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The Casual Optimist Posts

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 August 27, 2021

Better Luck Next Month

Apologies — I don’t know who the designer for Businessweek Europe is (let me know if you do!), but the cover of the August 30th edition touched a nerve. I am sure anyone who intended to go back to the office at some point will relate… (via Ian Birch, author of Uncovered: Revolutionary Magazine Covers).

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Published August 13, 2021

The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess

Tom Gauld’s first picture book for children, The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess, is out this month! According to the publisher blurb, the book is inspired by a bedtime story he made up for his daughters:

“I was trying to make a book inspired by three different sets of books: The books that I remember enjoying as a child, the books that I watched my daughters enjoying, and the books I enjoy now as an adult. I wanted the book to have its own quirky feeling but also to function like a classic bedtime story.”

It looks wonderful.

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Published August 13, 2021

Make Meatballs Sing: The Life and Art of Corita Kent

Available this month from Brooklyn-based independent children’s book publisher Enchanted Lion, Make Meatballs Sing by Matthew Burgess and illustrated by Kara Kramer is a new picture book about the life and work of the innovative and unconventional artist, educator and social justice advocate Corita Kent (1918–1986).

Matthew Burgess is the author of Enormous Smallness: A Story of E. E. Cummings, illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo, and last year’s Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring, illustrated by Josh Cochran, also available from Enchanted Lion.

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Published July 24, 2021

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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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 June 30, 2021

Your House is Overloaded With Books…

Tom Gauld celebrates Independent Bookshop Week (which was last week, but isn’t every week independent bookshop week when you think about it?)

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Published June 21, 2021

Stop Thief

These illustrations by Gino Bud Hoiting for the cover story of the June 5 edition of Volkskrant Magazine about (if I’ve understood correctly!) an attempt to steal a writer’s manuscript are fabulous. The stripes bring Paul Rand to mind (via Cover Junkie).

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Published May 28, 2021

Book Covers of Note, May 2021

Here’s this month’s look at the book covers that have caught my attention recently. Lots of fiery orange for some reason. Perhaps it is a thing?

An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser; design by Mark Abrams (Vintage / May 2021)

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

The don’t look that similar side by side, by I was reminded of Will Staehle‘s 2018 cover for Circe by Madeline Miller, and the UK cover of the more recent Sistersong by Lucy Holland, designed by Melissa Four (I’m fairly sure I’ve seen an orange/red version of the Sistersong cover. Perhaps it was an ARC?).

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

The 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)

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

I thought David Drummond had maybe done a cover similar to this, but I couldn’t find one. David does like neutral backgrounds and cutting type though!

  • Wall Flower by Rita Kuczynski; design by David Drummond (University of Toronto Press / August 2015)

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

This is a 3 volume box set and all of the covers are spectacular…

Fault Lines by Emily Itami; design by Holly Ovenden (Orion Books / May 2021)

The cover of the US edition of Fault Lines, available this fall, was designed by Mumtaz Mustafa using a photograph by Tsuguaki Abe.

Featherweight by Mick Kitson; design by Helen Crawford-White (Canongate / May 2021)

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

When I first saw this cover I immediately thought there was some kind of link to Josef Albers ‘Homage a Square’ series, but nobody else seems to have mentioned it, so perhaps it is coincidental? Is that possible? I should probably pick up the book!

The Mission House by Carys Davies; design by Lauren Peters-Collaer (Scribner / February 2021)

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

Monsters by Alison Croggon; design by Daniel New (Scribe / March 2021)

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

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

A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes; design by Gill Heeley (Canongate / February 2021)

Gill Heeley also designed the cover of the UK hardback edition of the book published last year…

Things We Lost to the Water by Eric Nguyen; design by Chip Kidd (Knopf / May 2021)

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a Chip Kidd cover on the blog. This guy has promise!

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Published April 30, 2021

Book Covers of Note, April 2021

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Two New York covers for Mr. Corral this month.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Published April 8, 2021

R. Kikuo Johnson’s “Delayed”

R. Kikuo Johnson’s latest cover for The New Yorker is remarkable.

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Published April 8, 2021

Jacket Required

Canadian designer Steve St. Pierre has returned with a new set of “fictional book covers for unwritten memoirs”.

You can see some of Steve’s covers from the original 2016 ‘Jacket Everyday’ project, sadly no longer online, here.

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