My favorite Book covers

Jhumpa says - a book cover is an interpretation of the book. 

A dialogue between author and artist. An optical echoes of the texts like trailers of a film. I have been an avid reader and out of 400+ books read a few covers have made some serious impressions. They have stayed with me even when the stories have become fazy. More versions of them are available in different markets but those seem original, capturing the soul of the book. 

Book covers, if I had a penny for each time I chose a book for its cover I would be rich. The idea is that a book cover is attractive but as soon as I dig in - a few pages, a note on author, the blurb, it gives me the gist and I am able to decide if the book cover is overselling the content. However the lamest covers, and most unappealing books, hidden in corners or bottom most shelves, catch my eye just by their simplicity and something like an intuition which comes as a bibliophile and a voracious reader. To be honest some of the best books I have read have had the worst book covers, while some very rare special ones have stayed with me along with their book covers.  

As I design the cover for my book I recollect my favorites over the years. So delicious to watch that I often go back and stare them. Collecting a copy of those book covers for keepsake.

Solo 

A favorite book, author and the stories. Rana Dasgupta was a surprise find in the Copenhagen library and I had a wonderful time reading it. The cover stayed with Me. A simple bird with some berries. Beautiful but not in the wild but may be the garden. The berries spread over capturing the wild and the tame together. 

Bitter fruit 

My favorite author Manto is dead long so all the reprints and translations of his works are a fan fiction. People who try to capture his essence. Not all could but this one the bitter fruit short story collection has stayed. For the title because that’s what Manto’s stories were and are. 

Persepolis 

Graphic fiction has been my favorite genre so a delicious book illustration is a pleasure. A collectors delight! The writer and illustrator bring their best in the title page 

Reading lolita in Tehran 

The vintage pictures or covers are my fetish. Here is a book cover inside a book cover of a book about books. The nostalgia colors which suck me into my past. Even the dark black and white remind us of where we came from. Of a world we have never seen but we belong. Countries so far from us but the people just like us. 

The unbearable lightness of being 

The hanging hat is probably the symbol of lightness. The place of our head is an important part of human anatomy. The brain as head of the body and mind is  burdened the most. So if it gets light then you capture the essence of the being. Interestingly this hat also played an important accessory in a love scene of the protagonist. 

Illicit happiness of other people 

Manu Joseph my favorites writes a tragedy of a comic. Extremely creative field and the sadness of the story comes superb in the graphic cover. Bright yellow as a background it shows a contrast to the life’s darkness. Full marks to the concept and designer. 

Maps for lost lovers 

A maze of butterflies. A map of impressions. The flowers, the leaves, the eyes, the vines, coke together in subtle pastel bright colors. Capturing the colorful vibrancy and monotony of life. Lost loves are the poetry of our life, something we keep looking. The maps that form on us as their memories, the ones that lead us to them. 

The palace of illusions 

Chitra Banerjee - another favorite. I have read almost all books of her. But this one a view into Draupadi’s mind is the perfect cover. An actual visual from a Rajasthan Palace it is perfect depiction of the house of mirrors in Mahabharata. A critical juncture in the story and the emergence of a strong and sassy woman who says what’s on her mind. She shows the mirror and calls the spade a spade. 

Choker Bali 

A laughing woman and a head tilt all the way back on a swing. What could be wrong with this one. Nothing! It captures the essence of a woman in her natural environment. A free woman, a rare thing, a beautiful art. 

Narcopolis  

I didn’t like this book but the cover stayed with me. May be I picked and read the book for what the cover eluded to me.  Not even getting the meaning that it was related to narcotics. The subtle colors and the images called out to Me. Well this cover needs to be on this list. 

E-Books make the covers a bit irrelevant as you don’t get to carry them around or hold it on your hand or show it to the world as a barrier when reading. They don’t start conversations like a book cover should be able to. 

I particularly hate the book covers as snapshots of movies, TV shows they have been made into. Come on don’t take away the originality of the book. No true blooded reader would ever appreciate the visual remake but the original. These are lazy covers. A stolen digital work is even worse. However I can understand that publishers feel it will attract those who think it’s a quick read just like their film or tv representations 

In the Indian context, a book cover is also something to ward off the evil eye. The buri nazar demon face. Something for my first book cover. One day, I hope my book cover becomes someone’s favorite. ♥️