Judging a Book by Its Cover

Earlier this month I mentioned the pervasiveness of "best of" and "worst of" lists this time of year, with specific reference to the New York Times Book Review. Their list had to do with the content of books; another recent list has to do with their covers.



Joseph Sullivan, at his "Book Design Review" blog, posted a list (with illustrations) of his favorite book covers of 2008. It's a delightful and impressive list to scroll through, and shows that cleverness and wit are alive and well in the book designer's art. Sullivan also gives you a chance to vote for your favorite of the covers he's chosen, and the one I chose was in second place when I voted. The book is entitled, Why You Should Read Kafka Before You Waste Your Life, and the cover shows an insect (Gregor Samsa, one assumes) reading a book bearing the actual book's title.



Sullivan's favorite book covers can be found here.