Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

So this topic is devoted to the topic of Covers. Have you ever decided to or decided not to read a book based on it's cover? I do it all the time. A good cover can catch my eye and my interest. So what covers attract you and which repel you? Is there anyone like me who gets annoyed when the cover girl or guy does not match the story? What about major errors like when the character in the book is of African American descent yet the picture on the cover is a blue eyed blond? Obviously you can't always judge a book by it's cover. Heck, you can't always trust them. So do you wish authors had more say about covers? I'm sure many authors are pleased with their covers, but I think I'd be a little upset if they got something majorly incorrect.

Also, do you have any favorite covers? If so please share.

I definitely judge a book by it's cover. Y'know those friend update emails GR sends out in the mornings? I tend to skim and just look at the covers. If one catches my eye, I'll click on it to see what the synopsis is and usually end up added it to my exponentially growing TBR shelf.

I also have a small obsession with Johanna Lindsey's old book covers.

Sans, You still need to tell me which covers you like so if I spot them I can get them for you.

D'oh! I totally forgot! I need to update my wishlist and which books I own. I'll PM you in a day or two!

Some covers I love!



I don't think a great cover will necessarily make me more likely to read a book, but it might make the book more likely to end up on my radar in the first place.

There are times when I dislike a cover so much that the book gets pushed back in my reading timeline. Example:


And it's a very good book--but the cover is made of cheese.

Weird cover quirk: I have a thing against too many shirtless dudes with washboard abs popping up in a row on my update feed, lol.

Galla, I agree. There are way too many shirtless dudes with washboard abs showing up on covers. I had to buy a book cover because my hubby was starting to get a bit of a complex with all the books I was reading with shirtless men.lol I may like to read romances, but I prefer the more conservative covers.

The following are some of my favorite covers. I love the picture plus, the fact that the cover has clues as to what will happen in the book:



I'll add more later.

Here are some covers from a some covers from a couple of books by Lysay Sands that I know from her website the original covers she didn't like. What do you guys think? Which do you like best from the three different covers? BTW the first book cover is the original.

Single White Vampire's three different covers:


Love Bites' three different covers:

I like the middle covers. The guys in the third covers aren't doing much for me.

I agree. I like it when they don't show the faces. I'd rather form my own thoughts as to what the guy looks like. The first cover looks a bit cartoonish and seems like something young children would read rather than an adult.

Interesting cover comparison, Lisa! The first ones don't catch my eye at all. The second do, though I'm not in love with the way the title/author bar cuts off the images. It's eye-catching, but in a way that makes the info bar and images compete with each other.

The guy on the third covers, while good-looking, would only turn my head in real life. In a bookstore, I wouldn't look twice at those covers unless I'd already heard good things about the title.

Lisarenee, I'm not a fan of paranormal, but if I had to choose a cover I would go with the cartoon cover for Single White Vampire and for and for Love's Bite, I would go with the third book.

The saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover," is somewhat old school. I think it's only half true. How can you not judge a book by the cover when the cover is the first thing you see? But the cover doesn't mean the book is good. So it's 50/50. And I think YA books, without a doubt, has the best covers (in this day and age). To me, covers are like works of art. The thinks that they do with graphic design and photography sometimes leave me breathless.

Niquae, that's one of the great things about the ereader revolution: no more embarrassing covers! I think we were discussing it in one of the threads here a couple weeks ago.

New cover love!

The first lines on Goodreads description for this book are:
He was looking for a killer. What he found was a woman who turned his lonely world upside down-and touched him as no other woman had ever done.

I'm sorry but it made me laugh. I bet I can guess how she touched him.....

Do you like this cover? Is it too much?

Not my type of cover, lol.

Here are a few of my favorite covers:

.... and more.

Wow, I didn't realize I had so many favorite covers!!

I really do judge a book by its cover. If it has a pretty cover, it almost always goes on my TBR, and it will usually get read too. If a book has an ugly cover, I usually won't read it... I can't help it!

There are some really beautiful ones out there. You picked some of my favorites. I have to admit some of the ones that were included in the Goodreads cover selections had me scratching my head. I didn't see how they rated so high.

Yes, defiantly! It makes me wonder what people think a beautiful cover is. I have mixed feelings about this one, but what do you think?

It's been rated pretty high in the Beautiful Book Cover lists.

The cover of a book is important, especailly when i'm looking for a new author. But i would never buy a book purly on the cover.

I hat it when they have an actor/character on the front of the book. I feel it can spoil my view of the character. especailly when the actor is nothing like the character i feel like i've miss interpreted the writer. It also really annoys me when they change the actor/model and they look completly different when there playing the same character. (its not like iw would be hard to hired the same person).

Another thing that annoys me is in series book when the publisher will change the style of cover half way through the series. kelley Armstrong women of the otherworld series had quite good cover they had a dark and interesting edge, now 4 books from the end they're made them quite plain. It upsets my shelf ocd as well.

I have started to move away from YA and am reading more romance novels. Whist i love looking at the covers, I feel so embrassed when I buy the book.

also a general cover that i'm sure you all agree with is movie covers should be band! and they should stick to the orginal.

I would love to say I don't judge a book by its cover, but I totally do. What can I say, I like pretty pictures. I never not read something because the cover is bad, I'm just more likely to pick it up off a shelf and read the synopsis if its pretty vs one that isn't. A couple I've read recently that I loved the covers:

Ok...so maybe I haven't read them...but perty

Jex wrote: "I would love to say I don't judge a book by its cover, but I totally do. What can I say, I like pretty pictures. I never not read something because the cover is bad, I'm just more likely to pick it..."

Fallen has a beauiful cover, its one of the things that made me look it up, but the actual story isn't that good. Passion isn't as nice as the others its more cartoonie.

I have a shelf called "covers-i-love"

Here are some of my favorites:


There are so many others

Those are nice covers.

Sometimes I feel like pointing and saying "Ohhh, pretty cover." I haven't read the blurb yet but I want to read this one. Just for the cover.



And this one!

You know when I was younger I wanted my own library but now I'm thinking I want a room with all of my favorite covers framed. Weird, I know.

@ Sashan:
Oooh pretty! lol

I know right?!

Sashana, that's not a bad idea! Why not have a library with your favorite colors framed? Get both of them in one package!

Rachel wrote: "Sashana, that's not a bad idea! Why not have a library with your favorite colors framed? Get both of them in one package!"

I knew I liked you for a reason ;) lol

:) And that is supposed to be covers*. Sorry I was braindead from working black friday.

Those are gorgeous, Sashana! And I love the framed cover idea.

Thanks, Lisa Kay!

Rachel, I didn't even notice lol. I must have been brain dead too.

Some of my favorite so far this year.

Covers always attract me to books, I have a "thing" with them. If it's a boring cover there's much less chance I'll pick it up to see the back blurb.

Erin wrote: "Covers always attract me to books, I have a "thing" with them. If it's a boring cover there's much less chance I'll pick it up to see the back blurb."

Ditto. Which I suppose makes me a bit shallow, but I'll own up to it :)

I just saw this thread. Here are some covers of books that got put on my TBR list simply because I loved the cover.

Admittedly I am a cover ho, I have made decisions to read a book based entirely on the cover without even knowing what the book was about. I am rarely disappointed with that method actually.

Some covers that nearly made me drool in the middle of the bookstore:




- this was a disappointment, the cover sucked me in and I fell in love with it and then the book sucked lol.

I bought Struck too! I also loved the cover, but I read the premise first before I bought it.

I'm such a cover junkie. I know I'm not supposed to, but if a book has a beautiful cover, I'll buy it. I know that's really awful, but I can't help it.

I want a room with book quotes.

I am going to have canvases made with these two from two of my favorite books.

1.Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor!
2.You is kind. You is smart. You is important.

I will add more as I collect them and then I am going to hang them in my office/library.

The cover of Struck reminds me of Partials for some reason. I am hesitant to read it because of that.

I was disappointed by Born Wicked but the cover is still one of my faves.

Awww, sad to know you were disappointed.

I agree there is something about Struck that reminds me of Partials, but the premise is so different. I am going to give it a go.

I am a cover lover.....I judge books by the cover. IF it catches my eye it usually ends up on the TBR and eventually in my hands being read. Recently one of my biggest let downs was this one. It was the biggest learn nothing,know nothing, told me nothing and after reading it I still have no clue what the whole point/plot was to this book, or even if it had one. BUT I loved the cover LOL Covers can be very deceiving.



Covers that turn me off are ones with SNAKES on them. I don't care how good the book is, if there is a snake on the cover, forget it, I won't read it. I HATE SNAKES and am deathly afraid of them.

Some of my favorite covers that I recently discovered are these:

Robin wrote: "I am a cover lover.....I judge books by the cover. IF it catches my eye it usually ends up on the TBR and eventually in my hands being read. Recently one of my biggest let downs was this one. It wa..."

It's hard not to judge a book by its cover because it is the first thing we see -- therefore it is our first impression of the book. I'm always a little bit more disappointed when a book with a beautiful cover disappoints me. I'm sorry that didn't work out for you. I didn't like it either but I do love the cover.

I think Cassandra Clare has some of the most beautiful covers but her books do nothing for me. I've tried reading some of them on multiple occasions but I can never get to the middle, much less the end.


One of my favorite covers so far this year was Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood. I didn't dislike the story but I was slightly disappointed. The cover out shined the story IMO.

Sashana wrote: "Robin wrote: "I am a cover lover.....I judge books by the cover. IF it catches my eye it usually ends up on the TBR and eventually in my hands being read. Recently one of my biggest let downs was t..."

Whew Sashana ☺ I am glad that you didn't like Fallen either. The cover is beautiful and I'm still wondering WTH happened with the story LOL

I have some Cassandra Clare books on my TBR which I love the covers but will keep in mind that they may be a disappointment. Thanks for the heads up on these☺

Robin wrote: "I have some Cassandra Clare books on my TBR which I love the covers but will keep in mind that they may be a disappointmentt..."

No problem! Most people seem to enjoy her books so hopefully you will too.

So I saw this cover and it made me giggle. It's a beautiful cover, but if I'm not mistaken she's clutching her purse in her right hand. He's half undressed and they appear to be on a sofa in front of a bed and she's clutching her purse? Is that so if he makes a wrong move she can clobber him over the head with it??? Sorry it just tickled me. Her other hand seems to be clenched in a fist. Has anyone read this book? Is there some significance to the purse being in the picture?

**hee hee** Oh, that is a good question, Lisarenee. Is it a purse? It might be a letter. Or some such. From the blurb, it looks like the heroine was writing things she shouldn't have. If it is a purse, I wonder if she has a roll of coins in there to make the clobbering more effective. ☺

I thought that might be the case too--that it was a letter, but when I enlarged the picture it looked more like a purse. I guess it could have gotten distorted when enlarged? If it is a letter, is he attempting to seduce it away from her? I can see it now...*fade to scene in bedroom*...
"If I take off my shirt to reveal my manly chest will you give me the letter?"

"Hmmm...I'd have to see your manly chest before I decide...Take off your shirt and we'll see."

"Okay," he says after stripping off his shirt, "can I have it now?'

"Oh, I don't know. I think you can do...(pause for dramatic effect)...Better." *grin*