, I'm somewhat drawn to the Daisy Miller cover.

79DugsBooks
Bewerkt: mei 13, 2013, 8:13 pm

#71. The article's author at the Caustic Cover Critic link ostensibly protecting women from exploitation by Luis Royo " Now, I loathe Royo--his stock in trade is hideous softcore paintings " and then shows an enlargeable cover assortment, reminds me of Benny Hill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSBVzwhnwUo

80Fred_R
mei 14, 2013, 10:07 am

#74 Unless you're looking for specific titles you might have pretty good luck buying them in one large lot on ebay or another sales site. In the long run you'd probably pay less per volume that way. I see them locally every now and then but it could take ages to build a collection that way. We have what must be a majority of the titles but I've never compared them to a full list. I got them at a garage sale about a decade ago and I paid something ridiculously cheap like $10 for two big boxes of them. The sellers were an older couple. She had been a school teacher and he used to run a video game arcade. Very nice people. He even let me have a go at a couple of the arcade games he was selling. Good prices on those too, but I don't have room for something like that.

81nymith
Bewerkt: mei 14, 2013, 10:34 am

More pretty books:

I think if Edward Gorey did the cover, it is automatically worthy. I would love to have these editions of Henry James.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2YCt8Ia0Tb8/TTIc5VYq7FI/AAAAAAAAAtw/yRi1vbt466Q/s1600/...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2YCt8Ia0Tb8/TTIcuHHUuHI/AAAAAAAAAto/-1W0LnUAxUY/s1600/...

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2YCt8Ia0Tb8/TTIciJzFpOI/AAAAAAAAAtg/0z-M3h0NgUU/s1600/...

What Maisie Knew has been reprinted with the Gorey cover as a Dover Non-Thrift, which is awesome.

82DanMat
Bewerkt: mei 14, 2013, 2:31 pm

My mom has What Maise Knew in that Doubleday paperback, a great cover illustrator for James' work (and others too apparently!).

. .



. .



..

. .. .

. .. .

*here's a flckr page

83DugsBooks
Bewerkt: mei 20, 2013, 8:26 pm

I like "Golden Age" type Science Fiction books which have "bas relief" type covers with comets, rocket ships etc. I do not own any however. Years ago I saw 3 or so at a local University Library while wandering through "stacks" and was tempted to "drop them out a rear window on the first floor" as I was told to do by someone I met there {"if I ever saw a book I really wanted"}. I have since tried to find other examples of this but have been unable to do so. Does anyone else know of some examples I could look for, quietly, without having the price on them raised?

I am looking at this url http://io9.com/5832671/how-science-fiction-cover-art-got-its-pulpy-sense-of-wond...


Later edit, Aha the method is evidently called bas-relief stamping.

l

84ELiz_M
mei 21, 2013, 10:37 pm

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/05/restyling-classics-dont-jud...

The Atlantc discusses Penguin's "drop caps" books and reissued classics posted in the thread above.

85ELiz_M
mei 29, 2013, 7:43 am

Back Bay Books has some lovely, whimsical covers for Evelyn Waugh. I haven't read him yet, but these covers have moved his book up the tbr pile.

86nymith
mei 29, 2013, 9:11 am

85: Do read Waugh. Decline and Fall is a good starting point.

87augustusgump
mei 29, 2013, 11:40 am

My introduction to Waugh was A Handful of Dust. A strange shift in the middle, almost like two different books, but I would recommend it.

88ELiz_M
mei 29, 2013, 11:59 am

>86 nymith: Yes, of the books in post 85, that is the one I just bought. There was a whole set at the used bookstore, but I since already own editions in good condition, of Dust & Brideshead, I couldn't bring myself to buy them again even if the covers are prettier.

89varielle
jun 23, 2013, 6:02 pm

Followers of this thread might be interested in this demo of how beautiful books were once made. I've thought of taking up bookbinding as a hobby when I retire, but now I don't know. http://www.wimp.com/beautifulbooks/

90CliffBurns
jun 23, 2013, 6:17 pm

That's a lot of dedication.

92msladylib
jul 4, 2013, 8:01 pm

That video was enthralling. Thanks.

93AdamWorth
nov 6, 2013, 3:58 am

I know this isn't what this thread is about, but I have to admit that much of my early reading/purchases were based more on book covers rather than content. Still, I did pretty well. I discovered the following authors solely based on their book covers.

Kurt Vonnegut
E. L. Doctorow
John Irving
Jules Verne
E.R. Burroughs
Douglas Adams
Joseph Heller
Anthony Burgess
Richard Adams
Terry Brooks
Hunter S. Thompson
Frank Herbert
Ken Kesey

...and many more.

94nymith
nov 11, 2013, 12:12 pm

I think the Zittaw Press edition of Varney the Vampire deserves a mention.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0979587158.jpg

95CliffBurns
jan 5, 2014, 12:58 pm

Really, REALLY horrible covers of famous books:

http://flavorwire.com/378513/20-embarrassingly-bad-book-covers-for-classic-novel...

(Gord sent this--couldn't remember if it had been posted here or on some other thread...but it made me chortle this morning so what the heck.)

96anna_in_pdx
jan 6, 2014, 11:03 am

Wow. I particularly enjoyed the Wizard of Oz one.

98Sandydog1
feb 8, 2014, 1:36 pm

95, 96

...As well as "The Turn of the Nut" with wrenches, and Huck Finn. Those were also hilarious!

99LovingLit
feb 9, 2014, 2:09 am

>67 DanMat: love that childrens collection! It is gorgeous.

I love the Penguin books. Al but the orange covers. Moslty these:



Also the modern classics ones.

100oldstick
feb 23, 2014, 6:30 am

As it was pertinent I thought I would share this with you. I joined Librarything to keep track of books I had read, but did not own.However, probably due to covers, I still find I have picked up a book I have read before. I did this last week with "The Darkness" by Jason Pinter and realised a third of the way through that it was familiar. I looked at the cover, and then at the advert for another of his books.There was a striking similarity with books by Vince Flynn, also thrillers.So, even without recognising it we are being programmed to look for a certain style of cover!

102CliffBurns
aug 8, 2014, 9:16 pm

103.Monkey.
aug 9, 2014, 4:03 am

Penguin hasn't been thinking much at all lately. Their line of striped neon-colored covered is about enough to give someone a seizure, and now this absurdity? Ugh. Yeah, I will stick with my cheapie Wordsworth editions (not that they haven't made some hideous ones, but at least they sell them for a couple bucks only; I couldn't imagine paying full expensive new book price for something I'd want to hide!).

104varielle
Bewerkt: aug 9, 2014, 7:25 am

Well that is disturbing.

105oldstick
aug 10, 2014, 5:48 am

The Dragonstone by Lynn McInroy. Great cover, but I haven't found out how to link, yet.

106PossMan
aug 10, 2014, 6:41 am

The cover of a new edition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory seems to have aroused some hackles and the the Guardian has produced a list of the 5 worst covers ever. Not sure I agree with their choices - a bit too much PC about some of the comments to my liking.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/aug/07/five-worst-book-covers-ev...

107.Monkey.
aug 10, 2014, 6:48 am

I don't know if I'd call them the "worst ever," but they're certainly right up there.

108overlycriticalelisa
Bewerkt: aug 11, 2014, 10:38 am

hey, the us did something right! the charlie and the chocolate factory book cover referenced above is the uk edition. here is the us edition, and it's actually representative of the book:

/Users/elisas8/Desktop/BudbMwOIgAAXZnV.jpg

sorry, after trying i don't know how to post the image. i doubt the above works for someone not on my computer...

109Lyndatrue
Bewerkt: aug 11, 2014, 11:54 am

>108 overlycriticalelisa: Upload your image to your profile images, and then you'll be able to link to it here. Here's an example:

https://www.librarything.com/pic/4498074

110overlycriticalelisa
aug 11, 2014, 2:40 pm

>109 Lyndatrue:
thanks. here it is:
https://www.librarything.com/pic/4498248

(is there somewhere besides my profile i can move this? i don't want to keep it there...)

111CliffBurns
jan 20, 2015, 10:08 am

Great look at some of Richard Powers' classic SF book covers, for Ballard, etc.

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/psychoactive_sci-fi_surrealism_xtcs_andy_part

My book RIGHTEOUS BLOOD features cover art by Powers--the rights purchased from his estate. My gratitude to PS Publishing (and Peter Crowther) for seeking out such great art.

(Article from Gord)

112anna_in_pdx
jan 20, 2015, 11:28 am

111: I have that book, and one of the reasons I bought it (apart from "Hey! I know that author! sort of!") was the great cover art.

113CliffBurns
Bewerkt: jan 20, 2015, 12:41 pm

That Monsieur Crowther would secure cover art from a noted artist for a book by some weirdo, cult author from Sask-atch-ew-an shows you what a classy publisher he is. I have loads of respect for him--PS Publishing is a fine press. I think our colleague Monsieur Sales will confirm that...

114CliffBurns
dec 30, 2015, 1:14 pm

Book covers from 1966--some real "eyeball peelers":

http://hilobrow.com/2015/12/28/10-best-adventures-of-1966/

(From Gord)

115anna_in_pdx
dec 30, 2015, 2:36 pm

I have that printing of The Crying of Lot 49. Very psychedelic isn't it?

116CliffBurns
dec 30, 2015, 2:45 pm

I have that weeeiiirrrd edition of the Dick book, NOW WAIT FOR LAST YEAR.

Books these days seem a bit dull by comparison, don't they?

117CliffBurns
okt 7, 2017, 1:06 am

In honor of the season, the 40 creepiest book covers of all time:

http://lithub.com/40-of-the-creepiest-book-covers-of-all-time

119CliffBurns
dec 16, 2017, 11:48 am

Loved the Pessoa, in particular...

120mejix
dec 17, 2017, 2:27 am

Yeah, and the Communist Manifesto too. Very simple but evocative.

121lisapeet
dec 17, 2017, 8:18 am

They left out my favorite cover of the year, though—Gabe Habash's Stephen Florida.

122southernbooklady
dec 17, 2017, 8:57 am

In the category of "clever," I was fond of Beth Ann Fennelly's book:

123bluepiano
dec 17, 2017, 6:18 pm

>120 mejix: Yes indeed. To me, the only cover on the page that wasn't pedestrian.

>122 southernbooklady: It caught my eye but is it relevant to the book? or instead is the popsicle stick suggestive of something 'cooling' and the purple splodge something I should recognise as being somehow connected to something 'heating'? I don't get it.

124mejix
jan 26, 2018, 1:19 am

125southernbooklady
jan 26, 2018, 9:52 am

>124 mejix: Sadly, the Hogarth Press editions remain my favorite.

>123 bluepiano: Huh. I suppose I immediately connected with it's evocation of eating grape popsicles on hot summer days.

126bluepiano
jan 28, 2018, 7:36 am

A bit off-thread I suppose, but some of ye might like this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5XmjRsgywfr97t4VJ2tkDyh/judging-books-b....

127anna_in_pdx
jan 29, 2018, 12:13 pm

>126 bluepiano: those were so funny! Thanks!

128RobertDay
jan 29, 2018, 5:00 pm

>126 bluepiano: 'Private Eye' ran a similar series a few years ago, though they never reduced the examples to the pure archetypes. And 'The Bookseller' did an item possibly longer ago, about applying similar rules to the rentaquotes used on jackets. I only recollect three:

"charming" = There's a child in it.
"heart-warming"" = A child AND a dog.
"heart-breaking" = They die.

129bluepiano
jan 29, 2018, 5:35 pm

'heart-stopping': Will the child who wandered into traffic and the dog who ran to its rescue survive the artic's brutal blow?

'heart-rending': The child goes to Hell and the dog has no rewarding afterlife, as he's just a dog. 'heart-rending denouement': child's mother is diagnosed with cancer; child's father takes to drink and, cradling the child's cat, drowns himself.

This has set me wondering about gilt lettering on covers--to me, like Hollywood stills, a warning sign--and whether it's ever seen on the covers of novels with unhappy endings, or come to think of it on those of literary novels.

130anna_in_pdx
jan 29, 2018, 6:45 pm

My favorite best-seller/thriller cover trope is the cover that has a hole in the front or a ripped looking side, and a second cover underneath in some bright, often gilded, color showing through. I think one of the Dan Brown books had such a cover.

131Cecrow
jan 30, 2018, 7:49 am

>130 anna_in_pdx:, I immediately thought of V.C. Andrews

132CliffBurns
mei 23, 2018, 1:00 pm

A gorgeous collection of Penguins:

https://i.redd.it/ocws2z98z2z01.jpg

(Courtesy Good)

133lisapeet
mei 23, 2018, 2:14 pm

>130 anna_in_pdx: And I thought of my old copy of Jeffrey Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything (more recent runs don't have the cutout):

134mejix
feb 12, 2019, 10:29 pm

135Jargoneer
feb 13, 2019, 6:16 am

Surely the first rule of book covers for the majority of people is - never buy the edition with the film/TV tie-in cover.

136Cecrow
feb 13, 2019, 8:59 am

>135 Jargoneer:, uh-oh, I have a few of those, including The Portrait of a Lady and I, Robot. I guess I'm in the minority who never thought about it.

137CliffBurns
feb 13, 2019, 9:57 am

I hate the tie-in covers too, give me an old, used copy any day.

138CliffBurns
nov 30, 2019, 11:33 am

139mejix
nov 30, 2019, 2:18 pm

>138 CliffBurns:
These are pretty great. Good year for book covers, I think.

140Cecrow
dec 2, 2019, 7:57 am

>138 CliffBurns:. Hmm; as one of the commenters on that page says, those all look very same-y to me. As if all selected by the same single judge. It looks like good news for self-publishing; practically all of these are nothing that a bit of photoshopping couldn't easily cobble together.

141CliffBurns
jan 15, 2020, 3:32 pm

Check out these beauties from a bygone era:

https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-art-of-book-covers-1820-1914

(Another great find from Gord.)