Tuesday, December 22, 2009

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:



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24 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:55 PM

    Cheers! A History of Beer in Canada hurts my head. lol Love the colors on The Great Perhaps, too. Gotta admit, though, I think a lot of those are fairly ugly.

    One of my favorites from 2009 is this:

    http://www.shocktotem.com/images/issue_01.jpg

    Wish I could get a print of that one.

    Mike

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  2. Steve Jensen3:06 PM

    ...or perhaps this one - Bull Running For Girls by Allyson Bird. Design: Vincent Chong:

    http://angryrobotbooks.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/bull-running-for-girls-cover.jpg

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  3. L.L. Barkat7:54 PM

    the 3-D-ness of the philosophers one is cool

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous12:31 AM

    Mike,
    If you like that cover(shocktotem) you need to check out Dave McKean:
    http://www.mckean-art.co.uk/
    Enjoy,
    jp

    ReplyDelete
  5. dvestv9:53 AM

    Nice boxing cover. But I think the best boxers are Pacquiao and Mayweather. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Get Info Here9:58 AM

    aw! you make me laugh. LOL. Nice book covers. I really appreciated all. Can't vote.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Philouseb10:11 AM

    Merci pour les liens.

    ReplyDelete
  8. KN12:46 AM

    just can't vote.
    just can't!
    most of my favs in this entry!

    ReplyDelete
  9. PrivateLibrary7:55 AM

    Why no FINE PRESS books...?

    Larry
    http://www.privatelibrary.typepad.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dave Cullen2:49 PM

    Thanks for including Columbine.

    Normally I'd say I'm honored, but in this case, it was my book, but I had nothing to do with the cover (other than gush and happily approve it).

    Thanks so much to Henry Yee for doing such a great job. I feel like I won the design lottery.

    And thanks for doing this post.

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  11. Anonymous5:22 PM

    I had to vote for _The Great Perhaps_ simply because of the pigeon on the cover!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous8:23 AM

    These covers were just awesome....you know half of the credit should go to these designers who attract people to atleast have a look at the book...reviews and content inside the book comes later if author is not so known....i just loved these designs...i myself feel attracted to the book with a good illustration while browsing at online bookstores like A1Books.co.in or even at physical stores :) :) :)

    best wishes & Happy New Year!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Shorty9:26 AM

    It's interesting to see how spread out the votes are. I'm glad, because I'd hate to think of the design community as being monolithic in its taste.
    Happy New Year, BDR! Long may you post!

    ReplyDelete
  14. dves5:37 AM

    I chose boxing cover.. But is that twins in the picture?

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  15. Andrew Kopietz2:05 AM

    I like the subtle use of color on Valkyrie. It's sort of one of those covers that you just kind of step back from and let the photo do all the talking.

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  16. Web Design Kent1:04 PM

    1984 for me, great book and a wonderfully envisaged cover... great post!

    ReplyDelete
  17. den parser9:41 PM

    Hi.. I voted "How to be Inappropriate". Nice cover, attracts readers to grab it.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Andy10:32 AM

    Excellent post, some great covers in there. Covers are influential and when well designed can add to the story.

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  19. Susan Neuhaus10:01 AM

    I loved the "Cheers" cover, but most want to read "Columbine."

    Excellent cover design wouldn't make me buy a book about a subject I'm not interested in (beer). But the well-designed Columbine cover makes me think this book has more to say about this topic.

    Thank you! What a wonderful collection.

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  20. clipping path12:03 AM

    Beautiful and creative book covers. Looks very nice. Thanks for sharing this great compilation....

    ReplyDelete
  21. Duncan Long12:22 AM

    Yes, thanks for sharing a very interesting collection of book covers.

    --Duncan Long
    =====================
    Freelance book cover illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, and other presses. See my cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html

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  22. bookpublishers5:31 PM

    I love the Valkyrie artwork, very classy. Thanks for sharing,
    Edmond,
    Editor, .

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  23. Megan6:49 PM

    In Tiepolo Pink, did you know that only in the last chapter is Tiepolo addressed as the master of staged fictions?

    ReplyDelete
  24. book designer5:25 AM

    These are fantastic! "How to Be Inappropriate" made me laugh out loud! (oops! how *inappropriate* at the office! haha) ... Thanks for sharing :D

    ReplyDelete