Wednesday 28 May 2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Covers I'd Frame As Art

Cheers to the gals at The Broke and the Bookish for hosting this lovely meme.

This week TTT is a free choice, so I’ve decided to list the top ten book covers I’d frame as pieces of art. (I wanted to join in for this topic a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve been working 65-70 hour weeks recently and couldn’t find the time.) 

Anyways. Let the ogling commence!!



God's War by Kameron Hurley: I haven't read the book, but I like the cover. Nice sense of movement & interesting patterns. 

Earth Girl by Janet Edwards: Silhouetted birds against a dramatic sky and beautiful choice of title font? Yes please. 

L'Elue, aka the French edition of Kushiel’s Chosen, by Jacqueline Carey: I love this cover. It has great colours and an overall sense of sensual epicness that I think fits the book very well. I would put this in my bathroom and cackle at visitors' reactions to it.
  



Welcome to Bordertown edited by Holly Blak and Ellen Kushner: An otherworldly city featuring a decrepit motorcycle covered in ivy? Come on, who wouldn't want that on their wall? 


The Magicians by Lev Grossman: I like this cover. It manages to be simple yet somewhat magical all at once.

The Scar by China Mieville: It seems that I have a thing for dramatic skies. This one is in green and yellow, crowning the city of misty ships on the horizon. I approve. 
 


Elantris by Brandon Sanderson: I think a lot of minimalist fantasy covers are on the boring side, but this one really works. Beautiful colours & lovely shading.  

Lud in the Mist by Hope Mirreles: Another fantasy city paired with a striking title and yet more birds. I really like the colours and old-school magic vibe I get off this one. I would put it in my office to stare at and daydream.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff: Creepy and a little bit fey. I haven't read this book, and this cover is making me regret that.



And finally, The Peter Grant books by Ben Aaronvitch: I love all these because I collect maps – my entire house is covered them. It’s not great cartography, but it is great design. I think Whispers Underground and Moon Under Soho are my favourites so far.

12 comments:

  1. Really nice !!! I love the Peter Grant books, they look beautiful. I also love Earth Girl, the Magicians and the Replacement.
    Recently, I found myself much more sensitive to book cover than I used to. I like mysterious and not-too-crowdy book cover. Recently, the book cover of the Québécois book Mort-Terrain is my favorite: http://tinyurl.com/k8g6xck

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    1. Ohhhh, I like that. It's got a lot of personality. (Although mostly it just makes me realise I should read more in French!)

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  2. Some cool covers here, I especially like Earth Girl (cityscapes are always good plus of course someone has to be standing up there too) and Bordertown. I like the Peter Grant covers too, especially the second one.

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    1. Yeah, I love that half moon hovering over the CBD.

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  3. Maps are awesome. If I ever am able to actually get my basement finished it will be COVERED in them.

    Glad I am not the only one who loves God's War. That cover is so perfect for the book it holds.

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    1. Yay! Sounds like it will be a cool place. Are you envisioning something like this: http://theinspiredroom.net/2013/05/07/map-wallpaper-for-walls/ ?

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  4. Ooh, good topic, and really great choices! I've always loved that cover for The Replacement (still need to read the book), and the Peter Grant covers are amazing. I remember seeing a really interesting piece by Lev Grossman about how the artist created the covers for his books, using all sorts of neat photography and effects. Nice list!

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    1. Everyone loves the Peter Grant covers. Whoever designed them should be feeling proud :D

      Love the tree theme Lev Grossman has for his books. Have you seen the cover for the 3rd yet? Still has trees, but is not half as pretty!

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  5. Great covers! The Replacement definitely looks like a creepy book.

    Here's my TTT:
    http://wendimlee.blogspot.com/

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  6. Earth Girl is one of the few books where I actually prefer the US cover - I love the one featured above as well, but I thought the US version held so much more meaning! Unfortunately the US cover for book 2 Earth Star wasn't so great, and there I like the UK version better.

    And agreed 2000% with the Peter Grant covers! They have such history and character. I want to smack whoever thought it would be a good idea to change the covers for the US versions, thank goodness they decided to go back to the map covers for both regions since book 4.

    ~Mogsy

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    1. I suppose it did, although I wasn't too fold of the washed out colours. A bit generic, yes, but much more pretty. At least in my opinion :)

      The German translation of the Peter Grant books also has variations of the map covers too. Tis a very good trend!

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  7. I've never run across that version of the ELANTRIS cover and really The Replacements? That would creep me out hanging up on the wall as art

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