The 13 Best Book Covers of June
Good Art, Good Cover
Another month of books, another month of book covers. This month was all about the art choices—and a couple clever tricks, too. My favorite book covers of June are below; as always, feel free to add on to my list in the comments.
Maggie O’Farrell, Land; cover design by Holly Ovenden (Knopf, June 2)
A tactile inversion of a topological map that pulls you in.
Morgan Thomas, Mad Eden; cover design by Charlotte Grimm (MCD, June 2)
I love everything about this daring cover: the matte black space, the dragons, but especially the integrated-but-functional asterisks.
Deborah Levy, My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein; cover design by Na Kim; art by Leonora Carrington (FSG, June 2)
A cover that would be perfect to line the walls of any Parisian salon, with a perfectly weird Carrington select to boot.
P. C. Verrone, Rabbit, Fox, Tar; cover design by Emily Mahon (Catapult, June 2)
An effective and unusual relief print.
Deb Olin Unferth, Earth 7; cover design by Vivian Lopez Rowe; art by Elizabeth Haidle (Graywolf, June 9)
I love the effect of the hand-painted text here: not too warm, not too cold.
Ben Fountain, Rasputin Swims the Potomac; cover design by Phil Pascuzzo (Flatiron, June 9)
Silly in the best way.
Mary H.K. Choi, Pool House; cover design by Laywan Kwan; art by Virginie Schroeder (Flatiron, June 9)
Very elegant composition and choice of art.
Simon Pare-Poupart, tr. Pablo Strauss, Trash!: A Garbageman’s Story; cover design by Beste Miray Doğan (Melville House, June 16)
Maybe it’s obvious, but the torn cardboard effect really does it for me.
Heather Abel, The Emilys; cover design by Elena Giavaldi (Random House, June 16)
This feels so satisfyingly of another time. Did you notice the girl the first time you looked?
Krista Diamond, Close Relationships with Strangers; cover design by Matt Roeser (Simon & Schuster, June 23)
Featuring a perspective not often seen on book covers, and the perfect balance of image and text.
Danny McBride, Thrilling Tales of Modern Men; cover design by Chris Allen (Random House, June 23)
Fun vintage paperback vibes.
Teddy Wayne, The Au Pair; cover design by Robin Bilardello (Harper, June 30)
Another very effective composition.
Prudence Bussey-Chamberlain, Bone Horn; cover design by Victoria Maxfield (Soft Skull, June 30)
I mean, come on.
Emily Temple
Emily Temple is the managing editor at Lit Hub. Her first novel, The Lightness, was published by William Morrow/HarperCollins in June 2020. You can buy it here.
