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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To judge a book by its cover?

34 replies

HappyYoni · 17/08/2014 19:43

Just that really. I read a book recently which I really enjoyed, saw there was a sequel on amazon and was quite excited to read it so downloaded it. Then I caught a glimpse of the cover. It made it look like such a tacky pile of trash that now I am really conflicted over whether I want to read it or not Grin on the one hand the first book was v enjoyable, on the other hand it looks like such crap!!

Am I perhaps the shallowest reader on MN?

OP posts:
NoArmaniNoPunani · 17/08/2014 19:44

We need to see the cover so we can judge too

olaflikeswarmhugs · 17/08/2014 19:45

YABU . There's nothing wrong with the cover of 50 shades , but everything wrong with the content .

Get it read now .

GrinGrin

DejaVuAllOverAgain · 17/08/2014 19:48

I was attracted to a book by its cover once. I picked it up and read the blurb on the back before deciding to buy it and I really enjoyed it. It could work in reverse but not necessarily and if you enjoyed the first one I'd give it a chance. You don't have to finish it just because you started it.

In essence YANBU if you chose not to but I'd give it a go.

Happy36 · 17/08/2014 19:49

Maybe read some Amazon reviews or those on The Guardian´s Good Reads? Sometimes you can even read part of the book (or check it out in hard copy in a bookshop).

There might be a different edition with an alternative cover design too!

Altinkum · 17/08/2014 19:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
HappyYoni · 17/08/2014 19:52

Im on my phone and can't do links but it's the Betrayal by Helen Dunmore, sequel to the Siege. Looks awful, hardly any reviews. But I found the Siege really interesting and well written. Oh it's a quandary.

OP posts:
NoArmaniNoPunani · 17/08/2014 19:55

This? Looks ok

To judge a book by its cover?
Original poster
HappyYoni · 17/08/2014 19:57

Oh no, that looks MUCH better than the one I saw, the one I was looking at had a formless badly drawn woman being swung around and looked like she might be swooning a bit. It was terrible!

OP posts:
OP posts:
Original poster
HappyYoni · 17/08/2014 19:59

Gormless not formless!

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steff13 · 17/08/2014 19:59

I think the cover looks ok. I have a pet peeve about books being called ":A Novel," though. Really, you mean it's not a shoe? [hmmm]

I say at least start it, you may like it. You could fashion a cover for it out of paper grocery bags. :)

LRDtheFeministDragon · 17/08/2014 20:01

Oh, I'm with you.

I have a copy of Gone with the Wind that has the cover from the film - so it's this: i.ytimg.com/vi/Q8iIbO9uBkc/movieposter.jpg?v=4dc57625

I feel as if I'm reading the crappest Mills and Boon every time I look at it.

Original poster
HappyYoni · 17/08/2014 20:04

Or...maybe one of you lot could read it for me and then tell me if it's worth it Grin
I think it was a MNetter who recommended the first one. The first one taught me a lot that I didn't know about the RL siege of Leningrad, I had no idea that horrendous situation even happened. Apparently at one point 700-1000 people a day were dying of starvation in that city, just mind-blowing.
Anyway, sorry got sidetracked.
I am slightly more disposed towards reading it now that I've seen the alternative cover.

OP posts:
Original poster
HappyYoni · 17/08/2014 20:05

LRD that made me actually laugh, how can you read that and not just be giggling at the cover the whole time??

OP posts:
LRDtheFeministDragon · 17/08/2014 20:09

I can't, happy!

I bought it when I was about 16 and my mum was really, truly horrified. I did try to explain to her it was quite a famous book and had won prizes, but no ... she decided I was reading trash. Grin

There was a great blog about crap covers on classic children's books, I'll see if I can find it ...

LRDtheFeministDragon · 17/08/2014 20:11

Btw, I do think Helen Dunmore isn't particularly trashy. I don't warm to her very much, though.

EBearhug · 17/08/2014 20:13

I see your point, but Helen Dunmore is usually a good read, so see if you can get the copy with the better cover.

MsUumellmahaye · 17/08/2014 20:13

Please don't go by Amazon reviews for books I will never get over there trauma of reading beautiful disaster, people actually liked it!!

Preciousbane · 17/08/2014 20:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mjmooseface · 18/08/2014 16:51

Lol! When I go to the library, I look at the titles first. If the title draws me in and intrigues me, I look at the cover. Covers do sometimes put me right off reading the whole book! Even if it is actually a good book. It's the same with the summary's on the back.

Just writing that out...I didn't realise I was so picky?! Maybe it's because my local library is tiny and seems to only have one kind of book for adults. It's always women unhappy in relationships who have affairs blahblahblah and get their life back... I've taken to scrolling through the teen aisles recently and read a few gems there!

My verdict: YANBU. But, you might be missing out on a good book! If only you hadn't seen the cover, hey?!

Let us know if you decide to read it after all! ;)

Pawan · 18/08/2014 17:13

I love "Absolute Truths" by Susan Howatch (plus quite a few of her other books) - but it has had some truly terrible covers - particularly bad is the 80s style onbe with the snake and the glass apple; definitely enough to put you off reading it, .....but it is a brilliant book.

I guess the cover is meant to give us an idea of the genre... but in this case don't judge by the cover.

To judge a book by its cover?
To judge a book by its cover?
To judge a book by its cover?
Clawdy · 18/08/2014 17:17

It can be really off-putting. I know Ruth Rendell's books are not as good as they were but I usually consider reading a new one. Can't remember which it was but one of the recent ones had on its cover the tied legs of a woman who was presumably bound. Put me right off picking it up,the idea of seeing that image around the house was a real no-no.

LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett · 18/08/2014 17:19

I like Helen Dunmore, so I wouldn't let the (really awful) cover put me off. But then I have the exact same edition of Gone With the Wind as LRD so clearly I have no taste...

Clawdy · 18/08/2014 17:21

Sorry it was Barbara Vine, Ruth R's alter-ego, and it was called The Birthday Present.

TalcumPowder · 18/08/2014 17:28

Jesus, don't go by Amazon reviews! Google the title + reviews, and it should get you reviews from newspapers, which are at least literate, and not written by people grudgingly skipping chapters because their reading group is tomorrow and they hate bloody Doris's choice. I haven't read that novel, or the one to which it is a sequel, but Helen Dunmore's Zennor in Darkness, Burning Bright and Talking to the Dead are good novels, as is A Spell of Winter.

Some extraordinary novels get dreadful paperback covers. Reissued classics aren't immune. I'm reading an astonishing Rebecca West novel which used to have an inoffensive Old Master painting on its Virago cover. Now reissued with a naff (and contextually completely off, given that it's about two classical pianists) photo of girls playing the saxophone in 1920s bathing costumes...

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