tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post7116120184376734763..comments2024-02-25T19:19:39.854+11:00Comments on I prefer reading: Book design & cover artlynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509400868331534237noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post-53452107949388952192011-06-18T13:39:37.914+10:002011-06-18T13:39:37.914+10:00Thank you for starting me off Galant, I've rea...Thank you for starting me off Galant, I've really enjoyed thinking about book covers & what I do & don't like in them. It's been interesting to read other people's responses too.lynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04509400868331534237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post-35503195796068071332011-06-18T06:42:55.377+10:002011-06-18T06:42:55.377+10:00My goodness, what have I started! Well, if not st...My goodness, what have I started! Well, if not started, brought to mind again! I feel I should now go and peruse (good old word, that, peruse!) the fiction shelves here, both hardback and paperback, and see which appeal because of their cover art, and which I bought regardless because I was familiar with the writer's work. I do wish, though, that publishers would at least consider the content more. Sue Hepworth's delightful novel Zuzu's Petals has a chick-lit style cover and the book which features a middle-aged woman grieving for the death of her father whilst also trying to forge new relationships and new career if not late in life, then certainly not early in life, is anything but chick-lit. It was only through reading about the book that I decided to buy it - had I seen it in a bookshop I'd not even have bothered to pick it up. <br />One set of covers I particularly like are the Black Swan (paperback) covers designed by Lynda Reiss for the Mapp & Lucia novels by E F Benson and published in 1984. They are deligthful, perfectly capturing the period and the characters. <br />As for the blue ribbon - Joanna Trollope's novels, when published by Bloomsbury sported blue marker ribbons. <br />I hope that publishers will heed what we purchasers have to say. But I doubt that very much.<br />Margaret Pgalanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14190356279359463949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post-1007671286079735992011-06-17T18:38:57.278+10:002011-06-17T18:38:57.278+10:00Darlene, I agree with you about lovely covers &...Darlene, I agree with you about lovely covers & a silk ribbon can be very enticing! Liz, I hope Virago is returning to a more classic cover style, it would give them more of a "look" than they've had in recent times. I remember those 70s Mary Stewart covers, I think I first read her books with those covers but I borrowed mine from the library & they've long gone. At least she's in print. Linda, I remember those older O'Brien covers from work although I haven't read any of the series. They're very evocative of the period. The newer covers are very much in the headless historical woman style, aren't they?lynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04509400868331534237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post-91333613960023840002011-06-17T07:47:37.395+10:002011-06-17T07:47:37.395+10:00I also bought the first Katie Fforde book on the s...I also bought the first Katie Fforde book on the strength of its cover!<br /><br />My favourite book covers are the painted seascape covers of the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin series. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Commodore-Patrick-OBrian/dp/0006499325/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1308260163&sr=8-12<br />I have the whole series in pb and hb. I'd love to have them all in hb but it took me years to collect the ones I have as these covers went out of print some time ago. <br /><br />Then they were re-designed, obviously for a younger readership - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Master-Commander-Patrick-OBrian/dp/0007255837/ref=sr_1_32?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308260360&sr=1-32<br />I don't dislike these covers and I can see they'd appeal to male and female alike, but to my mind they have nothing of *the sea* about them - the excitement, the danger, the vastness. <br /><br />The newer covers seem to reduce the novels to the two protagonists. For me it's the difference between a buddy movie like BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID and a David Lean epic! And O'Brian's series is definitely epic.Linda Gillardhttp://www.lindagillard.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post-15905487398053121042011-06-16T22:59:26.969+10:002011-06-16T22:59:26.969+10:00I have a feeling that my taste in book covers is v...I have a feeling that my taste in book covers is very similar to yours. I have the early Katie Fforde edition which I recall picking up exactly because of the cover but I certainly wouldn't be enticed to pick up one of the pink chick-lit style books if I didn't already know the writer.<br />I do love the green VMC's and the gorgeous cover designs for the reprints of Winifred Holtby's books make me wonder if Virago might be returning to that sort of style.<br />I really don't like the new covers for the re-printed Mary Stewart novels though but in my case it is immaterial as I still have all my 70's editions with far superior cover art!LizFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post-51166296884498766112011-06-16T21:39:50.940+10:002011-06-16T21:39:50.940+10:00Topics like this make me wish we could all sit in ...Topics like this make me wish we could all sit in a room with a piece of cake and a cup of tea for a nice chat!<br /><br />I can be seduced by gorgeous cover art far too easily and if a book comes with one of those lovely silk ribbons...I'm done for. Shallow but true.Darlenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07415316482631852565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post-1552395467621154142011-06-16T17:45:48.132+10:002011-06-16T17:45:48.132+10:00Taste is subjective, that's true & fashion...Taste is subjective, that's true & fashions in cover art change. I can always be tempted to buy another copy of a favourite book if I love the cover or if there's a new introduction. After all, we're keeping publishers afloat!lynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04509400868331534237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post-18055631917028283082011-06-16T14:08:46.833+10:002011-06-16T14:08:46.833+10:00Cover art is so subjective that I don't think ...Cover art is so subjective that I don't think it is really possible for publishers to make all of the readers happy with the choices they make. Just looking at those Katie Fforde covers, I wouldn't really have been tempted to pick up any of those editions if I saw it sitting on the bookshelf, except that I already knew that I liked her writing. Which reminds me - it's been far too long since I read one of her books.Marghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13508430635744720721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post-48999756114503168642011-06-16T09:36:09.875+10:002011-06-16T09:36:09.875+10:00I have definitely rejected particular editions in ...I have definitely rejected particular editions in favor of others, simply because of publisher and cover art. One of my book groups was reading Daniel Deronda recently (still unfinished, sigh) and I checked out three different versions from the library until I find one I really liked! I do favor Modern Library if I can get them, the font is a nice size, the paper feels good, and they lie open without the spines cracking. Penguin classics are good but sometimes the print is too small.<br /><br />My new latest obsession is the P. G. Wodehouse books published by Overlook, they are lovely hardcovers with charming covers. I could easily get sucked in to buying the entire set of 70+ books! <br /><br />And of course I love Persephones and the beautiful green VMCs, but those are hard to come by here in the U.S.Karen K.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13483190930383406559noreply@blogger.com