Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday - Cover Trends

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and the Bookish is cover trends we like or hate.  This took some thinking for me as while I do a lot of cover judging I don't do much thinking about it other than I like it or I don't.

Cover Trends I Love:

1.

Houses and Buildings on the covers

2.  
Landscapes

3.  
Someone looking out the window or door.  I know this is crazy specific but I love the waiting it portrays.

4.  
Just part of a person - I especially like that so many romance novels are switching to this over the classic (and awful) clinch

5.  
Spooky buildings
6.  
Black and white photo

7.  
Simple and clean

8.  
The split cover 

9.  
Vintage-y looking

10.  
Stylized illustrations - love the Phrynne Fisher covers too!

What kind of covers make you happy?  What kind of cover makes it harder to pick up a book?  My least favorite are the badly done cartoons and the cliche romance half dressed couple.  

24 comments:

  1. I also like stylized illustrations :) Spooky buildings is a good one too!

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    1. Thanks! I have an astonishing amount of covers that I'm pretty sure I've gotten just because of the buildings!

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  2. Anything spooky grabs my attention immediately. Great list.
    My TTT

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  3. I hate your # 10! Probably second least fave, with most avoided going to ones like Jk Rowlings new mystery.

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  4. These are all awesome covers. I love simple and clean and houses..even spooky ones!

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  5. I love the buildings/houses and landscape covers, too.

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  6. I really like buildings and houses in the background of covers too, it usually indicates the book is an awesome historical or gothic.

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    1. I love gothic edges to my stories so the buildings always get me.

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  7. My favorite covers at the moment are ones with houses or buildings. Simple and clean are good too!

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    1. I love the buildings too. I really just love a good cover!

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  8. Love your top 10, every single one of the trends you mentioned I love especially vintage looking covers :)
    -Kimberly @ Turning the Pages

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    1. Thanks! I do get drawn to the vintage covers I think because they remind me of old Nancy Drews.

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  9. I love the fact that you mentioned Mary Roberts Rinehart in any fashion. She is the American Agatha Christie and is second on my list of favorite mystery authors. The first spot belonging to Dame Agatha.

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    1. Rinehart is definitely under-appreciated! I haven't read any of her books in far too long even though I own most of them. I'm planning on doing some rereading of her in the very near future!

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  10. Nice picks! I love the more simple covers, I think they work a lot better. The window and door one is very specific, but those covers can be so pretty. Nice picks :)

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    1. Thanks! I do love the simple covers and am usually very drawn to them!

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  11. Chateau of Secrets and The Summer Queen definitely has nice covers!

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  12. Nice list! I agree particularly with simple-and-clean (love that Beekeeper's Ball cover) and the stylized illustrations of Bowen's books. I had to laugh when I got to 'split covers', though, because if I'd had time to finish my post, that would have been on my "dislikes" list! To be fair, I've seen some I like, but more I don't, which was why it was ending up there. Anyway, to each their own!

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  13. Covers really are important--at least in first grabbing my attention, especially if I'm browsing. I really like some of the ones you posted: The Summer Queen, for sure, but especially The Quick and The Art of Arranging Flowers.

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  14. Some nice covers there- like Chateau of secrets (I've been enjoying country houses on coers lately) and The Circular Staircase- totally has that vintage mystery feel. I actually like the Rhys Bowen covers too, the stylized look. Haven't read any of those, but like the covers!

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