Great Reading for You… and Yummy Cover Designs!

A friend just posted an email on our community’s newsletter asking for reading recommendations, and look what the universe delivered!

I’ve been doing a lot of research on design as I work on the cover for my upcoming book, and so I’m particularly attuned to the visual aspects of books right now. As it turns out, we do judge a book by its cover…and these make me hungry to read…just delicious… and they make me proud to be a woman writer.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Well, obviously I like this one, since it looks like one of my photo collages. Aside from that, the archway draws me in, reinforced by the lines around it pointing to the center.

The monochromatic tones, which in general I think are more difficult to make work for book cover (because bright colors grab attention) here work splendidly, giving a moody feel. The retro girl and the title give me the idea this is a story about reincarnation, which it is.

Must read!

This cover utilizes color and strong, graphic shapes to draw attention. I love the aqua, yellow and brown… and the huge sunglasses, hiding her eyes…

The title, a provocative question, piques my curiosity. Yeah, where did she go? This cover (reinforced by the quote) makes me think this is going to be a sassy, entertaining book.

This cover makes me think it’s about the adventures of an adolescent girl, which it is. I love the red high tops against the gray and white car, and the awkward, yet sassy posture of the girl’s legs. The red shoes remind me of red riding hood, and also the posters for Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita.

Then there’s the quote “Tommie is eleven. David Lamb is fifty-four. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” The title, which ostensibly refers to the male character, also alludes to the animal, with connotations of innocence and vulnerability. Is the girl the lamb? Is the man a wolf in sheep’s clothes, or does he possess a redeeming innocence?

I don’t know, because I haven’t read it yet, but the cover alone has raised these ideas and associations. Very evocative and provocative design.

Another good use of monochromatic color scheme. I love the blurred figures of the children, dwarfed by the looming trees and grass in the foreground. Moody and mysterious.

The title has a double meaning, evoking actual forests, and what I presume is a person or family named Forrest.

This cover makes me think this will be a dreamy, sensuous novel, and from the description I read, it seems that is the case.

This cover is spectacular. The colors, the font, the title, the graphic cutouts of men walking, dead men below the trees like roots, dead men floating above like clouds. Love, love, love.

Here is the link for you to see the rest of the books nominated for this award, and read descriptions of them: http://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/2013-prize/longlist

Enjoy!