Thursday, January 26, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Thank you, CGI.
AbeBooks recently took it upon themselves to "improve" several iconic book covers by sticking cats on 'em. Behold my favorite:  I'm still unclear as to why anyone would bother to do this, but I have admit this take on the floating eyes made me laugh. Labels: Animals, Book Covers
Monday, December 05, 2011
Sex sells (even olive oil!)
Presented without comment:  Labels: Book Covers
Thursday, December 01, 2011
A nod to the pulp factor
Publishers Weekly did a great post recently about the many and varied cover art choices for John Steinbeck's East of Eden. I can't say I agree with their statement "If you haven’t yet read East of Eden, you’re in for a treat", but I do have to say that this cover is almost (but not quite) awesome enough to convince me to give Steinbeck another chance:  Labels: Book Covers, Classic books
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
High art
 I can't believe I'm so stoked about a video game novelization (particularly for a game I've never played), but this one—written by internationally successful author Miyuki Miyabe—just looks so cool. (The cover art is the same as the Japanese and European versions of ICO; American gamers, sadly, got stuck with this.) The book was originally written in 2004, but VIZ is releasing it here in the States on August 11th. Labels: Book Covers, Miyuki Miyabe, Video games
Monday, June 20, 2011
Cool (in a creepy way)
We here at Wordcandy always enjoy a good re-imagined bookcover, but we get a thrill out of fresh takes on classic movie posters, too... particularly when the films in question are based on familiar books! So we were totally excited to read Flavorwire's post about LWL70, an exhibition of re-worked 1970s film posters. (The posters are on display in a London art gallery, but they're offering reasonably-priced prints online.) Check these suckers out: The Exorcist:  A Clockwork Orange:  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest:  Labels: Book Covers, Posters
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Forget the book; just judge the cover
 Salon has an interview up with Penguin art director Paul Buckley, the man behind the recently-released Penguin 75, a collection of stories about the work that went into creating the 75 most memorable cover designs in Penguin's history. Now, I love great cover art, but I wince at the mere idea of paying $25 for a paperback book... so maybe as a gift? Labels: Book Covers
Friday, April 15, 2011
See me covet
Seriously, I need to own these. Possibly yesterday.    That Secret Garden cover makes my heart sing. October cannot get here soon enough. Labels: Book Covers
Monday, April 04, 2011
Truth in advertising
 I don't know who Houghton Mifflin Harcourt thinks they're fooling: you can dress up a Catherine Jinks novel with all the scowling hot guys you want, but nobody who's read five pages of her writing is going to confuse her with Stephenie Meyer. Labels: Book Covers, Catherine Jinks
Monday, February 14, 2011
Tween romance... or not?
I ran across this cover art mystery via Read Roger, The Horn Book editor's always-entertaining blog. According to Publishers Weekly, Phoebe Stone's The Romeo and Juliet Code is a "intricate and lyrical novel, set during WWII, [which resembles] The Secret Garden in all the best ways." Check it out:  Their description totally makes me want to read this book, but nothing about that cover suggests Secret Garden, historical novel, or "intricate and lyrical", as far as I'm concerned. Labels: Book Covers
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Friday, November 19, 2010
One-stop holiday shopping
 Well, this should make Megan happy (she loves these editions): for a limited time, Powell's Books is selling Penguin's "Hardcover Classics" line—designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith and featuring "gorgeous patterns stamped on linen cases, colored endpapers, ribbon markers and other sumptuous details"—for 20% off. Admittedly, you can find these exact editions for slightly less elsewhere online, but it's nice to be able to save money and support a less evil-empire-ish bookseller option at the same time. Labels: Book Covers, Penguin
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Reduce, re-use, etc.
Um. I'm all for recycling, but doesn't this C.S. Lewis cover (released in 2009) strike anyone else as kinda weird?   Of course, HarperCollins was also responsible for these monstrosities, so maybe they're just going for Twilight-inspired across the board? Labels: Book Covers
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Awesome and awesomer...
When I saw the cover art for the upcoming 50th anniversary edition of Peg Bracken's classic I Hate to Cook Book, my only thought was How adorable. But now I've seen the original version, featuring cover art drawn by Hilary Knight (the dude who drew the Eloise books) and I think updating it was actually a mistake. Here's the new cover:  Cute, huh? But how could anyone improve upon this?  That frown, the glassy, grumpy stare, the flushed-with-rage cheeks... I want one! That's totally how I look in the kitchen! Labels: Book Covers, Cookbooks, Reprints
Monday, February 01, 2010
Silk purse/sow's ear
I was poking around the bookstore over the weekend, and I ran across this:  Now, I'm not an Ayn Rand fan, but I am a fan of great cover art, and that is some really, truly great cover art. I love the muted colors and the strong shapes and the whole vintage vibe. I'd almost buy it based on the cover alone, but it costs $39.95, which is pure, unadulterated craziness. Seriously, who would spend forty bucks for an Ayn Rand novel, particularly one you could find in any used bookstore for two dollars or less? Labels: Ayn Rand, Book Covers
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Awesomeness on sale
Powell's Books in Oregon is currently offering several of Penguin's Deluxe Classic Editions at 30% off. I'm not sure if it's just the crappy January weather making all of my old books look sad and washed-out, but these deliciously lurid editions seem to speak to my very soul (even more so than they usually do). I just want to curl up somewhere in front of a fire and read one of 'em, drinking hot chocolate out of a mug the size of a bucket:    Labels: Book Covers, Powell's Books, Wordcandy on the cheap
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Speaking of cover art...
When Meg and I ran across this in the bookstore the other day, our first thought was: "Is this, like, a joke romance novel*?" Because it really, seriously looks like one of those fake vintage photographs you take when you dress up and stand in front of a sepia-toned backdrop. Behold:  *Note: No, it's just self-published, near as we can tell. Labels: Book Covers
Movin' on up
I'm usually not a fan of $14 paperback reprints (particularly when the original book cost far less), but I really like this cover:  Awesome, huh? I think I would have left off the lipstick mark (it's veering toward overkill, IMO), but otherwise I love it. Labels: Book Covers, Jennifer Crusie, Re-releases
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