Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion
2018 Read Harder Challenge
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Task #20: A book with a cover you hate
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Read Oh Honey by Emily R. Austin for this prompt. It's a novella I guess and was just perfect! Cover hate definitely led to an amazing read.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Hafsa Z.U wrote: "Read Oh Honey by Emily R. Austin for this prompt. It's a novella I guess and was just perfect! Cover hate definitely led to an amazing read. "Thanks for the suggestion! My library doesn't have it but if I get stuck on this category I may have to track this book down:)
All I can really think of here is
... that orange/silver color combo kills me every time. But, I read that not terribly long ago and I would like to find something else. So... the search continues!
My selection is probably going to be:
which is a cover that I actually don't mind artistically, but find very, very disturbing. The image here is very small, but the cover features a KKK march down the street in Washington D.C., where the Capitol dome can be seen in the background.
My choice, based entirely upon cover, would be
but that book is so long!
Sophie wrote: "About "Fire and Fury" - there's a great alternate cover that a designer whipped up on Twitter. https://twitter.com/edelstudio/status...SO MUCH BETTER, right?
That is so much better! 2nd edition FTW!
There was a fun (but also sad!!) piece a couple years ago about how many novels set in Africa have the same cover: a sunset and an acacia tree:https://qz.com/207527/the-reason-ever...
The novels in question:
Harper wrote: "There was a fun (but also sad!!) piece a couple years ago about how many novels set in Africa have the same cover: a sunset and an acacia tree:https://qz.com/207527/the-reason-ever......"
Wow! That is kind of hilarious and (as you said) really sad (Sadlarious?) The first and last are pretty much the same cover!
Harper wrote: "There was a fun (but also sad!!) piece a couple years ago about how many novels set in Africa have the same cover: a sunset and an acacia tree:https://qz.com/207527/the-reason-ever......"
Feeding off of that Lion King imagery lol
Harper wrote: "There was a fun (but also sad!!) piece a couple years ago about how many novels set in Africa have the same cover: a sunset and an acacia tree ...."It's part of the systemic racism in the publishing business. Similar things happen to books by South Asian women. Here's a link to some informal research about the phenomenon, by Mary Anne Mohanraj.
http://www.maryannemohanraj.com/redsa...
Her analysis continues, giving examples of books by male & female authors from South Asia, but it's set up on multiple pages such that one must keep clicking "Next." :/
I skimmed through the research, examples and conclusions about the African and Southern Asian book covers. It's disturbing and something I'll pay attention to from now on.
Bonnie wrote: "Wow! That is kind of hilarious and (as you said) really sad (Sadlarious?)..."Bonnie, sadlarious is a great word! I can see it being very useful when trying to absorb certain topics. :)
Tammy wrote: "Hafsa Z.U wrote: "Read Oh Honey by Emily R. Austin for this prompt. It's a novella I guess and was just perfect! Cover hate definitely led to an amazing read. "Than..."
You're welcome! Highly encourage you to TRACK IT DOWN! I would totally buy it if I could. Sadly, unconventional books are hardly available at bookstores in my country.
I think I found my book. I mean, several people have recommended it, seems to be a great read, but... what's going on here? https://images.leslibraires.ca/books/...What thought process brought this?
The book was awesome. But this cover is hideous, and, to me, not in the way the monster was described in the book. I had planned to use a different cover for this challenge, but this one jumped right out at me while I was reading it for classic genre fiction.
I finished this by accident recently with The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik. Fun book, awful cover. I know it's supposed to look glam-rock-esque because of all the Bowie references in the book, but it's just plain ugly to me!
Hate is a strong word! But I found the cover on Asymmetry to be quite annoying with its faux wrinkle!
Hated the graphic design for the cover of The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love, although I get that it's doing a black madonna thing. Loved the book though, amazing. Incredible - it's a must read!
I used
. I feel like hate is a strong word, but pretty much every edition of it has a pretty bad cover, in my opinion.
I am using A Study in Scarlet (the first Sherlock Holmes book). I'm also using it for #3 A Classic in Genre Fiction (Mystery). https://goo.gl/images/CQpZ4w
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. I just dont like it lol
I picked this edition of A Wrinkle in Time for my choice:
. This edition of A Wind in the Door came in a close second:
.
I've just read "In the Miso Soup" by Ryu Murakami. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...Enjoyably chilling and horrific.
Nadine wrote: think I found my book. I mean, several people have recommended it, seems to be a great read, but... what's going on here? https://images.leslibraires.ca/books/...What thought process brought this?
LOL’s Nadine. That is...not a book I’d want to carry around.
But, it does occur to me that I read another book this year with a cover that would fit this challenge:
This is a book about lesbians in Victorian England. There are no stripper poles in this story (Also, no one “tips the velvet.”)
I also hate this cover because I took the book to work to read at lunch, and that of course was the ONE day when everyone wanted to see what I was reading.
Kate wrote: "I finished this by accident recently with The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik. Fun book, awful cover. I know it's supposed to look glam-rock-esque because of all the Bowie ref..."Wow! This is truly atrocious. In a book store I wouldn't even get close to this.
Vanessa wrote: " Nadine wrote: think I found my book. I mean, several people have recommended it, seems to be a great read, but... what's going on here? https://images.leslibraires.ca/books/...What thought proce..."
I loved that book! It wasn't the same cover however. Ah, embarrassing covers... that's when I love my Kobo.
Jolynne wrote: "White Tears boring cover for such a good story."Looks like they didn't try very hard, doesn't it?
Just finished reading Diary Of An Oxygen Thief, picked up on a whim. Ugly cover. Uglier book. Sorry I wasted my time.
Maggie wrote: "This one looked pretty bad to me.
"Good lord that is terrible!
Bonnie wrote: "Maggie wrote: "This one looked pretty bad to me."Good lord that is terrible!"
I'm hoping the book isn't quite as bad as the cover.
While the hardcover of The Art of American Book Covers : 1875-1930 has a beautiful cover, the paperback version is just embarrassing. Especially for a book on book covers.
This was a harder one for me. I'd like to say it's because I don't HATE any covers, but it might be more that I DO tend to judge books by their covers, literally. I'm a sucker for a beautiful cover. I ended up reading this one:
. It was a bit long at times, but a pretty good read overall. Someone left it on the newspaper rack in front of my library and I assumed it was up for grabs. I didn't like the cover that much anyway, but it was also kind of dirty/oily, which turned me off a little:)
Elizabeth wrote: "I look forward to seeing everyone's hated covers! Mine is Gabi, a Girl in Pieces 
."I hated that cover too...and to be honest, the book wasn't much better. I read that last year, not for this challenge, but wouldn't recommend it honestly.
The book I chose, which I mentioned above, "Who's Wife Extraordinaire Now?" is really awful.
Not just the cover, but the book. Story line, grammar, punctuation. Everything. It's hard to keep reading it. It's not a long book and I could slog through it just to get it done. So, who would keep reading a book like this or choose a new one? Just wondering. I may end up looking for a book with a cover that I don't like instead of one I hate.
Mine was Haunted by Chuck Palanhuik. sorry I couldn't figure out how to insert a pic of the cover
I used The Ouroboros Cycle, Book Three: A Long-Awaited Treachery for this one. I enjoy the series, but I truly hate the cover art. Fortunately, on the Kindle, cover art isn't really a big deal. :-)
I read The Regional Office Is Under Attack for this challenge. I wouldn't say I actually hate the cover, but it definitely doesn't sell the book. I liked this book overall, but it left me with what the heck happened feelings. It is very European in feel for me where what happens seems very straightforward, but there are is actually a lot that is very subtle and it takes a while to process.
I chose a romance whose cover did not appropriately depict the heroine: Pleasure for Pleasure by Eloisa James. Sandhya Menon's YA novel, When Dimple Met Rishi, would also fit.
I hate ugly book covers!! They should be banned! I have Stardust by Neil Gaiman listed for this prompt. I don't know why, I think the cover just doesn't do the story any justice. I haven't read it yet but I have watched and loved the movie, so ....what is up with the cover?? Its just too Meh.
Riah wrote: "A book that I've been interested in but hate the cover for is Redemption in Indigo. The cover is probably a factor in my not having read it yet, despite coming across it on lists of ..."I had the same feeling about this book. It sat on my list for years, but it's a great story!
Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Redemption in Indigo (other topics)Stardust (other topics)
The Ouroboros Cycle, Book One: A Monster’s Coming of Age Story (other topics)
The Ouroboros Cycle, Book Three: A Long-Awaited Treachery (other topics)
Who's Wife Extraordinaire Now (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Neil Gaiman (other topics)Mary Anne Mohanraj (other topics)
Jeff Lemire (other topics)
Michael Wolff (other topics)
Ian Morgan Cron (other topics)
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Also not a huge fan of