Monday, May 20, 2013

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

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish

I'm a book cover snob. I love reading books with pretty covers. It gives the book such a nice ambiance when you're holding it in your hands. Of course, you can't judge a book by it's cover. Many times books with really nice covers aren't such great books content wise. It's almost like the publishing company is trying to make up for a lacking story by throwing a great cover on the book to generate interest. I'm actually pretty sure that's what happens. It's pure marketing. Which makes me wonder, why ugly book covers? Another book cover woe is when a character is portrayed on the book and the model doesn't look like how the character is described in the book. Everyone has their own vision of book characters in their mind's eye, but sometimes I have to wonder if whoever was responsible for the cover actually read the book. Anyways, here's my top ten favorite book covers from books I've read. 

The Marriage Bureau For Rich People
by Farahad Zama

All the pretty colors! Pinks and oranges and a hint of blue and yellow. This book is based in India if you hadn't guessed by the cover. I think they did a great job on the cover. This book is described as Alexander McCall Smith meets Jane Austen. I enjoyed this one. Doing this blog post and looking for a picture of the cover made me discover it's actually a series. The things I never knew! Reading the second one will help in my A-Z Author Challenge since the author's last name starts with 'Z' which is always the hardest letter for me to find. In fact, I read this book because of the author's last name for an A-Z challenge of years past.

The Age of Innocence
by Edith Wharton

I must confess that I actually read the free Kindle version which has that ugly cover (if you could even call it that) that all the free classics have. So, I took the liberty on my Goodreads (let's be friends!) bookshelf and I looked through all the covers from all the different editions and decided this would be the one to grace my digital bookshelf. I love this one.

The Valley of The Dolls
by Jacqueline Susann

I am not embarrassed to say that this trashy 60s classic is one of my favorite books ever. I mean, hello. You get both New York and Hollywood. Drugs, sex, mental institutions, romance, and the entertainment industry? WUT. I love this book. It's so many things rolled into one. It's like a big saga. The cover is awesome. There's Sharon Tate in the middle before she was murdered by Charles Manson's band of wild murderous banshees. The cover is a lovely shade of pink and the black and white font is a great contrast. Not to mention the cut-out of the "dolls" aka pills.

Cleopatra: A Life
by Stacey Schiff

One of the most boring books I've ever read. This is one of those cases where they really use the cover to make up for what the book lacks. The cover is pretty. I love the contrast of the black of the background and the models hair against the white of the pearls (which Ms. Cleo was a big fan of ) and the purple of her tunic and the creamy orangish color of the font.

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
by Anne Rice

I read this series right out of high school before I started going to church (lol). I guess Christians can still read erotica, I mean they do watch rated 'R' movies with sex and stuff. I just haven't read any since becoming a church-goer. I guess reading sex is better than having sex if you aren't married? I don't know. This is Anne Rice's erotica that would make 50 Shades of Grey blush. I love the cover. I like art on covers.

Across The Universe
by Beth Revis

This cover is just so beautiful. All the pretty purples and pinks. This series is really good too. I haven't read the third one, Shades of Earth, just yet. If you're not familiar with this series it's based on a space-ship that's looking for a second Earth for humans to inhabit. It would be considered sci-fi and dystopia maybe, this is one of those really great young adult books that I think adults can enjoy as well.

She's Come Undone
by Wally Lamb

One of my all-time favorite books. I wish I could find more books of this caliber (any recommendations?). I love the pretty blue of the ocean on this cover which has significance with a portion of the story. The face surrounded by the soft whitish-blue clouds adds a surreal effect as well.

In The Time of The Butterflies
by Julia Alvarez

This cover is so nice and artsy. The white face against the navy blue and the imprint of the butterfly on her cheek. Love it. Great book too about a dictatorship in The Dominican Republic and the bonds of sisters too.

The Southern Vampire Mysteries

by Charlaine Harris

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I love how the covers always give slight hints to what will happen in the story. You never really see it until you're done with the books. It's like the covers are full of symbolism. Apparently, the aritst Lisa Desimini charges an arm and a leg for prints of the covers, well over $100 heading towards the $200 range. 

Cat's Eye
by Margaret Atwood

I love when book covers portray important scenes from books and this one did a great job at it. The cover is absolutely beautiful and brings me right back to that scene in the book.

So what do you bookworms think? What are some of your fave covers?

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