Coolest Book Covers 2011: The Year's Best So Far

It's not easy to make a cool book cover. The designer usually has a million different people weighing in, each with a separate need that can potentially tie creativity in a knot. The author wants one image, while the publisher wants a focus on the words on the jacket. "A cover is an ad," a publisher will say and then the creative director must create one while still trying to make it look unique, to make it stand out on the shelf against all the other books--many of which look the same.

At Huffington Post Books, we open a lot of packages every day, and after a while, the covers can start to look alike. But once in a while, something just pops out of the envelope and we had to point it out. We just can't help but give credit where it's due.

Here are the coolest book jackets we've received so far this year. Let us know what you think of them and tell us about any published since January 2011 that have cool book covers we should see.

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"How to Live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe" by Charles Yu

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(Pantheon)

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This Book Cover

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Lame book cover Awesome book cover!

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Comments

[Matt Fowler]

09:00 AM on 08/25/2011

Here is a cover I designed for my young adult fantasy novel. It was difficult to design a cover that incorparated aspects of the novel and characters that would also stand out on a bookshelf. I wanted something that I hadn't seen. After numerous drafts, I settled on this retro-like fantasy illustration.

http://www.amazon.com/Ezra-Sound-How-Became-Giant/dp/146116642X

[Betty Murray]

08:29 PM on 07/31/2011

The best book cover I have seen so far this year was the one for a little known book that haven't really reached the masses yet, but it will was on a book titled Wave Barracks 232 by a new author B.J. Murray, check it out on Amazon.com. The cover made me buy the book and after reading it, I realized it is a very good book and funny as all get out.

[emragland]

10:40 AM on 07/14/2011

Check out the book cover for Yoke The Bound Trilogy. The cover is colorful and intriguing, which sets it apart from other books in the young adult genre.

http://www.amazon.com/Yoke-Bound-Trilogy-Book-I/dp/1463567774/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310654424&sr=8-1

[Alicia Davis]

12:10 PM on 07/08/2011

This is my other current favorite. It asks a very timely question-- Why Stay Catholic?
http://www.loyolapress.com/why-stay-catholic.htm

[Alicia Davis]

12:01 PM on 07/08/2011

This is a great cover.... really captures The Other Side of Chaos http://www.loyolapress.com/the-other-side-of-chaos.htm

[effina]

05:03 PM on 07/05/2011

I like the UK cover for "Ready Player One" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/1846059372

[ftapon]

10:54 AM on 07/02/2011

This book won't come out for until the fall of 2011, but I like the Hiker cover concept:
http://ftapon.com/vote

[Lev Raphael]

04:09 PM on 07/01/2011

I've published 19 books with publishers of all sizes and I don't think the publisher cares about the words on the cover per se but the entire package in this way: will it stand out of the crowd on a book table, on a shelf, on an end cap, in a pile near the cash register, on-line and everywhere else. Whatever the artwork, will someone stop and look at it, pick it or click it.

[BlackJAC]

03:19 PM on 07/01/2011

The books published under the Hard Case Crime imprint have some good cover art: http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi

[Bryan Young]

11:04 AM on 07/01/2011

I'm quite partial to this cover: http://www.amazon.com/Man-Against-Future-Topflight-Science/dp/0615489508/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309532612&sr=8-1

[entropychic]

11:20 PM on 06/30/2011

LOVE the Broetry cover - wanna read the whole book now, and isn't that part of a covers' purpose? :>

[citizenkrans]

04:53 PM on 06/30/2011

You forgot Freeze Tag on the Highway. Great looking cover.

http://rocktownpress.bigcartel.com/product/freeze-tag-on-the-highway

[Lisa Baird Wiley]

12:33 PM on 06/30/2011

_Broetry_ by William Carlos Williams?

[KarmaKamedian]

11:15 AM on 06/30/2011

This is life without pills or war: http://www­.amazon.co­m/Moonflow­er-Medicin­e-Woman-AD­-1490/

The cover is beautiful and curios at the same time.

[KarmaKamedian]

11:40 AM on 06/30/2011

Curious how thses things happen?

[jessicapippin]

10:51 AM on 06/30/2011

Pretty sure Cut was published back in 2002. But I guess since it was reprinted it counts as a 2011 book?