Shelf Candy Saturday (5)

I don't often like books with actual pictures as covers. Many times they're just not attractively presented. Sometimes they're pictures that will age awkwardly. Sometimes they're pictures that just don't seem to go along with the actual novel at all. All that being considered, I like the cover of this book about the family who lived with Anne Frank. It looks appropriate, has a pop of color and the title font doesn't overwhelm it.

Shelf Candy Saturday (4)

I've found that a lot of covers I like are very minimalistic or stylistic. For one thing, covers like that tend to not age. How many books from the 80s do I have on my shelf that I look at the cover and think "ooooh dear...that's too embarrassing to read in public". Romance novels are especially guilty of that, but a lot of older YA novels have also swallowed that particular kryptonite. So this is my choice for this week. The mass market cover of this book I don't like so well and it won't age well because they've used realistic looking people who will look outdated in a decade or so, but the hardcover is awesome looking to me with its art nouveau style drawing of this alternate version of Macbeth

Shelf Candy Saturday (3)

I'm mixing it up a little on this Shelf Candy. In finding book covers by going through Google it never fails to amaze me that a book can have an attractive cover at one point, be it hard cover or paperback or in a foreign language publication, but then have what I consider an either hideous one or at least lackluster one in the other forms of publication. I understand sometimes the hardcover jacket lends itself to more artistic or fancier covers (as well as probably the price), but considering we all DO judge a book by its cover to at least pick it up (trust me, there are some books I'm embarrassed to be caught reading because of how unattractive the cover is) it seems like someone would sit down and say "huh, this one cover just isn't that pretty compared to the others".

I'm using Airman by Eoin Colfer as my example today. Don't get me wrong, the US cover isn't all that bad. In fact it's probably a pretty good YA steampunk cover. Looks a little like the Rocketeer. Nothing wrong with that. But then I saw the Spanish language cover and was far more impressed by it. It's not just a steampunk cover, it's an artistic one.



Thoughts?

Shelf Candy Saturday (2)

Last week I chose an old school looking cover for a steampunk novel. This week I'm going for something more minimalistic. And violent. And perfect for the novel.



Hater is for all intents and purposes, a zombie novel without being one. The world has been rocked by a strange phenomenon that causes some people to spontaneously violently attack people. There is no respect for age, race or gender and suddenly the world is plunged into fear over who will succumb next. People are afraid to go to work, leave their homes and realize that any moment could be their last. Soon the accepted thinking of the day becomes "attack first, ask questions later". The world has literally gone insane and is plunged into chaos. This cover is perfect to me. Simple. Striking. Nothing but blood splatter with finger painted letters. This would catch my eye on the shelf by its stark, brutal simplicity. Not a pretty cover by any means, but I love it.