My Favorite Book Covers of 2009

In no particular order, here are my favorite book covers of 2009. (And here are the 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005 lists.) Titles are linked to the original post, if one exists, and there's a poll.

A big thank you to The Book Table, RiverRun Bookstore, and WORD for their lists.

And thank you, readers, for a great '09.

The Great Perhaps, design by Jamie Keenan:


The Double Life is Twice as Good, design by Rex Bonomelli:


Cheers! A History of Beer in Canada, design by David Gee:


Tiepolo Pink, design by Peter Mendelsund:


The Penguin Book of Gaslight Crime, illustration by Jaya Miceli:


Perforated Heart, design by Jason Heuer (some great photos here):


The Book of Dead Philosophers, design by John Gall:


Experimental Geography, design by Kelly Blair:


Valkyrie, design by Jason Booher (better image here):


K Blows Top, design by Pete Garceau:


Nineteen-Eighty Four, UK edition, design by Gray318 (full wrap, etc. here):


Impossible Motherhood, design by Carin Goldberg:


How to Be Inappropriate, design by Alvaro Villanueva:


Columbine, design by Henry Sene Yee:


Chronic City, UK edition, design by Miriam Rosenbloom:

But If We Were Looking at Spines, This Would Be The Best Spine of the Year

I didn't want this to get lost in The Book Table's favorite covers of 2009 post. Jason from The Book Table wrote this; I love it. Jason, have you seen this?

"Our assignment was to pick 15 covers and comment on them if we wished. We think the covers speak for themselves, so instead of talking about them, we want to mention what we think was the most amazing piece of book design of the year. As much as we'd like to choose Chip Kidd's design of The Original of Laura, which we loved, or any of the designs done by Chris Ware, Oak Park's very own genius, we think the design of The Hemingses of Monticello is the best design of the year.


We know that most books that we sell in the store are sold because of their spine and we know that of the thousands of books in our home, only a few at anytime have their covers displayed. Because of this, we spend a lot of time thinking about spines. The Hemingses of Monticello is the first book that we ever remember seeing that has award medals on the spine. It's a brilliant idea and makes it irresistible to everyone that goes near it."

Favorite Book Covers of 2009, Part Three: The Book Table, Oak Park, IL

The third and final list of favorite covers from independent booksellers, in this case, hometown favorite The Book Table in Oak Park, Illinois. They've chosen some wonderful covers from small, university and foreign publishers, so help me out with the credits if you can. In most cases, the titles are linked to The Book Table's online store, in case you're in a shopping mood.

Again, as in past weeks, there's a poll at the bottom. Vote for your favorite.

After the Fire, A Still Small Voice, designer credit to come:


Waltenberg, designer credit to come:



Never Trust a Thin Cook, designer credit to come:


What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, designer credit to come:


The Prince, design by Jaya Miceli:


We Saw the Light, design and illustration by Brad Norr:


Land of Necessity, design by Heather Hensley:


The Interrogative Mood: A Novel?, design by Alison Forner:


Hysteria Complicated by Ecstasy, design credit to come:


Invisible, design by Lisa Fyfe:


Planisphere, designer credit to come:


Arcana & Other Poems, design by Tony Frazer, photo by Alex Nikada:


Absinthe and Flamethrowers, design by Joan Sommers Design:


Nineteen Seventy-Seven, design by Gregg Kulick:



Nineteen-Seventy Four, design by Gregg Kulick:

Favorite Book Covers of 2009, Part Two: RiverRun Bookstore, Portsmouth, NH

Here's the second of this year's Favorite Covers of 2009 posts, chosen by some of the staff members of RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, NH. Some contributors chose to let the covers speak for themselves, others provided some words about their choices.

The first post is here. And like last week, there's a poll.

RiverRun's favorites are:

Time, design by Henry Sene Yee:


Let the Great World Spin; design by Robbin Schiff & Anna Bauer, drawing by Matteo Pericoli (full wrap over here): "The delicately drawn city cuts a slice in the cover, much like the beautiful slivers of lives inside the book."


The Death of Bunny Munro, design by Charlotte Strick: "An evil bratty bunny! In no way does this indicate that it will garner a "Bad Sex in a Book" nomination."


Animals and Objects In and Out of Water, illustration by Jay Ryan: "Are they animals? Or are they stuffed animals come to life? Are they sweet, or evil, or both??"


Yummy, illustration by Lucy Cousins: "Incredibly kinetic, this cover let's you know it's not going to be fairy tale business as usual."


Pictorial Webster's, design by John Carrera:


The Great Perhaps, design by Jamie Keenan:


The Housekeeper and the Professor, design by Henry Sene Yee (full wrap here):


The Gone-Away Word, design by Evan Gaffney (full wrap here): "Equally as awesome as the fuzzy pink and green hardcover, this zooming orange design perfectly sums up the ride you're taken on."


Chronic City, design by Rodrigo Corral:


Beat the Reaper, design by Ploy Siripant:


The Bedside Book of Beasts, design by CS Richardson:


The Anthologist, design by Jason J. Heuer: "Simple, elegant, and the plum is actually referred to in the story."


Alphabeasties, design credit to come: