The 17 Best Book Covers of July

Another month of books, another month of book covers. Every month is pretty good in this area, but this month, my cup runneth over: we’ve got clever covers, sexy covers, beautiful covers, and just plain cool covers. Here are my favorites from July:

Fernando Pessoa, The Complete Works of Álvaro de Campos, tr. Margaret Jull Costa and Patricio Ferrari; cover design by Peter Mendelsund (New Directions, July 4)

Mendelsund never misses with his New Directions covers; they generally look like fine art posters, and this one is no exception. Consider this a request for a large format print!

Jenna Clarke, Disturbance; cover design by June Park, art direction by Ingsu Liu (Norton, July 4)

Props to any cover that can make me feel this unsettled without actually having any obviously creepy imagery. It’s the claustrophobic text treatment, the peephole that looks like an eye, the fly peeking in, the shininess of it all. Shudder!

Patrick DeWitt, The Librarianist; cover design by Allison Saltzman (Ecco, July 4)

A pretty perfect execution of a very cute idea. Spot on for DeWitt, and for this book.

Gloria Dickie, Eight Bears; cover design by Pete Garceau, art direction by Ingsu Liu, illustration by Arjun Parikh (Norton, July 11)

I love the woodblock-ish illustration paired with the bright, bold text—it feels like a cool vintage t-shirt, in the best way.

Andrew Lipstein, The Vegan; cover design by Cecilia R. Zhang (FSG, July 11)

I’m weirdly impressed by the amount of black space on this cover—and, of course, by the cheeky and disturbing image (though it makes perfect sense once you’ve read the book). Which is not to mention, you know, the green. The overall effect is daring and very cool.

Molly Dektar, The Absolutes; cover design by Yeon Kim (Mariner Books, July 11)

Sexy and abstracted at once.

Hannah Michell, Excavations; cover design by Arsh Raziuddin, art direction by Greg Mollica (One World, July 11)

The second book on this list that I really want as a poster. The image, the color, the text—it’s all perfect.

Maud Ventura, tr. Emma Ramadan, My Husband; cover design by Alicia Tatone, art by Annie Kevans (HarperVia, July 11)

A perfect marriage of (striking!) image and (hand drawn!) text.

Benjamin Y. Fong, Quick Fixes: Drugs in America from Prohibition to the 21st Century Binge (Verso, July 11)

So simple in concept, so glorious in execution.

Erika Kobayashi, tr. Brian Bergstrom, Sunrise Radiant: Stories; cover art: In My Hand—The Fire of Prometheus by Erika Kobayashi, photograph by Kasane Nogawa (Astra House, July 11)

I love the way the title integrates with the flame—it’s odd and daring and very compelling.

Lindsay Lynch, Do Tell; cover design by Emily Mahon (Doubleday, July 11)

Bugs Bunny realness!

John McPhee, Tabula Rasa, Volume 1; cover design by Alex Merto (FSG, July 11)

Sometimes, the simpler the better.

Andrew Ridker, Hope; cover image: “Bat Mitzvah Dance, Chicago, IL” by Melissa Ann Pinney (Viking, July 11)

A hilarious—and all too painfully relatable—image for a hilarious book. Read more about it here.

Dwyer Murphy, The Stolen Coast; cover design by Dave Litman (Viking, July 11)

Movie poster style plus hyper-saturated vintage vibes plus a little trompe l’oeil for good measure—and yet the overall effect is clear and straightforward. A classic.

Kate Doyle, I Meant It Once (Algonquin, July 18)

It’s a whole story right there on the cover.

Wang Xiaobo, tr. Yan Yan, Pleasure of Thinking: Essays (Astra House, July 25)

I particularly love the way the thought bubble tail infects the B.

Alexis M. Smith, Glaciers; cover design by Beth Steidle (Tin House, July 25)

A brilliant cover—compelling, attractive, and destabilizing in a way I really haven’t seen before.