Have you ever seen a book on the shelf, and you know nothing about it, but the cover just resonates with you? That’s what this blog is about. I’m a sucker for a good book cover, if it meets my criteria, I will pick it up and give it a look. I’m a little picky when it comes to covers. (I will be talking about the books original covers, not the reprinted versions unless I specify them.)
I like simplicity when it comes to a book cover. I usually like one to three colors on a cover and not a lot of pictures on it. So, with that being said I think you’ll get a sense of what covers I like as I talk about the books.
(These are in no particular order and just my opinion.)
The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins
Every single cover in this trilogy I LOVE, Catching Fire is my favorite, but I’ll talk about each one. The Hunger Games caught my attention because of the black cover with the gold mockingjay pin and white lettering is *chef’s kiss.* When I say I like simple, I like simple. I like the little pop of color in the pin, but the monochromatic cover is still one of my favorite. Catching Fire is one of my favorite covers of all time. I love the orange to red background with the mockingjay pin looking to take flight and the white lettering again. Such a deep image for how the series continues. Then we have the blue color representing the skies of Mockingjay where the mockingjay on the cover is now in full flight. The trilogy covers really reflect what is going on in the books, but they do it in such an effortless way. (I’m sure it wasn’t effortless for the cover artists, but I really commend them for reflecting the story in that way.)
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
The original books cover with the white background, blue lettering for the title, and red lettering for the author’s name, and the black silhouette of the T-rex all culminate as one of the most iconic book covers of all time in my opinion. Jurassic Park isn’t exactly my favorite book but I love the cover!
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
I love the creamy colored background with the black silhouette of the house and trees in the distance with that deep purple color in the writing. The Color Purple’s cover is another classic cover that caught my eye and I still think it’s a great cover to this day.
Jaws by Peter Benchley
Much like the classic movie poster, the cover for Jaws is classic and simple and so iconic. The black background with the gray woman and shark with the creamy colored lettering for the title is just perfect imagery for the book. The movie poster is one of the most iconic posters of all time as well.
Psycho by Robert Bloch
Okay, I don’t like this genre of books so I can’t say I love the book, but the cover is just amazing. It’s all black and white and so simple but speaks such volumes. The white lettering is vertical on the book and has a cut through the word Psycho. I just think it was a wonderful chilling way to bring a thriller/horror genre book to life.
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan
Now I’m going to break my simplicity rule for this series. The original covers for the five books were so great, but I actually will be talking about the newest releases of the novels. The new cover for The Lightning Thief is a turquoise instead of the green. It shows the Empire State Building in the background with the Big Three’s magical items in the foreground, Zeus’ Masterbolt, Poseidon’s Trident and Hades’ Helm of Darkness. Along with the simple other little details makes the new cover more clean in my opinion. The Sea of Monsters new cover is green compared the red of the old cover. It has a tree sprouting from the edge of a rock and the hippocampus coming out of the sea. Pretty simple and clean. The Titan’s Curse’s new cover is purple ombre into pink. A big moon is in the background with the black Pegasus in the foreground. Below holding up the “moon” is a person standing on a rock (Atlas). Simple and shows a good image from the book. The Battle of the Labyrinth’s cover is the busiest of the four and not exactly my favorite, but I like the image of the Hellhound in the foreground with the maze of the Labyrinth as the background. The yellow color is also different from the maroon color of the original cover. The Last Olympian is my favorite book, but the new cover is a little busy for my taste. I will actually refer back to the original with the black-grayish tones with Percy riding the Pegasus in front of the Empire State Building. The only pop of color is Percy’s sword and the gold lettering. It’s one of my favorite covers of all time which is why I chose this version over the new one.
Twilight and Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Okay, I know you’re going to say “but you don’t like this book.” You’re right I don’t, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love the cover! The Twlight cover with the hands holding the red apple and black background with white lettering is just the perfection of simple and nice. It’s just my taste for book covers. Eclipse is even better with the black background, white lettering, and that bright red ribbon with the tear in it. Love it. I still don’t like the series though, that’ll never change.
The Red Palace by June Hur
I talk about this book a lot but it’s the cover that made me want to read the book in the first place. It’s a white background with a red blurred painting of a palace and in the foreground is a red hued girl and the red title that look like blood. This cover is so pretty I love it.
All of these books are available to check out in our system!