Saturday Discussions (10): Do you judge a book by its cover?

This week, I want to talk about one of my absolute favorite things about novels... their covers. There's this old saying "never judge a book by it's cover" but then why do they have entire teams devoted to producing the perfect cover for novels? For seriously?!?!

I think most people are going to agree with me when I say I 100% judge a book by it's cover. When I walk into a bookstore and am browsing, a cover it what is going to make me pick up this novel or that, first. In the teen section, I will always gravitate towards the pretty covers. Since becoming a blogger, I see a lot more novels now and tend to know when things come out so I do a lot less browsing but once upon a time, I solely relayed on covers to entice me enough to pick them up. And to be honest, I've found some of the best books by falling in love with covers. Want some examples? Well, here you are:

What drew me to it?: A girl wearing heels on a swing. What? Why? Now, granted, this has nothing to do with the story but this is the reason I picked up the book and read the jacket flap. And it blew my mind with how good it was.

What drew me to it?: In a sea full of female faces, here was the gorgeous guy falling from the heavens with a trail of blood red feathers. It was dark and mood and so intensely sad that I HAD to snatch it off the shelf. So glad I did!

What drew me to it?: Everything about the lush red of her hair to the moody, deep, twinkling blue in the background was right for me. The dress was gorgeous and the girl had a secret. What I found inside was even more beautiful than the outside.

Oftentimes, the cover is the only thing a reader has to go on so you can bet we judge books by their covers. That's why the release of a cover is such a big deal. For the author it means that their book is really real and I truly believe that their cover depends on how well it will sell. I know there will be those of you out there who are less shallow than me (and I hope to hear from you on why you don't) but I feel confident in saying that many, many people will say they do. And with such gorgeous covers out there, why shouldn't we?

Oh, right. I can answer my own question. We shouldn't because we might miss a gem that just didn't sparkle as loudly next to the little beauty with an okay inside. So, here are a few series I would have never picked up without some nudging because I'm not wild about their covers:

But, Amber. WTFBBQ!?!?! These are some of my/your favorite books. What in the heck are you talking about? Well, that's true... But I passed over each of these books numerous times before finally picking them up because I always saw something shiner. NOW, I love all of these books plus their covers. I'm crazy for them. But they never shouted as loud on the shelf.

So I've also learned to pick up more than just the shiny ones. Being a blogger has helped with that. Goodreads has changed my life. Now I can see the cover AND the summary. All of a sudden, the shelves aren't nearly as scary because I'm not passing up lovelies because I'm not wild about their covers.

So now it's your turn. Please tell me, do you judge books by their covers? Pros/cons?



Have a suggestion on what we should discuss next? Tell me here!



Next week's question comes from my good friend Kate from That Book Blog who suggests: Bad boys vs good boys. You can bet I've got me an opinion on this one!