Auto-buy covers: what makes you pick up a book?
Book cover trends we can't resist.
Adorable cat or fearsome dragon? We asked influencers – and our colleagues – what book covers make them *add to basket* without even reading the blurb.
Cats on covers
Whatever your pet persuasion, it can be hard to resist an adorable kitty. And we're seeing more and more of them on book covers. It's a particular trend for Japanese books in translation, but we've also seen our feline friends on crime and thriller books and other genres.
‘I love it when books have cats on the covers because it shows that the main character has a little sidekick and it often reminds me of my own cat! Cute cat on the cover? I’m sold!’
@thehonestbookstagram
Cartoon book covers
The romance genre is booming, and with it are cartoon book covers. Here's why people love them.
‘I love cartoon covers for romance books because they look pretty on my bookshelf and I love seeing how the author views the characters in art form – it helps me to gain a better picture in my mind when I’m reading the book.’
@maisieslibrary
‘Cartoon covers instantly make a book stand out to me, as based on what I've previously read I'm sure they'll have some steam . . . ’
@mybestfriendsarefictional
Wood and linocut-style covers
Whether it be a memoir, novel or even a children's book, linocut covers are – to put it simply – beautiful. You may have seen the technique used on the award-winning autobiography The Salt Path, but many other books have done it too.
‘I’m yet to discover a book with a linocut print cover that doesn’t look like something you could hang on your wall. These covers usually suggest that the book is going to get folky, whether that be by having nature at its core or delving into fantasy worlds, making them perfect additions to your autumnal reading list.’
Will, Digital Marketing Manager
The Salt Path
Raynor Winn
Starve Acre
Andrew Michael Hurley
Florals and fauna on book covers
Florals? On book covers? Groundbreaking. Despite what Miranda Priestly might think, some ideas never get old.
‘Honestly, I don’t even know why I’m drawn to them. As soon as I see a dark book with some vivid florals, and maybe even a snake on the front, I just know that it’s the kind of book for me. I just have to take it off the shelf and read the blurb, and 9 times out of 10, I’m buying it.’
@hannahs_wild_pages
‘I love flowers and mushrooms because they can depict so much! Whether it's joyful, whimsical, cute, or all the way to dark, pensive, gloomy. . . The life cycle of flowers can do wonders, and with a few mushrooms, it becomes magic!’
@literallytaynmina
'Sad-girl' book covers
It started with Meg Mason's Sorrow and Bliss and now seems to be on every bookshelf: what we're calling the 'sad-girl' book cover.
‘I'm a sucker for a book about a messy millennial woman, and the 'sad-girl' cover usually means that's what I'm getting. Essentially, I can empathise with being slumped over a sofa or banging my head against a wall, and that makes me want to meet the character. ’
Stella, SEO Content Executive
Sorrow and Bliss
Meg Mason
Dragons on book covers
We all need to escape the real world sometimes and dragons are a way to do just that. They're also just really cool.
‘Dragons have fascinated me since childhood. So, when I see a dragon on a book cover, it instantly promises everything I love – magical worlds, epic adventures and battles, and just an all-around fantastic reading experience!’
@tempting_fantasy_reads
‘I love dragons on the cover of a book as not only does that signify a fantasy to me, but an epic fantasy – my favourite genre! It also suggests the book is likely to have magic, adventure, and a magical creature I can never tire of reading.’
@reviewsbyleyla
