The 11 Best Book Covers of November

Another month of books, another month of book covers. In this dark and darkening month, we need some nice things to look at—here are some of my favorites:

Edward J. Delaney, The Acrobat; cover design by Keenan (Turtle Point Press, November 1)

A brilliant idea and execution for this fictional biography of Cary Grant.

László Krasznahorkai, tr. Ottile Mulzet, A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East (New Directions, November 1)

With a title (and an author’s name) this long, what can you do? Turn it into an object—a star? a vortex?—and set it on a field, readability be damned.

Erika T. Wurth, White Horse; cover design by Keith Hayes (Flatiron, November 1)

Striking, alluring, and mysterious—but also more than that. “What mattered to me, was that the cover feature an Indigenous woman who could be Kari, who could be my mother, who could be me,” Wurth told Lit Hub. “Because let’s think, you and I, about how many times we’ve seen an Indigenous woman featured—sans stereotypical accoutrements—on the cover of a mainstream novel. Mexican Gothic. Black Sun. These are novels—and covers—I adore. But White Horse centers a photo of a real woman—whoever she is—who looks like she could come from a branch of my family.”

Katherine Dunn, Toad; cover design by June Park; illustration by Lydia Ortiz (MCD, November 1)

A memorable (if slightly terrifying, when you think about it) illustration only enhanced by the jumbo text treatment, and the way the fire licks at and encircles the title.

Bernadette Mayer, Milkweed Smithereens; design by Tyler Comrie (New Directions, November 1)

So simple and so lovely and so frank and so weirdly funny, just like Mayer’s poems themselves.

Hilton Als, My Pinup (New Directions, November 1)

I love the use of text as adornment here—and what I can only describe as the restraint in this cover for a book at least partially about Prince.

S. E. Boyd, The Lemon (Viking, November 8)

The text treatment is doing a lot of energetic work here, but I’m particularly charmed by the color story. For whatever reason, this color green is rare on book covers; I always flag it when I see it.

Alisa Ganieva, tr. Carol Apollonio, Offended Sensibilities; cover design by Emily Mahon (Deep Vellum, November 8)

German noir movie poster as book cover—with an update on the expected hypnotic swirl.

Anna Moschovakis, Participation (Coffee House Press, November 8)

I love the delicacy and strangeness of this cover. The sense of looking through a microscope makes the title curious; it’s one of those book covers that makes you interested to know more.

Allie Rowbottom, Aesthetica (Soho Press, November 22)

A very precise cover: giving that queasy feeling you get when you’ve been on Instagram too long (don’t miss the story bar at the top), which is exactly what this book demands.

Heather Radke, Butts: A Backstory; cover design by Rodrigo Corral, art direction by Alison Forner (Avid Reader Press, November 29)

The book cover of the season! Just perfect in every way: striking, funny, almost cute. Chef’s kiss emoji, as they say.