Another month of books, another month of book covers. Here are the ones that have brightened up an impossibly cold and rainy April:

Rav Grewal-Kök, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/132/9780593446034" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The Snares</em></a>; cover design by TK TK (Random House, April 1) Rav Grewal-Kök, The Snares (Random House, April 1)

Simple, daring, and not a little bit frightening.

Vauhini Vara, Searches- Selfhood in the Digital Age Vauhini Vara, Searches; cover design by Andrew LeClair and Linda Huang (Pantheon, April 8)

A very good idea for the cover of this particular book.

Jon Hickey, Big Chief John Hickey, Big Chief; cover design by David Litman (Simon & Schuster, April 8)

Bold and appealing.

Katie Kitamura, Audition copy Katie Kitamura, Audition; cover design by Lauren Peters-Collaer (Riverhead, April 8)

It seems like just a blend of the abstract and the widely appealing, but once you’ve read the book you realize how good it is.

Kevin Nguyen, My Documents Kevin Nguyen, My Documents; cover design by Arsh Raziuddin (One World, April 8)

So bonkers you can’t help but want to pick it up.

Joe Mungo Reed, Terrestrial History copy Joe Mungo Reed, Terrestrial; cover design by Abby Weintraub (Norton, April 8)

Weirder than it looks at first glance.

Austin Kelley, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/132/9780802164100" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The Fact Checker</em></a>; cover illustration by Amber Day (Atlantic Monthly Press, April 15) Austin Kelley, The Fact Checker; cover illustration by Amber Day (Atlantic Monthly Press, April 15)

A genuinely funny book cover, on multiple levels.

Ishion Hutchinson, Fugitive Tilts- Essays Ishion Hutchinson, Fugitive Tilts; cover design by Na Kim (FSG, April 15)

An elegant all-text solution.

Julia Elliott, Hellions- Stories Julia Elliott, Hellions; cover design by Beth Steidle (Tin House Books, April 15)

I love the intensity of the pattern and color story and bleed here. Also the gator, of course.

Jo Harkin, The Pretender Jo Harkin, The Pretender; cover design by John Gall (Knopf, April 22)

The combination of crop and doubling and the hand-drawn text just sings. (See also the UK cover, designed by Greg Heinimann.)

Ingeborg Bachmann, tr. Tess Lewis, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/132/9780811238564" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The Honditsch Cross</em></a>; cover design by Peter Mendelsund (New Directions, April 22) Ingeborg Bachmann, tr. Tess Lewis, The Honditsch Cross; cover design by Gabriela Pesqueira (New Directions, April 22)

The delicate lines and desaturated underlay!

Marie-Helene Bertino, Exit Zero; cover image from “The Forest River-Bottom to Hilltop (mural)” (FSG Originals, April 22)

I love the porthole view, as well as the image, which, as Bertino wrote on Instagram, comes from a mural of the Catskills in the American Museum of Natural History.

Lydia Millet, Atavists- Stories Lydia Millet, Atavists cover design by Steve Attardo(Norton, April 22)

Deranged in the very best way.

César Vallejo, tr. Margaret Jull Costa, <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/132/9780811237666" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The Eternal Dice</em></a>; cover design by Pablo Delcan (New Directions, April 22) César Vallejo, tr. Margaret Jull Costa, The Eternal Dice; cover design by Pablo Delcan (New Directions, April 22)

What can I say, I’m just a sucker for these little circular cutouts, big and small.

sleeping children Anthony Passeron, tr. Frank Wynne, Sleeping Children; cover design by Rodrigo Corral (FSG, April 29)

Looks like a film still of a dream I had once.

Emily Temple

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.