The 10 Best Book Covers of January

Another month of books, another month of book covers. In January, it was all about the text treatments. And also, for some reason, teal. Here are my favorites from the start of the new year:

Senaa Ahmad, The Age of Calamities; cover design by Tyler Orbin (Henry Holt, January 13)

I’m crazy about this stretched text against the relatively simple (if bold) palette.

Kathleen Boland, Scavengers; cover design by Elizabeth Yaffe (Viking, January 13)

The topography map lines! The placement of “a novel”! This cover is fun, and maybe even funny, without being silly.

Madeline Cash, Lost Lambs; cover design by Na Kim (FSG, January 13)

The longer I look at it, the weirder it gets.

Judith Hermann, tr. Katy Derbyshire, We Would Have Told Each Other Everything; cover design by Emma Moore (FSG Originals, January 13)

Another completely weird, and compelling, approach to the text.

Nina McConigley, How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder; cover design by Joan Wong (Pantheon, January 20)

This cover makes me think uh oh—and also makes me want to read the book. Very cool, and very effective.

Jennette McCurdy, Half His Age; cover design by Arsh Raziuddin (Ballantine, January 20)

The power of the crop; or, when bad taste comes all the way back around to being good taste.

Larissa Pham, Discipline; cover design by Rachel Ake (Random House, January 20)

It took me a beat to see what the island was—that little jolt only improves the already elegant and subtly audacious black and white color.

Oksana Vasyakina, tr. Elina Alter, Steppe; cover design by Nicole Caputo (Catapult, January 20)

Very lovely, in the way of fine art. I particularly appreciate both the empty space of the sky and the way the plant interacts with the type.

Lior Torenberg, Just Watch Me; cover design by Alicia Tatone, illustration by Kaitlin Brito (Avid Reader Press, January 20)

More good text, with an illustration to match.

Rene Karabash, tr. Izidora Angel, She Who Remains; cover design by Sarah Schulte (Sandorf Passage, January 27)

I’m a sucker for half tone. And also cutouts. And also a good hysterical color drench. This reminds me a lot of Janet Hansen’s cover for Clare Sestanovich’s Ask Me Again, which I also liked quite a bit.