Top Ten Tuesday: Book Covers Kimberly Would Frame as Art

Top Ten Tuesday is the weekly meme hosted by the excellent blog The Broke and the Bookish. This feature has been on hiatus for the past few weeks for various reasons, some fun (the Texas Library Association Annual Conference in San Antonio), some less so (bronchitis and a busy work load). But I’m back now and will, hopefully, keep up with the weekly topics!

This week’s list is more visual than usual, as it is all about beautiful book covers! I fully admit that I judge books by their cover all the time. Maybe that’s a failing, but I choose to think of it as a challenge to publishers to create stunning, eye-catching book covers. Here’s my list of ten book covers I would love to frame as art.

1)      Without a Summer by Mary Robinette Kowal – I love all the covers in this series, but this is my absolute favorite. Her dress and coat, the birds, the expression on the man’s face… So dreamy! (The book, on the other hand, is bonkers. Sigh.)

2)      Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein – I was so upset when they changed this cover for the paperback edition of the book because, despite the fighter planes flying in the distance, it looks too light-hearted. The original cover better captured the tone and theme of the novel and was starkly beautiful.

3)      Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl – Another book where the paperback cover is a huge disappointment. I love everything about the original cover: the color palette of blues and purples, the title font and the detailings around it, and the castle precariously perched on the cliff. So pretty!

4)      Wonder by R.J. Palacio – Of all the covers on this list, this one is the simplest, and I think that’s why it works. My favorite feature is the placement of the title around Augie’s eye.

5)      Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler – Another book with a simple cover; yet another book with a different paperback cover. In this case, I like both covers, but I do still prefer the hardcover edition, particularly how the title words seem to be spilling out of the teacup.

6)      For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund – This cover seems to have some white-washing controversy attached to it, but I still love it. The starlight shining on her is gorgeous. It gives the cover a magical, dreamy quality that is impossible to resist.

7)      Fire by Kristin Cashore – I have no idea where this particular cover came from because I’ve never actually seen it on a book. Despite that, it remains my favorite version. The colors are amazing, and Fire looks both elegant and fierce.

8)      Entwined by Heather Dixon – I’m not usually a fan of the “girl in a ball gown” covers that are all the rage in YA literature right now, I’ve certainly included enough of them on this list. This is yet another of those. Simply put, this cover is gorgeous.

9)      A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin – I saw this version of the cover on a blog a few weeks ago and fell in love. Apparently it’s a new hardcover edition by Harper/Voyager UK and I WANT IT. (The rest of the minimalist covers the publisher released can be seen here.)

10)   The Curse Workers Trilogy by Holly Black – I recently stumbled across the (I believe) UK covers for this series, and I was immediately smitten. This is a fantastic series, but it suffered from cover problems and a style change partway through the series. (I just can’t forgive publishers for that. My books don’t match now!) The UK covers are vastly superior.

So what book covers do you find most appealing?

*Cover art belongs to the publishers

Art-A-Love-It Challenge

This summer, I am trying to run several passive programs to reach teens that are too busy (or otherwise unable) to attend active programs at the library.  Since art is a big part of my life, I decided to create the Art-A-Love-It Challenge to encourage teens to begin to notice and appreciate the beauty in their own communities.

What You Need
Signage
Mini-fliers with information
Email that someone checks regularly
Tumblr account

How It Works
Each week has a new "inspiration word" to focus the teens' art search.  Teens will keep their eyes peeled for something that matches the theme then snap a photo and email it to a predetermined email address.  Once the photos have been approved (no nudity, gang signs etc) the photos will be loaded onto our Art-A-Love-It Tumblr so the world can view the teens' photos.

My "inspiration words" this year are: LIQUID, GREEN, MOVEMENT, NATURAL, LIGHT, LOVE, REBELLION, OLD, TRANSITION and SUMMER.  These words are deliberately vague and open to interpretation; I want teens to think outside the box. :)

Beyond Digital
Depending on the number of pictures submitted, I may print several of the images and post them in the teen area.

Review: Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

This novel has all the elements a reader could want: danger, romance and a "good vs. evil" conflict - all wrapped up in deliciously Gothic trappings.  Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart is unable to speak due to a childhood trauma, so has spent the last several years at the Connecticut Asylum where students are blind, mute, deaf or some combination of the three.  She has now graduated and returned home to live with her father who loves her but is at a loss as to what should be done with her due to her "illness".  Natalie has learned that "for unfortunates like me, firstly, a girl and, secondly, a mute girl, life is made up of different types of prisons...".  However, her prison is unlocked when a mysterious painting is brought into her life; a painting that seems almost alive.

This is an AMAZING novel guaranteed to have readers up far past a reasonable bedtime.  Since Natalie does not speak the story is told in a series of journal entries which gives this text an intimate peek into the main character's thoughts and emotions.  Hieber has done an solid job of creating characters of substance, even those that only walk across a few pages.  The reader is drawn into the society and city of New York in the 1880s with all it's texture and grit.  Anyone familiar with New York City will recognize landmarks such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art (just a few years old at the time of this novel) and the Angel of the Waters in Central Park.  While the homage to Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray is evident, Darker Still is a wholly different novel that will resonate with readers.  Highly Recommended.

Recommended for Readers Of:
Oscar Wilde, Maggie Stiefvater, Kady Cross, Lia Habel

Rating: 5 Stars
Teen Gauge: 14+

Review: Lost & Found by Shaun Tan



If you have never seen Tan's art
prepare to be amazed.

 Lost & Found consists of three very different short stories told through the unique art of Shaun Tan.  The first story, 'The Red Tree' is a personal story that takes the reader though a dark time in a person's life, but leaves them with the hope of things to come.  'The Lost Thing' combines compassion and civil disobedience in a heartwarming tale of finding yourself through aiding another.  Finally, 'The Rabbits' conveys the horror and despair of felt by native tribes in Australia as their land was taken by European settlers and their world changed forever.

Throughout these stories, Tan captivates the reader with his eclectic use of medium, color and light.  Bright spots of color stand out against a monocromatic, but vastly detailed, backdrop to draw the reader's eye to the important point of the image.  Tan has done another wonderful job of telling a rich story through complex images and sparce words that will have readers thinking about it long after the book is done.
Recommended for Readers Of:
Neil Gaiman, Brian Selznick, David Weisner, Art Spiegelman