Question of the week: Do you judge a book by it's cover?
Yes and no. If I am in a bookstore I am more likely to pick up a book with an intriguing cover than one that looks like every other cover or is bland. But in my library, I try to teach students to read the inside of cover or the back of the book, depending on the type of book. So I should practice what I preach. Unfortunately, I think some reprints of classic novels have really boring covers. For example: Catcher in the Rye has a white cover and dark colored title. Boring. I think lots of YA books have unfortunate covers. The hardback book cover of a marvelous book: Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock, had a picture of a cow wearing a crown. Who wants to read that? The publisher corrected that error for their paperback version of the book. It shows two kids laying in the grass. Much better. High school students don't want to be seen reading any book that looks juvenile. Publishers need to remember that.
Do you judge a book by the cover?
You make some really good points about publishers keeping in my their audience. The wonderful thing about YA novels is they have so many amazing covers. Have an awesome weekend!
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Hey stopping by from the hop. And am your newest follower.
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I'm visiting from the blog hop and am a new follower.
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with you on some of the YA book covers. I teach teenagers and some of them have refused to read certain books because they look 'weird' or 'uncool'. I also think publishers need to realize that status quo is so important in school.
Have a great weekend!
New follower here! Your blog is absolutely wonderful!! So true...I agree with your answers. ^-^
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
●▬▬๑۩Tina @ Book Couture۩๑▬▬●
Happy Friday. Yes I judge books by their covers.
ReplyDeleteStopping by on the hop :) I totally agree with your answers! And yeah, the cover of the reprint of Dairy Queen is definitely better.
ReplyDeleteI really like the picture of you and your daughters reading Mockingjay! Unfortunately, I haven't read it yet, because I think I was the last person to jump on the Hunger Games bandwagon (I first read it two months ago!) and I haven't read Catching Fire yet :( I hope you're enjoying it, though!
Have a great weekend!
Erika Breathes Books
Have a blast hopping to/following new blogs or beginning great books!
ReplyDeleteHere is my Book blogger hop/Follow me/Book Beginnings post! AS you know, I am a very serious eclectic reader!
Just hopping by!! Happy Friday and I hope you have a great weekend. To see what I answered stop by my blog!!
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www.just-one-more-chapter.com
www.therundhaugfamily.com
Hopping through... I am definitely guilty of choosing books for their covers, but you are right. I do try to read the backs/inside covers as well!!
ReplyDeleteI'm visiting from the hop! I agree with what you said regarding high school students. I teach middle school English. :) It's great to see another educator on here! I hope you have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteI'm an old follower, I just wanted to pop in to say hi! I agree completely with what you said about covers, I feel the same way!
ReplyDeleteStopping by from the Blog Hop. Have a good weekend!
ReplyDeleteAutumn
From the TBR Pile
stopping by from the hop. I actually really liked the old school plain white Catcher in the Rye cover when I was in high school. Nice and simple, didn't give anything away. I've still got that book around here someplace. . .
ReplyDeleteMy answer was yes and no too XD I'm a new follower, found you hopping!
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www.littlesqueed.blogspot.com
Hey, thanks a lot for stopping by earlier!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, I do judge a book by its cover sometimes. Actually, it's not the book itself that I judge, but I am obviously less likely to read it if the cover doesn't catch my attention.
Have a great weekend!
Hopping by to say hi! It's funny that you mention Dairy Queen. The cover with the cow definitely drew my attention in the library the other day because it was funny. But I can see your point about it not appealing to teens!
ReplyDeleteYes, that's true. Why do classic reprints often have such uninspiring covers? I guess they're supposed to stand on their reputation alone... but they might get more readers if they had really nice covers.
ReplyDeleteAlready a follower stopping back by from the hop. Love your insight into book covers! I agree with your opinions of them!
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http://thedelusionaldiaries.blogspot.com
lol...I have to say that I'm 30 years old, and I didn't look twice at Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock because of that cow cover.
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog from the blog hop. If you'd like to see my answer, i'm at
www.readingisdreamy.blogspot.com
Just hopping by!
ReplyDeleteI'm a new follower. :)
Keitra @ Page by Page
Hopping over to say have a great weekend!
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Lu
Hopping by to say hi. I love your blog. Visit me sometime at www.booksaremything.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI'm your newest follower! Beautiful blog design. I'm really looking forward to reading more. And yes, I do judge a book by it's cover! I am a school librarian also, and I completely agree with your comments. Sometimes I really wonder what publishers were thinking. Thank goodness many are starting to correct bad covers with good paperback re-issues.
ReplyDeleteHope you can find time to visit my blog.
http://evergreenjuniorhighlibrary.blogspot.com
Thanks and Happy Reading!
I am definitely guilty of judging books by their covers. In fact, I'll also judge font and paper quality too. And I tend to love reading a fresh, delicious looking paperback more than some dusty old book with hard-to-read print, a creased cover, and smudgy, dirty pages. But some of the best books I've read have been those with bland covers. My version of Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany" is bland and indeed depressing. Once I started reading it, though, I forgot all about it's lack of flash and newness and loved it. On the contrary, I thought the cover art of "Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Nifenneger was irresistable, but the story had some major flaws.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the art and the physicality of the book does add a lot to the reading experience. That's one reason I've asked my friends and families NEVER to buy me a Kindle or the like!