We all know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but that doesn't mean a good cover isn't important. Just like album cover art, book covers will eventually fizzle out by way of Kindles and e-Books, but nothing will ever change the fact that the book cover is an art form, and one which I absolutely wish I could delve into (anyone want to hire me to design their books? I'm cheap!).
I recently discovered a website just as enraptured by good book covers as I am...well, maybe even more. It's The Book Cover Archive, edited and maintained by Ben Pieratt of General Projects and Eric Jacobsen of Whisky Van Gogh Go, and it's quite a site indeed. Click "Randomize" (or "Rzdmeiano," etc.) and book cover images will magically reveal themselves. You can also search by designer, publisher, genre, year, art director, author...even typeface! Truly a site for book design freaks! Also check out the Blog, which has some interesting photographs.
In my various Random searches lately, I've come upon some truly fantastic covers that absolutely make me want to read the book in question (which seems like part of the point, other than to represent key images or themes)...so here are some of those covers from books I have not read (though In This Way I Was Saved is on my bookshelf, all ready for my eyes; I didn't actually see that one on this site. Talk about an example of an actual "oooh look at this cover, I want to read this!" moment in a three-dimensional, real-life bookstore).
I have a thing for water-related covers!
-a.dupcak.
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