Top Ten Tuesday- Redesign

The Broke and the Bookish are asking us this week to list ten books that need their covers revamped.

1. Any movie cover- I abhor movie covers. They cheapen the story by making the novel a marketing tool.

2. The Song is You by Arthur Phillips- The cover makes the story seem melodramatic and YA-ish.

3. The covers of most classics- They do absolutely nothing for the books besides making them appear more boring than the general public already thinks they are.

4. In One Person by John Irving- Are you kidding me with the bra? This isn't some trashy romance novel, it's John-freaking-Irving! 

5. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld- Again, another story trivialized an overly sentimental cover.

6. Away by Amy Bloom- I actually wasn't a huge fan of the book itself, but the still-life cover was just icing on the cake. So boring and muted.

7. Bossypants by Tina Fey- I hate the arms, I really do.

8. Any cover where the author's name is bigger than the title: Stop relying on your reputation to sell your books, you egomaniac. 

9. Maya's Notebook by Isabel Allende- Something about the tattoo and the soft colors are way to melodramatic for me.

10. The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling- I'm not a fan of the book, but I thought the cover was very lackluster as well (perhaps appropriate, though).

Top Ten Tuesday- We've Covered This

This week the Broke and the Bookish ask us to once again look at books with great covers. I have to confess- I have read half of these, but I own them and can still appreciate the covers!

[Building Stories; The Lover's Dictionary; Where Children Sleep; Petropolis]

[Solo; Beautiful Ruins]

[Idiopathy; The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry; The Book of Other People; Where'd You Go, Bernadette?]

 Do you judge a book by it's cover (I'm definitely occasionally guilty!)? Any weaknesses? What made your list?

Blog Hop- Judge by the Cover

I haven't done a meme in a long time, but figured what the heck. I like this topic, as I tend to be a judgmental person and base my opinions solely on looks.

This week's blog hop is brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish- top ten books you picked up based on their cover:

1. The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni (the "should have been a surgeon" part of me wanted it for the heart; great book)

2. How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack by Chuck Sambuchino (I got this book through Amazon Vine purely because of the garden gnomes of the front; short and funny)

3. The Wild Things by Dave Eggars (the novel interpretation of the recent movie; the edition I got was covered in fur with Max's eyes peaking out; really neat book for adult and kids)

4. The Russian Debutante's Daughter by Gary Shtenygart (for some reason the trashy girl lounging on the couch with rave reviews on the back intrigued me; it was fantastic, of course)

5. Our Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas (the book first attracted me with the black page ends, gold foil edges and strange shape; haven't read it yet)

6. The Learners by Chip Kidd (my husband actually bought it, but it's simple graphic novel-esque illustration with a 1/2 red slip cover just seemed neat; haven't read it yet)

7. The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander (a head of a young man with the face blanked out with a rectangle that holds the title information; interesting look at Argentina's Dirty War)

8. Composition No 1 by Marc Saporta (it's a "book in a box" that I talked about in older post; haven't yet read it)

9. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (I'm a sucker for a classic look, and the belt on the white background just sucked me in; great "anti-chic lit" chic lit read)

10. The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan (this one is on my wish list from Amazon, but the heart filled with script on that white background again really caught my eye)

I never just buy a book based on the cover, but that is often enough to motivate me to look to the back or do some research online. Don't worry, I love the uglies too.

Up Next: Stupidhead

Before I start complaining about something admittedly trivial, let me say that I actually really like Tina Fey. I think she's funny, love that she's not conventionally beautiful, adore her jabs at Sarah Palin, and appreciate her intelligence.

Now that proper homage has been paid, I hate the cover of her new book, Bossypants, published by Reagan Arthur Books for a cool six million earlier this month (she plans/planned to donate a chunk to charity, making her even cooler). I get it, I get it, it's supposed to be a comment on a woman trying to make it in man's world. I get the contrast between her delicate features and contemplative yearbook-pose expression, and the masculine arms and attire. I get it. You're not on Saturday Night Live anymore, Tina, you can do better.

More than the fact that it's just an eye-roll invoking cover is the fact that it calls attention to the talked-out male/female divide. I am a feminist, but more of an equalist- people should get paid the same, in regards to respect and money, based on their work. If women want to really make a difference and call attention to the issue they'll do it on he job, not with ridiculous covers, cliched pop songs, and annoying slogans like "you go girl!" Some people have said the cover is disturbing, or even disgusting, which I disagree with. I just don't appreciate the irony, I guess. Fey is filthy stinkin' rich and has obviously risen near the top of the comedy, show-biz, and even business worlds, so it can be done. By a woman.

I also hate the title. Bossypants? Really? I know she has a kid, but that's the title she chose for a six million dollar project? You're smart and hilarious and that's what you end up with? Is the follow up going to be entitled Stupidhead? Please.

Will I read it? Possibly, when it's in paperback, just because I've heard good things and Fey supposedly truly did write the thing, unlike many other of her celebrity peers.

I'm sure Gloria Steinem would hate me if she knew I existed. Oh well.

Neat-o

I found the site The Book Cover Archive today- pretty damn cool. They take pride in an "appreciation and categorization of book design." You press "randomize" at the top (over and over and over again) to see their awesome collection.

Does Size Matter?

Admit it: sometimes, size really does matter... at least when we're talking about the cover design used for novels. And in this case, bigger isn't always better. Check out the covers on these three books, which I now must admit to owning (rest assured, they were purchased, read, and forgotten over a decade ago):

Now, these four:

I've always had a theory: the larger the author's name is, the more horrible the book. When the writer's name is more prominent than the name of the book, or takes up half the cover in some cases, publishers are clearly marketing the text based on a person's name, not the title and the novel it actually represents. John Grisham is no longer an ex-lawyer turned novelist- he's a brand (we'll save the ghost-writing allegations for a different day). The same is true for all of the other 100,000 first run authors like Nicholas Sparks, Danielle Steel, and Stephen King. I challenge one of them to use a pseudonym for their next book and see how well it sells- why not let your work speak for itself?

Of course, there are exceptions. Absolutely. There are horrible novels that include a microscopic reference to the author on the cover, and great books that scream the author's name on the front. It's just a theory. But remember, when you look at that next potential read: bigger isn't always better- it's what they do that counts.