Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Strangest Cover Trends



Top Ten Strangest Cover Trends

I’m a total cover judger. If a book has a nice cover the probability of me picking it up goes straight to yes. Given that, odd or strange covers tend to throw me for a loop. And, lo and behold, Goodreads agrees with me. Speaking of which. Special thanks to Goodreads for having a six page list of kooky cover trends. My biggest question after looking at all that is who actually spent time putting these things together? *says the blogger*


Sitting In A Tree





Now, this isn't too surprising on it's own. But, does the existence of 76 of these books surprise you? And at least 80% of them are romances. How does that work exactly? Is there some sort of romance trope about climbing trees? Is it an allusion, or some other fruity rhetoric device? I don’t read romances so I wouldn’t know. Is it kind of like that ‘there’s always a fancy party going on’ in heist movies? This trend raised a lot more questions than I initially thought it would.

Note from the editor: Maybe it's a reference to the asinine "kissing" song. You all know it, Jack and Jill sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

People in red





The trend kind of makes sense, physiologically. Hear me out, our brains are supposed to notice red the most. But, they all look the same. Why does there have to be two hundred plus books with the same freaking dress on the cover? Is this BBC? Is there only one red dress to share amongst the plethora of "strong female heroines?"


Horrible Hipster books


I’m sorry. I know there’s only nine books in the whole list. But I couldn’t pass over this one. I just . . . so many man buns. Kudos to you, Goodreads' list. Seeing the covers was the best laugh I’ve had in days. 


Horrible hipster books. I need it on a t-shirt, or something.

Flower Crowns























Again, this is another one that doesn’t have a lot of books associated with it. But, I find it queer that it’s a thing at all. And that’s not even mentioning the range of genres that, for some reason, have this odd thing in common. On the list were romances, contemporaries, a murder mystery, and even a medieval fantasy with King Arthur. Yeah, those last two were really out of place; pretty flower crown coupled with possible serial killer is maybe not how you want to advertise your book. 



Food covers





So much food. and none of it has anything to do with the actual stories that are on the inside. It’s like the author wasn’t interested in finding something that was unique to their story to depict and opted for cake instead. I guess it's something that everyone loves. Yeah, that was my best guess at the reasoning behind this cover. I can see the editor now, "Well we could find a cover that depicts the character’s struggle. Or we could go with something relatable and eye-catching like Cupcakes." And the author is so tired of the whole business that they agree. Thanks, you guys are why I can’t go to the library hungry.


Punctuation cover art




Why is this such a thing? Don’t you guys know that punctuation has absolutely nothing to do with writing? Nope, no grammar here. But seriously now. There is a literal question mark sitting on an armchair in space. Is nobody going to question that?

Note from the editor: Re-read the third sentence. Yeah. Dude, your reign of misused commas and ill-begotten sentences structures is over. The light has come!



Empty/broken plates



41. That number is how many books involved some form of cutlery. I am not pulling your leg. And, it's not even pretty cutlery: just plates. Most of the books don’t have anything to do with food either. What’s up with that?

Color splash books



I totally get why this is a thing. It’s simple and pretty which is massively popular today. Except it looks like something that a six-year-old would do. These covers are easy and fun; but they get really boring after a while, at least it does for an artist. There’s nothing interesting there. It’s just color and a title. Stop. 

Legs turned inward with red shoes




I just. Why is this so popular? 47 books have this cover you guys. It’s that same pose, with the same cut off at the chest and neck and, for some reason unbeknownst to me, a lot of white dresses. This one actually starts to veer into conspiracy theory territory. These covers are just that odd.


Teacups



Sixty freaking books have teacups on the cover. I don't really have that much to say about this one. I just thought it was ridiculous. Why teapots? Are these books all British? Nope. I just checked. It’s just so random and out of place. It’s easily the most surprising trope on this list in my mind.

Note from the editor: I guess you had more to say on it than you thought. Too many jokes to be made about Britain, fortasse?



Thanks for putting up with my confused ramblings. And thanks again to the ladies at the Broke and the Bookish for starting Top Ten Tuesdays you can check them out here if you're interested. 

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