I m just reading a book by a Egyptian writer that has sat on my shelf since last year it has a slightly underwhelming cover ,but so far I m finding the prose wonderful ,This made me question do I judge to early on some books .If I hear about a book via a podcast ,good review or some one who’s opinion I respect ,I will get the book regardless of the cover .This came to my mind after a discussion on twitter to-day about do we judge by cover to often I ll hold my hand up ,that I do a lot of the time .
now this is the Egyptian cover I find it a little to cartoonish ,and maybe not in keeping with the book
This is another book I read a while ago ,that cover just dosen’t seem to fit the book ,I want to read this after hearing the writer talk about it on ABC’s book show .
What do you do ?
Are you put off by a cover ?
I’ve done the opposite and read something purely on the basis of a “cool” cover and been monumentally disappointed by the contents of the novel. That’s worse; at least if you’ve put something off because the cover was, well, a bit shit, you then get that tiny frisson of “oooh, rubbish cover, great book, ” the other way round can be rage inducing.
yes ,been burnt with some cool cover too ,all the best stu
Despite trying to ignore the cover sometimes it does have the power to pull you in and sometimes that can be a real mistake. But like you say sometimes a book can have a bad cover and be a fantastic read. The Colony by Hugo Wilcken fell into that category for me. Cover did nothing for me but the story was great
agree with you about colony ,still got to read it but it is a awful cover no wonder it fell of radar for so long ,all the best stu
I try not to let an ugly cover distract me from what could be a good story, but I think it happens sometimes. I mostly notice when it is the other way around though: good covers usually push me to buy something.
it is hard sometime to get a book with a cover your not to keen on ,all the best stu
Great subject Stu,
If not bought through recommendation, I always do a page test and read a random page to see if I like the style. That, combined with the blurb makes my mind up to buy, however what draws me to an ‘unknown’ book in the first place? sadly its often if its a good price or part of a deal.
On occasions a striking cover will make me pick up,but its more often the title, a really good snappy, or long and convoluted title will help!
With collectable books however a good cover is part of the value and often I know whats inside anyway!
most of the translated books I want aren’t in offers so just have take a chance some tim es but do pick one book over another some time due to cover ,all the best stu
I will often pick up books simply because the cover is lovely. If I get a book that I really wanted to read, but I don’t like the cover, I will sometimes put it off. I very much dislike when the cover doesn’t match the book!
it is hard when cover lets book down ,all the best stu
I judge books by their covers all the time. Not so much whether they’ll be good or bad though, more like…whether or not the style and genre will appeal to me. Which is usually effective I think, because it’s just recognizing that book covers are meant to attract certain readers to certain books.
yes there are a lot of genre covers like nora roberts etc ,all the best stu
To me they do, at least to some extent. I’m easily swayed by covers, I confess. Another thing I notice is that I’m also much more likely to stick with a book if someone (usually a blogger) has said it was worth sticking with.
I get sway especially when there is two i want then it sometimes come down to cover ,all the best stu
Covers used to be very important to me as they were my main reason for deciding to pick up a book. These days almost all my reads come from recommendations so I often don’t see the cover before ordering it.
good for you Jackie wish I was more like you ,all the best stu
I have both ignored books I have then found to be great and read absolute duds based on what is on the cover. Its slightly shameful because I really should be ‘above the whole cover thing’ but I am not, ha.
me too simon ,it is hard not to be swayed sometimes alll the best stu
I think I’m definitely influenced by covers, and also by sometimes-misleading backcover descriptions. I think maybe that’s why so much effort goes into making covers appealing, but they can’t appeal to everyone, I guess!
no ,but like them some times reflect the book better ,all the best stu