Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Do you judge a book by its cover? Do certain covers attract or repel you?

I find it ironic that English has settled on "don't judge a book by its cover" as a metaphor for not judging people when publishing firms spend money trying to have covers tell you the genre of the book and affect you psychologically.

I probably do judge books a bit. Not if I have a specific book I'm looking for. But I love a good mystery/thriller so dark and moody covers (black, grey, dark blues etc) tend to be representations of the kinds of books I like to read.

It's funny how predictable they are - suspense/thriller/horror with a lot of black, chick lit with pink and other pastels, etc.

A fun thing to look at is a classic like Pride & Prejudice and how the covers have been done over the years. Even though the story is set in a specific era, you can often tell which covers were made in the 1940's, 1970's, 2000's, etc.

Oh I definitely judge a book by its cover. That is after I judge it by author and title.

If the cover lies to me about genre then i get upset. Vladimir is definitely one that lies. The cover reads romance, but it’s not. It’s women’s fiction that is so not my jam.

Most covers are fine but certain trends are better than others.

I don’t find the cartoony romance covers appealing at all. I can forgive love hypothesis because that was artwork for the fan fiction.

Robin P wrote: "It's funny how predictable they are - suspense/thriller/horror with a lot of black, chick lit with pink and other pastels, etc.

A fun thing to look at is a classic like Pride & Prejudice and how ..."

I sometimes struggle with ATY cover prompts. Modern books tend to have a specific cover design (although some have a different North American vs Europe cover). But the older a book is, the more covers it can have. You can think you're going to get the cover with the gold/bug/flower/chair/etc, but sometimes when the library finds your book, it's plain and not the cover you thought. I usually end up counting them for cover prompts though.

I absolutely consider covers especially when it’s a book I’m not familiar with. I may not check it out or buy it but I’ll pick it up and read the back cover and page through it. I have recently bought books by authors I think I will like but the cover was more of the selling point. And then, there’s the book I special ordered from a bookstore. The cover I saw on GR was not the one that came in! This one has a full naked backside of a woman. I was a little surprised! I’m saving it for next year’s reading but I am curious what I bought. 🤷‍♀️

If I find a cover attractive, I'll probably pick it up and read the back to see if I want to read it. But no matter how pretty the cover, if it doesn't sound good, I won't read it. And conversely, if I already love the author, no matter how ugly I find the cover, I'll still read the book.

As to what attracts me - I like clean, simple graphics, not cartoony, and I like bright colours, not pastels. So basically, the recent trends in romance covers turn me off instantly, despite being one of my favourite genres. And I don't always mind movie tie-in covers. But again it comes down to some movie poster trends I like and some I hate.

Dubhease wrote: "Robin P wrote: "It's funny how predictable they are - suspense/thriller/horror with a lot of black, chick lit with pink and other pastels, etc.

A fun thing to look at is a classic like Pride & Pr..."

I think it's totally ok to use a book for a cover prompt even if the edition you read is different. You're right, for an older book, there can be dozens of covers.

I don't like movie tie-in covers and generally I don't like covers that are supposed to be photographs of the characters, (unless they are nonfiction history or biography), because they never look the way I imagine the characters.

I don't spend a lot of time looking at covers so I often miss that the cover has some kind of optical illusion or picture in the background.

I really hate the current trend for those cartoonish covers - simplistic, colorful drawings. I find it hard to get interested in any book with that type of cover art. If the story is really appealing to me ( as in The Bookish Life of Nina Hill ) I could overlook the cover style.

I tend to like artistic covers or those with patterns or those where it is obvious that someone took time and effort to come up with it.

Pretty or unusual covers may get me to pick up a book and see what it's about, but it doesn't make it more likely that I will read a certain book (I don't think, there's a boatload of research that goes into these kinds of things that are pretty subliminal). I tend to like photographs or very realistic drawings. I'm not impressed with the trend of "blob" covers (I think someone on here called them that somewhere!). I also don't mind when people don't look like their cover image. More often than not, I form an image in my head of what the person looks like, regardless of what the author tried to tell me about their appearance. Sorry, your hero has black hair, stop trying to tell me he's blonde, lol.

An unappealing cover also won't prevent me from reading a book. Though I did shove a post-it note over the cover of , I couldn't stand that sad sap face looking at me anymore!! (I didn't really like the book, either, so make of that what you will)

Robin P wrote: "Do you judge a book by its cover? Do certain covers attract or repel you?"

I love a good cover, and generally hate a bad one. I will go out of my way to acquire an edition with a preferable cover. I will absolutely pick up a book and give it a try because of a great cover if I find I'm remotely interested in the book on closer inspection. I generally do not write a book off due to a bad cover, but I do generally feel disappointed they didn't bother to do better.

Some of my current and recent cover loves:

The covers do not influence me one way or the other on what to read. I always dislike our cover prompts. Having said that, however, I do enjoy book covers. I detest the new "style" of boxy, plain, and AI looking "art" on the covers. Yuck. I actually dislike them so much that I avoid buying any.

I do judge books by their cover but only in a positive way, I think, in that sometimes a cover catches my attention and makes me pick up the book and see what it's about. I've never been turned off by a cover.

I have definitely been burned by pretty covers before, so I try to keep that in mind when browsing books, especially new releases. The publishing industry tends to have certain covers for certain genres, and I find my eyes skim over book covers that clearly indicate a genre I'm not interested in -- although as others have noted above, these "indications" aren't always accurate, and sometimes I wonder what great reads I've missed out on because I immediately discounted it on sight as "not for me".

I'm a fan of older books, and love a good retro style a la Penguin Modern Classics, and I'm really good at gravitating to those NYRB editions hidden on library shelves! I like things a bit weird or offbeat too. Some covers I've gravitated towards are:



Robin - I'm totally with you on the movie covers! That said, I don't mind a character represented on the cover if it's stylized somehow, or an image from an old painting or photo.

Phair, I judge a book but those cartoonish covers too-making assumptions about the story :p

I do enjoy a cover that adds to the story in some way or is lovely to look at. I don't use it to choose books... that's what this community is for!

I saw these Penguin Drop Caps covers and fell in love with them. A friend bought me the whole set as a surprise! (This is the kind of friend we all need in our lives, right?) I love the covers and the colorful matching book page edging, and how they look on my shelves. Most of the selections I've read have been wonderful -- there are a few I have no interest in reading and a couple that I already own copies of, but of course I can't break up the set.

They are lovely

I choose books based on author or reviews - the cover doesn't bother me generally, but some covers really turn me off. Sometimes I have to hide the cover while I'm reading the book!