Book Cover Art

I read a question awhile back by a reader who asked why do so many recent novels have scenes of hair being tucked behind ears? I have noticed the even more pervasive phenomena of the name of Rachel in many new books.

The most popular one being The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, but I have found the name other books I have come across: The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild, Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry, Borne by Jeff VanderMeer, Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane, The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A. Flynn, The Forever Summer by Jamie Benner, What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan, and two books with similar titles: Before the Fall by Noah Hawley with the character of a child Rachel, and After the Fall by Kate Hart with the character Raychel.

Maybe I should also we checking out books with “fell and falling” in the title…..

What timing for the new movie version of My Cousin Rachel.

As you have seen, I am interested in book cover trends. There have been many books with the Eiffel Tower on the cover http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/31064.Eiffel_Tower_on_the_Cover.

Recently another batch has appeared. You Will Not Have My Hate, The Afterlife of Stars, The Nightingale, To Capture What We Cannot Keep.

I admit that I love photo stock. Book cover designers do too. Perhaps too much. This lady’s back has inspired a record number of covers.

This group didn’t do anything to alter the photo except to flip it. “Ivy” is about a fictitious Pre-Raphaelite artist and his red-headed model.

Here I can only cringe along with the book publishers.

And finally there are some designs you shouldn’t attempt to recreate. Case in point: “Look Who’s Back” which has won design awards. You can tell exactly who it is at 100 paces. Not one to mess with.

For book cover designers Pre-Raphaelite paintings are a popular option for classic literature and historical fiction. These examples have nothing to do with the Pre-Raphaelites or their circle but are certainly eye catching. Rossetti gets the lion’s share of covers but Hunt does have this image on pita chips that are quite tasty!