Hey, hello. Here are your October book covers of note with a couple of November titles and lots of comps thrown in for good measure…
Abandoning a Cat by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel; design by Suzanne Dean; illustration by Seb Agresti (Harvill / October 2026)
This is the same creative team as the memorable cover for Super-Frog Saves Tokyo, published last October by Harvill, of course…
Against Money by J. W. Mason; design by Isaac Tobin (University of Chicago Press / May 2026)
A bit late to this one (sorry Isaac!). Apparently the barcodes on the cover are for the book, which is a nice touch.
Atomic Coffin by Benedict Anning; design by Zach Bokhour (Saga Press / October 2026)
Behind the Gate & Other Stories by Amparo Dávila, translated by Matthew Gleeson & Audrey Harris; design by Oliver Munday (New Directions / November 2026)
Oliver Munday also designed the cover of The Houseguest & Other Stories by Amparo Dávila, published by New Directions in 2018.
Bruja’s Nest by Brenda Latorre; design by Luísa Dias (Creature Publishing / October 2026)
Dodge City by Patrick deWitt; design by Allison Saltzman; photograph by Stephen Shore (Ecco / September 2026)
Allison’s cover design for The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt was on my notable list back in 2023.
Dead Batteries by Kate Maupin; design Chris Allen (Crown / October 2026)
Garden by Hiroko Oyamada, translated by David Boyd; design by Luke Bird (Granta / November 2026)
Luke designed the covers of the three previous books by Hiroko Oyamada published by Granta, The Factory, The Hole, and Weasels in the Attic.
Similarly, Janet Hansen designed the cover of the US edition of Garden, and all the Oyamada backlist titles published by New Directions.
Music Against the Night by Yiyun Li; design by Na Kim (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / October 2026)
Na Kim also design the cover of The Book of the Goose by Yiyun Li, published by FSG in 2022.
Needlemouth by K-Ming Chang; design by Math Monahan (Simon & Schuster / October 2026)
Night of a Thousand Hells by Intan Paramaditha, translated by Stephen Epstein & Tiffany Tsao; design by Gira Rapisardi (Europa Editions / October 2026)
On Another Planet They Can Save Me by Lieke Marsman, translated by Sophie Collins; design by Nicole Caputo; art by Caitlyn Grabenstein (Catapult / October 2026)
I was sorry to hear that Catapult has been sold and will end operations at the end of this month. Who know what this means for the authors and their books… :-(
Perfecting the Shot by Mathias Énard, translated by Charlotte Mandell; design by John Gall (New Directions / October 2026)
John’s cover for The Gravediggers’ Guild by Mathias Énard was on my 2023 notable list too.
Public Access Afterworld by Jane Schoenbrun; design by Saffron Stocker (Sceptre / October 2026)
(If anyone at Hachette UK would like to send me a larger image to replace the one above, that would be great!)
Return of the Bookseller Diarist by Shaun Bythell; cover illustration by Bill Bragg (New Modern Arcade / October 2026)
Rottenheart by Kat Dunn; design by Alicia Tatone (Zando / October 2026)
Sleeping Beauties by David Byrne; design by Darren Haggar (Penguin Press / October 2026)
The Strangers by Naomi Alderman; design by Gregg Kulick (Little, Brown & Co. / September 2026)
The UK cover of The Strangers published by Fig Tree last month was designed by Chris Bentham. The illustration in the top half of the cover is by the late Ronald Lampitt.
The Sunny Side of Franz Kafka selected by Maria Moreira by Suzanne Dean; illustration by Diego Becas (Vintage Classics / October 2026)
OK, so “Franz Kafka, life coach” are not really words I ever thought I’d read, but here we are. Anyway, this delightful cover reminded me, in tone at least, of Peter Mendelsund‘s cover design for the 2017 New Directions edition of The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa.
I really like these two new covers designed Natalia Suvorova for The Thistles of Baragan by Panait Istrati (translated by Jacques Le Clercq) and Wild Horse by Abbas Sayar (translated by Can Kocak) published this month in the UK by Thousand Horsemen Press:
Too Little, Too Hard edited by Livia Franchini & Lucy Mercer; design by David Pearson (Peninsula Press / June 2026)
I don’t know how I missed this one (sorry David!)
To the East of the East by Ping Lu, translated by Jeremy Tiang; design by Jamie Keenan (World Editions / October 2026)
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