Faves of 2011: The Covers

Greetings, bookish people! Today I am participating in inkcrush’s Faves of 2011 Book Awards. There were a bunch of available topics that are going to be going around all this month: The Books, The Characters, The Scenes, The Random, and The Covers. Why I didn’t pick the other topics–honestly? I didn’t remember most of them! I could have done the books, but almost every question there will be answered in my 2011 Book Survey coming later this month. As for characters, scenes, and random, well, I’ve only been blogging since May of this year, and I didn’t want to leave anything out. I suppose I could have done a random post, but urgh, I’d have to do research and revisit some books.

Which leaves… one of my favorite things about (physical) books–the covers.

(All that was unnecessary.) Covers are an art form, to me. When I see a brilliant, gorgeous, amazing cover, you know what I do? I prioritize. Honestly. I know, I know, don’t judge a book by its cover and all that. But you do it too. I know you do.

…sooo for my Top Ten Covers Of 2011 (in no particular order), here we go! (Note that these had to be for books I’d read in 2011. Had the list been for covers I’ve seen, weeeellll.)

• The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. 

Dark, intruiguing, and (dare I say it?) sexy. This cover may not have anything to do with the book, but you know what? I don’t care. 

• Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Atypical, gothic, and interesting. I LOVE this cover. Anna’s hair, the accents of red…

• Unearthly by Cynthia Hand 

Romantic, pretty, and indicative. While this is a GiPD cover, it’s so gorgeous we can just overlook that. These covers are part of the reason I’ll be getting a hardcover of Hallowed to match my Unearthly. 

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Plain, simple, and striking. I can’t get over the bold design of this cover, which is a classic, as well as the book.

• Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann

Creepy, suspenseful and mysterious. (I’m trying so hard not to use the same word twice.) I love the typography of this cover and it fits the book perfectly.

• Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

Beautiful, haunting, and evocative. (See that? Advanced vocabulary.) This is just a gorgeous cover to begin with and it also fits the book amazingly well.

• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Unique, contrasting, and special. This cover is gorgeous and honestly just made me want to read the book even more.

• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Cute, well-designed. (We’ll count that as three.) Mainly what I love about this cover is the way it incorporates the hints of red–which I appreciated so much more when I’d read the book. The flourishes around the title and the circus itself are also lovely.

• Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Accurate, cute and sweet. Mainly I love this cover because of its many references to the book. I mean, it’s a pretty darn cute cover to begin with, but look at that. Is that a star on Cricket’s hand? Are those rubber bands on his other hand? Are those houses the exact same colors they are in the book?

• Fury by Elizabeth Miles

Striking (I give up), pretty and beckoning. This one is kind of a vain choice on my part, because even though the idea of enigmatic-girl-in-pretty-dress-with-amazingly-gorgeous-hair isn’t very original–Fury pulls it of so well. The hair alone…

What are some of your favorite covers of 2011?