Show me a person that DOESN’T – at least partially – judge a book by its cover and I’ll show you a person who doesn’t read books.
Yessiree, it’s time again to celebrate the best the year had to offer in book cover eye candy. And there’s a lot to celebrate.
(A) Sprinkle on a few mushrooms and you’ve got a recipe for garden variety quirk and intrigue.
(B) You can call it bounding up the stairs. You can call it kung-fuing up the stairs. Whatever you call it, it’s time to get your (Chinese) groove on.
The black hand was for the UK market. The red one was for the Transylvania market.
(A) Monstrilio, the half-human, half-monster child at the heart of this story, just had to be on the cover somewhere, right? Even if it’s just some of him. Er… some of it.
(B) You could occupy a University Gender Politics class for a good hour unpacking this piece of bizarro. No time for that here. Instead, let’s just agree it’s the definition of head-turning.
(A) Two dots and a scribble say so much. Exactly what, I can’t be sure. A real wink of a cover.
(B) You want a real cliffhanger? You came to the right book.
(A) Energy! Drama! Hand-lettering! It’s the perfect highbrow pirate book cover.
I recognise word warp when I see it and this is most certainly classic ‘alternate reality’ word warp.
(A) The saturated black is doing a lot of work here.
(B) Without meaning to gross anyone out can I just say I would like to lick this book cover even though I am pretty sure I shouldn’t. The dewy glow is perfectly captured and cropped, but it’s really the iridescent drip for me.
Clever and super-duper retro. I’m old enough to remember when library borrowing cards used to look like this. Really.
I’m weirdly impressed by the amount of black space on this cover—and, of course, by the cheeky and cannibalistic image – though apparently it makes perfect sense once you’ve read the book.
(A) Raise a glass – or paper cup – to this one. Possibly 2023’s most stand-out book cover.
(B) I particularly love the way the thought bubble tail infects the B.
(A) Not just the nose, which is silly enough, but what’s coming out of it (or is that going into it?)
(B) Alright, the red one might be a close relative of Spiderman and the green one is definitely your old-school alien type, but the others?
(A) Look at the expression in the eyes of that catamount will you!
(B) The weirder the better, right?
It looks like the cover for an ultra-modern horror story. Maybe it is.
Is that a tennis ball in the dog’s mouth? Nice offbeat touch if it is.
(A) Simple. Eye-catching. And – check the title – happy!
(B) The latest from South Korean novelist Kang Young-Sook. The honeycomb effect over the face is nice. The book’s title? Nicer.
(A) Lights are on but no one’s home? Don’t bet on it.
(B) Nothing like a good parody book cover. The “Your tent or mine?” inscription is cheeky cute.
What’s that? You’d like to see a BEST BOOKS OF 2023 list? HERE you go.
Oh, and a BEST FILMS OF 2023 list as well? HERE you go.
Andy Clark is a really interesting guy and that book is fascinating to say the least. Have you read it?
Shocking but true – I’ve read none of these books. A little thing like that however – some would call it a credibility gap but I refuse to – won’t stop me from admiring these covers. I see ANDY CLARK is a Professor of Cognitive Philosophy at the University of Sussex, so even that job title qualifies as mega-interesting, I reckon.
Asteroid City and Oppenheimer two best movies of the year in my opinion. Great to see a female director, Greta Gerwig, be the first women to have a film make over 1 billion at the box office.
Like most of the rest of the world – with the exception I guess of movie industry folk – I’d never heard of Greta Gerwig before BARBIE. I do note however, her star has been on the rise since at least as far back as 2018 when she was named in TIME MAGAZINE’s list of the 100 most influential people for that year.
https://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217536/greta-gerwig-2/
Yeah, that “think like a woman” one… say what now?! So weird.
What a great collection, Glen.
I’m also intrigued by the “half monster, half child” book itself. Did you read it?
I also love the cover AND the title of: “At Night He Lifts Weights.” Hahaha. It’s probably not funny. I imagine it’s a thriller.
And I don’t blame you for wanting to lick the glossy skin. It’s very inviting.
Hey, if I ever get my book back out there, promise to think kind thoughts about the cover. The one I’m planning to offer to any potential new publishers is much better than the original. But it’s still nothing like these.
But a LOT better, lol.
I will be waiting to greet your new book – when it comes – with the widest of widest open arms. That is my type of excitement!