Can you judge a book by its cover?

[[deleted user]]

the covers influence me to read that book

[Jasmine]

I think not. Because the Twilight series has great covers, but the writing quality and storyline is (in my opinion) really bad. But aesthetically, If I see a book with a great cover, I will want to read that book more than if it was a bad cover.

[Erica]

You definitely can!!

[Jadyn]

Yeah, I think that you really never know until you start to read it.

[Sarah]

When browsing through the books, the ones with the best covers always win, as they look appealing. But if it has a pretty cover but not such a great sounding blurb, I wouldn't get it. But let's all face it, we'd rather read something that looks this

rather than this

:D

[Kayla]

I do sometimes,actually most of the time,pick books by their covers. That's one of the first things you see on a book. Sometimes the cover looks very boring but the actual book is great. Other times the cover looks great but the book is terrible. After I look at the cover and I think it looks good I'll read the back. Sometimes the title catchment eye so I will read the back just to check it out. Most of the time it is ok to judge a book bye it's cover.

[[deleted user]]

Swiftfire wrote: "Books are kind of like people. Even though you know what really counts is what's on the inside, you're more likely to check out one who's easy on the eyes (or matches your bookmark!) rather than a..."

Accurate!

[[deleted user]]

We really shouldn't, but the fact is I do that a lot! But I don't judge a book entirely based on the cover, I also consider the excerpt at the back, title, and review from other people.

[Kate]

I think people are answering the question "Should/do you judge a book by its cover?" Not "can you". People do it all the time, myself included (although I try not to), but it doesn't work.

[Alexander]

NO WAY!

[Brooklynn]

I do judge books by their covers.. A Lot of them... Usually though when I don't and I read it then, the book is ususally very boring to me.

[Leah]

I totally do. I like pictures and I think it's important. Whether or not the cover draws me in is a huge deal breaker

[Lauren]

I do that all the time. One time I did that, later I found out it was a book about lesbos. NEVER judge a book by it's cover

[Bookbringer]

I always judge a book by its cover, I dont by ugly ones. Never.

[Jia]

I'm pretty sure that this is almost always the case for me.

I don't think I'd pick up say, Anna and the French Kiss, without hearing the reviews for it, because of the cover and the really pretty awful title.

If the spine catches my eye and if the title seems to pop, I'll maybe pick up.

[Hilary]

I do! I hate it when the cover is all old and it looks bad.

[Trinity]

there are some books that the name scares me and the cover but i wouldnt kno if it was a good book bcuz i dodge it b4 i read the summary
-Trinity <3 Stay Sweet <3

[[deleted user]]

I'd like to say I don't, but unfortunately I do :( I guess the cover tells a lot about the book!

[Eddie]

We shouldn't, but unfortunately we do - not only books, but people as well :=)

I had a cover designed for my first book and loved it! When I put it on a blog for comments, there were some very valid reasons for changing it ...

Velvak’s Victory – Book cover unveiled http://goo.gl/WksCXE

[[deleted user]]

It depends on what book. But for the most part, I agree that usually you can't. :)

[Zechariah]

Sometimes you may be able to... such as if there's terrible grammar on the front and the cover layout is just a mess. One may assume the writing may be similar. And yes, as others point out, while one shouldn't probably judge by the cover, it's often done. There's a blog dedicated to posting ridiculous indie covers. Do they examine the content? Sometimes, but not usually. The cover is the first impression, methinks, for many people.

[A]

I sometimes judge a book by its cover....I mean sometimes bad covers put me off a book. It may be that a great book doesn't necessarily have a great cover, but if the cover is bad, then I certainly don't read the book.

[spidrenflora]

To a certain extent, you definitely can. If a book has an unappealing cover, I probably won't pick it up unless I hear about it somewhere else.

[Jennifer]

NO because once i got a book with a lame cover and it turned out to be the best book ever

[[deleted user]]

I guess I judge, but not in the normal sense. I am a graphic designer so I start picking apart the design of everything I see, I mean it, you don't want to go to restaurant with a designer because they start complaining about the menu's (true story).

[Bee]

No! I have some books with really boring covers and they're probably some of my favourite books!

[- ̗̀ jess ̖́-]

we all judge books by their cover and their title. it's literally one of the first things we know about the book and it is more likely that if a cover does not appeal to us we think that the book won't either

[[deleted user]]

Not all books can be accurately judged by the cover, but often it indicts what is inside. I work at a library, and I can usually tell what genre a book is in just by looking at the cover. The cover is an important part of the book; it is what makes people initially pick it up.

That being said, even if I can tell a genre from the cover, it does not correlate with whether I will like it or not. Some books have beautiful covers yet the story is not that interesting or vise-versa.

[Hannah]

I don't really judge the complete book by its cover or title but rather if it catches my eye or looks interesting. It goes into a process I look at the title then cover then the summary and then skim the first page and any reviews for previous books by the author.

[[deleted user]]

Defiantly! I wouldn't pick up a book if I didn't like the cover. I think it's kind of annoying when people say you can't. I think that books need to have good covers. But that's just my opinion.

[Priya]

I guess I do, but a lot of books have different titles. I judge books by their covers. Am I the only person who does that?

[Lynne]

The cover is very important to a book as it can make someone pick it up or ignore it. It can be really difficult to get the right cover for a book. I work for a publisher and I know how much she agonises over getting them just right! Sometimes they can be really hard, sometimes easy. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.

[Isabella]

Ok, it's a bad habit of mine to judge a book by the cover. But let's be honest we are not going to go to every book and look at its summery. So as terrible as it is it's ok to judge a book my it's cover.

[Lynne]

Lots of people judge books by their covers. That's why it's so important to get them right.

[mandinmandin]

The cover is very important as it is the first thing we see in a book. And it's exactly it that attracts our attention and makes us pick the book and read its summary :)

[Jazzy]

I feel like it's some sort of taboo in the reading community to say that you even look at the covers. There is a reason why there are covers. It's like the wrapping paper on a present. If the wrapping paper is cool, you might pick it up faster, but that doesn't determine the quality of the present inside.

E.g., I will most likely never ever read a book with a hulking shirtless man on it. However, a cover with drawings and not models will catch my attention quickly.

[Lynne]

Yeah, I don't like the ones with shirtless men with rippling muscles or women showing so much cleavage they may as well be naked. They turn me off the book.

[Arbaaz]

You really should see the therapist Lynne :-P.

[Meshaela]

Yep. The book cover picture has to be able to catch my attention and the title has to make the book sound really interesting.

For example:
The Girl Who Was Supposed to DieFamous Last Words
The Knife of Never Letting Go

[Saruman]

Meshaela wrote: "Yep. The book cover picture has to be able to catch my attention and the title has to make the book sound really interesting.

For example:
The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die[book:Fam..."

Oooh! Chaos Walking! They are absolutely amazing! The covers are really good too. They were the reason why I noticed them :D


Yeah, I think the cover is really important. They are the first impression you get of the book. I like A Song of Ice and Fire (I'm not a huge fan, though), but if they hadn't been recommended to me, I would never have picked them up. I really don't like those covers :P

[Austin]

You may not be able to judge a book by its cover but if the cover doesn't make you want to read the book then its chances of being picked up is very slim.

[[deleted user]]

I'd have to say it depends. A cover can easily draw a reader in, but it doesn't mean the book is good or not. I like pretty covers, but if it doesn't sound interesting then I won't read it; if there is a book with an ugly cover, I'll still read the summary and see if I'm interested.

[Jessica]

I don't even look at the cover. I look at the blurb and see the cover last. I actually stack my books cover down unless I've finished them so I know which ones to return to the library.

[bean]

Guilty as charged.

And that's exactly why I ask for recommendations, so that people can introduce me to excellent books that I might otherwise have overlooked, simply because the cover didn't stand out.

I do read the blurbs occasionally, but not all the time.

[areeba]

I can't say that I don't. Usually, the cover is what always catches my attention. If I don't like the cover, I tend to pass by it.
I know you can't judge a book by it's cover, but there has been a time when I've been proven wrong-the cover was dull but the story turned out great. Whether or not I look further into the book depends on the cover.

[[deleted user]]

I do the same thing Areeba. When im walking down an aisle in Barnes and Noble i look at the title or cover. And if the cover or title does not look or sound interesting i pass it by. But just because a book has a lame title or cover doesnt mean its not awesome. I try not to judge a book by its cover or title but i usually do.

[areeba]

Elizabeth wrote: "I do the same thing Areeba. When im walking down an aisle in Barnes and Noble i look at the title or cover. And if the cover or title does not look or sound interesting i pass it by. But just becau..."
I totally agree with you!

[Habiba]

I don't usually judge the book by it's cover but sometimes the cover is really ugly so I pass the book without hesitation , The titles are so much more important to me as I actually choose the book by it's title it draws me.

[Tasya]

the cover is what catches my attention first so... yes. i'm also really picky with the edition of books i own, so yeah, i do it.

[Jessica]

I would definitely judge a book by its cover because you can tell a lot about a books cover.