Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Paula Judges Books by Their Covers - Top Ten Tuesday


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme started here at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week we have a specific topic for a top ten list. Link up, visit some new blogs and add to your ever growing TBR list. For future Top Ten Tuesday topics through February, go here!


We've all been told not to judge a book by its cover. But we all do it. We also judge books by their titles. I know that a lot of work goes into cover art - and so I think it's an acceptable factor in
your decision to spend $15-$20 on a book that it cover and/or title be pleasing. So here are 10 books that I've judged and bought based on their cover art and/or title. And whether or not that judging led me astray.

1. Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe


Can we just take a few minutes to look at how gorgeous this cover is (this is the front and back - the art wraps around the whole thing). I cannot even tell you how many times I went to the store and just stared at this book. I sat there consumed with lust over how pretty it was. I didn't even really know what it was about when I finally decided that it had to sit on my shelf and be pretty. Thankfully the book is just as great as the cover.

2. The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts by Louis De Bernieres

I stumbled upon this book at a library sale with no previous knowledge of the author. I read the title and giggled and then looked at the cover and smiled. Shrugged and thought, "eh 50 cents, why not?" It has turned out to be one of my favorite books this year. A review should find it's way on this blog some day soon.








3. Count Gieger's Blues by Michael Bishop


A similar story to the above, I picked this one up at a book sale based on the fact that there was a superhero on the front. Unfortunately my only thoughts on this book are "ughhhh". They can't all be winners.











4. The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder

You should really take a second to go find a bigger version of this cover because it is REALLY cool. The book itself was okay - I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either. The cover of the sequels are just as cool, so I will probably end up reading them as well. Seriously though, look at that detail. That is a well done cover. Kudos.









5. A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True by Brigid Pasulka

Didn't include the cover for this one because it was the title that actually drew me in. There is something wonderful about this title. I saw it in an advertisement and thought "well that's certainly intriguing" Thankfully I was lucky enough to get my hands on an ARC of it. It certainly is intriguing and it lives up to that title.

6. The Book of Flying by Keith Miller

Another book sale find (man I love them!) I think the title was what originally caught my eye. And there is something I really love about the cover - I'm not sure why because it's not particularly pretty or stand out, but I just really really like it. However the book is pretty and fantastic. He also has another book called "The Book of Fire" that I really want to read but I can't find it any where. If you can find it: read it, then give it to meeee!






7. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

I definitely bought this book based on the title. I must admit it kept reminding me of Misses Pettigrew Lives for a Day which I adore - so even though I knew they had nothing to do with one another, I couldn't help but bring it home with me. The cover art isn't really my taste... but it fits the book. All in all it was a good judgement call.

8. The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys by Chris Fuhrman

So this one technically might not belong on this list.... this was my favorite movie in High School (and is still on my top 10 to this day) and for a long time I had no idea there was a novel that it was based on. When I finally discovered the novel I was also pleasantly surprised by the fantastic cover art that went a long with it. And I think we can all agree on how great the title is. Really I just want people to appreciate everything about this novel (and movie!).






9. The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

This book was on my to-read list forever because of its title. What a fantastic title! The cover is okay too.... but UGH. that is all. just ugh.

10. The Island of The Day Before by Umberto Eco

This one is still on my to-read shelf. I bought it because of the title, but the cover is pretty fantastic as well. I've heard mixed things about it by now, so I'm a little nervous to tackle it. But hopefully I did not choose poorly...










What about you guys? Which books did you buy based on the cover and/or title? Did your instinct prove to be correct? Be sure to link up below and share your top ten picks!

65 comments:

  1. That first cover is AMAZINGLY gorgeous. Just - wow. That's print-on-the-wall pretty!

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  2. Oops! I forgot to check the name of my blog on Mr. Linky to make sure it was correct. Oh well. For this week, I guess I'm "Zombie Survival." :)

    I love the covers of Brave Story and The War of Don. They're so beautiful! And it's awesome how the cover art for Brave Story wraps all the way around. I love it when I find books like that. I seriously thought about reading Brave Story because it sounds great but I found out it's over 800 pages long!! I wasn't expecting that. I still may read it someday though.

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  3. That first cover is beautiful! The Eco one is pretty great too. Found a copy of it at the library sale, so have it on my tbr as well.

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  4. These covers look awesome! I almost want to read them just because. I'm terrible.

    But I like them, I can't help it. Great top ten topic!

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  5. Enticing list. I must check out many of them.

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  6. Brave Story's pic is beautiful! So much to look at. Lovely Top Ten :)

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  7. Love this top 10 and all these pretty covers.

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  8. Great topic. Feels good to post on one of these again :)

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  9. Brave Story has a fantastic cover! It's got me wanting to read it :) Love this week's topic as well because I got to showcase some of my favorite book covers!

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  10. The cover of The Island of the Day Before is so beautiful that I'm going to have get it from the library eventually and try it, no matter what the critics say. It's just so gorgeous!
    JNCL
    The Beauty of Eclecticism

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  11. I seemed to have messed up my link (Kayla @ The Girl Who Reads {A Lot}). It's supposed to take you here. :)

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  12. That first cover is absolutely stunning! It is really more like framable artwork than a book cover. Seriously fantastic.

    What a variety of picks, too! And I love Umberto Eco's covers. They're wild and unique and so imaginative.

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  13. I would have to say I've never heard of any of these books, but I'm loving the first cover! It's beautiful.

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  14. Love the list - Brave Story and The Book of Flying are my faves - but all the titles look captivating!

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  15. ohh I love that Umberto Echo cover! Beautiful.

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  16. Great TTT this week. :)

    http://ficbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/10/top-ten-teaser-tuesday-which-books-did.html

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  17. that makes me want to read the one by Umberto Eco.

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  18. I've never seen Brave Story before, but that is pretty unbelievable. The others are great too. Wow.

    ~Asheley

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  19. I really like this blog hop and it's my first time joining!!

    http://passionfornovels.blogspot.com/

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  20. That's a really awesome list! I'm more of a YA reader so I can't really say I've read those, but I can totally understand why you'd choose those books! Those covers are awesome -- you've gotta love superheroes! ;)

    Here's my Top Ten! And you can still enter the first giveaway and second giveaway in my Autumn BookFest if you want!

    I hope you have an awesome day! :)

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  21. That first cover... just WOW! It is amazing. Now I want to buy it!

    And this was my first time joining in with the hop! Yay :D A really interesting topic, and one that was pretty easy for me to come up with a list for... considering covers can be a big selling point or eye-catcher for me.

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  22. The first cover is gorgeous! I'd definitely buy that book purely for the cover :)

    My Top Ten is here if you'd like a look :)

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  23. I haven't heard of any of these books but the covers are interesting!

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  24. Brave story looks pretty to me. I think I'm going to give it a try :)

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  25. Those are all great covers! This is my first Top Ten Tuesday and I'm very excited to participate! Thanks!

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  26. I love this topic because there is so much variety in everyones choices! Great List!

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  27. I'm guilty of this all the time!

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  28. The title of the Oscar Wao book has always stuck in my head and made me want to read it, too. I guess the 'Ugh' means you didn't like it? That's a shame. I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to reading it myself, though.

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  29. Striking visuals on those covers! I actually haven't heard of many of them. :)

    Link added!

    Michele
    Top 10 Tues | 2 Giveaways

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  30. Very nice covers. I especially love Brave Story. The cover is so beautifully designed. I also would purchase The Book of Flying based on the cover alone. It's intriguing!

    Here is my top ten book covers/titles ...
    http://butterybooks.com/?p=42963

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  31. Ooh, adding The Book of Flying to my TBR list.

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  32. I've got Brave Story on my Christmas wish list for MONTHS because of its cover!

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  33. Great topic!

    Lindsey @ http://www.babiesbooksandsigns.com/2011/10/top-ten-tuesday_18.html

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  34. The Island of The Day Before by Umberto Eco cover looks amazing.

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  35. That first book cover is amazing.

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  36. Wow, the Umberto Eco is soooo pretty!

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  37. I totally judge books by the covers! Great top 10 again today!

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  38. Linked!

    The only cover that I bought solely based on the cover was The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein. I loved the picture of the little dog with the cape blowing in the wind. I'm such a dog lover and just had to have it on my shelf. Luckily, the book turned out to be good, too. :-)

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  39. Wow, I love that first cover! This is my first time participating. :)

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  40. This was such a fun topic to do, it was great to go through all my bookshelves and remember how I chose each title!

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  41. I'm looking forward to reading everyone's lists!

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  42. Wow, where do you find these books? "The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts" is certainly an intriguing title. Lots of interesting books here I haven't heard of.

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  43. I loved the Book of Flying too, and have his other book on my to-read list for sure!

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  44. I've neither heard of nor seen any of these books! A lot of the cover artwork is beautiful! I especially love the first one.

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  45. That first cover is AMAZINGLY gorgeous.

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  46. Fun list to work on this week! Lots of different covers to ooh and ahh over ;)

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  47. There are so many eye catching books out there! Some I have not heard of but love seeing them.

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  48. I kinda wanna buy one of these books. haha

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  49. I want to read The Book of Flying now!! (:

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  50. that first cover is amazing. I love the top ten tuesday!

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  51. I couldn't narrow it down to 10 books, so I did 10 series and even then I had to cut some of my favs :) I am in the design biz so the covers actually mean a lot to me on whether or not I purchase a hard copy of the book for my shelf.

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  52. Great topic and selections! This is my first venture into the wide world of memes, because I couldn't resist the topic!

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  53. I really liked that first book cover, it's awesome!

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  54. I chose THE BOOK OF HEROES, which was also by Miyaki Miyabe! I really want to read BRAVE STORY and the new book (What is it, ICHO?) now!

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  55. Thanks for the awesome topic...bit late, but better late than never LOL

    I have to say that the best...IMO...for covers is Anna Godbersen books. I had a hard time picking only 10.

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  56. Excellent topic - really made me think.

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  57. as someone who does this all the time, I love this topic!

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  58. loved thinking about this list too.. I have a few more on my list which I want to get because of their covers but did not include them here :)

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  59. Good topic this week. Made me realize I haven't read that many Halloween-appropriate books, though!

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