Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Copy Cat Covers

Hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page who says

"I love beautiful, or interesting, cover art so every Wednesday I post my Cover Attraction for the week along with a synopsis of the book. Everyone is welcome to stop by and post a link to their favorite weekly book cover."

This Week's Cover Attraction is actually copy cat covers I came across:

I acquired The Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther (UK/Iran 2007) recently via Bookmooch, then saw I Sweep the Sun off Rooftops by Hanan Al-Shaykh (Lebanon 1998) while browsing The London Review of Books online bookshop. I can't imagine why the original book went with such a washed out look. It's a book of short stories about women and their lives in various places of the Arab world. The half hidden face and a head scarf that shows little hair and yet emphasizes the curves of the face are very suggestive I thought. But the soft green and gold of the scarf, and the colours of the face restored in the second cover are even lovelier on the book itself than in this picture. Both stories sounds interesting though and I look forward to reading them.

What book cover caught your eye this week?

9 comments:

  1. This is a lovely cover, and a new book for my list too. Thanks Sandie

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  2. You know, it still throws me for a curve every time I see these copy-cat covers. You'd think publishers would check for that before going to print.

    "The Saffron Kitchen", what a glorious title -- conjures images of exotic dishes to delight the senses!

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  3. I'm amazed at how often they re-use stock photos.

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  4. I came across a blog that blogs copy cat covers. These books might sound read good.

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  5. So many pictures in the world, and still they have to use the same?
    Weird, but funny when you spot them.

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  6. I like these two covers....even though they are the same picture.

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  7. i like the one which is not dulled!

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  8. Oh... I hate seeing copycat images. It's a fascinating glimpse into the mind of publishers but still. It's quite disappointing. Curious, also, to see how consumers react to the same photo slightly tweaked. It teaches a lot, but I wish it wouldn't have to and publishers would start using original imagery for their covers...

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  9. I agree with you, I can't imagine why they went for such a washed-out look for the first book. You can barely read the title. The other cover, on the other hand, is lovely!

    ReplyDelete

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