The 16 Best Book Covers of November

Another month of books, another month of book covers. This will be my last roundup of the year, as December will be occupied by our annual Big List of the best covers of the year as chosen by the designers themselves. But until then, November boasted a lot of big, bold ideas, a lot of references, and plenty of humor. Here are my favorites of the month:

Salman Rushdie, The Eleventh Hour; cover design by Arsh Raziuddin (Random House, November 4)

The art is giving a sort of inverted take on Joan Miró’s “Blue II,” which I can’t help but love, especially paired with the elegant and consequential text.

Alla Gorbunova, tr. Elina Alter, (Th)ings and (Th)oughts; cover design by Sarah Schulte (Deep Vellum, November 4)

The fairy tale weirdo in me has no choice but to love the wolf with wolves for hands and feet. The framing effect created by the text is also lovely.

Carlos Manuel Álvarez, tr. Natasha Wimmer, False War; cover design by Kimberly Glyder (Graywolf, November 4)

It looks simple, but it isn’t.

Brad Fox, Another Bone Swapping Event; cover design by Frances DiGiovanni and Rodrigo Corral (Astra House, November 4)

The text on the leaves! The blue and green! It positively thrums, I do have to say.

Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita, Convent Wisdom; cover design by Clay Smith (Avid Reader Press/S&S, November 4)

Yes, it’s funny—but the colors here are the real coup.

Viola van de Sandt, The Dinner Party; cover design by June Park (Little, Brown, November 4)

Looks normal at first glance, but is actually quite confrontational. (Seems about right for the dinner parties I attend.)

Sarah Hall, Helm; cover design by Yeon Kim (Mariner, November 4)

The color, the movement, the vintage line drawing, the “a novel” being swept absolutely away—I love it.

Anika Jade Levy, Flat Earth; cover design by Nicole Caputo (Catapult, November 4)

It’s referencing the Whole Earth Catalog so directly that my nostalgia hurts.

Olivia Laing, The Silver Book; cover design by Na Kim (FSG, November 11)

Best glare I’ve seen in an age.

Quiara Alegría Hudes, The White Hot; cover design by Rodrigo Corral and Adriana Tonello (One World, November 11)

Strange and ethereal and evocative.

Jen Percy, Girls Play Dead: Acts of Self-Preservation; cover design by Oliver Munday (Doubleday, November 11)

It’s the ambiguity for me.

Gráinne O’Hare, Thirst Trap; cover design by Daisy Bates (Crown, November 11)

This makes me cringe, but in the best way.

Elaine Kraf, Find Him! (Modern Library, November 11)

I can’t help but think of Miss Belinda Blurb.

Palestine -1, edited by Basma Ghalayini (Comma Press, November 13)

A simple and beautiful visual concept, perfectly executed.

Kristin Collier, What Debt Demands: Family, Betrayal, and Precarity in a Broken System; cover design by Jim Datz (Grand Central, November 18)

Simple and effective.

Tracy K. Smith, Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times; cover design by Sarahmay Wilkinson (W.W. Norton, November 18)

The transition from FEAR to LESS is extremely cool.