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Book Covers of Note, February 2024

Hey. I hope you’re keeping safe and well wherever you are. I’m going to keep this very short as there’s lots going on, but there some great covers, and a couple of tenuous comparisons this month (hey, I can’t help how my brain works!) . Enjoy!

Alphabetical Diaries by Sheila Heti; design by Na Kim (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / February 2024)

Na Kim also designed the cover of Sheila Heti’s novel Pure Colour.

American Mother by Column McCann with Diane Foley; design by Greg Heinimann (Bloomsbury / February 2024)

Antiquity by Hanna Johansson; design by Nicole Caputo (Catapult / February 2024)

This reminded me of Akiko Stehrenberger‘s poster for the movie Funny Games. They don’t really look alike, and the tone is very different, but I think it was the close crop and the hair that brought it to mind.

The Blueprint by Rae Giana Rashad; design by Robin Bilardello (Harper / February 2024)

Corey Fah Does Social Mobility by Isabel Waidner; design by Kapo Ng (Graywolf / February 2024)

Dirtbag by Amber A’Lee Frost; design by Rob Grom (St. Martin’s Press / December 2023)

This brought to mind Peter Mendelsund’s cover for The Woman Destroyed by Simone Beauvoir, published by Pantheon, which in turn reminded me Gunter Rambow‘s Gitanes, Un Hommage à Max Ponty poster…

Fire So Wild by Sarah Ruiz-Grossman; design by Joanne O’Neill (Harper / Feburary 2024)

The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers by Sarah Tomlinson; design by Dave Litman (Flatiron Books / February 2024)

Love Novel by Ivana Sajko; design by Jason Arias (Biblioasis / February 2024)

The image is taken from the 17th Century painting ‘The Torture of Prometheus’ by Giovacchino Assereto (thanks for letting me know, Jason!). The tight crop (which is great!), reminded me of Peter Hujar’s 1969 photograph ‘Orgasmic Man’, which was used on the cover of A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara designed by Cardon Webb a few years ago. Art imitating art, kind of?

Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra; design by Dave Litman (Pamela Dorman Books / February 2024)

I swear all Dave’s covers come in pairs….

Ours by Phillip B. Williams; design by Lynn Buckley; illustration by Damilola Opedun (Viking / February 2024)

Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright; design by John Gall (New Directions / February 2024)

John also designed the cover of the New Directions edition of Carpentaria by Alexis Wright, also published this month.

Sinking Bell by Bojan Louis; design by Tom Etherington (Cinder House / February 2024)

US edition of Sinking Bell, published by Graywolf in 2022), was designed by Adam Bohannon.

Splinters by Leslie Jamison; design by Gregg Kulick (Little, Brown & Co / February 2024)

The cover of the UK edition of Splinters, published this month by Granta, was designed by Jack Smyth. It’s interesting to see to a torn author photo in both…

Tartarus by Ty Chapman; design by Zoe Norvell (Button Poetry / February 2024)

I am really starting to wonder whether yellow type is a thing. Or am I just noticing it now because I’m looking for it?

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange; design by Linda Huang (Knopf / February 2024)

The cover of the UK edition of Wandering Stars, which is being published by Vintage next month, was designed by Suzanne Dean.

You Glow in the Dark by Liliana Colanzi; design by Jamie Keenan (New Directions / February 2024)

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Notable Book Covers of 2021

Earlier this year, a Canadian magazine asked me what the latest trends in book cover design were. I don’t think I had a very satisfactory answer. 2021 felt very much like a continuation of 2020, which itself felt like a year on hold.

The trends that came to mind were not exactly new. In no particular order: big faces (big sunglasses!); cropped faces; hands; mouths; postmodern typefaces;1 big skies; rainbows; gradients; the colour orange; psychedelia; collage; contemporary painting.

A lot was made of “blob” covers this year. I’m not sure that anything has really changed since Vulture published this article about “blocky” covers in 2019. They seemed like much the same thing.

Design is about the constraints and, as it turns out, the constraints around designing commercial literary fiction covers that have to work just as well online as in bookstores can lead to similar design solutions — large, legible type, and bright, abstract backgrounds. 2 The surprising thing is not that a few covers look the same when you squint; it’s that more of them don’t.  

There were a lot of good covers (that didn’t look alike) in 2021. LitHub posted 101 of them. Still, it didn’t exactly feel like a vintage year.

Do I say that every December? Possibly.

A few years ago I worried that covers were moving in a more conservative direction, particularly at the big publishers. I’m not sure this has come to pass, at least not in the US. There are plenty of covers from the big, prestigious American literary imprints in this year’s list, as there were last year, and every year before that. 

There are fewer covers from the UK in this year’s list than in previous years though, and I feel less confident about the situation there. From a distance, things seem a little sedate. I may be mistaken. It’s quite possible I haven’t see enough covers — or perhaps enough of the right ones — from British publishers to get a good sense of the overall picture.3

It would not be a surprise, however, if publishers were feeling a little risk-averse at the moment. We are two years into a global pandemic, experiencing a major supply chain issues, and living through a seemingly endless series of sociopolitical crises.

Nor would it be a surprise if designers were personally feeling the effects too — I’m not sure we are talking about this enough, and I’m not sure I know how to.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the blog in 2021. It means a lot. Here are this year’s book covers of note…

After the Sun by Jonas Eika; design by Lauren Peters-Collaer; art by Dorian Legret (Riverhead / August 2021)

Amoralman by Derek Delgaudio; design by John Gall (Knopf / March 2021)

Also designed by John Gall:

Animal by Lisa Taddeo; design by Greg Heinimann (Bloomsbury / June 2021)

Greg Heinimann talked to Creative Review about his work in April.

Are You Enjoying? by Mira Sethi; design by Janet Hansen (Knopf / April 2021)

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint; design by Joanne O’Neill (Flatiron Books / May 2021)

Also designed by Joanne O’Neill:

he Art of Wearing a Trench Coat by Sergi Pàmies; design by Arsh Raziuddin and Oliver Munday (Other Press / March 2021)

The Atmospherians by Alex McElroy; design by Laywan Kwan (Atria / May 2021)

Black Village by Lutz Bassmann; design by Anne Jordan (Open Letter / December 2021)

A Calling for Charlie Barnes by Joshua Ferris; design by Gregg Kulick (Little Brown and Company / September 2021)

Come On Up by Jordi Nopca; design by Roman Muradov (Bellevue Literary Press / February 2021)

Consent by Vanessa Springora; design by Stephen Brayda; art by Rozenn Le Gall (Harpervia / February 2021)

Stephen Brayda talked about his design for Consent with Spine Magazine.

Also designed by Stephen Brayda:

The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen; design by Na Kim (FSG / January 2021)

Na Kim talked to PRINT about her career and the designs for the Ditlevsen series in February. If, like me, you were wondering about typeface on the covers, it’s Prophet from Dinamo apparently.

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

Also designed by Na Kim:

Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson; design by Jaya Miceli; art by Jeremy Miranda (Scribner / August 2021)

Dead Souls by Sam Riviere; design by Jamie Keenan; paper engineering and photography by Gina Rudd (Weidenfeld & Nicholson / May 2021)

Also designed by Mr. Keenan:

The Delivery by Peter Mendelsund; design by Alex Merto (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / February 2021)

Also designed by Alex Merto:

Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters; design by Rachel Ake Keuch (One World / January 2021)

Dog Flowers by Danielle Geller; design by Anna Kochman; illustration by Mike McQuade (One World / January 2021)

Double Trio by Nathaniel Mackey; design by Rodrigo Corral and Boyang Xia (New Directions / April 2021)

Falling by T. J. Newman; design by David Litman (Simon & Schuster / July 2021)

Also designed by David Litman:

Fight Night by Mirian Toews; design by Patti Ratchford; illustration by Christina Zimpel (Bloomsbury / October 2021)

Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor; design by Luke Bird (Daunt Books / June 2021)

Also designed by Luke Bird:

Foucault in Warsaw by; design Daniel Benneworth-Gray (Open Letter / June 2021)

God of Mercy by Okezie Nwọka; design Sara Wood (Astra House / November 2021)

Sara Wood talked about her design for God of Mercy with Spine Magazine.

I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness by Claire Vaye Watkins; design by Rachel Willey (Riverhead / October 2021)

July by Kathleen Ossip; design by Alban Fischer (Sarabande Books / June 2021)

Like Me by Hayley Phelan; design Emma Dolan (Doubleday Canada / July 2021)

Living in Data by Jer Thorp; design by Rodrigo Corral; art by Andrew Kuo (MCD / May 2021)

The Making of Incarnation by Tom McCarthy; design by Peter Mendelsund (Knopf / November 2021)

Matrix by Lauren Groff; design by Grace Han (Riverhead / September 2021)

Mona by Pola Oloixarac; design by Thomas Colligan (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / March 2021)

Mother for Dinner by Shalom Auslander; design by Jack Smyth (Picador / February 2021)

Jack Smyth talked to Totally Dublin about his work earlier this year.

Also designed by Jack Smyth:

Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden; design by Gill Heeley (Canongate / January 2021)

Nectarine by Chad Campbell; design by David Drummond (Signal Editions / May 2021)

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder; design by Emily Mahon (Doubleday / July 2021)

No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood; design Lauren Peters-Collaer (Riverhead Books / February 2021)

Also designed by Lauren Peters-Collaer:

O by Steven Carroll; design by Gray318 (HarperCollins Australia / February 2021)

Also designed by Gray318:

If you’re wondering about the Super-Seventies Sally Rooney typeface, it is Ronda designed by Herb Lubalin and Tom Carnese (I only know because I asked).

Once More With Feeling by Sophie McCreesh; design by Jennifer Griffiths (Anchor Canada / August 2021)

On Time and Water by Andri Snær Magnason; design Zoe Norvell (Open Letter / March 2021)

Outlawed by Anna North; design by Rachel Willey (Bloomsbury / January 2021)

Paradise by Lizzie Johnson; design by Elena Giavaldi (Crown / August 2021)

La Part des Chiens by Marcus Malte; design by David Pearson (Editions Zulma / April 2021)

Also designed by David Pearson:

The Plague by Albert Camus; design by Sunra Thompson (Knopf / November 2021)

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz; design by Anne Twomey (Celadon Books / May 2021)

Rabbit Island by Elvira Navarro; design by Gabriele Wilson (Two Lines Press / February 2021)

Gabriele Wilson talked about her cover design for Rabbit Island with Spine Magazine.

Gabriele Wilson is doing some lovely work for Two Lines Press:

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

The Removed by Brandon Hobson; design by Elizabeth Yaffe (Ecco / February 2021)

The Shimmering State by Meredith Westgate; design Chelsea McGuckin (Atria / August 2021)

A Shock by Keith Ridgway; design by Nathan Burton (Picador / June 2021)

Summerwater by Sarah Moss; design by June Park (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / January 2021)

Virtue by Hermione Hoby; design by Ben Denzer (Riverhead / July 2021)

This Weightless World by Adam Soto; design by Tyler Comrie (Astra House / November 2021)

Also designed by Tyler Comrie:

Thank you to everyone who has supported the blog in 2021. It means a lot.

  1. I am not convinced that the term “postmodern” quite captures what I mean here (and/or worse, implies something different in the context of typography), but it’s the best I’ve got. I’m not talking about the kind of experimental typography you might associate with the likes of Wim Crouwel or Emigre, or the aesthetic of someone like David Carson. What I am trying to get at is idiosyncratic type that purposely exaggerates or plays with letterforms, and doesn’t conform to function-first modernism. To my mind, this would include some typefaces from the 1960s and 70s, as well as some more contemporary type. In a sense what I am describing is display faces — and I think the eclectic, innovative use of type in Victorian advertising might be an inspiration to designers here — but I don’t think it is just about size.
  2. an alternative solution is what Australian designer John Durham, AKA Design by Committee, memorably referred to as the “lost dog poster school of cover design”.
  3. I don’t want to jinx it, but are Canadian covers getting more adventurous?
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Book Covers of Note, July 2021

I’m unplugging for a bit, so just a cheeky quick one this month…

Astra by Cedar Bowers; design by Lisa Jager (McClelland and Stewart / June 2021)

Believers by Lisa Wells; design Na Kim; art by Lisa Ericson (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux / July 2022)

The Coward by Jarred McGinnis; design by Valeri Rangelov; photograph by Peter van Agtmael (Canongate / July 2021)

Falling by T. J. Newman; design by David Litman (Simon & Schuster / July 2021)

I get big 1970s disaster movie vibes from this… Airport and its sequels come to mind.

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix design by David Litman (Berkley Books / July 2021)

If I remember correctly, David actually dipped a miniature folding chair in paint and photographed it for this… (I don’t think I’m making that up)

Anyway a nice Litman double…

Like Me by Hayley Phelan; design Emma Dolan (Doubleday Canada / July 2021)

Lorna Mott Comes Home by Diane Johnson; design by Jenny Carrow; art by Barbara Hoogeweegen (Knopf / June 2021)

On Time and Water by Andri Snær Magnason; design Zoe Norvell (Open Letter / March 2021)

Something Wild by Hanna Halperin; design by Lynn Buckley (Viking / June 2021)

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Book Covers of Note, September 2020

Another rather rushed update this month I’m afraid, which is especially disappointing given how many new books there out at this time of year. I’m sure I’ve missed more than a few great covers here, but hopefully I will catch them before the end of the year…

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

The Clerk by Guillermo Saccomanno; design by Alban Fischer (Open Letter Books / September 2020)

The wobbly text here reminded me of Janet Hansen’s cover for Beyond the Sea by Paul Lynch from earlier this year.

Gloria by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; design by Mark Melnick (Theatre Communications Group / August 2020)

Howdunit edited by Martin Edwards; design by Steve Leard (HarperCollins / September 2020)

You can see the rubber stamp Steve used for this design on Instagram.

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

Lobizona by Romina Garber; design by Kerri Resnick; illustation by Daria Hlazatova (Wednesday Books / August 2020)

Ordinary Matter by Laura Elvery; design by Design by Committee (University of Queensland Press / September 2020)

The gradient and colour palette reminded me of the cover for Sensation Machines  by Adam Wilson, designed by David Litman, featured in July.  

Reading While Black by Esau McCaulley; design by David Fassett (IVP Academic / September 2020)

Red Pill by Hari Kunzru; design by John Gall (Knopf / September 2020)

This cover is bonkers. The cover of the UK edition of Red Pill published by Scribner (also bonkers but in a different, laser eyes, way), was designed by Craig Fraser.

Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan; design by Owen Gent (Doubleday / August 2020)

This is very pretty. Obviously.

These Vengeful Hearts by Katherin Laurin; design Elita Sidiropoulou (Inkyard Press / September 2020)

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

When My Body Was a Clinched Fist by Enzo Silon Surin; design Zoe Norvell; painting by Carlos Rancaño (Black Lawrence Press / July 2020)

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Book Covers of Note June 2018

Thanks to a combination of disk storage issues, the AUPresses Book, Jacket, and Journal Show, breaking my wrist, general anxiety, and utter despair at the latest round of horror, corruption and lies to the south, this month’s covers post is…well, late. Fuck it. Donate to a good cause. 1  


Aroused by Randi Hutter Epstein; design Zoe Norvell (W.W. Norton / June 2018)

One for the neon signs list.


Beyond Vision by Allan Jones; design David Drummond (McGill-Queen’s University Press / June 2018)


Calypso by David Sedaris; design by Peter Mendelsund (Little, Brown & Co. / May 2018)


Crudo by Olivia Laing; design Justine Anweiler; photograph Wolfgang Tillmans (Picador / June 2108)

There have been a number of covers making use of work by famous photographers in recent months. I think the risk of this approach is that the image overwhelms the text. If the photograph is so important, perhaps it is better to just to get out of the way and let it speak for itself? (If, ahem, the ‘interested parties’ will let you, of course!)  


He Is Mine and I Have No Other by Rebecca O’Connor; design Rafi Romaya; lettering by Oriol Miró Genovart (Canongate / June 2018)

Watch a video of Oriol Miró Genovart gilding one of the letters:


Here Kitty Kitty by Jardine Libaire; design Catherine Casalino (Hogarth / June 2018)


The Hospital by Ahmed Bouanani; design by Oliver Munday (New Directions / June 2018)


Long Players by Peter Coviello; design Catherine Casalino (Penguin / June 2018)

A nice addition to this list.


My German Brother by Chico Buarque; design by Michael Morris (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / June 2018)


The Outsider by Stephen King; design by Will Staehle (Scribner / May 2018)

This has such a great B-movie feel. 


A Stitch in Time by Daphne Kalmar; cover art by Karl James Mountford (St Martin’s Press / June 2018)


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

The cover for the US edition, published by Henry Holt, was designed by Nicolette Seeback. For me, it’s made by the cat wrapping around the spine onto the back cover. Listing the ten arguments on the back is also a really nice touch.


We Begin Our Ascent by Joe Mungo Reed; design by Zak Tebbal (Simon & Schuster / June 2018)

(This really reminds me of something else, but I cannot think of what. It’s bugging me, so let me know if you have any suggestions)


Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healy; design Helen Crawford-White (Viking / May 2018)

The Canadian edition, published by Knopf Canada and designed by Leah Springate, takes a photographic approach. I think it’s a good example of how the Canadian market can be quite different from the UK (and the US)…

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Book Covers of Note January 2018

I was sure that 2018 would be different from 2017, and yet here we are… Happy New Year! 


The Age of Caesar by Plutarch; translation by Pamela Mensch; design by Catherine Casalino (W.W. Norton / January 2018)


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


Bloody January by Alan Parks; design by Chris Gale (Canongate / December 2017)

(I’m including this partly because I spend a lot of my professional life trying to explain the difference between the cover needs of Canada/US and the UK. This is a rare genre cover that — it seems to me at least — does a decent job for both sides of the Atlantic) 


Getting Off by Erica Garza; design by Zoe Norvell (Simon & Schuster / January 2018)


The Gist of Reading by Andrew Elfenbein; design by  Anne Jordan and Mitch Goldstein (Stanford University Press / January 2018)


Green by Sam Graham-Felsen; design by June Park (Random House / January 2018)


Heart Spring Mountain by Robin MacArthur; design by Sara Wood (Ecco / January 2018)


I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan; design by Rachel Vale (Pan Macmillan / January 2018)


The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin; design and illustration by Sandra Chiu (G.P. Putnam’s Sons / January 2018)

This cover seems rather on trend to me. It is very nicely done all the same. 

(Something about the shape and colour of the leaves on black background also reminds me of the illustrations in Jon Klassen’s picture book This Is Not My Hat). 


The Job of the Wasp by Colin Winnette; design by Michael Salu (Soft Skull Press / January 2018)


The Ministry of Nostalgia by Owen Hatherley; design by Keith Dodds (Verso / January 2017)

OK. So I’m a year late on this cover. But I saw it recently on Twitter. The cover of the hardcover edition of The Ministry of Nostalgia designed by Andy Pressman was included in my January 2016 post and my annual round-up of notable covers that year.   

Interestingly, the new cover for The Ministry of Nostalgia reminds me of Matthew Young‘s refresh of Pelican Books.

Being Ecological by Timothy Morton (Pelican / January 2018) is a recent example: 


The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce; design by Kimberly Glyder (Random House / January 2018)


Neon in Daylight by Hermione Hoby; design by Strick&Williams; photography by Marc Yankus (Catapult / January 2018)


Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Lianne Oelke; art and lettering by Colin Mercer (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / January 2018)


Peach by Emma Glass; design by David Mann (Bloomsbury / January 2018)

David’s cover was adapted for the US edition by Patti Ratchford:


A Very British Coup by Chris Mullin; design by Dan Mogford (Serpent’s Tail / 2018)


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

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Notable Book Covers of 2017

Since 2010, I’ve posted an annual survey of the year in book covers. The post has expanded and developed over the past 7 years, but essentially it is a collection of the covers published in the previous 12 months that I found interesting or noteworthy in some way. As with the previous couple of years, the 2017 list is organized by covers (alphabetical by title), and by designer so that I can show a greater variety of work, and no one designer or studio dominates. 

Thank you to everyone who has supported the blog this year, and special thanks to all the designers, art directors, authors, publishers, and fellow design enthusiasts who have helped me with covers and design credits. My sincere apologies to the designers and publishers not on this year’s list and whose covers I have overlooked in the past 12 months. 

A post looking back on the YA covers of 2017 is to follow.    


Adult Fantasy by Briohny Doyle design by Laura Thomas (Scribe / July 2017)



Age of Anger by Pankaj Mishra; design by Matthew Young (Allen Lane / February 2017)



The Age of Perpetual Light by Josh Weil; design by Nick Misani (Grove Press / September 2017)



All We Saw by Anne Michaels; design by Janet Hansen; photograph by Jouke Bos (Knopf / October 2017)

Also designed by Janet Hansen:



Always Happy Hour by Mary Miller; design by Elena Giavaldi; art by Lee Price (Liveright / January 2017)

Also designed by Elena Giavaldi:



The Angry Chef by Anthony Warner; design by Steven Leard (Oneworld / June 2017)



Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou; design by Gray318 (Serpent’s Tail / April 2017)

Also designed by Gray318:



The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa; design by Peter Mendelsund (New Directions / August 2017)

Also designed by Peter Mendelsund:



The Cutaway by Christina Kovac; design by Laywan Kwan (Atria / March 2017)

Also designed by Laywan Kwan:



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



England Your England by George Orwell; design by David Pearson (Penguin Modern Classics / March 2017)

Also designed by David Pearson:



English Uprising by Paul Stocker; design by Jamie Keenan (Melville House / September 2017)

Also designed by Jamie Keenan:



The Experiment by Eric Lee; design by David A. Gee (Zed Books / September 2017)

Also designed by David Gee:



The Fall of Lisa Bellow by Susan Perabo; design by Alison Forner (Simon & Schuster / March 2017)



The Futures by Anna Pitoniak; design by Lauren Harms (Lee Boudreaux Books / January 2017)

Also designed by Lauren Harms:



Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag; design by Luke Bird (Faber & Faber / April 2017)

Also designed by Luke Bird:



The Good People by Hannah Kent; design by Rachel Vale (Picador / February 2017)



The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood; art direction by Christopher Moisan; illustration by Patrik Svensson (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / April 2017)

This HMH cover was my favourite of the new editions of The Handmaid’s Tales, but Noma Bar’s cover for Vintage UK was also nice.



The Hearts of Men by Nickolas Butler; design by Allison Saltzman (Ecco / March 2017)

Also designed by Allison Saltzman: 



Heating & Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly; design by Alex Merto; photograph by Gregory Reid (W.W. Norton / December 2017)

Also designed by Alex Merto:



Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado; design by Kimberly Glyder (Graywolf / October 2017)

Also designed by Kimberly Glyder:



Hollow by Owen Egerton; design by Matt Dorfman (Counterpoint / July 2017)

Also designed by Matt Dorfman:



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



I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell; design by Yeti Lambregts (Tinder Press / August 2017)

Also designed by Yeti Lambregts:



The Idiot by Elif Batuman; design by Suzanne Dean; illustration by Aino-Maija Metsola (Jonathan Cape / June 2017)

Also designed by Suzanne Dean:



The Idiot by Elif Batuman; design by Oliver Munday (Penguin / March 2017)

Also designed by Oliver Munday:



Insomniac Dreams: Experiments with Time by Vladimir Nabokov compiled and edited by Gennady Barabtarlo; design by Chris Ferrante (Princeton University Press / December 2017)

Also designed by Chris Ferrante:



Jerusalem Ablaze by Orlando Ortega-Medina; design by La Boca (Cloud Lodge Books / January 2017)

Also designed by La Boca: 



Jerzy by Jerome Charyn; design by Alban Fischer (Bellevue Literary Press / March 2017)



Little Deaths by Emma Flint; design by Justine Anweiler (Picador / January 2017)

Also designed by Justine Anweiler:



Lotus by Lijia Zhang; design by Adly Elewa (Henry Holt / January 2017)



Manly Health and Training by Walt Whitman; design by Richard Ljoenes (Regan Arts / February 2017)



Midlife: A Philosophical Guide by Kieran Setiya; design by Amanda Weiss (Princeton University Press / October 2017)



Narcissism for Beginners by Martine McDonagh; design by Tree Abraham (Unbound / March 2017)



Nicotine by Gregor Hens; design by John Gall (Other Press / January 2017)



One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul; design by C.S. Richardson (Doubleday Canada / March 2017)

Scott was also responsible for my favourite of the (many) Ninety Eighty-Four redesigns this season. 



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

Also designed by Allison Colpoys:



Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood; design by Rachel Willey (Riverhead / May 2017)

Also designed by Rachel Willey:



A Separation by Katie Kitamura; design by Jaya Miceli (Riverhead / February 2017)

Also designed by Jaya Miceli:



Sex & Rage by Eve Babitz; design by Kelly Winton (Counterpoint / July 2017)


Strange Heart Beating by Eli Goldstone; design by Jo Walker (Granta / May 2017)

Also designed by Jo Walker:



Swimmer Among the Stars by Kanishk Tharoor; design by Tyler Comrie (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / March 2017)

Also designed by Tyler Comrie:



The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See; design by Lauren Peters-Collaer (Scribner / March 2017)

Also designed by Lauren Peters-Collaer:



Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash by Eka Kurniawan; design by Erik Carter (New Directions / August 2017)

Also designed by Erik Carter:



Virgin and Other Stories by April Ayers Lawson; design by James Paul Jones (Granta / January 2017)

Also designed by James Paul Jones: 



We All Love the Beautiful Girls by Joanne Proulx; design by Jennifer Griffiths (Viking / August 2017)

Also designed by Jennifer Griffiths:



Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge; design by Greg Heinimann (Bloomsbury / June 2017)

Also designed by Greg Heinimann:



Why Poetry by Matthew Zapruder; design by Sara Wood (Ecco / August 2017)

Also designed by Sara Wood:



Would Everybody Please Stop? by Jenny Allen; design by Na Kim (Sarah Crichton Books / June 2017)

Also designed by Na Kim:



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

The cover of Sahre’s “graphic memoir” Two Dimensional Man is also great. 



Writing Not Writing by Tom Fisher; design by  Anne Jordan and Mitch Goldstein (University of Iowa Press / July 2017)(University of Iowa Press / July 2017)

Also designed by Anne Jordan and Mitch Goldstein:



The Zoo of the New edited by Nick Laird & Don Paterson; design by Richard Green (Particular Books / March 2017)

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Book Covers of Note, September 2017

Here are September’s cover selections with a few extra covers from earlier in the year, just for good measure…


The Aeneid by Virgil, translated by David Ferry; design by Matt Avery (University of Chicago Press / September 2017)


The Age of Perpetual Light by Josh Weil; design by Nick Misani (Grove Press / September 2017)


And Your Daughters Shall Prophesy by Adrian Shirk; design by Jarrod Taylor (Counterpoint / September 2017)


The Beast by Alexander Starritt; design by Gray318 (Head of Zeus / September 2017)


A Book of Untruths by Miranda Doyle; design by Donna Payne (Faber & Faber / June 2017)

I really must do a post on crossings out on covers….


Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down by Allan Jones; design by Greg Heinimann (Bloomsbury / August 2017)


The Change Room by Karen Connelly; design by Jennifer Griffiths (Random House Canada / April 2017)


Curry by Naben Ruthnum; illustration by Chloe Cushman; series design Ingrid Paulson (Coach House Books / August 2017)


Dark at the Crossing by Elliot Ackeman; design by Kelly Blair (Knopf / January 2017)


Democracy and Its Crisis by A.C. Grayling design James Paul Jones (Oneworld / September 2017)


Do Not Bring Him Water by Caitlin Scarano; design by Zoe Norvell (Write Bloody / September 2017)


The Dying Detective by Leif GW Persson; design by Oliver Munday (Pantheon / May 2017)


English Uprising by Paul Stocker; design by Jamie Keenan (Melville House / September 2017)


Every Third Thought by Robert McCrum; design by Stuart Wilson; illustration Andrew Davidson (Picador / August 2017)


The Experiment by Eric Lee; design by David A. Gee (Zed Books / September 2017)


I Am Not A Brain by Markus Gabriel; design by David A. Gee (Polity Press / September 2017)


The Last London by Iain Sinclair; design by James Paul Jones (Oneworld / September 2017)


Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta; design by Jaya Miceli (Scribner / August 2017)


My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent; design by Jo Walker (Fourth Estate / August 2017)

The cover of the US edition, published by Riverhead, was designed by Jaya Miceli:


New People by Danzy Senna; design by Rachel Willey (Riverhead / August 2017)


The People Are Going to Rise Like the Waters Upon Your Shore by Jared Yates Sexton; design by Matt Dorfman (Counterpoint / August 2017)


Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher; design by Jack Smyth (Simon & Schuster / September 2017)


Ruth and Martin’s Album Club by Martin Fitzgerald; design by Dan Mogford (Unbound / September 2017)


Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez; design Oliver McPartlin; photograph Matthew Henry (Arsenal Pulp Press / May 2017)


The Talented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard; design Marina Drukman (Melville House / August 2017)


To Die in Spring by Ralf Rothmann; design by Oliver Munday (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / August 2017)


We All Love the Beautiful Girls by Joanne Proulx; design by Jennifer Griffiths (Viking / August 2017)


You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann; design by Peter Mendelsund (Pantheon / June 2017)

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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…?

guy-design-by-michel-vrana-pink
Guy by Jowita Bydlowska; design by Michel Vrana (Wolsak & Wynn / November 2016)

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

knives-and-ink
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:

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

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

moonglow-design-adalis-martinez
Moonglow by Michael Chabon; design by Adalis Martinez (Harper / November 2016)

music-for-life-design-by-alex-kirby
Music For Life by Fiona Maddocks; design by Alex Kirby (Faber & Faber / October 2016)

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

pull-me-under-design-rodrigo-corral-illustration-june-park
Pull Me Under by Kelly Luce; design Rodrigo Corral; cover art by June Park (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / November 2016)

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

sick-bag-song-illus-nick-cave-ad-brian-moore
Sick Bag Song by Nick Cave; illustration by Nick Cave; art direction by Brian Moore (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / November 2016)

start-of-something-collage-by-marion-de-man-design-by-suzanne-dean
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)

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

swing-time-design-gray318
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:

thus-bad-begins-design-by-peter-mendelsund
Thus Bad Begins by Javier Marías; design by Peter Mendelsund (Knopf / November 2016)

unmistakable-design-catherine-casalino
Unmistakable by Srinivas Rao; design by Catherine Casalino (Portfolio / August 2016)

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

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

writing-to-save-a-life-design-eric-white
Writing to Save a Life by John Edgar Wideman; design by Eric White (Scribner / November 2016)

you-will-not-have-my-hate-design-suzanne-dean
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:

you-will-not-have-my-hate-design-by-darren-haggar

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Book Covers of Note July 2015

It’s finally summer, and because July is traditionally something of a quiet month in publishing, I’m taking the opportunity to catch up on a few covers that I missed earlier in the year…

Act of God design Janet Hansen
Act of God by Jill Ciment; design by Janet Hansen (Pantheon / March 2015 )

All My Puny Sorrows design Sunra Thompson
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews; design and illustration by Sunra Thompson (McSweeney’s / June 2015)

Print
Armada by Ernest Cline; design by Will Staehle (Crown / July 2015)

Asylum design Spencer Kimble
Asylum by Simon Doonan; design by Spencer Kimble (Blue Rider Press / February 2015 )

Book of Numbers design Suzanne Dean cover illustration Carnovsky
Book of Numbers by Joshua Cohen; design by design Suzanne Dean; illustration Carnovsky (Harvill Secker / June 2015)

Book of Numbers design Oliver Munday
Book of Numbers by Joshua Cohen; design by Oliver Munday (Random House / June 2015)

Chasing Rumer illustration by Andrew Holder
Chasing Rumor by Cameron Chambers; design by Haruna Madono; illustration by Andrew Holder (Patagonia / June 2015)

Earth design by Alex Merto
Earth by Hubert Krivine; design by Alex Merto (Verso Books / April 2015)

Economics After Capitalism design David Gee
Economics After Capitalism by Derek Wall; design by David A. Gee (Pluto Press / July 2015)

egg design by Clare Skeats
Egg by Blanche Vaughan; design by Clare Skeats (Wiedenfeld & Nicolson / March 2015)

Here You Are design by Alban Fischer
Here You Are by Jared Joseph & Sara Peck; design by Alban Fischer (Horse Less Press / March 2015)

Krautrock design by Adly Elewa
Krautrock by David Stubbs; design by Adly Elewa (Melville House / July 2015)

Lord Fear design by Kelly Blair
Lord Fear by Lucas Mann; design by Kelly Blair (Pantheon / May 2015)

Modern Romance design by Jay Shaw photograph by ruvan wijesooriya
Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari; design by Jay Shaw; photograph by Ruvan Wijesooriya (Penguin / June 2015)

Pretty Is design by Lucy Kim
Pretty Is by Maggie Mitchell; design by Lucy Kim (Henry Holt / July 2015)

Seed Collectors design by Gray318
The Seed Collectors by Scarlett Thomas; design by Gray318 (Canongate / July 2015)

Stammered Songbook design Clare Skeats
Stammered Songbook by Erwin Mortier; design by Clare Skeats (Pushkin Press / March 2015)

thrown design gray318
Thrown by Kerry Howley; design by Gray318 (Hamish Hamilton / May 2015)

Trust Me design Jamie Keenan
Trust Me, PR is Dead by Robert Phillips; design by Jamie Keenan (Unbound / June 2015)

Unibrow design Zoe Norvell
Unabrow by Una Lamarche; design by Zoe Norvell (Plume / March 2015)

9780241972762
Whisky Tango Foxtrot by David Shafer; design by Richard Bravery (Penguin / June 2015)

World on a Plate design Nick Misani
World on a Plate by Mina Holland; design by Nick Misani (Penguin / May 2015)

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