Favorite Covers from 2017

Although we’re not supposed to judge books by their cover, it still happens. A good cover can draw the shopper’s eye, and impart some feeling of what the book has inside. Perhaps it’s an atmospheric murder mystery, a grimly functional war story, or a breathtaking journey into another country. Any of those can conveyed by the right cover, and some books are worth savoring just for their cover art.

In no particular order, here are my ten favorite book covers from 2017!

1. On Bikes: 50 Ways the New Bike Culture Can Change Your Life, Amy walker

Facing a city in the sunrise, with a day of adventures ahead of us, this cover is warm, inviting, and optimistic. I think it’s incredibly effective at delivering the title.

2. Before Plan 9: Plans 1-8 From Outer Space

The utter goofiness of the original movie and many of the stories here is captured rather well by this art.

3. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Neil deGrasse Tyson

Here we see both the innocent wonder of a child, and the glory of the cosmos, matched perfectly.

4. Cities of Gold, Douglas Preston

The sun’s rays on an adobe village, which a perfect sky behind them — what a fantastic photograph!

5. The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand

This cover really evokes a man against the world feeling, as well as Roark’s triumph, his love for the energy of cities and the creative work their skylines could show.

6. ST Myriad Universes: Infinity’s Prism

It could just be the use of blue and orange, but this one jumps out at me.

7. Cyberpunk

Cyberpunks uses contrast even more (red, purple, green, and yellow), but I like the fist and keyboard imagery evoking the rebellion of early technolibertarians.

8. The Benedict Option

The Benedict Option’s appeal is completely opposite: instead of contrast and energy, its cover is one of peaceful, serene stability.

9. I Contain Multitudes, Ed Yong

There’s a lot going on in this cover, which makes sense given how the book opens a reader’s eyes to how lively our bodies are.

10. Empires of Light

This cover inspired this list; I checked the book out several times before reading it, and every time I was drawn back by the gloriously lit tower and the art-deco like font.