Really stupid book-related complaint

[charlatti]

I love Kate Atkinson, so I'm excited about her new book coming out in April (US date). But the US cover is so ugly. Look at these cool covers for Canada and UK:


Now look at the US cover:



Boo. Hiss.

To make this less pointless, let's PIP pretty or ugly book covers.

[rootbeerfloat]

LOL, I like the US cover! I don't care for the one with the stone wall.

On GR, I choose my favorite cover for my lists. And if it's a series, the covers all have to match in style. I'm a dork.

[rootbeerfloat]

I like the covers from the Matched series... better than the actual books, even.

  

[fredaruth]

I never pay attention to the cover since it was most likely designed by a marketing person at publishing house and is not designed by the author anyway.

[charlatti]

Feb 28, 2013 16:58:42 GMT -5 fredaruth said:

I never pay attention to the cover since it was most likely designed by a marketing person at publishing house and is not designed by the author anyway.

Authors are unlikely to also be book designers, this is true. But the author does have a voice in what the cover looks like. And regardless, I like pretty books.

[Dusky]

I'll admit I'm a sucker for a pretty cover. I won't pass over a book just because it has an ugly cover, but a beautiful cover will entice me to try a book I'm unsure about.

[dorothyinAus]

I much prefer pretty covers, and I can be swayed by a good looking cover. But my series absolutely have to be in the same covers -- I hate it when they are re-designed mid-series.

But I really hate it when books are re-issued with new cover art. DH had to lead me out of a bookstore when I was on a rant about re-issuing books. My rant was actually about the trend here in Australia for classic books to be re-issued with 50 Shades of Grey-inspired covers. I kid you not, I saw a 50 Shades-eque cover on Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Pride & Prejudice. We saw 8 different covers for The Great Gatsby, and none were the one I know (the blue city-scape with large eyes). It's all very frustrating for me. I mean, classic albums would never be allowed to have new cover art. Can you imagine the uproar if something decided to re-issue the Beatles White Album with a different cover?

[aurora]

Of those three covers, I like the U.S. one second-best (with the Canadian one being tops).

I don't generally pay a lot of attention to book covers, but I remember analyzing the various versions of HP and the Deathly Hallows forever before the book came out.

[duckduck]

Feb 28, 2013 20:06:53 GMT -5 Dusky said:

I'll admit I'm a sucker for a pretty cover. I won't pass over a book just because it has an ugly cover, but a beautiful cover will entice me to try a book I'm unsure about.

Same here.

Pretty covers:

 

Cool covers:

  

A "What were they thinking?" cover:

[booknerd]

I just like my books in a series to match each other. I do get drawn to particularly gorgeous books on display at bookstores though, and I'll admit that I merely glanced at the synopsis before deciding to buy it lol.

[Myrrhine]

If I like a foreign cover better, I will pay more and order the import. I usually only buy physical copies of books I think I will really love though.