Choosing a Book by It's Cover (Obsessively)

When I started getting into the works of Shirley Jackson about five years ago, I realized quite quickly that not all book covers are created equal. Sometimes, this fact is interesting. Other times, it proves incredibly disappointing. For example, the edition of We Have Always Lived in the Castle that I read looked like this:

It's an interesting cover. It feels a bit dated, but at the time I didn't really know what to expect when I picked up the book, so I didn't care what the cover looked like. Naturally, when I read it and found that it was almost exactly like READING THE INSIDE OF MY OWN BRAIN, I knew I wanted a copy of my own. So, I went to a local bookstore, and I tried to hunt down the book. 

To my dismay, I found this:

Ew. No. I went to a different store.

Dammit.

So I turned to the internet, and as I'm sure everyone's figured out by now, Shirley Jackson's novels in particular have a weirdly varied array of covers that have been assigned to them throughout the years. Some weren't too bad:

Some were... alright...

And then you have the original image, which is CLEARLY THE BEST BUT ALSO A LOT OF MONEY.

You see my dilemma. I wound up finding a copy with the cover from the book I'd originally read, and it has taken up residence on my shelf. I re-read it at least once a year.

Naturally, covers are now a weird thing for me when it comes to buying books to the point that, occasionally, I get so caught up in the stupid process that I actually get frustrated and wind up never buying the book at all. For instance, let's consider the Bronte sisters. I've wanted to buy my own version of Jane Eyre for awhile (I read my mother's, which is so old the print rubs off on your fingertips), and I love Agnes Gray and I really want to read Tenant of Wildfell Hall. One of these days I'll slog through Wuthering Heights, and so periodically I wander around the internet, looking at covers. Some days, I think I like these:

However, I then found myself obsessed with this particular cover of Jane Eyre:

It's neat, right? I should just buy it. Except... I don't like the cover by the same artist for Wuthering Heights.

I can't handle the fact that it's slightly off-center. I keep staring at it, trying to convince myself that it's not so bad because it is definitely still visually interesting, but AUGH. IT'S OFF-CENTER. So then I think that if I buy the pretty Jane Eyre it would be nice, but then what if I can only find a really ugly version of Wuthering Heights that won't go with Jane Eyre at all, and then I get mad at myself for being so vapid and turn off the entire computer.

I still don't own any of those books.

So you know. Things go on. However, I wanted to feel like maybe I wasn't completely alone in this weird obsession, so I put out the question for other people as to whether or not they have ever found themselves in love with a book cover. Naturally, only Dave replied to me because everyone else sucks. Well, that's not true - Gory replied too, actually, and so did Laura, but we'll get to theirs in a minute. 

For all that the store can annoy me, Dave is completely right in pointing out that Barnes and Noble does put out good editions of books. He bought this edition of Dracula "just because the cover looked so cool." It really, really does. It's an awesome cover. Someone remind me to steal it next time I'm over at his place. 

I've actually got a collection of Sherlock Holmes and Lovecraft in this same series - they're good quality books! Dave also sent me the cover for The Magician King as another example of a really neat cover design.

I've never heard of this book, but he's right - it's a really cool cover. He also sent me the cover of Goodbye to Berlin, which I now basically want as a print.

Thank you, Dave!! 

Meanwhile, Gory suggested the original cover for It, though apparently only because his wardrobe matched it for the day. I don't blame him - it's a cool cover. I like it more than the stark red-and-white of later editions.

However, while I've mainly talked about covers in relation to good books, Laura reminds us all that sometimes looks can, indeed, be deceiving. I guess that, though the cover is definitely very cool, the book here was not what she had been looking for. Phooey. Sorry, Laura!!

Thank you for sharing your books, guys! And if anyone happens to magically stumble across first editions of We Have Always Lived in the Castle or Hangsaman, GIMME. Please. I'd be very grateful. <3