Read it or Weep

Most readers are aware of the allure of cover art and how it entices the reader to explore. Publishers and authors know the value of a good cover shouts, “Pick me!” The cover of Away, by Amy Bloom, literally reeled me in from across the room. It wasn’t quite that dramatic, but that’s how I remember it. I just felt pulled towards that book. I not only wanted to read it, thanks to the cover, I wanted to love this book and I did. It’s possible I would have missed this novel altogether without the gorgeous cover.

Sometimes a cover perfectly represents a book’s contents. Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeffry P. Lindsay, features a drop of blood on a microscope slide. If you look at the blood, you’ll notice that it has a smiley face within the drop of blood. This jewel of a book is about a lovable serial killer who works as a blood splatter technician. The smiley face tells us that there is humor involved in telling this story. Twisted, dark humor – but humor!

When I see In the Woods, by Tana French, I see a creepy cover. It’s a reflection of its contents that attempts to warn the reader. When reading this book I don’t expect to find sunshine, lollipops and cute puppies between the covers. I haven’t read it yet, but I’ll let you know if I was right.

In 1998 Toyer, by Gardner McKay, was published. Toyer is a Los Angeles lunatic who harmed many people before he was caught. Before I read this book I was curious about the variety of people pictured on the different covers. After reading Toyer, I learned each unique headshot represented one of his victims. This may have felt like a bold, stylistic choice for the publisher, but it ratcheted things up to a new level of uncomfortable for me.

Last week, while displaying the new non-fiction books, I saw a book with a photograph of a guinea pig front and center on a plain white background. The guinea pig was adorable. It reminded me of the guinea pig that was our family pet. We truly loved that little guinea pig and his antics. When I checked the shelf this morning so I could take a closer look at the subject of the book, it was gone! I bet that cutey-cute (Stacey’s phrase) photograph grabbed someone else’s attention, too. I selected two books based on their intriguing titles while searching for the guinea pig, so all is not lost. Thank goodness for intriguing titles and even better covers.

—Janet