Musing Mondays (July 13)

Musing Mondays (BIG) Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about book covers…

We all know the old adage about not judging a book by it’s cover, but just how much sway does a book cover have when it comes to your choice of book – whether buying or borrowing? Are there any books you’ve bought based on the cover alone?

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your opinion in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks.

I truly wish I could get the saying ‘never judge a book by it’s cover’ out of my head, because it usually runs through my mind at least once whenever I go to the library – where I usually pick up a book simply because it looks interesting. When it comes to buying books, I try not to let the covers sway me unduly – for no other reason than it tends to lead to impulse buys that I cannot afford.

In many ways, the cover and other physical aspects to the book can stop me from buying the book. For instance, I really dislike having editions with the movie tie-in cover. I also dislike having the larger sized paper-back* edition that usually comes out first – I will wait for the smaller size unless I’m truly desperate.

However, I have also picked up some great books simply because I loved the covers:

Thompson - Blankets PETERATSC_FOILMOCK_01167 Butcher - Storm Front Coleman - The Cure Selznick - Invention of Hugo Cabret

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*does this have a name?

39 comments :

gautami tripathy said...

Love the cover of Storm Front!

Mondays: Musings/Whereabouts

Moony said...

I believe those are referred to as trade paperbacks.

I wish that some of my books had better looking covers. Poor Tom Sawyer looks malnourished... *lol*

Brooke from The Bluestocking Guide said...

Here is mine

Anonymous said...

Good question - quite relevant to me, in recent times.

Here's my answer.

Anonymous said...

I'm amazed how much I buy because of the covers! Full answer is up. :)

Yvonne said...

Mine is here

Anonymous said...

I just posted mine here

wendy elizabeth said...

cover attraction must = blurb attraction for me to buy, my musing here

Anonymous said...

Mine's HERE

Debbie's World of Books said...

My answer and some favorite covers are here

claire said...

Love the blankets cover. I was actually tempted to borrow that from the library once, because of the artwork, but I had too many books out at that time. Anyway, I'm crazy over covers. My answer is here.

Anonymous said...

I posted 4 book covers that I really love. You can see them here.

Beth F said...

I do love a good cover. Here's my answer: Musings

Jenni @ Falling Off The Shelf said...

Great Musing Monday. I was just telling my friend that he needs to stop buying books solely because they 'look pretty'. lol. He bought the entire Night World Series because he liked the covers. Oh well, he's got the cash to spend, so whatever, and he always gives me all of his books when he's done with them anyways! lol.

Here's my post.
http://fallingofftheshelf.blogspot.com/2009/07/musing-monday-july-13th.html

Literature Crazy said...

Here's my response.

(I posted a plead for the book blogging community.)

Whitney said...

Here's my answer.

BooksPlease said...

Here's my answer.

MizB said...

I added pictures, too! :D

MizB, the cover-junkie!

MizB said...

PS... the larger size paperbacks are called "Trade Paperbacks".

And, "Blankets" was a good story! I surprised myself by enjoying it! :D

~MizB

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I'm prejudicial about covers.

Elena said...

I love judging books by their covers! How else are they supposed to entice people who have never heard of the author or title before? Plus it's nice having a goodlookin' mountain of books in the house. I have no shame in it (this isn't to say this is the only way I pick books).

No Monday Musing on my blog this week as I am at the Asia-Pacific Model UN Conference and I have 2 free seconds to write this now ^_^

But I will enjoy reading everyone's responses when/if I get a free moment!

Anonymous said...

My response is here.

One caveat - I wasn't thinking about graphic novels when I wrote that post. The covers of graphic novels play way more into whether I will pick them up or not, not surprisingly.

Kelly said...

My Musing Mondays post.

Penny said...

I love book covers! Sometimes that's all I have time to look at in the library before I have to make a decision! My answer's here:

http://ilovemybooks.blogspot.com/

caite said...

For some pictures of my vacation...what I like to call my Gallery of Tiny Fish"... and yes, my Monday Musing post, click HERE. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I couldn't care less about covers...read my response <here.

Anonymous said...

mine's here click!

Frances said...

Hugo Cabret is one gorgeous book. Here is my first go at a Musing Monday.

http://nonsuchbook.typepad.com/nonsuch_book/2009/07/book-design-temptation.html

Anonymous said...

http://damnedconjuror.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/musing-mondays-book-covers/

That's mine

kayerj said...

loved your answer here are my Monday musings

Jenny said...

I'm new! here's mine!

Hilarie said...

Better late than never! Here's mine. Thanks for hosting, I really enjoy this meme.

Susan said...

I like this topic!

Here's my answer

The Social Frog said...

Here Is Mine:
http://thesocialfrog.com/?p=2246

Valorie said...

Got mine up!
http://www.morbid-romantic.net/2009/07/13/musing-mondays-judging-a-book-by-the-cover/

Li said...

Here's my answer: http://www.rulethewaves.net/wp/?p=725

The Reading Momster said...

Well a good and attractive cover sure gets my attention :)

Literary Feline said...

My response is up.

Jenners said...

Argh! I keep forgetting to check for your questions!! Bad Jenners.

I love the covers you showed. And I agree -- a cover will get me to pick up something to see what it is about if it looks intriguing enough. And I have gotten books based solely on covers ... it often works out!