I was sure I was onto a book cover trend, but I could only find 2 examples!

I’ve read two books in the last month that have used the same technique on their front book covers. I don’t know what to call it so I’m naming it a split title.

What am I talking about? The titles of these two books split one of the words into two words on the cover, but on the spine and in all other references, it’s one word. I think the publishers want to have the font as big as possible on the cover, but adding a hyphen would look weird, so they just skip it. I was sure I was on to a trend, but I’ve two days looking for examples and can’t find even one more!

Here’s what I mean:

See how The Breakdown by B. A. Paris is split into BREAK and DOWN? But the actual title is The Breakdown. It’s the same with Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley, split into FIRE and KEEPER’S.

By the way, both books were very good so stay tuned for reviews!

Can you find any other examples? I’m going to keep looking and hope to add to my collection.

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The silhouette book cover trend

Do these book covers look similar to you? You may remember my March 2018 post in which I share book covers that look very much alike. Well, in keeping with that theme, here’s another book cover trend: the silhouette. You don’t have to be a master researcher to find them and in fact, I picked up several examples just by browsing the shelves at the library where I work!

I looked online to see if 2018 was the year of the silhouette, but I didn’t find much. You can read about the best covers of 2018 and the predicted trends for 2019 in these online posts:

From 99 Designs: “9 Beautiful Book Cover Design Trends for 2019” by Meg Reid, December 2018

From the New York Times:  “The 12 Best Book Covers of 2018” by Matt Dorfman, December 21, 2018

I wonder how long this trend has been developing? The books here are listed in order of publication, beginning in 2009, with the exception of my Jane Eyre example. I thought it was only proper to put Jane and Mr. Rochester together! Of course, they’re not looking at each other, which is a little weird. Mr Rochester was published in 2018.

Just seeing these together makes me want to read a few. Do you feel that way too? Here’s a full list of the books and their authors, in case you’re interested:

1. Little Bee by Chris Cleave 2009
2. Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley 2014
3. A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea by Dina Nayeri 2014
4. Frog Music by Emma Donoghue 2014
5. The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni 2018
6. The Hairdresser of Harare by Tendai Huchu 2015
7. Beastly Bones: A Jakaby Novel by William Ritter 2016
8. Jackaby by William Ritter 2016
9. The Vegetarian by Han Kang 2016
10. The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko by Scott Stambach 2017
11. American Street by Ibi Zoboi 2017
12. Nelly Dean: A Return to Wuthering Heights by Alison Case 2017
13. The Girl of Ink & Stars by Kiran Hargrave 2018
14. Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker 2018
15. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 1847

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On book browsing and double takes

Image: Pixabay

Sometimes I get a little confused when I’m browsing through books. I may be online or walking through the library or a book store. A cover catches my eye and I think, “Ooh, that looks good!” And then I pause, “Hmmm, that cover looks familiar. Haven’t I already read that one?”

Now I blame some of this confusion on my advancing age, but I get a little stubborn when I get an idea about something, so I did a little investigating. Look at the book covers below and tell me what you think. Don’t they look similar?

   

 

   

 

Who’s driving these trends? Are we, the readers, showing our preferences and the publishers are giving us what we want? Or is it the other way around? What do you think?

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