Top Ten Tuesday: Cover Trends

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

There's this friend of the family who shouts "I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!!!" at our church play rehearsals quite frequently. So I'm going to channel her and yell, "I LOVE COVERS!!!!" because I really, really do. I wish a section of the bookstore would be devoted to pretty covers and that cover artists can take note of others' works without copying or overdoing it so they realize that hey, that awful trend should die so the actual great one can be produced more. This week, the topic is cover trends we like and dislike. In no particular order: 

The covers I like usually involve...

Maps. Road trip! Road trip!

Dance. What can I say? The covers and plots entice me.

Pretty dresses. But this trend is tricky because it all depends.

Illustrations. Cuteness overload.

Pretty Blues. I feel the opposite of blue when I see blue.

Fairytales. There's more, but props to Macmillan.

Titles. They're just preeeetty.

However, I'm not a fan of other covers...

Affectionate/kissy couple. Just stop. 

Helpless girls. *grumbles*

Okay, I know there are more out there (I remember some in previous weeks at Cover Snark), but I had work. Work = no time.

Faces.

What trends do you like/dislike? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Covers I'd Frame as Art

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's Top 10 list is about covers, specifically ones we'd frame as pieces of art. Of course, this topic gets both hate and love from me because while I love drooling over the beauties, I know I'll forget several. I'm ready to look at others' lists and constantly groan that I can't believe I forgot THAT ONE.

 Chaos of Stars by Kierstan White | For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund |

These Broken Stars by Meagan Spooner and Amie Kaufman

What can I say, I love pretty blue, starry covers.

 Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress by Marissa Meyer

I'd happily have all of these side by side (with Winter next) on my wall with the international version mixed in there for fun because it's so pretty.

 Let's Get Lost by Adi Asadi | Smart by Kim Slater

I can't help it, I love maps. And you can't leave out the back cover of Smart, the whole thing is perfect.

Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis | Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas | The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski | Ten by Gretchen McNeil

If you zoom in on Stitching Snow, you can see the beautiful detail on it as if the cover really is stitched. Crown of Midnight makes me feel pumped to be a girl, The Winner's Curse is just super pretty, while Ten is creepy and if it was hanging on my wall, it might give me nightmares, but I don't care. I like it all.

Which covers do you like? 

International Cover Battles: U.S. vs Everyone

Let the cover battles commence!

A cover is a key component in getting me interested into a book. If it doesn't look like my taste, I might set it back on the shelf. Great covers make me want to stare at them all day and make me dream about it being on my shelf. Or even better, taking it out in public and proudly reading it because I know my book looks amazing. But while I love looking at covers, I love looking at international covers even more. What might be the same in one country can be way different in another, we all know that. So I wanted to look at how different covers are between countries, compare them, and share it with all of you! 

The Hunger Games

U.S. vs China

I love my simplistic Hunger Games cover, I do. But I really love the Chinese version. The woods and the weird cloud thing going on with the lighting is making me happy. Then there's the blurred figures of a boy and a girl, which I adore, except for the fact that I personally would love if it was just Katniss. That might just be me though.

Cinder

U.S. vs Spain

Thoughts on U.S.: I love the title font (although I don't remember Cinder having any musical flare) and the undivided attention on her foot. The red really pops and I love seeing the mechanical bit inside her leg. Although, didn't her cyborg leg show?
Thoughts on Spain: I NEED THIS IN MY HANDS NOW. This is so pretty, my hands are twitching. Spain readers, you are so lucky.

United We Spy (GG#6)

U.S. vs UK

There is no competition here. None whatsoever. The U.S. one is so cute, but gosh, so heartbreaking as well. She's in her graduation gown and has a diploma and it all makes me weepy. The UK version? Devoid of emotion. And the tagline is on the lame side.

Seraphina

(old) U.S. vs Germany

I really didn't want the newer, purply U.S. version on here. It hurts my eyes. But the old version, I like. I didn't at first, but I really like the...rustic?...feel of it. Vintage-y maybe. I can't pinpoint it, but I like it and I love the dragon. The German cover, on the other hand...makes me laugh. I keep thinking she's naked. I just don't like any of it. 

The Girl of Fire and Thorns

U.S. vs UK

Aaaaaand UK has made a return against America! The U.S. version is nice and all, but I'm not digging her face in the stone...which isn't the stone supposed to be in her belly button? Awkward. I love the Egyptian feel of the UK version and look! CAMELS! She also looks like she's about to kick some butt in her ninja costume.

The Book Thief

U.S. vs Germany

Considering where this is placed, it's no surprise that I love Germany's cover better. I think the U.S. has some version with this cover (on the right) on it, but I was too confused. Anyways, the U.S. is meh, while Germany makes me feel emotion. I'm going to go cry now.

Alanna: The First Adventure

U.S. vs Indonesia

The old U.S. cover is awful in my opinion so thankfully they redid it and I personally really like this new cover (which is on the left). She's strong and pretty, not like the exorcism version from the old cover. Indonesia is making me disinterested.

Grave Mercy

U.S. vs Italy

No debate here. The tagline, the background, the CROSSBOW...everything is awesome on the left cover. U.S. killed it with this one. Ha, killed it. As for Italy, it's just weird. Slightly creepy, but mostly weird. 

Shatter Me

U.S. vs France

I might be the only one, but I have never been a fan of this particular U.S. Shatter Me cover. The glass bursting behind her and the tagline is cool, but there's something about the model that makes me go "blah." While I don't totally get the French cover, I adore it. So pretty. 

This Lullaby

Spain vs U.S. 

(thanks to Blogger messing me up by not letting U.S. be on the left)

Color me confused when it comes to Spain and This Lullaby. Converse shoes? A weird rainbow? A girl with boots? I don't get it. U.S. is overwhelming me with purple, but at least they're incorporating a guitar. And it coordinates with her other new covers.

Through these at least (I'm not talking about the broad spectrum of books), I find it interesting that I like U.S. covers more. I always look down on some U.S. products in favor of the international kind, but I really appreciate the artists over here. They clearly know what they're doing. 

What do you think about international covers? As for the ones I listed, did you like America's or another country's cover better?