Thoughtful Thursday: Book Covers

Thoughtful Thursday

It is time for Thoughtful Thursday and the bookish questions that pop up while I am reading. Please share your thoughts on the bookish question of the week. I am curious to hear what you have to say! There are no wrong answers. Questions about Thoughtful Thursday or future Thoughtful Thursday posts? Check out my Thoughtful Thursday section. Alright, on to the question!


What features do you like in a book cover? Do you like plain covers? Do you like covers with drawings on them? Do you like covers with photographs on them? Do you like movie-tie in covers?


I thought I knew what I was going to say for this discussion post. I was all ready to say that when it comes to book covers, I was going to take a fairly definitive stance and say that I don't like most covers with life-like people drawn on them or pictures of people. Then I watched a BookTuber (a book blogger on YouTube) talk about how much she loves the covers to The Selection series. I realized that I really like those covers. I also really like the Splintered cover with the crazy Alice on it. Hmmm, okay, where do we go from here?

Let's start at the beginning. When it comes to book covers, I generally prefer artsy covers, covers with drawings on them, or super plain covers with just the title on them. The classic The Great Gatsby cover is one of my favorite covers. It conveys a lot about the book, but it also is just pretty. I also love the covers from the Memoirs of Lady Trent series, because all of the covers have awesome drawings of dragons on them (drawn in a naturalist style). These covers give you a hint of what is to come in the book but also allow your imagination to run wild.

For the most part, I don't like covers with photograph-looking covers. They just look odd to me. I also don't like a lot of covers with life-like (but drawn) people on them. As I mentioned above, there are a few covers with people on them that I think are okay. After being able to take a moment there and type out my thoughts, I think I realized why I don't usually like covers with people on them. I feel forced to imagine the people on the cover as the characters in the book, and I don't like to do that. Of course, I don't have to imagine the characters like the cover models, but then I get annoyed every time I see the cover. Why are there these random people on the cover? This annoyance gets tripled if the people on the cover do not look like the characters in the book. I remember reading a book a few years ago in which the characters looked nothing like the people on the cover. I understand that the cover artist and the writer might not have time to talk; however, why can't we just avoid this by having a cover without people? As you can probably guess, I tend not to like movie-tie in covers, because there are people on them.

So why do I like the Splintered and The Selection series covers? There are a couple of reasons. First, I haven't read these books, so I don't know if the covers are wildly different from the characters in the books. I think this helps a lot. Second, covers like The Selection and The One cover most of the heroine's face. I can use the girl as the foundation of my image of the protagonist, but I can change some things, if I want. Third, Splintered and The Selection series covers don't seem to be acting out a scene from the book. They are just pretty "artsy" covers that I could hang on my wall. I have noticed that a lot of romance, mystery, and urban fantasy covers (in particular) like to show an action scene on the cover that hint at what is going to happen in the book. Just like when I notice random people on my book covers, when I see an action sequence on the cover, I expect there to be a similar scene in the book, and I keep waiting for it. 

Yes. I realize that I am totally crazy and redonculous when it comes to covers.

Do you see why I love my Kindle Paperwhite so much now? I never have to look at the covers to the books that I am reading.

Now it is your turn! What features do you like in a book cover?





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