The 12 Best Book Covers of May
The Sun is Shining
Another month of books, another month of book covers. Here are my favorites from May—which, like the month that was, seem to be invested in renewing our relationship with the sun.
A simple concept, well-executed. (My love for trompe l’oeil book covers will never die.)
Just so delightfully weird, and perfectly staged (just the one sleeve full of flowers—chef’s kiss emoji, as the kids definitely no longer say).
This is just a lovely and odd bit of art (it gets stranger the longer you look at it) showcased by a book cover that doesn’t look like every other book cover. Refreshing.
The juxtaposition of title and image is doing a ton of work here. Plus, is this just the cheeriest tree on fire you’ve ever seen? I think so.
The power of the right image, the right crop, and the right perspective.
A nice companion to the cover for The Girls, but an alluring one all on its own: the underwater feel, the oodles of blank green space, the reaching hand, the vintage font. Another cover that doesn’t look like all the others.
As it turns out, the painting that forms the focal point of this incredible cover was instrumental in its writing (and in the author’s life). Also, as TLC might say, it is crazy, sexy, and cool.
I just love the playful, bright block-print style text treatment Attardo uses here, particularly the shared “D” in the author’s name. It’s all perfectly balanced and well-conceived—and makes an old classic look like a new classic.
Something about the dual cut-out shadow and the delicate color story (the subtle difference in hue between the main yellow and the author’s name creating depth) is really working for me here.
Classic John Gall: take something recognizable, normal, everyday, and then—twist it.
The layers of wonk-ified perspective make this an absolute joy to look at. (Or as McCombs himself put it, “it’s sumptuous, it’s deranged, it’s high-concept and very gay.” All good things.)
Energy! Drama! Hand-lettering! It’s the perfect highbrow pirate book cover.