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Published April 30, 2021

Book Covers of Note, April 2021

A bit too much going on this month for my liking, but no shortage of great covers…

Car Crash by Lech Blaine; design by Design by Committee (Black Inc. / March 2021)

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner; design by Na Kim (Knopf / April 2021)

This reminded me of Lynn Buckley‘s cover from a while back for On the Noodle Road by Jen Lin-Liu.

Dirt by Bill Buford; design by Gabriele Wilson (Vintage / April 2021)

The Free World by Louis Menand; design by Rodrigo Corral (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / April 2021)

From a Taller Tower by Seamus McGraw; design by Alex Camlin (University of Texas Press / April 2021)

Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian; design by Stephanie Ross; illustration by Sky Goodies (Penguin Press / April 2021)

Namesake by Adrienne Young; design by Kerri Resnick; photograph by Sveltana Belyaeva (Wednesday Books / March 2021)

This is, of course, only half the picture… Fable was published in September and featured in my 2020 YA cover round-up posted in January.

Nancy by Bruno Lloret; design by Gabriele Wilson (Two Lines Press / April 2021)

New York, New York, New York by Thomas Dyja; design by Rodrigo Corral (Simon & Schuster / March 2021)

Two New York covers for Mr. Corral this month.

The Penguin Book of Feminist Writing by Hannah Dawson; design by Olga Kominek (Penguin Classics / March 2021)

Oculta by Maya Motayne; design by Aurora Parlagreco and Jenna Stempel-Lobell; art by Mark Van Leeuwen (Balzer & Bray / April 2021)

The cover of Nocturna, the previous book in the series, was featured in my 2019 YA round-up.

Red Island House by Andrea Lee; design by Tristan Offit (Scribner / March 2021)

Refugee by Emmanuel Mbolela; design by Eva Gabrielsen (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / April 2021)

The Revelations by Erik Hoel; design by Alex Merto (Abrams / April 2021)

The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock by Edward White; design by Jason Ramirez (W. W. Norton / April 2021)

2034 by Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis; design by Christopher Brian King (Penguin Press / March 2021)

Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin; design Luke Bird (Open Letter / April 2021)

I believe this cover was originally used in the UK last year for the Daunt Books edition, but I missed it. Open Letter are publishing the book in the US and Canada this month, so that’s as good as an excuse as any to post the cover now.

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Published December 18, 2020

Notable Book Covers of 2020

I didn’t blog much this year. It felt strange to be posting about something as trivial as book covers during a deadly pandemic. 2020 has been a tough year. I feel lucky that my family are safe and well, and I have kept my job and my health. I know others have not been so fortunate.

It has been hard.

I haven’t read much and I’ve struggled to keep track of new work. Toronto has been in lockdown for most of 2020. Browsing bookstores hasn’t been possible, and I didn’t spend as much time as usual trawling for covers online. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a lot of covers in this year’s post are featured here for the first time.

Looking back at last year’s post, I was apparently feeling gloomy about the state of things in 2019 too.1 If I remember correctly, I was — in the midst of everything — trying to get through sales conference, wrap up a big project before the holidays, and feeling more than a little stressed. Somehow I still managed to write a little bit about the trends I was seeing. A few things — painterly covers for example — seem to have continued into 2020. Lydian certainly hasn’t gone away. It felt so common, in fact, I stopped keeping track of individual examples. On the other hand, I did see less Avant Garde for which I am quietly grateful (although I’m not sure that’s a popular sentiment).

At The Literary Hub, Emily Temple declared 2020 to be “the year of enormous pink lady faces on book covers.” While at Spine Magazine, Viki Hendy collected together examples of covers with type around the edges. I don’t know that I have a lot to add that. There were a few new meta, books on book covers this year, which is always a delight. And I think perhaps collage might be having a moment too, which is fun. Although we may be overdoing the half-face compositions.

  • Suppose A Sentence by Brian Dillon; design by Katy Homans; art by John Stezaker (NYRB / September 2020)
  • Follow Me To Ground by Sue Rainsford; design by Jaya Miceli; collage by Toon Joosen (Scribner / January 2019)
  • The Lightness by Emily Temple; design by Ploy Siripant; art by Beth Hoeckel (William Morrow / June 2020)

There is, of course, a lag. Trends always bleed over from one year to the next. One of this year’s “big books”, Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, which featured a bright and bold cover designed by Vi-An Nguyen, was published in the US on December 31, 2019. A lot of 2020 books have been delayed until 2021. But I wonder how the changes in the way we work and consume brought on by the pandemic — designing in isolation for an audience that is now browsing predominantly online — will change things in the next couple of years. Will we see more experimentation or less? Will there be demand for beautiful tactile objects, or will we more fully embrace digital reading experiences? There’s a lot to ponder…

Anyway, thanks to all the folks who have supported the Casual Op this year and encouraged me to keep it going. I’m sorry that I have not responded to all the emails I have received. I’m going to try to be a bit better with that in future. Hopefully there have been some silver linings for you in 2020, and you can still find some joy in a few good book covers…

Afterland by Lauren Beukes; design by Lauren Wakefield (Penguin / July 2020)

Also designed by Lauren Wakefield:

The Age of Skin by Dubravka Ugresic; design by Jack Smyth (Open Letter / November 2020)

Also designed by Jack Smyth:

All Men Want to Know by Nina Bouraoui; design by Holly Ovenden (Viking / August 2020)

Also designed by Holly Ovenden:

  • Blue Ticket by Sophie MacIntosh; design by Holly Ovenden (Hamish Hamilton / August 2020)
  • Belladonna by Anbara Salam; design Holly Ovenden (Penguin / August 2020)

Analogia by George Dyson; design by Tom Etherington; illustration by Andy Bridge (Allen Lane / August 2020)

Also designed by Tom Etherington:

Anger by Barbara H. Rosenwein; design by Alex Kirby (Yale University Press / July 2020)

Also designed by Alex Kirby:

The Art of War by Sun Tzu; design by Jaya Miceli (W. W. Norton / January 2020)

Also designed by Jaya Miceli:

Black Sunday by Tola Rotimi Abraham; design Nicole Caputo (Catapult / February 2020)

Also designed by Nicole Caputo:

Nicole talks about book covers and her design process in this video for Belletrist from earlier this year.

The Book of Eels by Patrick Svensson; design by Allison Saltzman; illustration by Grady McFerrin (Ecco / May 2020)

Also designed by Allison Saltzman:

Carry by Toni Jensen; design by Emily Mahon; illustration by Carmi Grau (Ballantine / September 2020)

Also designed by Emily Mahon:

Cesare by Jerome Charyn; design by Elsa Mathern (No Exit Press / November 2020)

Companions by Katie M. Flynn; design by Laywan Kwan (Scout Press / March 2020)

The Complete Works of Alberto Caeiro by Fernando Pessoa; design by Peter Mendelsund (New Directions / July 2020)

You can find a recent interview with Peter at InsideHook, and he has a big new book out called The Look of the Book with David J. Alworth.

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi; design by Grace Han (Riverhead / August 2020)

Also designed by Grace Han:

Los Falcón by Melissa Rivero; design by Adalis Martinez (Vintage Espanol / April 2020)

Sadly, Adalis unexpectedly passed away in July 2020. I only knew Adalis through her work, but she is such a huge a loss to our community. There is a GoFundMe page if you wish to donate to her family.

Also designed by Adalis Martinez:

  • losi by Molly Ball; design by Adalis Martinez (Henry Holt & Co / May 2020)
  • Dominicana by Angie Cruz’ design by Adalis Martinez (Flatiron / August 2020)
  • Love is an Ex-Country by Randa Jarrar; design by Adalis Martinez (Catapult / February 2021)

Figure It Out by Wayne Koestenbaum; design by Michael Salu (Soft Skull Press / May 2020)

Also designed by Michael Salu:

The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada; design by Janet Hansen (New Directions / October 2020)

Also designed by Janet Hansen:

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor; design Jamie Keenan (New Directions / March 2020)

Also designed by Jamie Keenan:

Hysteria by Jessica Gross; design by Jaya Nicely (Unnamed Press / August 2020)

Also designed by Jaya Nicely:

  • A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers; design by Jaya Nicely (Unnamed Press / December 2020)
  • Vagablonde by Anna Dorn; design by Jaya Nicely (Unnamed Press / May 2020)

The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector; design by Paul Sahre (New Directions / October 2020)

The Hype Machine by Sinan Aral; design by Steve Leard (HarperCollins / September 2020)

Indelicacy by Amina Cain; design by June Park (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / February 2020)

Also designed by June Park:

  • The Family Clause by Jonas Hassen Khemiri; design by June Park (FSG / August 2020)
  • Miss Aluminum by Susanna Moore; design by June Park (FSG / April 2020)
  • The Town by Shaun Prescott; design by June Park (FSG / February 2020)

Insomnia by John Kinsella; design by Sarahmay Wilkinson (W. W. Norton / November 2020)

Also designed by Sarahmay Wilkinson:

Lakewood by Megan Giddings; design by Stephen Brayda; art by Yulia Bas (Amistad / March 2020)

Also designed by Stephen Brayda:

Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford; design by Lucy Kim; photograph by Pari Dukovic (Little Brown & Co / July 2020)

Also designed by Lucy Kim:

Ledger by Jane Hirshfield; design by John Gall (Knopf / March 2020)

Also designed by John Gall:

You can find a short interview with John in which he discusses his cover for Red Pill at Bear Books, and you can read about his design process for Weather by Jenny Offill at Spine Magazine.

The Light Ages by Seb Falk; design by Richard Green (Allen Lane / September 2020)

Is it just me, or were star charts on book covers a bit of thing this year?

Life of a Klansman; design by Rodrigo Corral; illustration by Matt Buck (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / August 2020)

Also designed by Rodrigo Corral:

  • Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener; design by Rodrigo Corral (MCD / January 2020)
  • Kraft by Jonas Lüscher; design by Rodrigo Corral (FSG / November 2020)
  • Lake Life by David James Poissant; design by Rodrigo Corral; photograph by Frederick Broden (Simon & Schuster / July 2020)

Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin; design by Na Kim (Riverhead / May 2020)

Also designed by Na Kim:

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli; design by Oliver Munday (New Directions / May 2020)

Moss by Klaus Modick; design by Alban Fischer (Bellevue Literary Press / August 2020)

Alban recently talked to the folks at Faceout Books about his design for Moss, and you can read about his design process for Four By Four by Sara Mesa at Spine Magazine.

Also designed by Alban Fischer:

  • The Clerk by Guillermo Saccomanno; design by Alban Fischer (Open Letter Books / September 2020)
  • White Blood by Kiki Petrosino; design by Alban Fischer (Sarabande Books / May 2020)
  • Four by Four by Sara Mesa; design by Alban Fischer (Open Letter / May 2020)

Natural History by Carlos Fonseca; design by Pablo Delcan (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / July 2020)

Notes from an Apocalypse by Mark O’Connell; design by Matthew Young; art by Joe Webb (Granta / April 2020)

Of Color by Jaswinder Bolina; design by Jude Landry (McSweeney’s / June 2020)

Oligarchy by Scarlett Thomas; design by Kelly Winton (Counterpoint / January 2020)

On the Road by Jack Kerouac; design by Moker Ontwerp (De Bezige Bij / July 2020)

The Party Upstairs by Lee Conell; design by Stephanie Ross (Penguin Press / July 2020)

You can read about Stephanie’s design process for The Party Upstairs at Spine Magazine.

Pew by Catherine Lacey; design by Luke Bird (Granta / May 2020)

Also designed by Luke Bird:

Prosper’s Demon by K. J. Parker; design by Christine Foltzer; art by Sam Weber (Tor / January 2020)

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue; design by Sara Wood (Little Brown & Co / July 2020)

Also designed by Sara Wood:

Rendang by Will Harris; design by David Pearson (Granta / February 2020)

Also designed by David Pearson:

  • Cover design by David Pearson and original lettering by Ken Garland

Sensation Machines by Adam Wilson; design by David Litman (Soho Press / July 2020)

Also designed by David Litman:

  • The New American by Micheline Aharonian Marcom; design Dave Litman (Simon & Schuster / August 2020)
  • We Inherit What the Fires Left by William Evans; design by David Litman (Simon & Schuster / March 2020)

Sigh, Gone by Phuc Tran; design Henry Sene Yee (Flatiron Books / April 2020)

Also designed by Henry Sene Yee

Soot by Dan Vyleta; design by Mark Swan (Weidenfeld & Nicolson / February 2020)

The Sun Collective by Charles Baxter; design Tyler Comrie (Pantheon / November 2020)

Also designed by Tyler Comrie:

  • Antkind by Charlie Kaufman; design by Tyler Comrie (Random House / July 2020)
  • American Poison by Eduardo Porter; design by Tyler Comrie (Knopf / March 2020)
  • A Burning by Megha Majumdar; design by Tyler Comrie (Knopf / June 2020)

The Topeka School by Ben Lerner; design by Gray318 (Granta / September 2020)

Also designed by Gray318:

Too Much by Rachel Vorona Cote; design by Jennifer Carrow (Grand Central / February 2020)

Topics of Conversation by Miranda Popkey; design Sinem Erkas (Serpent’s Tail / February 2020)

You can read about Sinem’s design process for Topic of Conversation at Spine Magazine.

Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah, translated by Deborah Smith; design by  Suzanne Dean; photograph Marta Bevacqua (Jonathan Cape / January 2020)

Also designed by Suzanne Dean:

  • Sisters by Daisy Johnson; design by Suzanne Dean; photograph Simon Kerola (Jonathan Cape / August 2020)

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett; design by Lauren Peters-Collaer (Riverhead / June 2020)

Verge by Lidia Yuknavitch; design by Rachel Willey (Riverhead / February 2020)

The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings; design by Kimberly Glyder (Scribner / January 2020)

Also designed by Kimberly Glyder:

  1. For those of you that don’t know, the name of the blog comes from a joke about my general lack of enthusiasm for anything. ↩
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Published August 28, 2020

Book Covers of Note, August 2020

A quick update for August…

All Men Want to Know by Nina Bouraoui; design by Holly Ovenden (Viking / August 2020)

Analogia by George Dyson; design by Tom Etherington; illustration by Andy Bridge (Allen Lane / August 2020)

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi; design by Grace Han (Riverhead / August 2020)

Must I Go by Yiyun Li; design by Gray318 and Richard Bravery (Hamish Hamilton / August 2020)

The Last Great Road Bum by Héctor Tobar; design by Rodrigo Corral; illustration by Matt Buck (MCD / August 2020)

Life of a Klansman; design by Rodrigo Corral (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / August 2020)

I believe this illustration is also by Matt Buck.

Luster by Raven Leilani; design by Na Kim (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / August 2020)

Moss by Klaus Modick; design by Alban Fischer (Bellevue Literary Press / August 2020)

The New American by Micheline Aharonian Marcom; design Dave Litman (Simon & Schuster / August 2020)

Scabby Queen by Kirstin Innes; design by Jack Smyth (Fourth Estate / July 2020)

Sisters by Daisy Johnson; design by Suzanne Dean; photograph Simon Kerola (Jonathan Cape / August 2020)

The cover of the US edition of Sisters, published by Riverhead this month, was designed by Jaya Miceli. The painting is by Jeremy Olson. (Thank you to the folks on Twitter who helped me with this!)

You Will Never Be Forgotten by Mary South; design by Jamie Keenan (Picador / August

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Published July 23, 2020

Book Covers of Note, July 2020

And here we are… This month’s collection of book covers and occasional notes…

Antkind by Charlie Kaufman; design by Jack Smyth (Fourth Estate / July 2020)

The cover of the US edition of Antkind, published by Random House this month, was designed by Tyler Comrie.

In the Beggarly Style of Imitation by Jean Marc Ah-Sen; design by Charlotte Gray; photograph by Ally Schmaling (Nightwood Editions / April 2020)

(Because I am of a certain age, this cover immediately made me think of Lady Miss Kier and her shoes in the video for ‘Groove is in the Heart’)

Beyond the Sea by Paul Lynch; design by Janet Hansen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / March 2020)

The End of Everything by Katie Mack; design by Tom Etherington (Allen Lane / July 2020)

The Englishman by David Gilman; design by Ben Prior (Head of Zeus / July 2020)

Fraternity by Benjamin Nugent; design by Rodrigo Corral; lettering by Michael Schmelling (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / July 2020)

Lampedusa by Steven Price; design by Ami Smithson (Picador / February 2020)

Last One Out Shut Off the Lights by Stephanie Soileau; design by Lucy Kim; photograph by Marc St. Gil (Little Brown & Co / July 2020)

Maybe someone has done this before and I didn’t notice (or, more likely forgotten), but it’s great to see a photograph from the EPA’s remarkable DOCUMERICA Project — available through the US National Archives on Flickr — on a book cover.

Natural History by Carlos Fonseca; design by Pablo Delcan (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / July 2020)

I love this cover. It reminded me Peter Mendelsund’s bonkers cover for C by Tom McCarthy:

On Nostalgia by David Berry; design by Raymond Biesinger (Coach House Books / July 2020)

The Party Upstairs by Lee Conell; design by Stephanie Ross (Penguin Press / July 2020)

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue; design by Sara Wood (Little Brown & Co / July 2020)

The cover of the UK edition, published this month by Picador, was designed by Ami Smithson:

Putin’s People by Catherine Belton; design by Chris Allen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / June 2020)1

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld; design by Jo Thomson (Doubleday / July 2020)

It’s interesting that the US cover of Rodham is essentially the same as the UK one. I would’ve thought for sure that they would take different approaches.

Sensation Machines by Adam Wilson; design by David Litman (Soho Press / July 2020)

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Published January 31, 2020

Book Covers of Note, January 2020

A very quick post this month as it is almost next month (again)…

Agency by William Gibson; design by Gray318 (Berkley / January 2020)

Jon also designed the new cover for the Berkley reprint edition Gibson’s previous novel The Peripheral.

The cover of the UK edition of Agency, published by Viking this month, was designed by Chris Bentham:

The Art of War by Sun Tzu; design by Jaya Miceli (W. W. Norton / January 2020)

A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bolen; design by Milan Bozic (HarperCollins / January 2020)

Cleanness by Garth Greenwell; design by Thomas Colligan; photograph by Jack Davison (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / January 2020)

As I mentioned in my 2019 round-up, the cover of the UK edition, published by Picador this month, was designed by Ami Smithson and features black and white photograph by Mark McKnight.

Dark Mother Earth by Kristian Novak; design by Kimberly Glyder (Amazon Crossing / January 2020)

Follow Me To Ground by Sue Rainsford; design by Jaya Miceli; collage by Toon Joosen (Scribner / January 2019)

The cover of the UK edition, published by Transworld last year, was designed by Beci Kelly.

The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson; design by Leo Nickolls (Katherine Tegen Books / January 2020)

Leo also designed the covers to the previous books in the series…

Long Bright River by Liz Moore; design by Gregg Kulick (Riverhead / January 2020)

Oligarchy by Scarlett Thomas; design by Kelly Winton (Counterpoint / January 2020)

The cover of the UK edition, published by Canongate this month, was design by Gray318:

Small Days and Nights by Tishani Doshi; design by Sarahmay Wilkinson (W. W. Norton / January 2020)

Threshold by Rob Doyle; design by Greg Heinimann (Bloomsbury / January 2020)

Greg also designed the covers for This is the Ritual and Here Are the Young Men by Rob Doyle:

Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener; design by Rodrigo Corral (MCD / January 2020)

Walk the Wild With Me by Rachel Atwood; design by Leo Nickolls (DAW / December 2019)

The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings; design by Kimberly Glyder (Scribner / January 2020)

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Published October 18, 2019

Book Covers of Note, October 2019

Oh hey, it’s October, AKA the best month of the year, so this is the last of my monthly cover round-ups for 2019. My look back at the year will be coming soon, so if I have shamefully overlooked your work for the past 10 months, or you want to share a cover design for a book that is coming out in November or December, now would be a really great time to drop me a line! High resolution images are always appreciated. This goes double if you design or illustrate YA covers. 1

All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg; design by Catherine Casalino (Hougton Mifflin / October 2019)

Big Bang by David Bowman; design by Jamie Keenan (Corsair / August 2019)

This makes me think of the décollage art of folks like Mimmo Rotella.

The cover of the US edition published by Little, Brown was designed by Gregg Kulick and takes a different pop art approach…

Dead Astronauts by Jeff Vandermeer; design Rodrigo Corral (MCD / December 2019)

The cover of the UK edition, out in January 2020 from Fourth Estate, was designed by Jo Walker with an illustration by Alycia Rainaud.

Driving in Cars with Homeless Men by Kate Wisel; design Catherine Casalino (University of Pittsburgh Press / October 2019)

The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada; design by Janet Hansen; photography by Arthur Woodcroft (New Directions / October 2019)

Feminist City: A Field Guide by Leslie Kern; design by Ingrid Paulson (Between the Lines / October 2019)

The flaps are fun…

Geometry of Shadows by Giorgio di Chirico; design by Atelier Bingo (Public Space Books / October 2019)

Ghosts of Berlin by Rudolph Herzog; design by Marina Drukman (Melville House / October 2019)

Gorgeous War by Tim Blackmore; design Michel Vrana (Wilfred Laurier University Press / October 2019)

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett; design by Kerri Resnick; illustration Hsiao Ron Cheng (Wednesday Books / October 2019)

Humiliation by Paulina Flores; design by Nicole Caputo (Catapult / November 2019)

I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; illustration by Adams Carvalho (HarperTeen / October 2019)

This makes a nice pair with the Adams Carvalho illustration on the cover of We Are the Lost and Found  mentioned last month…

Nightmareland by Lex “Lonehood” Nover; design by Linet Huamán Velásquez (TarcherPerigee / October 2019)

Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson; design by Allison Saltzman; art by Christian Northeast (Ecco / October 2019)

Not Me by Marianne Dissard; design by Jamie Keenan (October 2019)

One of the more disturbing covers of the year I think…

One Day by Gene Weingarten; design by David Litman (Blue Rider / October 2019)

Sonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Maria Rilke; design by Anne Jordan & Mitch Goldstein (Open Letter Books / December 2019)

Space Struck by Paige Lewis; design by Alban Fischer (Sarabande Books / October 2019)

Suspect Communities by Nicole Nguyen; design by Matt Avery (University of Minnesota Press / October 2019)

Redaction on covers is most definitely in…

The Topeka School by Ben Lerner; design by Rodrigo Corral (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / October 2019)

What Happened? by Hanif Kureishi; design Jonny Pelham (Faber & Faber / October 2019)

Are we seeing the beginnings of a psychedelia revival? There are a couple of covers coming in 2020 in addition to these three that make me think we might be…

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Published August 16, 2019

Book Covers of Note, August 2019

Here are your August book covers of note. Another good month, I think?

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath; design by Gray318 (Faber & Faber / July2019)

This is apparently available now (according to Faber’s Instagram at least!), but I haven’t been able to find it online. If anyone cares to share the ISBN, I will try to add a link.

The new design is inspired by the 1966 cover designed by Shirley Tucker.

Berta Isla by Javier Marías; design by Kelly Blair (Knopf / August 2019)

This is an interesting change in direction from the cover of The Infatuations by Javier Marías designed by Isabel Urbina Peña and published by Knopf in 2013.

(The UK covers for Javier Marías’ novels published by Hamish Hamilton are photographic. If anyone can supply me with the design/photo credits, I’d be happy to add them in here for reference!).

The Case Against Reality by Donald Hoffman; design by Sarahmay Wilkinson (W. W. Norton / August 2019)

The Catholic School by Edoardo Albinati; design by Rodrigo Corral (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / August 2019)

Thank you to the good folks on Twitter who helped me identify the designer and then the typeface. It turns out the type is “Lydia” from Colophon Foundry — a revival of the Bold Condensed styles of (you guessed it!) Lydian. 

Chances Are… by Richard Russo; dsign by Kelly Blair (Knopf / July 2019)

Doxology by Nell Zink; design Jack Smyth (Fourth Estate / August 2019)

And you can read a recent interview with Jack about his work at It’s Nice That.  

Ether by Evgenia Citkowitz design by Henry Sene Yee (Picador / July 2019)

You can listen to Henry discussing his work with Holly Dunn on the latest Spine podcast.  

Follow Me To Ground by Sue Rainsford; design and illustration Beci Kelly (Transworld / August 2019)

The cover of the US edition, which will be published by Scribner in January 2020(!) was designed by Jaya Miceli featuring a collage by Toon Joosen.

Lithium by Walter A. Brown; design by Keith Hayes (W. W. Norton / August 2019)

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa; design by Tyler Comrie (Pantheon / August 2019)

More Noble Than War by Nicholas Blincoe; design by Steve Leard (Constable / August 2019)

This reminded me of Henry’s cover for A Wall in Palestine by René Backman published by Picador in 2010…

The Need by Helen Phillips; design Rachel Willey (Simon & Schuster / July 2019)

I stopped keeping track of ‘flora-intertwined-with-type’ covers a while ago, but this would be a nice addition to that list. 

One Giant Leap by Charles Fishman; design by Richard Ljoenes (Simon & Schuster / June 2019)

Our Women on the Ground edited by Zahra Hankir; design by Rosie Palmer; hand lettering by Lily Jones (Harvill Secker / August 2019)

The cover of the US edition published by Penguin was designed by Na Kim.

The Perfect Plan by Bryan Reardon; design by Jason Booher (Dutton / June 2019)

I like this cover a lot, but it is surprisingly un-bonkers for Jason. I would not have guessed he was the designer! 

The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán; design by Tree Abraham (Coffee House Press / August 2019)

Tree also designed the cover of the UK edition published by And Other Stories last year. She wrote about the process of designing both covers for Spine not so long ago (they really are doing a better a job of this than me, aren’t they?).

The Revolutionaries by Joshua Furst; design by Tyler Comrie (Knopf / April 2019)

I think it’s kind of interesting to see these two designs side by side….

Speaking of Summer by Kalisha Buckhanon; design Jaya Miceli (Counterpoint / July 2019)

Sadly this image doesn’t quite do justice to just how brilliantly orange this cover is in IRL. And apparently flowery collages are the new thing… 

The Western Alienation Merit Badge by Nancy Jo Cullen; design by Michel Vrana (Buckrider Books / May 2019)

Michel has also dusted off his comics publishing endeavour Black Eye Books if you’d like to support him. There is a new book by Jay Stephens planned for next month.  

White Flights by Jess Row; design by Oliver Munday (Graywolf / August 2019)

This is one of my favourite covers of the year so far, I think. 

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Published December 11, 2018

Book Covers of Note 2018

This has been an exhausting year for oh so, so many reasons, but book covers remained a bright spot for me in 2018. 

As always, my end-of-year list collects together the covers that I found interesting or noteworthy in some way or another in the past 12 months. It is organized alphabetically by title and grouped by designer (because that makes sense to me when I’m compiling the list). 

In terms of trends, there were a lot of hot orange book covers this year. Stark black, white and red covers were popular for non-fiction. Stars and stripes featured heavily too (I refuse to do a post about this!). Snakes seemed to be a thing!

Typographically, big white sans serifs are still a go-to. And hand-lettering and handwriting are still going strong. But retro typefaces, particularly big serifs with swishy swashes, are making a comeback. 

Thanks as always to everyone who has supported the blog this year, especially the folks who have taken the time to help with cover images and design credits. I’m sorry for the many, many the emails I have not replied to this year, and for all the covers, designers, and publishers I have overlooked. 


Aetherial Worlds by Tatyana Tolstaya; design by Stephanie Ross (Knopf / March 2018)

Stephanie Ross’s cover for Ruth Bader Ginsberg by Jane Sherron De Hart, published by Knopf in October, also caught my eye this year. 


Agrippina: Empress, Exile, Hustler, Whore by Emma Southon; design by Mark Ecob (Unbound / August 2018)


America is Not the Heart by Elaine Castillo; design by Gray318 (Atlantic Books / May 2018)

Also designed by Gray318:

Something Great and Beautiful by Enrico Pellegrini; design by Gray318 (Other Press / September 2018)
Me Mum. Me Dad. Me. by Malcolm Duffy; design Gray318 (Head of Zeus / April 2018)
Feel Free by Zadie Smith; design by Gray318 (Hamish Hamilton / February 2018)

(I got to visit Jon in his studio this summer, which was nice.)


Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald; design David Pearson (Penguin / June 2018)

Also designed by David Pearson:

Staying Power by Peter Fryer; design by David Pearson; illustration by Adam Busby (Pluto Press / September 2018)
Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know by Colm Tóibín; design David Pearson (Viking / October 2018)
England’s Discontents by Mike Wayne; design by David Pearson (Pluto Press / November 2018)


The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch; design by Rafi Romaya; illustration by Florian Schommer (Canongate / January 2018)


Born To Be Posthumous by Mark Dery; design by Jim Tierney; photograph by Richard Corman (Little Brown & Co. / November 2018)

Congratulations to Jim and Sara on the birth of their baby last month! 


Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber; design by David Litman (Simon & Schuster / May 2018)


Cherry by Nico Walker; design by Janet Hansen (Knopf / August 2018)

Also designed by Janet Hansen:

Immigrant, Montana by Amitava Kumar; design Janet Hansen (Knopf / July 2018)
Provocations by Camille Paglia; design Janet Hansen (Pantheon / October 2018)


Circe by Madeline Miller; design by Will Staehle (Little Brown & Co / April 2018)

Also designed by Will Staehle:

The Outsider by Stephen King; design by Will Staehle (Scribner / May 2018)
The Infinite Future by Tim Wirkus; design by Will Staehle (Prentice Hall / January 2018)


Codex 1962 by Sjón; design by Rodrigo Corral (MCD / September 2018)

The cover of the UK edition of Codex 1962 published by Sceptre, which features art by Owen Gent, is also beautiful.

Also designed by Rodrigo Corral Studio: 

Severance by Ling Ma; design Rodrigo Corral (FSG / August 2018)
The End of the End of the Earth by Jonathan Franzen; design by Rodrigo Corral; photo by Jeroen Mantel (FSG / November 2018)
The Linden Tree by Cesar Aira; design by Rodrigo Corral (New Directions / May 2018)


The Comedown by Rebekah Frumkin; design by Rachel Willey (Henry Holt / April 2018)

Also designed by Rachel Willey:

Heartbreaker by Claudia Dey; design by Rachel Willey (Random House / August 2018)
The Pisces by Melissa Broder; design by Rachel Willey (Bloomsbury / May 2018)


The Doctor Stories by William Carlos Williams; design by Joan Wong (New Directions / September 2018)


Educated by Tara Westover; illustration by Patrik Svensson (Random House / March 2018)

Probably the most ubiquitous nonfiction book of the year (if not, in the end, the bestselling). Canada and the UK went with photographic covers. This was more memorable I thought. 


Evening in Paradise by Lucia Berlin; design by Na Kim (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / November 2018)

Also designed by Na Kim:

Welcome Home by Lucia Berlin; design by Na Kim (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / November 2018)
Heavy by Kiese Laymon; design by Na Kim (Scribner / October 2018)
Certain American States by Catherine Lacey; design by Na Kim (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / August 2018)


he Fed and Lehman Brothers by Laurence M. Ball; design by Catherine Casalino (University of Cambridge Press / June 2018)

Also designed by Catherine Casalino:

The Age of Caesar by Plutarch; translation by Pamela Mensch; design by Catherine Casalino (W.W. Norton / January 2018)
Here Kitty Kitty by Jardine Libaire; design Catherine Casalino (Hogarth / June 2018)


The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer; design by Ben Denzer (Riverhead Books / April 2018)

I also really liked Ben Denzer’s typographic cover for A Short Film About Disappointment by Joshua Mattson (Penguin Press / August 2018).


Feminasty by Erin Gibson; design by Anne Twomey; photograph by Ricky Middlesworth (Grand Central / September 2018)


The Feral Detective by Jonathan Lethem; design Allison Saltzman; photograph Kate Bellm (Ecco Press / November 2018)


Fox 8 by George Saunders; design by Greg Heinimann (Bloomsbury / November 2018)


Gin: Distilled by Gin Foundry; design by James Paul Jones (Ebury Press / October 2018)


Gun Love by Jennifer Clement; design by Michael Morris (Hogarth / March 2018)

Also designed by Michael Morris:

My German Brother by Chico Buarque; design by Michael Morris (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / June 2018)
Woman No. 17 by Edan Lepucki; design by Michael Morris; illustration by Oliver Wilson (Crown / February 2018)


Hippie by Paulo Coelho; design by Tyler Comrie (Knopf / September 2018)

Also designed by Tyler Comrie:

Ponti by Sharlene Teo; design by Tyler Comrie (Simon & Schuster / September 2018)
Bitwise: A Life in Code by David Auerbach; design by Tyler Comrie (Pantheon / August 2018)
There There by Tommy Orange; design by Tyler Comrie (Knopf / June 2018)


The Hole by José Revueltas; design by John Gall (New Directions / November 2018)

Also designed by John Gall:

The Frolic of the Beasts by Yukio Mishima; design John Gall (Vintage / November 2018)
Emissary by Yuko Tawada; design by John Gall (New Directions / April 2018)

(Don’t forget about the new book collecting 10 years of John Gall’s collages!)


The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara; design by Sara Wood (Ecco / February 2018)

You can read about the design of this cover on Literary Hub. 


The Infinite Blacktop by Sara Gran; design by Alex Merto (Atria Books / September 2018)

Also designed by Alex Merto:

Pretend I’m Dead by Jen Beagin; design by Alex Merto (Scribner / May 2018)
Let It Bang by RJ Young; design by Alex Merto (HMH / November 2018)
Awayland by Ramona Ausubel; design by Alex Merto (Riverhead / March 2018)


In the Distance by Hernan Diaz; design by Luke Bird (Daunt Books / June 2018)

I read the US edition of In the Distance (Coffee House Press / 2017) earlier this year. It is quite extraordinary and not what I expected — a western, but not really. I was really pleased that Daunt decided to publish it in the UK. 

Also designed by Luke Bird:

Patient X by David Peace; design by Luke Bird (Faber & Faber / April 2018)
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata; design by Luke Bird (Portobello Books / July 2018)


The Island That Disappeared by Tom Feiling; design by Marina Drukman (Melville House / March 2018)


The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman; design by Jaya Miceli (Viking / March 2018)

Also designed by Jaya Miceli:

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones; design by Jaya Miceli (Algonquin Books / February 2018)
The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon; design Jaya Miceli (Riverhead / July 2018)
Wasteland by W. Scott Poole; design by Jaya Miceli (Counterpoint / November 2018)


A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne; design by Jo Thomson (Doubleday / August 2018)


Liveblog by Megan Boyle; design by Nicole Caputo (Tyrant Books / September 2018)

Also designed by Nicole Caputo:

It Needs To Look Like We Tried by Todd Robert Petersen; design by Nicole Caputo (Counterpoint / May 2019)
Tomb of the Unknown Racist by Blanche McCrary Boyd; design by Nicole Caputo (Counterpoint / May 2019)
The Gunners by Rebecca Kauffman; design by Nicole Caputo (Counterpoint / March 2018)

The Gunners — a novel about a group of misfit friends reuniting at a funeral — was a favourite in my office this year. 


The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner; design by Peter Mendelsund; photograph by Nan Goldin (Scribner / May 2018)

Also designed by Peter Mendelsund:

Notes from the Fog by Ben Marcus; design Peter Mendelsund (Knopf / August 2018)
Calypso by David Sedaris; design by Peter Mendelsund (Little, Brown & Co. / May 2018)
Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants by Mathias Énard; design by Peter Mendelsund (New Directions / November 2018)


My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci; design by Anna Morrison (Pushkin Press / April 2018)

I thought this was a nice contrast to the cover of the US edition designed by Oliver Munday (Pantheon / April 2017). It’s interesting that only the cat’s ear makes an appearance, and the snake (a boa constrictor in the story I think?) is more prominent.  

Also designed by Anna Morrison:

Odessa Stories by Isaac Babel; design by Anna Morrison (Puhskin Press / November 2018)
All the Beautiful Girls by Elizabeth J. Church, designed by Anna Morrison (Fourth Estate / March 2018)
Women by Chloe Caldwell; design by Anna Morrison (Fourth Estate / March 2018)


No Country Woman by Zoya Patel; design by Astred Hicks (Hachette Australia / August 2018)


Notes from the Fog by Ben Marcus; design by Jamie Keenan (Granta / September 2018)

Also designed by Jamie Keenan:

Perfidious Albion by Sam Byers; design Jamie Keenan; art by Emily Allchurch (Faber & Faber / August 2018)
Rock and Roll is Life by D.J. Taylor; design by Jamie Keenan (Constable / May 2018)
Impossible Owls by Brian Phillips; design Jamie Keenan (FSG / October 2018)


On Gravity by A. Zee; design by Jason Alejandro (Princeton University Press / May 2018)


Packing My Library by Alberto Manguel; design by Tom Starr (Yale University Press / March 2018)


The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani; design by Julianna Lee (Penguin / January 2018)


The Reservoir Tapes by Jon McGregor; design by Strick&Williams (Catapult / August 2018)


She Wants It by Jill Soloway; design by Elena Giavaldi (Crown / October 2018)


The Son of Black Thursday by Alejandro Jodorowsky; design by Richard Ljoenes (Restless Books / November 2018)

Richard Ljoenes recently talked about designing covers for Alejandro Jodorowsky — the cover of Where the Bird Sings Best was on my 2016 notable list — with Spine Magazine. 


The Stars Now Unclaimed by Drew Williams; design by Jack Smyth (Simon & Schuster / August 2018)

Also designed by Jack Smyth:

The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah; design by Jack Smyth (Simon & Schuster / May 2018) 
Yeti by Graham Hoyland; design by Jack Smyth (William Collins / May 2018)
A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better by Benjamin Wood; design by Jack Smyth (Scribner UK / June 2018)


A Superior Spectre by Angela Meyer; design by Design by Committee (Ventura / August 2018)


Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott; design by Lauren Wakefield (Hutchinson / June 2018)


Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering; design Donna Cheng (Simon & Schuster / July 2018)

Crossing out is a thing.


Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier; design Dan Mogford (The Bodley Head / June 2018)

Also designed by Dan Mogford:

Homeland by Walter Kempowski; design by Dan Mogford (Granta / November 2018)
A Very British Coup by Chris Mullin; design by Dan Mogford (Serpent’s Tail / 2018)
Portraits Without Frames by Lev Ozerov; design by Dan Mogford (Granta / November 2018)


There There by Tommy Orange; design by Suzanne Dean; art by Bryn Perrott (Harvill Secker / July 2018)

You can read about the design of this cover at Spine Magazine.

Also designed by Suzanne Dean:

The Largess of the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson; design by Suzanne Dean (Jonathan Cape / February 2018)
Nervous States by William Davies; design by Suzanne Dean (Jonathan Cape / September 2018)
The Only Story by Julian Barnes; design by Suzanne Dean (Jonathan Cape / February 2018)


This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga; design Kimberly Glyder (Graywolf / August 2018)

Also designed by Kimberly Glyder:

The Last of the Stanfields by Marc Levy; design by Kimberly Glyder (AmazonCrossing / December 2018)
Waiting for Tomorrow by Nathacha Appanah; design by Kimberly Glyder (Graywolf / April 2018)
The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce; design by Kimberly Glyder (Random House / January 2018)

Tin Man by Sarah Winman; design by Grace Han ( G.P. Putnam’s Sons / May 2018)

Everyone should read Tin Man btw. It is sad and lovely.

Also designed by Grace Han:

The Line Becomes a River by Francisco Cantú; design by Grace Han (Riverhead / February 2018)
There Will Be No Miracles Here by Casey Gerald; design by Grace Han (Riverhead Books / October 2018)
Florida by Lauren Groff; design by Grace Han (Riverhead / June 2018)


Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver; design by Ami Smithson (Faber & Faber / October 2018)

This has rather fancy edges (and endpapers I believe):


The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn; design by Elsie Lyons (William Morrow / January 2018)

I also really liked Elisie Lyons’ glamorously noir cover for Sunburn by Laura Lippman (William Morrow / February 2018).

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Published September 14, 2018

Book Covers of Note September 2018

Lots of type-only covers, some YA, a couple of university presses, and a little bit of everything else in this month’s round-up.


2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke; design by La Boca (Sphere / August 2018)

It’s interesting to compare/contrast this with the Rodrigo Corral cover design for Space Odyssey by Michael Benson also published last month. 


Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber; design by Laywan Kwan (Galley / March 2018)


Back to Black by Kehinde Andrews; design by David Gee (ZED Books / September 2018)

This reminds me of another type-only gem from David:

Dick Cheney Shot Me in the Face by Timothy O’Leary; design by David A. Gee (Unsolicited Press / February 2017)


Codex 1962 by Sjón; design by Rodrigo Corral (MCD / September 2018)

The cover of the UK edition of Codex 1962 published earlier this year by Sceptre takes a very different direction with stunning art by Owen Gent:


Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram; design by Samira Iravani; art by Adams Carvalho (Dial Books / September 2018)


The Doctor Stories by William Carlos Williams; design by Joan Wong (New Directions / September 2018)


The Fed and Lehman Brothers by Laurence M. Ball; design by Catherine Casalino (University of Cambridge Press / June 2018)


Fear by Bob Woodward; design by David Litman (Simon & Schuster / September 2018)

White text on a red background is not new, and I suspect it has never gone out of fashion for mass-market thrillers, but it’s interesting to see it reemerge as a “serious book” cover trend. The Real Lolita cover was designed by Sara Wood: 

The Real Lolita by Sarah Weinman; design by Sara Wood


From Cold War to Hot Peace by Michael McFaul; design by Richard Green (Allen Lane / May 2018)


Gone to Drift by Diana McCaulay; design by David Curtis; illustration by Dadu Shin (HarperCollins / April 2018)


Heartbreaker by Claudia Dey; design by Rachel Willey (Random House / August 2018)

Apparently we can’t get enough of the 1980s. This is essentially ‘The Night Begins to Shine’ rendered into a book cover (and if you don’t get that reference, I’m guessing you don’t have kids. And yes, I’m going to make you Google it)

Rachel also designed the retro cover for The Comedown by Rebekah Frumkin for Henry Holt earlier this year:

Heartbreaker by Claudia Dey; design by Rachel Willey (Random House / August 2018)

 


Liveblog by Megan Boyle; design by Nicole Caputo (Tyrant Books / September 2018)


Night Moves by Jessica Hopper; design by Amanda Weiss (University of Texas Press / September 2018)

This reminds me of Kyle G. Hunter’s cover for A Lucky Man by Jamel Brinkley which I featured earlier this year. Apparently I like blurry urban nightscapes!


Not Quite Not White by Sharmila Sen; design by Oliver Munday (Penguin / August 2018)


On the Other Side of Freedom by Deray McKesson; design by Matt Dorfman (Viking / September 2018)


Other People’s Love Affairs by D. Wystan Owen; design by David High / HighDzn (Algonguin / August 2018)


Ponti by Sharlene Teo; design by Tyler Comrie (Simon & Schuster / September 2018)


Pride by Ibi Zoboi; design Jenna Stempel-Lobell (Balzer & Bray / September 2018)


Sadie by Courtney Summers; design by Kerri Resnick; art by Agata Wierzbicka (St. Martin’s Press / September 2018)


Shutters by Ahmed Bouanani; design Oliver Munday (New Directions / July 2018)


Staying Power by Peter Fryer; design by David Pearson; illustration by Adam Busby (Pluto Press / September 2018)


Vox by Christina Dalcher; design by HQ Art Department Kate Oakley (HarperCollins / August 2018)

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Published December 20, 2017

Notable YA Covers of 2017

So here it is, Merry Xmas, everybody’s having fun, my YA (and middle-grade) covers round-up for 2017. This is far from my area of expertise (I mostly work on the adult trade side of things), but until someone else steps up to do a annual post on YA covers with design credits and publisher details you’re stuck with me. Sorry.

All the picks are, of course, mine, but thank you to all the designers who have helped me over the year with covers, suggestions, and credits, and special thanks to Erin Fitzsimmons at HarperCollins and Sarah Creech at Simon & Schuster who helped me with this post in particular. Happy holidays! 


Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson; design by Erin Fitzsimmons (Katherine Tegen Books / January 2017)


The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; Illustration by Matt Blease (HarperTeen / July 2017)


Autoboyography by Christina Lauren; design Laurent Lint; illustration by Allison Colpoys (Simon & Schuster / September 2017)


Between Two Skies by Joanne O’Sullivan; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / April 2017)


Caraval by Stephanie Garber; design by Erin Fitzsimmons and Ray Shappell (Flatiron / January 2017)


The Circus by Olivia Levez; design by Nathan Burton (Oneworld / May 2017)

Nathan’s cover for The Island by Olivia Levez was on my list of Notable YA Book Covers last year:


Dear Martin by Nic Stone; design Angela Carlino (Crown / October 2017)


Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy; design by Helen Crawford-White; embroidery by Jane Crawford-White (Pushkin Press / July 2017)


Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon; design Alyssa Nassner; illustration Amanda Lanzone (Amulet Books / March 2017)


Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney Stevens; design Heather Daugherty; illustration by Jen Heuer (HarperTeen / August 2017)


The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera; cover art by Dana Svobodova (Simon & Schuster / February 2017)


Everybody Hurts by Joanna Nadin & Anthony McGowan; design by Leo Nickolls (Atom / August 2017)


Good and Gone by Megan Frazer Blakemore; design by Katie Klimowicz illustration Thomas Danthony  (HarperCollins / December 2017)


Goodnight Boy by Nikki Sheehan; design by Edward Bettison (Oneworld / July 2017)


The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; illustration Debra Cartwright (Balzer + Bray / February 2017)


The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; design by Maria Soler (Walker Books / April 2017)


Here We Are Now by Jasmine Warga; design by Jenna Stempel-Lobell; illustration by Monica Ramos (Balzer + Bray / November 2017)


I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez; design by Connie Gabbert (Knopf / October 2017)


Jaya and Rasa by Sonia Patel; illustration by Zeke Peña (Cinco Puntos Press / September 2017)


The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo; design by design Natalie C. Sousa & Ellen Duda (Imprint / September 2017)


Landscape with Invisible Hand by M. T. Anderson; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / September 2017)


Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds; design by Micheal McCartney (Atheneum Books / October 2017)


The Memory Book by Lara Avery; design by Sinem Erkas (Quercus / January 2017)


Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu; design by Elizabeth H. Clark (Roaring Brook Press / September 2017)


Norse Myths: Tales of Odin, Thor, and Loki by Kevin Crossley-Holland; illustrated by Jeffrey Alan Love; artwork by Jeffrey Alan Love (Candlewick / September 2017)

The UK edition has a different, bright yellow, cover by Jeffrey Alan Love:


The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed; design by Alex Robbins (Simon Pulse / October 2017)


Now I Rise by Kiersten White; design Jet Purdie (based on design by Margaret Hope); illustration Alessandro Taini 

The cover is based on Margaret Hope’s design for And I Darken with art by Taini, which was on my list last year: 


One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus; design by Melissa Four (Penguin / June 2017)


Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen; design by Joan Wong (Wendy Lamb Books / February 2017)

 
Race to the Bottom of the Sea by Lindsay Eager; design by Matt Roeser (Candlewick / October 2017)


Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy; design by Aurora Parlagreco; illustration by Daniel Stolle (Balzer + Bray / May 2017)

The cover of Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy; also designed by Aurora Parlagreco and illustrated by Daniel Stolle was on my 2015 list.


Release by Patrick Ness; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; photograph by Andrew Yuzko (Harper Teen / September 2017)


Release by Patrick Ness; design by Ben Norland; illustration by Levente Szabo (Walker Books / May 2017)


Retribution Rails by Erin Bowman; cover art by Teagan White (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / November 2017)

White’s cover for Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman was on my list in 2015:


A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge; design by Rachel Vale; illustration by Aitch (Macmillan / September 2017)


Solo by Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess; design Micah Kandros (Blink / August 2017)


Spurt by Chris Miles; design by Lucy Ruth Cummins (Simon & Schuster / February 2017)


Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman; design by Sarah Creech (Simon Pulse / September 2017)


10 Things I Can See from Here by Carrie Mac; art by Steven Wilson (Knopf / February 2017)


There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins; design by Lindsey Andrews; artwork by Sean Freeman (Dutton / September 2017)


This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada; design by Regina Flath (Simon Pulse / November 2017)


A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom; design by Maggie Edkins (Poppy Books / February 2017)


Turtles All the Way Down by John Green; design by Rodrigo Corral and Zak Tebbal; lettering by June Park (Dutton / October 2017)


An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard; design by Lizzy Bromley (Saga Press / September 2017)


The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli; design by Sarah Creech; illustration by Chris Bilheimer (Balzer + Bray / April 2017)

The cover for Becky Albertalli’s previous book, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, also illustrated by Chris Bilheimer was on my 2015 list.


Vanilla by Billy Merrell; design by design by Nina Goffi (Scholastic / October 2017)


We Are Okay by Nina Lacour; design by Samira Iravani; illustration by Adams Carvalho (Dutton / February 2017)


What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard; design Elizabeth H. Clark (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / June 2017)


When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon; design by Regina Flath (Simon Pulse / May 2017)


Wildman by J.C. Geiger; design by Maria Elias; illustration by Jeff Östberg (Hyperion / June 2017)

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Published November 14, 2017

Book Covers of Note, November 2017

It’s my last monthly cover round-up of the year! Watch out for my review of 2017 next month… 


After Me Comes the Flood by Sarah Perry; design by Pete Dyer (Serpents Tail / November 2017)


Basket of Deplorables by Tom Rachman; design by Josh Durham, Design by Committee (Text / September 2017)


Bonfire by Krysten Ritter; design by Will Staehle (Crown Archetype / November 2017)


Don’t Save Anything by Jame Salter; design by Zoe Norvell (Counterpoint / November 2017)


Dunbar by Edward St Aubyn; design by Julia Connolly; illustration Peter Strain (Hogarth / October 2017)


The Giving Light by Gavin Corbett; design by Niall McCormack (Cló Hi Tone / November 2017)

Niall also designs the excellent covers for Gorse journal. The latest issue, Gorse #9, is out this month:


Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck; design by Rodrigo Corral (New Directions / September 2017)


Gravel Heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah; design by Greg Heinimann (Bloomsbury / May 2017)

How Will I Know You? by Jessic Treadway; design by Catherine Casalino; illustration by Henrietta Harris (Grand Central Publishing / August 2017)

The cover of How Will I Know You? reminded me of Lynn Buckley’s 2016 cover design for Sex Object by Jessica Valenti…  

Sex Object by Jessica Valenti; design by Lynn Buckley (Dey Street / June 2016)

And I’m starting to think that faceless women might be a thing… 

Version Control design by Janet Hansen
Paper Tigers design Alban Fischer
Visiting Hours design by Spencer Kimble


Over the Plain Houses by Julia Franks; design Meg Reid; illustration by Jody Edwards (Hub City Press / September 2017)


The Parcel by Anosh Irani; design by Allison Colpoys (Scribe / September 2017)



The Poems of Dylan Thomas; design by Jamie Keenan (New Directions / November 2017)


Release by Patrick Ness; design by Erin Fitzsimmons; photograph by Andrew Yuzko (Harper Teen / September 2017)


Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward; design by David Mann (Bloomsbury / November 2017)


They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib; design Two Dollar Radio (Two Dollar Radio / November 2017)


Time of Gratitude by Gennady Aygi; design by Eileen Baumgartner (New Directions / December 2017)


Toi Aussi Mon Fils by Jonathan Pedneault; design by David Drummond (Les Éditions XYZ / November 2017)


The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein; design by W. H. Chong (Text / October 2017)


Ultraluminous by Katherine Faw; design by Rodrigo Corral; lettering June Park (FSG / December 2017)


Where the Past Begins by Amy Tan; design by Allison Saltzman (Ecco / October 2017)


The World Goes On by László Krasznahorkai; design by Paul Sahre (New Directions / November 2017)

Speaking of Paul Sahre, his “graphic memoir” Two Dimensional Man was publishing by Abrams in September:

AND… speaking of László Krasznahorkai (as I know you all were), the cover of the UK edition of The World Goes On was designed by Harry Haysom:

It’s part of a series of abstract covers by Haysom for the Profile Books editions of Krasznahorkai:

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Published November 7, 2016

Book Covers of Note November 2016

I’m not sure anyone is paying too much attention to book design this week, but if you’re looking for a few minutes diversion from the awfulness of almost everything, here’s this month’s selection of quirky, beautiful, and otherwise interesting book covers…

black-water-design-oliver-munday
Black Water by Louise Doughty; design by Oliver Munday (Sarah Crichton Books / September 2016)

briefhistoryofeveryone-design-andy-allen
A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived by Adam Rutherford; design by Andy Allen (Orion / September 2016)

britishraildesigned_design-theo-inglis
British Rail Designed 1944-1997 by David Lawrence; design by Theo Inglis (Ian Allan Publishing / November 2016)

clearing-the-air-design-phil-pascuzzo
Clearing the Air by Gregory Wood; design by Phil Pascuzzo (Cornell University Press / November 2016)

cold-skin-design-chris-gale
Cold Skin Albert Sánchez Piñol; design by Christopher Gale (Canongate / October 2016)

dark-flood-design-rafi-romaya-illustration-timorous-beasties
The Dark Flood Rises by Margaret Drabble; design Rafi Romaya; cover illustration by Timorous Beasties (Canongate / November 2016)

defender-design-mark-swan
Defender by G X Todd; design by Mark Swan (Headline / December 20161)

do-not-say-we-have-nothing-design-jaya-miceli
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien; design Jaya Miceli (W.W. Norton / October 2016)

dying-design-pete-adlington
Dying by Cory Taylor; design by Pete Adlington (Canongate / November 2016)

faithful-design-zoe-norvell
Faithful by Alice Hoffman; design by Zoe Norvell (Simon & Schuster / November 2016)

Is this a new (old) thing…?

design Zoe Norvell

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Guy by Jowita Bydlowska; design by Michel Vrana (Wolsak & Wynn / November 2016)

I like that this was a split run of coral and blue:

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Knives & Ink by Isaac Fitzgerald and Wendy MacNaughton; design Katya Mezhibovskaya; cover art Wendy MacNaughton (Bloomsbury / October 2016)

This is a nice partner to 2014’s Pen & Ink which also featured cover art by MacNaughton:

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London Lies Beneath by Stella Duffy; Art direction by Nico Taylor; illustration by Joe McLaren (Little, Brown / October 2016)

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Midwinter by Fiona Melrose; Art Direction by Bekki Guyatt; illustration by Raquel Leis Allion (Little, Brown / November 2016)

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Moonglow by Michael Chabon; design by Adalis Martinez (Harper / November 2016)

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Music For Life by Fiona Maddocks; design by Alex Kirby (Faber & Faber / October 2016)

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One with the Tiger by Steven Church; design by Faceout Studio (Soft Skull / November 2016)

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Pull Me Under by Kelly Luce; design Rodrigo Corral; cover art by June Park (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / November 2016)

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The Revenge of Analog by David Sax; design Pete Garceau (Public Affairs / November 2016)

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Sick Bag Song by Nick Cave; illustration by Nick Cave; art direction by Brian Moore (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / November 2016)

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The Start of Something by Stuart Dybek; design Suzanne Dean; cover art by Marion de Man (Jonathan Cape / November 2016) 

(You can read more about the process of making this cover at the Creative Review blog)

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The Story of Reason in Islam by Sari Nusseibeh; design by Anne Jordan and Mitch Goldstein (Stanford University Press / November 2016)

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Swing Time by Zadie Smith; design by Gray318 (Hamish Hamilton / November 2016)

This goes rather nicely with Gray318’s earlier design for The Embassy of Cambodia by Zadie Smith:

Swing Time by Zadie Smith; design by Gray318 (Hamish Hamilton / November 2016)

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Thus Bad Begins by Javier Marías; design by Peter Mendelsund (Knopf / November 2016)

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Unmistakable by Srinivas Rao; design by Catherine Casalino (Portfolio / August 2016)

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Violence as Generative Force by Max Bergholz; design by Scott Levine (Cornell University Press / November 2016)

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Whatever Happened to Interracial Love by Kathleen Collins; design by Allison Saltzman; cover art by Lorna Simpson (Ecco / November 2016)

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Writing to Save a Life by John Edgar Wideman; design by Eric White (Scribner / November 2016)

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You Will Not Have My Hate by Antoine Leiris; design by Suzanne Dean (Harvill Secker / October 2016)

The US cover for You Will Not Have My Hate, designed by Darren Haggar (Penguin Press, October 2016), provides an interesting contrast in styles:

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You Will Not Have My Hate by Antoine Leiris; design by Suzanne Dean (Harvill Secker / October 2016)

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