« more discussions

• 

  Judging a book by its cover

  New Title

  

  I know one isn't really supposed to judge a book by its cover... figuratively, or literally. However, I am extremely guilty of this. When roaming the library I am much more likely to pick up a book if the cover is striking - either if it is very different, or very beautiful.
  
  Some covers that really struck me would be The Girl with the Glass Feet by Ali Shaw, The Town that Forgot How to Breathe by Kenneth Harvey, and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.
  
  What are some of yours?

  Caipirinha started this discussion 3 months ago. ( reply | permalink )

• 

  CC 

  New Title

  

  That must be why I stay out of bookstores. The pretty covers are too tempting. As a library reader, all I have to deal with, usually, are the book spines.

  I loved the covers of the Patrick Swayze and Sissy Spacek auto-bios. I'd like to have a big poster of the back cover of Neil Young's auto-bio to hang on my wall. It's a picture of him when he was about 20, really appeals to me. Oh, and I loved the cover of Stephen King's Under the Dome. To name a few. :o)

  posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

• 

  LibraryCin 

  New Title

  

  Ooooh, sensitive topic right now.

  Have you all seen the cover that some idiot publisher stuck on Anne of Green Gables?
  http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2013/02/06/anne_of_green_gables_goes_blond_on_new_us_cover.html

  posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  show 11 replies

  • 

    Bel ~ Fearless Leader Angharrad 

    New Title

    

    But .... but ..... Anne (with an 'e') is not a blond!

    That's kind of like a theme through all the books, she hates being a redhead.

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Wendy B 

    New Title

    

    Weird! What about all the "carrot" mentions in the book?

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Caipirinha 

    New Title

    

    Ohhh strange. Why would they do such a thing?

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Bel ~ Fearless Leader Angharrad 

    New Title

    

    It's all wrong, she's got this 'sexy' look to her and her clothes are not what a woman/girl in that time period would be wearing. She looks like she's inviting Gilbert for a roll in the hay.

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    LibraryCin 

    New Title

    

    I know! Isn't it awful!? Some people were wondering if whoever chose that cover has never actually read the books!?

    And, lol, Bella, but you're right!

    BOOOOOOO!

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Book Concierge (edited)

    New Title

    

    It's AWFUL!

    Reminds me of a story an author told once re covers and the marketing people who choose them. Lesley Kagen lives in a suburb of Milwaukee and her first book was Whistling in the Dark - released in trade paperback. It's about two sisters - one blond and one redhead. When she first saw the cover design the girls didn't have the right color hair. She called the publisher. They argued that "marketing" had good information on what appeals to people scanning the shelves - what looks good - blah, blah, blah. She kept insisting. They said they had decided. Finally, she sent one more email ..."well, I know I'm in Wisconsin so we may not have all the same technology that you have in New York, but out here we have something called Photoshop and you can change the hair color really easily. So if you send me the photo, I'll be happy to do that for you."

    They changed the hair colors ...

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Wendy B 

    New Title

    

    I read that book - Whistling in the Dark, very good book!
    I didn't know that about the cover!

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Leslie H (edited)

    New Title

    

    The cover is not going to appeal to people who would be interested in reading Anne of Green Gables. It really is a travesty. And I, for one, do judge books by their covers (at least to some extent) and wouldn't touch a book with a cover like that with a 10-foot pole.

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Wendy B 

    New Title

    

    The cover is not going to appeal to people who would be interested in reading Anne of Green Gables -
    That is true Leslie!

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    mef 

    New Title

    

    Reminds me of a science fiction short story I read years ago, in which the protagonist was a very small and very skinny 11-year-old girl who masqueraded as a boy all through the story. She worried about what would happen when she grew up and couodn't pass for a boy anymore; she was a crime victim and was passing herself off as male to protect herself. And the illustration shown her with *enormous* breasts...

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    LibraryCin 

    New Title

    

    Wow, <sarcasm>brilliant</sarcasm>!

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

• 

  Raspberrymocha55 

  New Title

  

  I love gorgeous covers. I know it is silly, but if I can't get past a cover, I can't read a book. I had this problem with Unwholly. the cover creeped me out to the point that I even hated holding the book to read it. I also hate the Sookie Stackhouse series covers. I like the books, but I am embarrassed to be seen reading one while out in public as they are so poorly drawn.

  Right now I am loving the covers on the Phryne Fisher series. They are colorful and well drawn! I am an artist by trade, and just love a good graphic design.

  posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  show 4 replies

  • 

    LibraryCin 

    New Title

    

    I hate the Sookie covers, too.

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    mef 

    New Title

    

    Yeah, at one point I had a copy of the published script for The Exorcist, and the cover was so creepy I covered it in brown paper.

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Raspberrymocha55 

    New Title

    

    I soooo understand! Covers are part of the whole book experience for me, and a creepy cover makes the book hard to hold.

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Eileen M 

    New Title

    

    Even that sharklike grin of Suze Orman's makes me want to ut a Post-It note over her face. A friend of mine returned my copy of Nothing Is Strange With You because the killer's photos on the cover was so creepy she couldn't stand to read it.

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

• 

  Eileen M 

  New Title

  

  Oh, either a striking cover or an arresting title can suck me right in, and they know it, those bastidges in the graphics departments of the publishing houses!

  posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

• 

  LibraryCin 

  New Title

  

  I LOVE the new cover for the first Harry Potter!
  http://ca.movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/harry-potter-celebrates-15-years-book-covers-170717056.html

  posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  show 2 replies

  • 

    Caipirinha 

    New Title

    

    Oh that's lovely!

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    MelissaD 

    New Title

    

    I like that!

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

• 

  koren56 

  New Title

  

  Out of thousands (millions) of books to choose from, something has to catch the eye, either the cover art or the title.

  posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  show 5 replies

  • 

    CC 

    New Title

    

    Or the author's name maybe...

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Raspberrymocha55 

    New Title

    

    All of the above.

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Eileen M 

    New Title

    

    Sure, but if some clueless horndog picks up the Sexy, Blonde Anne Of Green Gables 'Roll In the Hay' edition, is he ever going to be angry once he starts reading!

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Bel ~ Fearless Leader Angharrad 

    New Title

    

    HAHAHAHAHAH

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    LibraryCin 

    New Title

    

    LOL!

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

• 

  Beginnings (edited)

  New Title

  

  I visited a photography club this weekend-3D photography would look good on a book cover.

  posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

• 

  Beginnings (edited)

  New Title

  

  "A quality cover doesn't reflect the inside of the book any more than a gorgeous face reflects a gracious personality..." Adrianne Wood http://blog.shelfari.com/

  posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  show 9 replies

  • 

    Caipirinha 

    New Title

    

    While I know that this is true, sometimes a beautiful cover still catches the eye.

    posted 3 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    CC 

    New Title

    

    I think it's programmed into us to seek out beautiful and attractive things. It's at the very heart of advertising.

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Raspberrymocha55 

    New Title

    

    I guess in a perfect world all books would be in plain brown wrappers so we don't judge a book by its cover. However, I will make no excuse for being human. I will continue to shy from books with dreadful, hokey romantic or yukky covers. Life is too short to waste it on horrid covers, and I for one
    have better things to do than worry about being of with cover selection.

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Eileen M 

    New Title

    

    So in a perfect world, I wouldn't be able to find my books by maintaining a mental picture of which image is on the spine and which other distinctive books it is between on the shelves?

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Raspberrymocha55 

    New Title

    

    No problem if they are all shelved in Dewey or Library of Congress! But, I'm not pc so I will keep choosing by the cover.

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Eileen M 

    New Title

    

    I am not keeping a card catalogue for my own private books!

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Raspberrymocha55 

    New Title

    

    I soooo want a card catalogue. I've been looking on ebay etc for an 8-10 drawer oak one. Heck, even the little 2-4 drawer ones are outrageously priced. I have way too many books to keep track of. Since we will never have a computer (don't ask...), I have to have some way of organizing, especially the non-fiction. I'm slowly getting my books put on Shelfari, but it takes forever doing it on a cell phone. I keep thinking if we ever have a fire or tornado, I really need a definative list of our books.

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Eileen M 

    New Title

    

    So would the card catalogue be kept in a secret tornado-proof bunker somewhere?

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Raspberrymocha55 

    New Title

    

    Nah. The Shelfari list will be for that. The card catalogue would be for my OCD pleasure!

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

• 

  Carol 

  New Title

  

  Absolutely, the looks of the cover matters. Marketing people have done studies on this and found that books with bright, eye catching covers at least get picked up over dull or plainer ones. "Beginnings" is absolutely correct in saying the cover doesn't reflect the inside of the book, however, the book may not even be considered unless the author is well known or liked by the person considering the book. I am also guilty of by-passing books that don't have a title that says "Hey look at me.". Titles of DVD's are selected many times the same way.

  posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

  show 1 reply

  • 

    Eileen M 

    New Title

    

    And sometimes you get the wrong book or CD that way. Cover images can be so radically wrong, like the "Anne of Green Gables" example above.

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

• 

  Carol 

  New Title

  

  Good point. You are correct in what you are saying. But at least the book was picked up. Some really good books never leave the shelf. And yes, I have gotten some really rotten movies and books. I do try to pay more attention to what the description is now, but I'm still guilty.

  posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

  show 4 replies

  • 

    Eileen M 

    New Title

    

    Regardless of the cover, the way to know whether the book is any good is to read the first page.

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Raspberrymocha55 

    New Title

    

    I go by the first and last chapters to decide if I will actually read a book. (that's another reason why ebooks don't work for me very well.) However, if I can't get past the cover it is doubtful that I will read the book. Unless too many Shelfarians urge me to read it, that is. Darn Shelfari forces me to buy book, I would otherwise ignore. : )

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Eileen M 

    New Title

    

    I can so relate to that!

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

  • 

    Caipirinha 

    New Title

    

    That's happened to me a few times - if a book keeps popping up in groups I'm a part of (for good reasons!), there is a good chance I will be checking out of the library soon.

    posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

• To reply to this discussion, please sign in.

Return to top