Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Covers

Hosted by The Broke and The Bookish


This weeks Top Ten Tuesday theme is the bookish resolutions that we hope to keep in 2013. Since I already kinda covered that with my end-of-the-year wrap up, I decided to dig back into the TTT vaults and participate in one that I haven't done yet, so this week for me is My Top Ten Favorite Book Covers


Reader, you know how the book that I'm either currently reading or the book that I have just finished reading will almost always appear on my next TTT list, and Anna Karenina is no exception. I did not read this version of the book, rather, I read the Barnes and Noble one but I love this cover of the book. Purple is my favorite color and it mixes so well with the black and white of the rest of the illustration.  There is something so innocent yet hinting about this cover; I think that this cover could also double for the cover of Lolita.




All of the covers of Sarah Addison Allen's books are breathtaking. Google any of the works by her and you will see what I mean. Every single edition of every single book that she has written has a gorgeous cover that makes you want to read the book. The writing is just as beautiful and magical as all of her covers. This edition of Garden Spells isn't even the best one!



I feel like even if I didn't enjoy the story of Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, I would still consider this book to be one of my all-time favorites just based on the beautiful cover art. The colors are amazing and invoke a since of witchery and earthiness and spells and girl power and even the most minute details like the thorns on the roses are perfect. I also love the font that the title of the book is written in and I think it lends itself to being a part of that overall magical feeling that engulfs the front of this book.


Reader, anytime there is any purple on a cover of a book, I'm sold. As is the case with Dracula in Love by Karen Essex. I saw this book in a Barnes and Nobles when I was in my first year of teaching and I wanted to read it so bad. Ever since then the poor book as been on my TBR list, but I have never bought a copy of it. When I moved to the Charlotte area this past summer I looked at the county's library catalog and they do have two copies, one available at the library just down the road. Seriously, one of these days I am going to read this book with the beautiful cover written from Mina's POV.



Okay, guys, I know that this image is burned into our minds forever now and there is no escaping it and it's not a very well written book, nor is it a masterpiece of American literature, but even if you didn't care for the book itself, you gotta admit that this cover is pretty stunning. What's great about it is the simplicity of two innocent hands offering an apple, the forbidden fruit. This cover has spawned several classics to come out with re-vamped covers that look very similar including the same Twilight Font that we've all come to know and love!


Confession: I have never read Lolita. I'd like to one day. I did once pick up a copy in a bookstore in high school because I did know the gist of the story, I did want to watch the Kubrick version of the movie, and the cover (I got the one with the legs and shoes in black and white) blew me the hell away. Later I saw the mouth cover and was even more floored. I love them both and from what little I do know of the books, the covers are perfect reflections of the story.





Wicked Lovely is another one that I have not read, and I had never even heard of until I was shelving books in the library one afternoon and stumbled upon this beautiful cover. By now, you know what a sucker I am for purple in a cover and this one grabbed me immediatley. I'm not sure if I will ever read the book itself, but I do display this one often and it is circulated a lot and I think it's got a lot to do with that beautiful cover.

                             


       
I love all of these updated covers of classic books. By adding a new, eye-catching cover to a book, I know for a fact that readers are more likely to pick it up than if it has a old, dusty cover. Hopefully by revamping these classic books looks and giving them some new clothes  a whole new generation of reluctant readers will be willing to shut off the screens and open up the books!





I have not read this one either, but I have to admit that as a child I was infatuated with the cover of this book. I wanted to pack my bags and move to wherever this book was set. The mountains, the forest, the rivers and streams, the beauty!





Any Cormac McCarthy book has the most bitchin' cover that I have ever seen. They are all frightening and eerie and you know no good is gonna come of the characters in these books. Whoever he has do his covers for him deserves a raise!

So, Reader, have you already done this TTT? If so, what do you think are some of the best covers out there? Even if you haven't done the TTT yet, what are some of your favorite covers? Which obvious ones did I miss? Which ones should I have left off? Let me know in the comments, and happy reading (and drooling over beautiful covers)!


4 comments:

  1. The black and white Lolita one is gorgeous. I've read the book and seen both movies - they're all great, in different ways.

    Those Cormac McCarthy covers are brilliant and so fitting for his style and themes. We had different covers for the Australian editions which were nowhere near as good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I'm more likely to read and enjoy a book if the cover is appealing. I know that they always say "don't judge a book by its cover" but I always encourage the kids in the library TO JUDGE a book by its cover. I would have never picked up so many books that I love if they had had ugly covers.

      Delete
  2. I have never seen that cover for Garden Spells! I love that!
    So funny, I'm actually reading Lolita now. And my cover is a variation on the lips one. But it's turned the other way around. haha... Funny. I think the black and white version is a more accurate interpretation of the novel itself though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am excited to read that book. I think that 2013 is the year for me to read it!

      Delete