by Jason Stotts
I’ve been thinking a lot about book covers recently, especially now that I have a draft of Eros and Ethos done. I was talking with someone about what a good cover might look like and decided I’d try to figure out what I would want in a book cover. So, I went to my bookshelf and emptied it into two piles: covers I liked and covers I didn’t. I then had way too many covers in the like pile, so I thinned it out more. I realized I still had way too many books, so I grouped what was left into three piles:
1. Good: I like the cover, but it has problems.
2. Better: I really like the cover.
3. Best: Covers that really do it for me
So, what follows is book covers I like and some reasons why. Please forgive my lack of appropriate aesthetic vocabulary. Oh, and if you click on the Amazon link and buy a book, you support my work.
Group 1: Good
The Philosophy of Erotic Love by Robert Solomon and Kathleen Higgins
– I like that the title is very easy to pick out.
– I like that the picture is appropriate to the subject
– What is with the hearts in the corners and the myriad fonts??
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Perv: The Sexual Deviant in all of Us by Jesse Bering
– I like that the cover gives you a good idea what is going to be in it.
– I like how the title and author are very large and prominent.
– Something about the fakeness of the picture bothers me.
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Essays on Aristotle’s Ethics by A.O. Rorty
– Really dislike the failure to use capital letters.
– Like how simply it is and how prominent the title is.
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Heloise and Abelard by James Burge
– Really like the colors
– Really like how the title is a medieval style to match the subject.
– I like the title being integrated into the picture.
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Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha
– Like how title is so prominent
– Like how subtitle is on cover
– Dislike interspersing of title and subtitle
– Like how image matches book content
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Love for Sale by Nils Johan Ringdal
– I like how the picture matches the subject.
– Dislike how title and author have same color and are next to each other.
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Essays on Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead by Robert Mayhew
– Like that the title and editor is clear.
– Like that the picture is appropriate.
Group 2: Better
The Story of O by Pauline Reage
– I like how simple and direct it is: “This is a book. This is it’s title. This is who wrote it. That’s all you need.”
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Love in Abundance by Kathy Labriola
– I like the appropriateness of the picture and it being the whole cover
– I like the title being integrated into the picture
– Would prefer title and author larger
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Bonk by Mary Roach
– A little busy for me
– Like the prominence of the title and author
– Why is the subtitle above the title?
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On Nietzsche by Eric Steinhart
– Simple, clean, classic.
– Author should be larger.
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Sperm Wars by Robin Baker
– Good cover for the content.
– I like the prominence of the author and title
– I like how the subtitle could be a book description and so heralds the title.
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Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ by Friedrich Nietzsche
– Simple, direct, no-nonsense cover.
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The Fragility of Goodness by Martha Nussbaum
– On my copy, the cover is a beautiful deep hunter green.
– I like the prominence of the title and author
– I dislike that peach color on green.
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Sexual Desire by Roger Scruton
– I like how clean it is and direct.
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Little Birds by Anais Nin
– Simple, but very effective.
– Tells you what it is clearly and directly.
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Three Plays by Ayn Rand
– Very clean and direct.
– Like the simple picture and prominent title and author.
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The Sleep of Reason by Martha Nussbaum and Juha Sihvola
– I like the color and the placement of the info on the cover.
– I like the appropriate picture.
– I seem to like the “thirds” style covers.
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Introduction to a Philosophy of Music by Peter Kivy
– Clean, direct, simple.
– Dislike failure to capitalize. Would want author more prominent (font or weight, not necessarily location).
Group 3: Best
The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand
– Clean, direct, simple.
– Picture explains content.
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Sex for One by Betty Dodson
– Really good use of picture and title.
– Really like the bottom bar and how it offsets the picture.
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Sex Appeal by Paul Abramson
– Great integration of picture and text.
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Orgasms for Two by Betty Dodson
– Good colors, good placement, good layout
– Picture describes content.
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Not Passion’s Slave by Robert Solomon
– Really like cover overall
– Would take off subtitle badge and put title and subtitle above, with picture in center.
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Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
– I don’t know why, but I really like this cover.
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Aristotle by Werner Jaeger
– I really like the colors and the simplicity of it.
– It seems very distinguished.
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The Selfish Path to Romance by Ed Locke and Ellen Kenner
– Really like the cover.
– Would remove green Ayn Rand bar, that’ll be clear when you read it and detracts from the clean cover.
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Arousal by Michael Bader
– Really well done cover
– Perfect picture and integration of picture and text.
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On the Genealogy of Morality by Friedrich Nietzsche
– This cover just seems so appropriate for this book.
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A Treatise on Political Economy by Jean-Baptiste Say
– I love the deep blue of the cover and how direct it is: nothing superfluous.
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About Love by Robert Solomon
– Really great placement of text and picture
– Really great picture.
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Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
– This is one of my favorite covers.
– It’s so perfect for the book, I can’t even describe it. Perhaps it’s the understated nature of it.
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Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture by Marilyn Skinner
– This is another of my favorite covers.
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Sexual Fluidity by Lisa Diamond
– Again, perfect integration of picture and text.
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Marriage and Morals by Bertrand Russell
– I don’t know why I like this cover, but I really do.
