Favourite book covers of all time.

[FeliciaFancybottom]

I thought it might be fun to share our most favourite book covers of all time.
My first one is The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw. It's absolutely stunning in real life, though possibly not to everyone's taste.

Not particularly for the artwork, but this book cover brings back lovely memories for me

I can still see it in my old desk at high school.

Love that edition of The Hobbit. I have the Esperanto edition, "La Hobito," which has the same cover.

In school I read this version, which is nice too, but gives main billing to Smaug...

When I was at my sixth form in the 1990s, Penguin used to publish a 20th-century classics range. They were gorgeous books with a lime green back and a photo that took up the entire front cover. I loved them. They published everyone from Virginia Woolf and D H Lawrence to Evelyn Waugh and Aldous Huxley. I still look out for them now. We had to study Capote's In Cold Blood, and I can see the cover to this day.

Great thread!

I have a secret passion for the Tom Adams 1970s Fontana covers of Agatha Christie novels (it sounds niche but I am not alone) and this is a favourite – rather disturbing but iconic.

ETA I should read properly I see a PP has aready mentioned him haha

The Great Gatsby is one of my very favourite books, but I really do not like the cover with the eyes on the blue background you see so often. So here is my OG copy (OG for me at least) from about 1982

@Bichette I read and had all these books, loved them.

@Waawo and @Jungfraujoch I didn't have either of these covers. I need to go and find my copy. It probably needs a re-read - it's been a while

Oooo, that's creepy, I love it.

That book conjures up memories of going to the children’s department of the local library; the books were usually covered in a slightly blurry plastic wrapping. You got given coloured card disc tokens (3 I think?) and that was your passport to exchange for new titles to read; yours for 3 weeks.

I occasionally try to find old library books - especially ones i remember getting out from the library myself. Love to smell their smell, see the date stamps on the sheet on the frontispeice, the slightly foxed edges.

They would often have great illustrations as well.

These covers enrage me - so many plot spoilers! The ones for Sad Cypress, Toward Zero and Elephants Can Remember are the worst for giving away the murder methods.

A more recent one where the cover actually persuaded me to buy the book instead of the kindle version. Shame about the green blob, though.

@hastenotwaste
I love this cover too, reminds me of a Vermeer painting. The book is fabulous too.

That brings back unhappy memories for me. We read it in class at school. It went on for ages.

Don’t know if I have a favourite book cover, but ‘Charlotte’s Web’ was my first thought.

Also line this Teddy Robinson cover (and still gave my version).

I love this cover, I could almost smell the air!

Yes another here with trypophobia ( it was five minutes ago saw op’s post, and instantly tried to avoid and my skin is still crawling).

I adore this cover by Angela Harding. What a shame the book is a load of bollocks.

The covers of this series. Ink in particular, it's a sort of dark navy background with this gorgeous metallic copper overlay. Just beautiful! The series is pretty good too.

I don't have one, although I remember being very struck by the original Handmaid's Tale cover.

You might like this

https://lithub.com/the-best-book-covers-of-the-last-decade/

The folio society edition of the godfather is brilliant. I love the black cover too with the famous puppet motif but this is one of my most prized possessions

Portrait of the main character - love it and the book

Love both versions of the hardback version of Lessons in Chemistry - loved the book too.

My favourite book as a child, and this edition was in the school library - I read the whole series beginning to end then started again.

Absolutely agree! This is why I bought the series too 🥰