Fun Friday: #BookadayUK No. 20

Time for my Friday contribution to #BookadayUK. Today we're championing the outside of the book, and with good reason. Cover design has taken off in the last few years in an amazing way. Much as I don't want to, I do judge a book by its cover. I often read books on my e-reader, but nothing beats owning a beautiful book.

BOOK A DAY No. 20: Books That Wear My Favorite Cover

I'm going to make this easy and look at only those books I've read in the past two years. Because otherwise, covers could take all day. These are a few of my recent faves.

The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann
Greenwillow, 2012; MG fantasy

This cover grabbed me right away--so strange, so colorful! I knew I wanted to read the book.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Random House Books for Young Readers, 2012; YA fantasy
I'm a sucker for cool typography. Don't you love how the S is dragonish? I adored this cover even before it was reissued in midnight blue, and now I love it even more, especially the contrast with the city.

Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland
Random House, 2011; adult historical
I know, there's a color pattern here. I didn't intend it, but I am drawn to deep blues. This cover for a novel about Louis Tiffany and his unsung female assistant does a gorgeous job of inegrating the silhouette with the instantly recognizable Tiffany style. Love.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Disney Hyperion, 2012; YA/adult historical
Not a lot of color here, but it's haunting; the World War II fighter plane, another silhouette, and again, beautiful typography. The word Verity has a breezy style like a young girl from the 1940s. This cover perfectly captures the story elements--much better than the hardcover edition, in my opinion.

The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver
HarperCollins, 2012; MG fantasy
More fantastic typography on this cover. The title looks like spider legs, and a spider is even woven in as a motif. Liza's deer-in-the-headlights expression has a timeless feel, despite her wardrobe. The story looks magical, chaotic, and a tiny bit dangerous--just as it should.

The Man Who Walked Away by Maud Casey
Bloomsbury, 2014; adult historical
This cover intrigued me enough for me to add it to my TBR list before really knowing what the novel was about. But now that I do--a mentally ill man walks through 19th-century Europe trying to put himself and his life back together--I'm doubly interested. The concentric circles and gentle colors are perfection.

The Diviners by Libba Bray
Little, Brown, 2012; YA paranormal
And we're back to blue. This creepy eye superimposed on glittery, jazz-age Manhattan hooked me; the gauzy, not-quite-there aspect adds to the shiver factor. Cool.

Note:  Borough Press has changed the hashtag of this event from #bookaday to #bookadayUK to avoid confusion with the original #bookaday. I know. It's confusing. 


Next Friday: The book whose characters I want to become. Check out more #bookadayuk fun here, on Twitter.