Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the 20th Read Harder task.

Hmmm this is a harder one of the tasks for me for some reason. Maybe . it's not very pretty lol

I look forward to seeing everyone's hated covers! Mine is Gabi, a Girl in Pieces .

I wish I hadn’t already read Gone with the Wind ...that cover turned me off the book for the longest time!

I'm probably going to go with . I really don't like that cover!

I read a lot of romance, and most of the covers are wretched. I grabbed the first really bad one I saw which was Kissing Comfort

This one is really tough. I need more people to post covers they hate so I can see if there is something on which I can piggyback!

Unless I see something with an uglier cover than Arbitrary Stupid Goal, then it'll be my read for this task.

I've always hated this cover.

If I hadn't read it already, probably Bossypants by Tina Fey. I cringe every time I see those forearms...

Plus it doubles up as a celebrity memoir!

If you hate movie (or other) tie-in covers on general principle there will be lots of good options.

The Great Gatsby! Priestdaddy: A Memoir is another contender.

Seconding Stephen's note on movie tie-in covers here. I hate these!

O Fallen Angel's cover hurts my eyes with their color choices, but its been on my TBR list so I'm excited to read it!

Hate feels too strong an emotion for book covers. I've seen a lot of bad/ugly ones on self-published books, and old science fiction and fantasy. But hate, no. The closest I can come to, so far, are the older covers for . But I'm still looking.

I don't have strong feelings towards covers, so I just scrolled through my to-read list until I took a dislike to this cover because it looks like the cover of an error analysis book I had in physics class.

I might go with for this task.

I've had The Mexican Flyboy on my TBR list, but I definitely hate the cover, so that's what I'm going with.

I feel most YA book covers apply to this.

I feel the same way about Bossypants but I've already read it. I'm going with

Riah wrote: "I've had The Mexican Flyboy on my TBR list, but I definitely hate the cover, so that's what I'm going with.

"

Wow! That really is a terrible cover!

Bonnie wrote: "Riah wrote: "I've had The Mexican Flyboy on my TBR list, but I definitely hate the cover, so that's what I'm going with.

"

Wow! That really..."

I know, right? It somehow manages to look misogynistic, racist and jingoistic all at the same time, while seemingly having nothing to do with anything at all from the book description. If I didn't already know I like the author and had this book recommended to me by people I trust, it would be real hard to resist judging it by this atrocious cover.

Ha! Those arms on the cover of Bossypants sure are something...
Similarly, I'm probably going to read Burr by Gore Vidal because those sideburns are haunting my nightmares:

My choice is Black Alice. Reminds me of the old-timey racist cartoons. But I've heard it's really good and I found it at my library's used book store for cheap, so...

Riah wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Riah wrote: "I've had The Mexican Flyboy on my TBR list, but I definitely hate the cover, so that's what I'm going with.

"

W..."

It probably would have worked for the 2017 micropress task too.

Riah wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Riah wrote: "I've had The Mexican Flyboy on my TBR list, but I definitely hate the cover, so that's what I'm going with.

"

W..."

Misogynist, racist, jingoistic AND ugly! I can see that they were going for a propaganda poster effect, possibly shooting for satire, but it is straight up terrible.

I'm having trouble finding a cover that truly inpires hatred rather than mild annoyance.

There are a couple of covers that annoy me because they try to be too clever and end up being irrelevant or trivial.

This picture has always irritated me because the book is primarily about writing the dialogue and lyrics for a musical and has next to nothing to say about composing the music.

This cover trivialized one of the greatest of Greek tragedies. The play is not about teenyboppers flinging their panties at a sexy, charismatic rock star; it is about a god driving his worshippers to madness and murder.

I can't use this book because I read it for last year's challenge, but these are pictures of a Mexican movie star, not Che Guevara! I disliked it so much that I linked to this cover rather than the one on my copy:

This cover is more embarrassing than hateful, but I may go with it if I don't use the book for the celebrity memoirs challange.

This cover makes me queasy. I don't know if I could finish the book knowing that picture is on the front of it. It's labeled as a romance, but I would never have guessed. I found it on a Goodreads list of ugly books: https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/ugly

There are some doozies in this list, but I'm not sure how available these editions are. Do we have to read the same version that has the cover we hate?

http://flavorwire.com/378513/20-embar...

Bobby wrote: "There are some doozies in this list, but I'm not sure how available these editions are. Do we have to read the same version that has the cover we hate?

http://flavorwire.com/378513/20-embar......"

Ooh, that's an excellent question.

I don't think I'm going to plan this one, I'll just go with something I read that happens to have a cover I don't like... but if December rolls around and I haven't found anything sufficiently ugly, I may go with James Patterson. A lot of his covers are butt-ugly, and I have been meaning to read something of his for a while for readers' advisory purposes.

Cozy mysteries tend to have cringe-worthy covers too, so that's an option!

I currently have three of these on my Want To Read List
The Little Friend,
I Await the Devil's Coming, and The Break

Sarah wrote: "I wish I hadn’t already read Gone with the Wind ...that cover turned me off the book for the longest time!"

Sarah - nailed it! That's my choice!

This category is tough because covers change so often. I did just but this hardcover copy of Interpreter of Maladies / The Namesake and I really hate the cover. Maybe I'll reread?

I am aware that it's not universally hated or anything but I can't stand looking at the cover of Turtles All the Way Down by John Green, because the text for the title and the author are the same and there's no separation, and my brain can't help but read the title as "Turtles All The Way Down John Green" and it annoys the hell out of my brain. Like, why are the turtles going down John Green?

Jody,
Lmao! That's awesome.

I was just in the bookstore and found ! The cover is awful, so I’ll read it for this task.

Karen wrote: "I currently have three of these on my Want To Read List
The Little Friend


Oh, The Little Friend is perfect. The cover IS the reason that I've never read it.

Karen wrote: "I currently have three of these on my Want To Read List
The Little Friend,
I Await the Devil's Coming , and The Break"

I can't speak for the others, but The Break is really good!

Beauty Queens

That's great Jody!!! My sister was commenting on a similar thing a few days ago but it was a food packet.

I'm going to read 'A Brief History of the Smile'. I got this book as part of a job lot and I can't stand the cover!!! Ugh!! https://goo.gl/images/TtE86b

Old sci-fi/fantasy is the hideous cover gift that keeps on giving, lol. I've been meaning to read this for a while, but can't bring myself to go out in public with it, or to shut the door on everyone and snuggle under the covers with it. It's an enormous naked man with horns. There's no unseeing it - and if he turns his head and gets that hat caught on a branch he's going to break his neck...

A Little Life

I've always hated this cover, but not sure I want to read the book.

I'm going with Ursula Le Guin's Left Hand Of Darkness. The 7/1/2000 edition has an iceberg on the cover. Friends have recommended it to me, but looking at the cover is definitely a turn off.

Not sure if I'm gonna go with it, but Someone Else's Life has a terrible (to me) cover that almost feels like it was done deliberately it's so hideous.

Jd wrote: "A Little Life

I've always hated this cover, but not sure I want to read the book."

If you like subversive fiction and relentless writing, you should absolutely read it. It's remains one of my most intense reading experiences and there is nothing but brilliance in the way Hanya Yanagihara writes. It is daunting (because of the length) but if you give it a chance, it's crazy rewarding!

Have you heard that the cover for A Little Life is a picture of a man's face during sexual climax? Don't know if that makes it better or worse.

Marie wrote: "Have you heard that the cover for A Little Life is a picture of a man's face during sexual climax? Don't know if that makes it better or worse."

What? Really? o.O

Oh, yes, you are right. Here's the info:

© 1987 The Peter Hujar Archive LLC/Pace-MacGill Gallery, New York/Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Peter Hujar: Orgasmic Man, 1969; from Peter Hujar: Love & Lust, published last year by Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco. A new exhibition, ‘Peter Hujar: 21 Pictures,’ will be on view at the gallery, January 7–March 5, 2016.

Carmen wrote: "Marie wrote: "Have you heard that the cover for A Little Life is a picture of a man's face during sexual climax? Don't know if that makes it better or worse."

Wh..."

....This sleight-of-hand is slyly hinted at in the book’s striking cover image, a photograph by the late Peter Hujar of a man grimacing in what appears to be agony. The joke, of which Yanagihara and her publishers were aware, is that the portrait belongs to a series of images that Hujar, who was gay, made of men in the throes of orgasm. In the case of Yanagihara’s novel, however, the “real” feeling—not only what the book is about but, I suspect, what its admirers crave—is pain rather than pleasure...

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/...

Thanks, Rainey!

Carmen wrote: "Thanks, Rainey!"

NP I have to admit, I always wondered about the cover. Thought it was odd. Now I know why.

It is odd. But memorable, and that's a good thing in selling books.