STACKED

books

From the same photo session

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This isn’t a double take, but it is the same couple and outfits, outside. When I saw the first cover, I immediately thought of the second and realized they were from the same photo session and photo set:

The Secret Life of Prince Charming by Deb Caletti, paperback edition, March 2010.

Followed with getting a little more up close and personal with this one:

For Keeps by Natalie Friend, to be published April 6, 2010.

I quite like both of them, as the green really does make them stand out. I like the way the images portray something different on both but give the readers enough sense to know what the book is about (as much as people scoff the idea, I think covers can be one of the best tools for determining content, genre, and tone of a book).

I pulled out my ARC, though, and guess what the cover for For Keeps was? I guess they caught the double take before and chose a different cover for the final book.


Do you prefer one to the other? I think the paperback makeover for Caletti’s title is an improvement from the hard cover, which also was a double take feature.

Aren’t you a fan?

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Here’s a trend I don’t mind seeing more than once. It’s the perfect mix of setting the genre of historical fiction with intrigue.

The Queen’s Lady by Shannon Drake (Large Print edition)


Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle


The Bad Queen by Carolyn Meyer

There’s just something about hiding the mouth but giving enough facial expression through the eyes that draws me into the covers. I know there are more out there with the same set up — any leads? Share in the comments.

Bodies on covers, yet again

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Apparently, Entertainment Weekly decided to run a piece on the fact that plus-sized women don’t make covers of books. Remind you of something from earlier?

It’s both interesting and irritating when a big name publication picks up on trends like this. Interesting since it’s out there. Irritating because, well, is it a call to action or merely a story idea culled from the blogosphere (I’m not taking credit for this, but this is an issue that comes up again and again in book blogs, both in regards to size and in racial representation on covers). Guess who got covers changed before? I don’t think it was EW.

Double Take, Part XXIII

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Not only is this a double take in the stock image, but both of these covers block multiple images together for the cover. Check this out:

Funny How Things Change by Melissa Wyatt was published April 27, 2009 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.


The Sorcerer and Sainte Felice by Ann Finnin will be published June 1, 2010 by Flux.

Poor guy. I think he’s gotten the raw end of a deal in both covers. I really don’t like the first cover, and having read the book, I think the cover further makes this a tough sell title. The girl on the cover just doesn’t even make sense to me – she’s an afterthought on the design, and the green totally fades her out.

As for the second cover, it’s marginally better, but it still suffers from color saturation issues.

Do you prefer one to another? What are your thoughts on the blocked image covers? I don’t think either succeeds, and I think the colors on both are not the best choices.

Wherever Nina Lies, by Lynn Weingarten (Kim’s Take)

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Kelly reviewed this book over the weekend, so I won’t rehash the plot too much. Ellie sets off on a road trip with her new crush, the only person who believes they can find her sister Nina who disappeared two years ago. Check out Kelly’s review for a more detailed synopsis.

Wherever Nina Lies, by Lynn Weingarten, is a mix of road trip book, romance, and mystery/thriller, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I admit that I judge a book by its cover, and I am not sure the cover of this one really portrays it accurately. Despite the blurb on the back of the book, the cover led me to expect something very girly and very fluffy (all that pink, and the soft image of the cover model). While the target audience is definitely female, and there are some fluffy aspects, it is a much weightier book than I initially anticipated.

The pacing is perfect. The mystery unfolds at just the right speed, imparting just the right amount of creepiness and growing unease. The climax of the book proves it to be a real thriller, and I could not put it down – I read it while walking around my house and even pulled it out once while I was stopped at a red light. While I read, I was reminded a lot of Wish You Were Dead, by Todd Strasser, another excellent teen thriller I read a few months ago.

One of the aspects I most enjoyed about the book were the drawings sprinkled throughout. Nina was an aspiring artist, and her drawings provide clues to her disappearance. They’re not phenomenal drawings – they look like they were drawn by an 18 year old girl, which is a good thing. One of the strongest features of the book is that it includes so many different elements (the drawings, the road trip, the romance, the mystery) without seeming hodge-podge and disjointed.

It’s not a perfect book. Sometimes characterization is sacrificed for plot, and full enjoyment requires the reader to very willingly suspend her disbelief – but fans of the mystery/thriller genre are practiced at putting their incredulity on the back burner for awhile. Wherever Nina Lies is a real page turner, and reading it was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

Check back tomorrow – we’ll be giving away THREE copies of the paperback book to three lucky winners.