Favourite Book Covers

As much as the old saying tells us not to, we all judge books by their covers. I also feel like the cover design game has been particularly strong recently, and why not celebrate that by sharing a few of my favourites? Compiling them for this post, I quickly noticed an obvious (if very specific) trend that I clearly adore when it comes to design: realistic/anatomical images combined with floral/natural motifs. I suppose it makes sense, as there’s something beautiful and unsettling about the unlikely mix, which is basically my ideal vibe for a book.

After grouping all of the covers that fell into that category together, I expected the rest of my favourites to be a mishmash of random designs, but as it turns out, they also fit a type: bar one, they’re all illustrative rather than photographic, they all incorporate animal imagery, and there’s a very definite colour palette. Evidently, I know what I like on a cover, even if I didn’t realise it before making this post! Without further ado, here they are; my favourite covers, organised into the two groups mentioned above.

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What are some of your favourite book covers?

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It’s All a Matter of Taste

I unashamedly judge books by their covers. There, I said it. This obviously doesn’t mean that I will read a book purely for its cover, nor would I dismiss a book simply due to a bad cover, but there’s no denying that one of the first things to grab my attention is beautifully designed artwork, so much so that I’ve often been known to pay more to get different editions shipped internationally because I much preferred the covers.

With all that said, there are many stunning covers on my shelves (and many more I would like to add to them in the future) and when thinking recently about what my tastes seem to be, I noticed two main trends amongst many of my favourite covers. Firstly, I seem to prefer artistic rather than photographic covers, and secondly, I evidently love animal motifs. I thought it was interesting that without even realising it, I had a ‘type’ as it were when it comes to what hooks me in. Here are some examples, some of which I already own; others I hope to get my hands on one day; all of which I love:

The Gracekeepers, Vixen and The Raven King.

The Tusk That Did the Damage, The Collector, The Maker of Swans and The Crane Wife.

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Have you noticed any trends in what attracts you to a book cover?