One of the neat things about being an author with a slew of books under your belt is that the ratio of love to hate of your own book covers is much better than if you’ve only published a few. Such is the case of author Pete Hautman, who currently has 13 YA books out there in the world. Thirteen. I’m not assuming he hates any of his covers, but I can tell you of three that I happen to love.
Exhibit A: How To Steal A Car
I picked this up at one of my local libraries about two years ago based on its cover alone. (This was before I spent a majority of my time poring over blogs to pick my Next Favorite Book.) There’s something slightly feminine about this cover, despite its generous covering of Matchbox cars. It could be the baby blue, or that slim sans serif title that reminds me of old Hollywood glamour. Last but not least, I love its symmetry that balances the cover perfectly.
Exhibit B: The Big Crunch
I could write another paragraph about why I love this cover, but I’ll use some math instead. Wonderful illustration + tells a story in its artwork + designed by Christopher Stengel = love.
Exhibit C: The Obsidian Blade
Honestly, when I first saw this cover, the first thought that popped into my head was, Seriously? What kind of books does this guy not write? But lo and behold, this sci-fi gem popped up and I had to share it here. This cover isn’t trying to be anything it’s not, so I assume that the shiny ball represents the shimmering disk of air described in its synopsis. (If anyone’s read an ARC of this, please correct me if I’m wrong.) At this cover’s face value, I can expect to read about loads of adventure, mystery and suspense.
What about you? Are there any authors that you’ve noticed that have pretty awesome covers for most of their books?
I noticed The Big Crunch cover awhile ago. Love it! I really like the Cinder (Marissa Meyer) cover, because it gives you a good sense of the story.
I think the Cinder cover is great, too. A borg in heels! It’s like that cover is shouting at you to stop and look at it.
I love, love, LOVE the cover of The Big Crunch! I’ve never heard of Pete or his books but I am going to see if I can find a few to read
It’s so great! I hope you end up loving his work’s insides, too!
Wow all these covers are amazing! I especially like The Big Crunch. I think one author that’s had great covers is Sarah Beth Durst. Vessel, Drink Slay Love, Ice, and Enchanted Ivy all have gorgeous covers!
Thanks, Morgan. I’ve always loved the Drink Slay Love cover!
Great covers. Like everyone else, I adore THE BIG CRUNCH cover, but the one for THE OBSIDIAN BLADE rocks too. It’s awesome to see a great writer like Pete Hautman getting the cover treatment his books deserve!
The more and more I look at The Big Crunch, the more I want to read it. And what a great synopsis. I’m convinced that Christopher Stengel can do no wrong when it comes to cover design. =)
Hello That Cover Girl,
Here are a couple of book covers that caught my eye. I even took phone photos of them so I could upload them to here, but had technological difficulties lol. Not sure if you have previously blogged about them, but oh well.
No. 1 – A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton (this is not an old cover, it’s how it actually looks, I love it!):
http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Dave-Shelton-A-Boy-and-a-Bear-in-a-Boat-3-540×609.jpg
No. 2 – Wonder by R.J. Palacio:
http://craphound.com/images/9780375869020.jpg
Hi Ruby! I recently discovered A Boy and a Bear in a Boat from Caustic Cover Critic’s blog (he posted a great interview!), and I have posted about Wonder — but great to know both covers have caught your eye too.
Oh, and cover no. 1 that I mentioned there reminds me of the cover of ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ (kinda artsy and weird, but eyecatching!)
http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/perks_Amazon_PEI.jpg
Also (sorry to spam your post with comments!!) I like the first two covers that you’ve got here but I think the third one is terrible!! I would never pick that up and actually want to read it! It looks (to me) like the book is a rubbish mix of ‘popular fiction’ and sci-fi and tryhardyness. Harsh, I know, but there are way too many bad sci-fi books and way to little good sci-fi book covers!!
A voice of dissension in the comments! What?! I kid. All opinions are always welcome here. (except, well, hateful ones)
Whoa! The Obsidian Blade cover is really intriguing but the description on Goodreads didn’t sound all that great. Has anyone read it yet?
I love Francisco Stork’s covers. Marcelo, Death Warriors, Irises…