It’s time for another installation of “Book Covers I Like.” As I’ve said before, it’s just WAYYY too easy to find book covers that I don’t think come quite up to scratch.  So instead I offer up a collection of book covers that I think hit the mark.

And so we begin….

#1: Starflight by Melissa Landers: What’s not to like? The image is strong, the typography seems spot on. The motion of the image carries you up to the title and is interesting enough that I really want to know what that ship is. and who’s on it.

#2: Naming the bits Between by Jessica M. Collette: I really love the treatment of the title here, very creative. It’s a very simplistic image, but it’s the intriguing way they incorporate the title that is the eye-catching feature here.  This is a great example of how a title can be the cover.  Don’t feel as if you have to have this super strong image for your cover or else you’re doomed.  This image is very relaxed, but fits perfectly.

#3: He will be my ruin by K.A. Tucker: I’ll admit it, this cover reminds me of the movie Titanic, that whole rolling around with Jack in the car down in the cargo hold scene.  But still, he will be her ruin …. the question is how? The cover is actually kind of subtle, leaving a lot to the imagination and with a title like that, I think it just helps add to the mystery.

#4: if i knew by JS Cooper:  I love this cover because it shows that someone was thinking outside the box.  If I saw this book on a bookstore shelf, I might pick it up for no other reason than to straighten it up.  You really have to have the right photo image to do this treatment.  If her arm wasn’t angled up like that, I don’t think this would have worked.  I’ll admit it … I want to know what she should have known!

#5: A Sudden Gust of Gravity by Lauri Boris: Based on the title or cover alone, I have no idea what this book is about, and yet I’m curious. Is it about a juggler? Has she travelled to space and left the surly bonds of Earth’s gravity behind? Could be, but I doubt it. I love how the image pulls your eye in all directions, roaming over every inch of the cover.  This is hard to accomplish and give the cover designer props for pulling it off and not having it distract from the overall goal of a book cover

#6: Doll Parts by Azzurra Nox: It took a second or two to realize she was staring at me … which kinda creeped me out … and now she’s like the Mona Lisa, staring at me no matter where I stand.  I’m glad they used a very simple font for the title.  Anything more would have been too much.  The image of the “doll” carries so much weight that anything more in the title would have been competing and in the ends detracting from the cover as a whole.

#7: The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman: WOW! What a striking cover.  It’s sort of distracting in its own way, but that distraction seems oh so appropriate when you read the title.  This louvered concept is genius to me.

#8: Pax by Sara Pennypacker: This cover seems alive, as if it’s an animation still and someone is about to hit play and it will suddenly come to life before my eyes.  I give Jon Klassen credit for this since he’s the illustrator. It’s a subdued image, somber in its coloring, but it’s the peacefulness of it that draws me in. It’s almost as if something is about to happen, a peaceful tension I guess you could call it.

#9: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine: Yes, I know … the TV show Once Upon a Time has overkilled the apple image for a queen, but I still like this creative use of it. It’s a twist I enjoy for a few reasons.  One is subtly.  How do you say snow white without saying snow white? Have a snowy white background. There’s a boldness to this image that I enjoy.  Had they had just the apple alone and the title elsewhere, this would not have worked half as well.

#10: Dead in Deep Water by Dave Sivers: We’ve seen docks before.  This is not a new image for a book cover, but it’s the way the designer uses the typography in conjunction with the image that is what I like.  It’s not subtle, but still it’s simple.  However, I do not think the cover would have been as effective if the man was centered in the image.

#11: Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey: Romance novel covers are a bitch to create and not have a shirtless man on the front.  You want romance that pulls the reader’s eye away from the 1000 other romance novels they’re perusing and we all know sex sells, or in this case, sexy men.  I love the color manipulation of this image, the antiquated look of the modern couple.  It’s very in keeping with the “Time Capsule” part of the title. I especially love the font they used for “Paris,” very Parisian.

One think I noticed while typing up this blog entry was how many of the authors chose to put “A Novel” after the title of their novels. I find this a little puzzling. Did they think I’d have a hard time figuring that out? The only reason I can think to do so was if there was another book up for sale on Amazon called “The Teleportation Accident” which was actually a non-fiction book retelling the account of an actual teleportation accident.  Naturally, if you want to name your novel the same title of a book that is already up for sale (which I would not recommend to begin with) you’d put “A Novel” after your’s so no one confused the books.  But even if I did that, I’d leave the “a Novel” off the book cover.  Just saying ….

Do you have any book covers that you think are head and shoulders above the maddening crowd of only so-so ones?  If so, I’d love to hear about them!  Click on “Leave A Comment” and share!

-Jennifer

Jennifer Geoghan, author of The Purity of Blood novel series and If Love is a Lie: A Partly True Love Story.

I’d love to hear from you! So click on “Leave A Comment” below and let me know what’s on your mind.