Even though it’s still just about July — a supposedly “quiet” month in publishing — I’m running late once again. Hopefully everyone is on vacation and won’t notice that it’s basically August already and I am here sliding in under the wire. There are some great covers this month though. A bit of collage, some really nice typography, and lots of pink and red. Enjoy!
The Absolutes by Molly Dektar; design by Yeon Kim (Mariner / July 2023)
I like this cover a lot, but I’m shamelessly stealing it from Lit Hub’s most recent book cover round-up (a benefit of being last to post!), so I hope the design credit is correct because I couldn’t verify it before posting!
Beijing Sprawl by Xu Zechen; design by Andrew Walters (Two Lines Press / June 2023)
I had this noted as down as July cover, but the book was actually released in June. The cover of the Two Lines Press edition of Running Through Beijing by Xu Zechen has also been re-designed to match.
The Black Eden by Richard T. Kelly; design by Robbie Porter (Faber & Faber / July 2023)
Cat Prince by Michael Pedersen; design by Gray318 (Little, Brown / July 2023)
Jon’s design for Michael’s previous book Boy Friends, which features an illustration by Nathaniel Russell, was on last year’s notable book cover list.
The Complete Works of Álvaro de Campos by Fernando Pessoa; design by Peter Mendelsund (New Directions / July 2023)
Counterweight by Djuna; design by Tal Goretsky (Pantheon / July 2023)
Do Tell by Lindsay Lynch; design by Emily Mahon; illustration and lettering by Studio Martina Flor (Doubleday / July 2023)
Excavations by Hannah Michell; design by Arsh Raziuddin (One World / July 2023)
This reminded me of the 2017 cover of Smoke by Dan Vyleta designed by Mark Abrams with an illustration by the late Colombian artist Alejandro García Restrepo who passed away last month.
The Librarianist by Patrick DeWitt; design by Allison Saltzman (Ecco / July 2023)
Nothing Special by Nicole Flattery; design by Katya Mezhibovskaya (Bloomsbury / July 2023)
Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter; design by Natalia Olbinski; art by Angela Faustina (Scribner / July 2023)
I love pretty much everything about this cover.
Screwjack by Hunter S. Thompson; design by Math Monahan (Simon & Schuster / July 2023)
The Sea Elephants by Shastri Akella; design by Dave Litman (Flatiron Books / July 2023)
Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; design by Regina Flath (Del Rey Books / July 2023)
I think this delivers just about everything you want from a horror / thriller cover.
Someone Who Isn’t Me by Geoff Rickly; design by Jesse Reed; art by Jesse Draxler (Rose Books / July 2023)
The Stolen Coast by Dwyer Murphy; design by Dave Litman (Viking / July 2023)
A Thread of Violence by Mark O’Connell; design by Jack Smyth (Granta / July 2023)
Some nice ones here. I’ve been checking out your selections for as long as you’ve been doing them and I wanted to respond to your reply to my “everything looks the same” quip from last(?) month. Yes, the design floor has been raised, unequivocally. No, the selection by the same dude look the same and that’s the problem. I am here for your curation – it’s first class.
Keep on keeping on – if you want.
And I’ll keep peeping.