The 16 Best Book Covers of September
Yellowing Leaves
Another month of books, another month of book covers. Well, Big Book Season has begun, and with it the attendant Big Book Jackets, many of which, this year, seem to be drawing from the archives, to generally splendid effect. Please enjoy a selection of my favorites from September, and if you’re so moved, link to any I’ve missed in the comments below:
Kevin Lambert, tr. Donald Winkler, May Our Joy Endure; cover design by Zoe Norvell (Biblioasis, September 3)
Continuing in the now-hallowed contemporary tradition of old world paintings plus neon, but the balance here is just right.
Danzy Senna, Colored Television; cover design by Lauren Peters-Collaer (Riverhead, September 3)
The pink! The coins-but-not-coins! Did I mention the pink? This cover is absolutely wackadoo, in the best way.
Rachel Kushner, Creation Lake; cover design by Oliver Munday (Scribner, September 3)
Vintage reference points are in this season—this one is giving strong Saul Bass vibes…
Chelsea Bieker, Madwoman; cover design by Gregg Kulick (Little Brown, September 3)
…while this one has a pitch perfect updated ’80s paperback sensibility.
Benjamin Resnick, Next Stop; cover design and artwork by Clay Smith (Avid Reader Press, September 10)
Hyper-saturated grid-style illustrated covers have been popping up more and more, but I’m definitely not tired of them yet.
Jamie Quatro, Two-Step Devil; cover design by Alex Merto (Grove Press, September 10)
Wickedly sweet.
Christine Rosen, The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World; cover design by Derek Thornton (Norton, September 10)
A cover that shows both the conceptual creativity and the restraint of the designer. I love the little toes on the right! More little toes on book covers.
Katherine Packert Burke, Still Life; cover design by Sarahmay Wilkinson (Norton, September 10)
The power of a perspective shift.
Tony Tulathimutte, Rejection; cover design by Ploy Siripant (William Morrow, September 17)
Yes, it looks like a modernized Philip Roth cover for a reason.
Iman Hariri-Kia, The Most Famous Girl in the World; cover design by Emily Mahon (Sourcebooks Landmark, September 17)
More vintage references, another top-notch color story. (That pop of yellow is so hip right now…)
Ariane Koch, tr. Damion Searls, Overstaying; cover art by Lucie Kohler (Dorothy, September 17)
I mean!
Rumaan Alam, Entitlement; cover design by Grace Han, illustration by Tishk Barzanji (Riverhead, September 17)
This is like ASMR for my eyes.
Dubravka Ugresic, tr. Ellen Elias-Bursac, A Muzzle for Witches (Open Letter, September 17)
Another version of the woman’s face with x-ed out eyes—the chaotic version.
Abi Maxwell, One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman: A Mother’s Story; cover design by Janet Hansen (Knopf, September 17)
A striking conceptual choice—and the vertical orientation of the lines is doing a lot of work here.
Dan Kois, Hampton Heights; cover design and illustration by Olivia McGiff (Harper Perennial, September 17)
Gotta love it.
Sally Rooney, Intermezzo; cover design by June Park and Rodrigo Corral, art by June Park (FSG, September 24)
There’s so much neon yellow this month, but arguably, it’s still Sally Rooney who owns this particular, slightly warmer shade. Despite its ubiquity, this is a striking cover—the full chessboard! The shadows that emerge as you look!—but I can’t help but particularly appreciate the way Corral and Park use (but update) her signature shade.
