Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Covers Of Books I’ve Read

May 21, 2013 Lark_Bookwyrm Top Ten Tuesday 33

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature/meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Favorite Book Covers Of Books I’ve Read.

I could easily have gone totally overboard with this. After all, there are lots of covers I love because I’ve read the book so often that the cover is like an old friend. And then there are all the gorgeous picture books, from Jan Brett to Mem Fox to Grahame Baese… So I decided to limit my picks to adult, YA, and MG books from the last five years or so. In no particular order:

The cover of Cinder is just plain awesome: it sums up the basic premise of the book in one simple image. The juxtaposition of the half-seen cyborg parts and Ye Olde-looking font is inspired, and the shiny red shoe captures the eye instantly.

Shadow of Night really requires close inspection. I like the way the rings of constellations mimic an eye, the alchemical representation of the sun above, and the Elizabethan London skyline at the bottom.

While it’s marvelously atmospheric, at first glance, the cover of The Name of the Wind doesn’t quite fit the book. But when you read book 2 (and only if you’re really paying attention!), there is deep significance to that solitary tree, and the cover art thus becomes both foreshadowing and warning. Brilliant.

I love the way Seraphina‘s original cover pays homage to 15th or 16th-century German woodcuts, the architecture clues you in to the setting (an analog of late-medieval or Renaissance northern Europe) and the dragon immediately announces that it’s fantasy. Besides, it’s beautifully rendered.

Splintered‘s cover is pretty and weird and a little disturbing, all at once — just like Wonderland. And it picks up on the flower and bug elements that are so important in the book.

Princess of the Silver Woods. I wasn’t going to pick a “dress” cover. I really wasn’t. Sure, there are lots of gorgeous covers featuring gorgeous girls in gorgeous (and totally impractical) full, frothy, and/or overly-long dresses. Frankly, the first ones were eye-catching, and now it’s a bit too old-hat. Or maybe old dress. But there’s just something about the lushness of that swirling red velvet cloak, and how it screams “Red Riding Hood”, that I love.

Libriomancer is about a guy who can pull things out of books. Real things. You want Excalibur? Isaac can do that. The cover captures the essence of that premise. And besides, Smudge! (He’s the fire spider on Isaac’s shoulder.)

So far I’ve loved the books for these covers even more than I love the covers. Pirate King … well, I liked it. I think. I really love the cover, though, which encompasses a pirate, a ship, Morrocco, and… a movie camera?! See, the book is about a silent film company making a movie about a silent film company making a movie of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. (No, that’s not a typo.) With, by the way, real pirates. And a possible murder. And Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes.

Then there’s Clockwork Mafia. The book, a steampunk adventure/mystery/romance with an American setting, was fun, but not amazing… but the cover is great eye candy. 😉

Finally, I love the cover of Tuesdays at the Castle for its whimsy, and because Celie has her arms full of books and papers: clearly a girl after my own heart!

There you have it: ten of my favorite covers from books I’ve read in recent years. So which of these covers do you like (or dislike; that’s OK too), and why? And if you did a TTT post this week, leave me a link so I can come drool over all your pretty covers, too!

33 Responses to “Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Covers Of Books I’ve Read”

Lianne @ caffeinatedlife.net
May 21st, 2013
Deborah Harkness’ books almost made my list this week but yeah, it got bumped for other titles. I love the covers to her books though, they’re so rich in detail! (and i love the books period so xD) Great list!

My TTT
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 21st, 2013
  Thanks! I love Harkness’s books, too. Originally I had both A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night on the list.
Becki @ The Flutterby Room
May 21st, 2013
Great list, I totally agree that Seraphina cover is awesome!
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 21st, 2013
  Thanks, Becki! I’m glad you stopped by!
Becki @ The Flutterby Room
May 21st, 2013
The Seraphina and Splintered covers are awesome, and I really like Tuesdays at the Castle.
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 21st, 2013
  … twice, apparently! 🙂 Tuesdays at the Castle is such a delightful book, and the cover totally captures that.
Herding Cats - Burning Soup
May 21st, 2013
Splintered and Princess of the Silver Woods are gorgeous. And yeah I’ll agree with ya on Splintered. Gorgeous but def has the disturbing factor to it. Maybe that’s why I like it so much 😉
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 22nd, 2013
  I really wanted to love the book. I liked it, but I did find parts of it disturbing — the sheer weirdness of Wonderland, mainly. And Morpheus makes me uneasy. But I definitely plan to read the next book!
kelley jensen
May 21st, 2013
Lovely covers! I like Tuesday’s at the Castle too. kelley—the road goes ever ever on
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 22nd, 2013
  Jessica Day George is a wonderful writer. I’ve enjoyed every book of hers I’ve read, and most of them are on my ‘must own’ list. And that cover is just so… Celie!
starryeyedjen
May 22nd, 2013
I’ve seen Splintered on a lot of lists today. 🙂 I didn’t like the cover at first, but it’s really grown on me. Great picks!
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 22nd, 2013
  It grew on me, too! I particularly like how well it goes with the book, and it also has the merit of being different than a lot of the other covers of its year.
Adriana C
May 22nd, 2013
I love the Splintered cover.
Here is My Top 10 Tuesday
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 22nd, 2013
  It is really striking, isn’t it? Thank you for stopping by! I’m off to check out your list.
Sandy Farmer
May 22nd, 2013
Thanks for stopping by my TTT earlier. I love The Name of the Wind, Splintered, and Princess of the Silver Wood are beautiful covers! Great choices!

Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 22nd, 2013
  Thanks, Sandy! Glad you stopped by!
Shelver 506
May 22nd, 2013
I’m such a sucker for hooded figures, and The Name of the Wind has been calling my name for a long time. I may give in soon…
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 22nd, 2013
  I love The Name of the Wind, but it’s one of those books that people seem to either love, or not like at all. I hope you’re one of the ones who loves it!
Jan
May 22nd, 2013
You picked some great covers! Cinder is the next book I plan to read. I just bought it this week.

I’ve been reading e-books for the past couple of years so I don’t really see covers very much anymore which is kind of sad.
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 22nd, 2013
  That’s the downside of ebooks. You don’t get to enjoy the pretty covers!
Kristen
May 22nd, 2013
I love that cover of Splintered and need to read it. Hopefully it is as good of writing as the cover is of art.

Great list!
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 22nd, 2013
  It was good — in most ways, very good. I hope you enjoy it!
Jenny Girl
May 22nd, 2013
Oh I totally see why these are your favorite covers. They are all gorgeous and enticing 🙂
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 22nd, 2013
  Thank you! Although I’m not sure why I’m thanking you — I didn’t create them. I’ll just assume you are complimenting my good taste! ;-D
- Jenny Girl
  May 23rd, 2013
  lol exactly! I always judge books by their covers and this look like winners to me 🙂
Ems
May 22nd, 2013
Splintered!! I can’t believe I left that one off my list. It’s one of my favorite covers of all time!

Great list!
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 23rd, 2013
  Thanks! I had the same reaction when I looked at other people’s lists. A lot of them had something I’d totally forgotten about. I almost kicked myself for forgetting The Sweetest Dark.
Jessica Leigh
May 22nd, 2013
Cinder really does have a super cool cover! I really need to read it and see what all the hype is about! Splintered is also really neat looking!

Thanks for stopping by my TTT!

Jessica@Lovin’ Los Libros
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 23rd, 2013
  Oh, Cinder is great! Predictable, but somehow, so good that it doesn’t matter. I hope you enjoy it!
kimberlybuggie
May 23rd, 2013
Seraphina! Seraphina! Seraphina!
I wish I had remembered that one. I totally would have put it on.
Great list. Thanks for stopping by my TTT!
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 23rd, 2013
  Thank you, and you’re welcome! I’m glad you came by!
George
May 29th, 2013
Bit late, but I’ve always liked the British children’s covers of the Harry Potter books, especially the one for Deathly Hallows.

Also the 1973 Ballatine editions of The Hobbit & the individual books of the LOTR using Tolkien’s own watercolor art.

I’ve also been fond of most covers of the Narnia books, except for those featuring images from the abominable movies.
- Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
  May 30th, 2013
  I love Tolkien’s own art. He also designed covers for the original hardcover editions which I don’t think were ever used, though images from them were.
  
  As for the Narnia books… I like the original illustrations for those, but the more recent non-movie versions are nice, too. I do rather like the first movie and parts of the second one (even if they did mess with the plot here and there.) But they did altogether too much messing around with the third one.