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Tag: john gall

Published October 28, 2022

Book Covers of Note, October 2022

This month’s post includes a few covers that I missed earlier in the year along side the new and recent releases. I’m starting to think about my annual recap so please let me know if you think I’ve overlooked any other particularly notable covers that stood out for you and/or seemed emblematic of wider trends in 2022.

And just a reminder with all the stuff going on with social media that if you’d prefer to get new posts auto-magically emailed to you, you can subscribe here. I have also re-opened comments on new posts after closing them for a few months if you want to politely share your thoughts below.

Africa Risen by Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and Zelda Knight; design by Christine Foltzer; art by Manzi Jackson (Tordotcom / November 2022)

Alindarka’s Children by Alhierd Bacharevic; design by Pablo Delcan (New Directions / June 2022)

The Come Up by Jonathan Abrams; design by Chris Allen (Crown / October 2022)

Diary of a Misfit by Casey Parks; design by Janet Hansen (Knopf / August 2022)

Ejaculate Responsibly by Gabrielle Blair; design Studio Eight and a Half (Workman / October 2022)

Feral City by Jeremiah Moss; design by Gregg Kulick (W.W. Norton / October 2022)

I’ve noted before that pink is a bit of a thing at the moment, but it’s kind of interesting that it’s being used on ‘grittier’ books…

Ghost Music by An Yu; design Suzanne Dean (Harvill Secker / November 2022)

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty; design by Diane Chonette (Tin House / July 2022)

No Land in Sight by Charles Simic; design by John Gall (Knopf / August 2022)”

“Fuuuuuuuuuck….!” is the only way I can describe the mixture of awe and annoyance that I hadn’t thought of it I felt when I saw this cover. So simple and so clever.

O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker; design by Tristan Offit (Scribner / September 2022)

This has a very similar ‘obscured face collage’ feel to Tristan Offit’s cover for Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens, which I thought I had posted here earlier in the year but apparently did not (probably because I didn’t — and still don’t! — know who designed the cover of the UK edition (it was designed by Mel Four, photograph by Marta Bevacqua) and I wanted to post them together?).

Pacifique by Sarah L. Taggart; design by Natalie Olsen (Coach House Books / October 2022)

People Person by Candice Carty-Williams; design by Emma A. Van Deun (Scout Press / September 2022)

The Singularities by John Banville; design by John Gall (Knopf / October 2022)

I don’t know if this actually reminds me of another cover, or if it’s just very Gallsian.

But actual blobs (as opposed to ‘book blobs‘) are a thing…

Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu; design by Anna Jordan (Deep Vellum / October 2022)

Toad by Katherine Dunn; design by June Park; illustration by Lydia Ortiz (MCD / November 2022)

Waiting for Ted by Marieka Bigg; design by Luke Bird (Cinder House / October 2022)

The Wall by Marlen Haushofer; design by Matt Dorfman (New Directions / June 2022)

The Waste Land by Matthew Hollis; design by Jamie Keenan (Faber & Faber / October 2022)

Mr. Keenan also designed the cover for the Liveright edition of The Waste Land itself a few years ago.

(The US edition of Matthew Hollis’s book, forthcoming from W. W. Norton, also has an interesting cover. If anyone from Norton would like to send me a hi-res image with the design credit, I’ll be happy to add it in!)

Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyamada; design by Luke Bird (Granta / November 2022)

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Published September 29, 2022

Book Covers of Note, September 2022

Busy month. Lots of book covers. Gotta go…

Barred by Daniel S. Medwed; design by Chin-Yee Lai (Basic Books / September 2022)

Bliss Montage by Ling Ma; design by Rodrigo Corral (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / September 2022)

Rodrigo Corral also designed the cover of Ling Ma’s previous novel Severance.

Canción by Eduardo Halfon; design by Alban Fischer (Bellevue Literary Press / September 2022)

Drive by James Sallis; design by David Litman (Poisoned Pen Press / September 2022)

I was just talking about this book — how it is a near perfect thriller, but also great for dudes who don’t read a lot of fiction — so I was happy to see it’s been given a new lick of paint. And pink covers are, as I keep saying ad nauseam, a thing…

Fingers Crossed by Miki Berenyi; design by Paul Palmer-Edwards photo Jurgen Ostarhild (Nine Eight Books / September 2022)

I’m including this because of the beautiful photo (with a colour palette remarkably on trend in 2022) and my inevitable teenage crush on indie style icon Miki from Lush.

I Want to Keep Smashing Myself Until I Am Whole by Elias Canetti, edited by Joshua Cohen; design by Alex Merto; illustration Ian Woods (Picador USA / September 2022)

This collage is incredible.

A Girlhood by Carolyn Hays; design by Mel Four (Blair / September 2022)

Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlan; design by John Gall (New Directions / September 2022)

Lessons by Ian McEwan; design by Suzanne Dean; illustration by Tina Berning (Jonathan Cape / September 2022)

Modern Fables by Mikka Jacobsen; design by Natalie Olsen (Freehand Books / September 2022)

Perish by Latoya Watkins; design by Grace Han (Tiny Reparations / August 2022)

Poūkahangatus by Tayi Tibble; design by Linda Huang; art by Simone Noronha (Knopf / July 2022)

Sacrificio by Ernesto Mestre-Reed; design by Dana Li (SoHo Press / September 2022)

This reminded me Peter Mendelsund‘s Amerika cover for Schocken back in the day. But, as is the norm around here, the two covers do not actually look that much alike side by side…

Strangers to Ourselves by Rachel Aviv; design by Rodrigo Corral (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / September 2022)

We Spread by Iain Reid; design by Chelsea McGuckin (Scout Press / September 2022)

Are letters growing roots a mini-thing?

Worn Out by Alyssa Hardy; design by Emily Mahon; embroidery and dyeing by Alex Stikeleather (New Press / September 2022)

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Published February 26, 2022

Book Covers of Note, February 2022

Here are your February book covers of note…

Anonymous Sex edited by Hillary Jordan and Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan; design Holly MacDonald; illustration Malika Favre (The Borough Press / February 2022)

Malika Favre also designed and illustrated the cover of Playing with Matches by Michael Faudet, published by Andrews McMeel at the end of last year, and featured in this month’s ‘Book Covers We Love‘ post at Spine Magazine.

Catch the Sparrow by Rachel Rear; design by Mia Kwon (Bloomsbury / February 2022)

I like Mia Kwon’s cover for Breath Better Spent by Damaris B. Hill, published by Bloomsbury last month, too…

The Colony by Audrey Magee; design by Jack Smyth (Faber & Faber / February 2022)

The cover of the US edition, available from FSG in May, was design by Jaya Miceli:

The Delivery by Peter Mendelsund; design by Chloe Scheffe (Picador USA / February 2022)

Alex Merto‘s design for the hardcover was one of my notable book covers of the year in 2021:

The Go-Between by Osman Yousefzada; design by Gill Heeley (Canongate / January 2022)

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu; design by Jaya Miceli (Tin House / February 2022)

New Animal by Ella Baxter; design by Ami Smithson; photograph by Alfonso Vidal-Quadras (Picador / February 2022)

The fruity cover of the Australian edition published by Allen and Unwin last year was designed by Akiko Chan, while the hot pink US edition was designed in-house by Eric Obenauf at Two Dollar Radio I believe.

Path of Totality by Niina Pollari; design by Michael Salu (Soft Skull / February 2022)

The Perfect Sound by Garrett Hongo; design by John Gall (Pantheon / February 2022)

Pure Colour by Sheila Heti; design by Na Kim (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / February 2022)

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka; design by Gabriele Wilson (Knopf / February 2022)

Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso; design by Leanne Shapton (Hogarth / February 2022)

Watergate by Garrett M. Graff; design by Alison Forner (Avid Reader Press / February 2022)

For obvious reasons, this brought to mind Paul Sahre‘s cover for the novel Watergate by Thomas Mallon from a few (10?? OMG) years back.

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Published December 14, 2021

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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Published August 30, 2021

Book Covers of Note, August 2021

Here are this month’s cover selections with a few more words than are strictly necessary…

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

They look very different, but I was reminded of another sunset sky cover designed by Lauren from earlier this year. It’s interesting to see the (presumably) coincidental themes in a designers work.

Blind Man’s Bluff by James Tate Hill; design by Sarahmay Wilkinson (W. W. Norton / August 2021)

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

I quite enjoy seeing contemporary painting being used on book covers. A couple of other recent examples that come to mind are Jennifer Carrow’s recent cover for Lorna Mott Comes Home with art by Barbara Hoogeweegen, and Stephen Brayda’s cover for last year’s The End of the Ocean by Maja Lunde with art by Scott Naismith (another sunset sky cover! I guess After the Sun could also be included in this trend broadly speaking. It is not quite the kind of painterly art I am thinking of though…).

Don’t Shed Your Tears for Anyone Who Lives on These Streets by Patricio Pron; design by Tyler Comrie (Vintage / April 2021)

I’m drawing lots of unnecessary comparisons today, but I was reminded of this Oliver Munday cover from a while back if only for the similar-ish colour combinations (I was going to say palette, but… ). It reminds me of something else too, I just can’t quite put my finger on it…

The Good Hand by Michael Patrick F. Smith; design by Jon Bush (Viking / February 2021)

If I didn’t already know who the publisher was, I would not have been able to tell you if this was an American or British cover despite the subtitle and very American imagery. I don’t think it would like out of place on the Allen Lane list for example.

Immediate Family by Ashley Nelson Levy; design by Thomas Colligan (Farrar, Straus & Giroux / August 2021)

Mrs. March by Virginia Feito; design by Jaya Miceli (Liveright / August 2021)

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

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

The Republic of False Truths by Alaa Al Aswany; design John Gall (Knopf / August 2021)

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Published June 30, 2021

Book Covers of Note, June 2021

A little bit rushed again this month for various reasons (will I ever catch up? No. No I won’t…), but here are my cover picks for June…

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

The cover of the US edition of Animal, published by Simon & Schuster, was designed by Alison Forner and Zak Tebbal:

Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard; design Richard Ljoenes (Liveright / June 2021)

Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur; design by Helen Crawford-White (Erewhon Books / April 2021)

The Great Mistake by Jonathan Lee; design by Nathan Burton (Granta / June 2021)

The cover of the US edition, published by Knopf, was designed by none other than John Gall:

(The Knopf cover actually reminds me of this Lauren Peters-Collaer silhouette cover from a couple of years ago for Verso)

How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith; design by Lucy Kim (Little Brown and Company / June 2021)

Island by Siri Ranva Hjelm Jacobsen; design by Anna Morrison (Pushkin Press / June 2021)

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

The Ones We’re Meant To Find by Joan He; design Aurora Parlagreco; illustration Aykut Aydogdu (Roaring Brook Press / May 2021)

Pure Flame by Michelle Orange; design by Na Kim (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / June 2021)

In the ongoing game of books I think look alike but actually don’t when you put them side by side, the cover of Pure Flame brought to mind Peter Mendelsund‘s design for Civil Wars by David Armitage from a few years ago. Of course they don’t really look anything alike, but that’s how this game works…

  • Civil Wars by David Armitage; design by Peter Mendelsund (Yale University Press / February 2017)

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

A read an ARC of A Shock earlier this month and thought it was extraordinary. A recent review in the Observer described it a collection voyeuristic vignettes, which I suppose is accurate. The book is made up of interconnected and intimate stories, often about loneliness and confinement of one kind or another (particularly resonant during the pandemic). They are prying and unsettling… stories about seeing and been seen (or not). But in a wider sense, A Shock is about the telling and retelling stories (myths even!), and the way that is revealed in the novel itself is what elevates it above and beyond the usual fare. Anyway… I liked it. It won’t be for everyone.


The cover of the US edition, available from New Directions next month, was designed by the one and only Mr. Keenan:

Tokyo Redux by David Peace; design by Luke Bird (Faber & Faber / June 2021)

The War Against the BBC by Patrick Barwise and Peter York; design by Richard Green (Penguin / March 2021)

Who doesn’t love a really long subtitle and an all text cover?

With Teeth by Kristen Arnett; design by Lauren Peters-Collaer (Riverhead / June 2021)

A Year Without a Name by Cyrus Dunham; design by Alex Merto (Back Bay Books / June 2021)

The hardcover of A Year Without a Name, released in 2019, was designed by Lucy Kim.

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Published March 26, 2021

Book Covers of Note, March 2021

Spring has arrived, the clocks have gone forward, and here are some new and recent covers to wrap up your month…

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

Antonio by Beatriz Bracher; design by Janet Hansen (New Directions / March 2021)

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

Fulfillment by Alex MacGillis; design by Na Kim (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / March 2021)

How to Read Numbers by Tom Chivers & David Chivers; design by Luke Bird (Weidenfeld & Nicholson / March 2021)

Last Call by Elon Green; design by Evan Gaffney (Celadon Books / March 2021)

Misplaced Persons by Susan Beale; design by Sara Marafini (John Murray / March 2021)

My Friend Natalia by Laura Lindstedt; design by Sarahmay Wilkinson (Liveright / March 2021)

Pure Gold by John Patrick McHugh; design by Jack Smyth (New Island Books / February 2021)

Recent East by Thomas Grattan; design by Alex Merto (MCD / March 2021)

Speak, Okinawa by Elizabeth Miki Brina; design by Janet Hansen (Knopf / February 2021)

Who Will Pay Reparations on My Soul by Jesse McCarthy; design by Steve Attardo (Liveright / March 2021)

Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free by Jed S. Rakoff; design by June Park (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / February 2021)

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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 September 25, 2020

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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Published March 27, 2020

Book Covers of Note, March 2020

This feels a bit like blogging at the end of world, but I am taking my joy where I can get it these days. I hope you can find at least a couple of minutes respite from the stress by scrolling through a few nice book covers.

Normally I link titles to the Book Depository because they ship internationally, but I won’t be doing that this month. Please try — more than ever — to support your local independent bookstore instead. Amazon does not need your money.

In Canada, many independent stores are offering free local delivery. Some may still be offering curbside pick-up, although that no longer seems to be the case in Toronto and Montreal. If you are in the US, you can also check out bookshop.org, which allows you to order online and support local stores. LitHub posted some other tips on how to help (US) bookstores here. I know there are some fundraisers for booksellers doing the rounds too. If anyone has collected them together in one place or can point to other useful resources, please let me know — I’ll be more than happy to post the links.1

Stay safe. Read books.

Actress by Anne Enright; design by Evan Gaffney (W. W. Norton / March 2020)

The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton; design by Tristan Offit (Scribner / January 2020)

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

Days of Distraction by Alexandra Chang; design by Allison Saltzman; illustration by gg (Ecco / March 2020)

The Discomfort of the Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld; design by Pete Adlington (Faber & Faber / March 2020)

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo; design by Richard Bravery; illustration by Karan Singh (Penguin / March 2020)

I believe Penguin are reissuing Bernardine Evaristo’s backlist with similarly bold covers.

The hardcover of Girl, Woman, Other, also designed by Richard Bravery, features an illustration by Ali Campbell:

Heavy by Dan Franklin; design by Luke Bird (Constable / March 2020)

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

Inferno by Catherine Cho; design by Greg Heinimann (Bloomsbury / March 2020)

The Inland Sea by Madeleine Watts; design by Anna Morrison (Pushkin Press / March 2020)

I think this fits with the new psychedelia trend that I mentioned last year.

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

My word, it’s good to have John Gall designing covers for Knopf again.

Michael Kohlhaas by Heinrich von Kleist; design by Paul Sahre (New Directions / March 2020)

Our Revolution by Honor Moore; design by Robin Bilardello (W. W. Norton / March 2020)

We Inherit What the Fires Left by William Evans; design by David Litman (Simon & Schuster / March 2020)

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Published February 26, 2020

Book Covers of Note, February 2020

Meh. February. At least it’s almost over (and the book covers are good).

The Bear by Andrew Krivak; design by Alban Fischer (Bellevue Literary Press / February 2020)

(I read an ARC of The Bear last year (full disclosure: the folks that pay me distribute Bellevue Literary Press in Canada), and haven’t really stopped talking about it since, so I may as well mention here too. It’s very sincere, and reminiscent of the kind of Cold War science fiction in which war and environmental catastrophe have led to the end of civilization. It is not dystopian though. It reads rather like beautiful melancholy fable. I liked it a lot.)

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

Losing Eden by Lucy Jones; design by Tom Etherington (Allen Lane / February 2020)

The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata; design by John Gall (Hanover Square Press / February 2020)

One for the meta-covers list (and does the use of Lydian on the cover of a book on the cover of book count as ironic?)

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave; design by Lucy Kim (Little Brown & Co / February 2020)

The cover of the UK edition published by Picador was designed by Katie Tooke I believe (and if anyone can tell me who the did the illustration — based on traditional Norwegian folk art rosemaling — I would be grateful!)

Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong; design by Na Kim (One World / February 2020)

The cover of UK edition, which Profile Books is publishing next month, was designed by Steve Panton:

Pallbearing Stories by Michael Melgaard; design by Alysia Shewchuk (House of Anansi / February 2020)

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

A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes; design by Gill Heeley (Canongate / February 2020)

The cover of the US edition, published last year by Akashic Books, was designed by Christian Fuenfhausen…

This Brilliant Darkness by Jeff Sharlet; design by Sarahmay Wilkinson (W.W. Norton / February 2020)

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

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

Whistleblower by Susan Fowler; design by Catherine Casalino (Viking / February 2020)

Nice type.

Weather by Jenny Offill; design by John Gall (Knopf / February 2020)

There haven’t been very many John Gall covers on the blog recently, so it’s a delight to post two in the same month. And this really is a most Gallian of John Gall covers.

The cover of the UK edition of Weather, published by Granta, was designed by Gray318…

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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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