Books You Shouldn't Judge By Their Covers!

[@ghoultiful]

I'm also going to need publishers to post summaries in the back of their books instead of reviews that just say "Riveting!"

[@frozendonut722]

Yes!

[@BontleLanga]

And publishing companies believe the fact that *Jodi Picoult* said the book is "riveting!" should somehow move the consumer to purchase. Like no🙃🤦🏽‍♀️

[@Sarahac8]

I work in publishing as a designer and was surprised when I first found out why they do this-believe it or not it’s for the book sellers’ buyers more than it is for the customers. The buyers for B&N, Amazon, Target, small book shops, etc. look at the blurbs. Hard covers will pretty much always have the blurbs on the back and the summary on the inside flap. Trade paperbacks will have a mixture of both. Same for Mass Market.

[@WhatAWonderfulNameItIs]

AGREE 100%!

[@carbonc6065]

😁

[@LittleRedTeaCake]

I cannot stand movie poster books. If its the only one I can get, I will sometimes put up with it, but not in my house yo. Also, I don't know why, but I am so put off by real people being on covers. I cant explain it. Especially with fantasy books. I just want some cool art, gimme cool art! Very fun video!

[@addie3133]

i’m so god i’m not the only one. i hate real people on covers

[@verarendes9707]

I can relate to this 100%

[@eommaeottoke9966]

Thank you! For saying this

[@najualb]

i'm 99.9% behind you on this one simply because the og version of big little lies is . so bad and the one with the miniseries cover is honestly not that bad - cropped a little lower and the pink font... mwah

[@aless.andra9620]

the only people-covers I enjoy is if they look like a real-life photograph from someones photo book. otherwise, overly-posed pictures of whether an epic girl with a sword on a fantasy book cover, or a guy with a naked torso on romance book cover look silly and unpleasant.

[@Tracywhited2]

Would love to see one on badly titled books too.

[@LaurenLaass]

I second this

[@Lystopia]

yesssss!

[@renatapaiva4805]

oh yess

[@linalikesreading]

Great idea 😄👌🏻

[@SkySpiral8]

Watership Down

[@catesmith5762]

You should do a video on terrible books with gorgeous covers

[@malb9236]

Yes, that is what i was thinking, too.

[@surenderbeniwal8578]

One that immediately comes to my mind is *The Queen of Hearts* by Kimmery Martin. It has got one of the most gorgeous covers I've seen. A medical drama. Not necessarily terrible terrible but definitely not one of those stories I'll cherish for yrs n yrs to come; easily forgettable (at least to me). But the cover and writing were saviors! P.S. it could be just a me-thing, since I shy away from any kind of drama🤷‍♀️ & the book had a lot of it + an unlikable/flawed main character.

[@giuliabalbi8034]

I'm in love with how your house is evolving behind you!

[@ArielBissett]

THANK YOU

[@panicsounds2239]

@@ArielBissett I'm commenting on every video so you get that beautious article couch. Please review it when you get it cause I want one too :)

[@bethmw28]

I came here to say the same thing! It's so exciting to see what will appear next 😂

[@gyilkosboszi]

Fun fact, I've just read an interview with a book cover designer from my country, and he said they don't read the books. They receive a brief summary from the publisher and they work from there.I was suprised as well. He said that obviously it's not always the case, there are a few of them who reads the books but thats is not common.

[@ArielBissett]

......... that would make a lot of sense when you look at some of these 🙈

[@gyilkosboszi]

@@ArielBissett You know, he also said that they always hand in a bunch of ideas/drafts to the publisher to pick from. So I am just wondering how the other options looked like if they picked these?😆 Maybe we got lucky just dont know or publishers have weird taste. 😅

[@cgoiq19]

Eszter This is correct! They receive a creative brief with a summary, key words, images, colors, etc. That brief could include things that the publisher wants to avoid as well. Sometimes instead of a summary, it’s a sample chapter, or a few sample chapters. And of course, some designers commit themselves to reading the entire work before designing a cover. They work up a bunch of rough options and then go through several rounds of covers that the publishers weigh in on. Even the sales/marketing team will weigh in on the marketability of the cover.

[@gyilkosboszi]

@@cgoiq19 Thank you😊 I find it so interesting to sneak peak into different jobs😊 It's nice to have a look behind the curtains, but maybe I am just very nosy😆

[@Sarahac8]

Hello! I work as a designer at a publishing house. We often don’t even have finished manuscripts when we are assigned books. I always try to read whatever material I’m given. 🙈

[@imperatrice211]

I just get the ebook when I don't like any covers of a book, don't want to see it hahaha

[@ArielBissett]

this is high level thinking haha

[@imperatrice211]

@@ArielBissett Thank you 😂 Join me in the natural selection of paper books

[@addie3133]

or you just get a hardcover so you can take off the dust cover

[@sabashahid6151]

OKAY I LOVE THIS IDEA, time to implement it

[@iceywang2554]

I do this a lot too!!!

[@aob6033]

ironically, Salinger demanded that his covers all look the same, have no cover art, and was extremely particular about it. The version with the horse was created by a friend of his, so he allowed it.

[@ArielBissett]

I didn’t know that! That’s really cool

[@ariane4319]

Could be fun to make a video about disappointing books with beautiful covers

[@cgoiq19]

That’s an unfortunately long list 😭

[@yemmie112]

the worst is when a book has a great cover and then gets reprinted with an objectively Way Worse cover like they didn't have to do that!!

[@zeliearpin8276]

i’m french and most of my reading is in french. I’s interesting beacause in france most of the book are not beautiful, a lot of themes are completlitly white, the poche edition is really simple. This subject is wery interesting beaucause I chnage a lot when you reader in foreign language :)

[@Lidwien1997]

I always think French books look so serious 🙈 It gives bookshops are really different vibe.

[@RenPowers]

You should definitely check out the 'In Praise of Shadows' video, 'Horror Book Covers have Lost their Identity'--he does a really interesting dive into books in that genre specifically, and how how covers in general have all gotten to the point where it's hard to guess what type of genre it's going to be just looking at it.

[@ArielBissett]

oooo I'll look it up!!

[@aless.andra9620]

I loved that video! I discovered one of my favorite horror books because they featured it!💕

[@kristina_rr]

Ariel! We are currently spring cleaning our apartment and I‘m listening to your podcast. So my non-bookish boyfriend is forced to listen to Books unbound as well and he loves it. He even put a few books you recommended on his wishlist! Anyway, I love the aesthetics in this video. Your hair! The earrings! The background! Everything looks so nice. xx

[@naymadic5053]

ahhh I just love your videos so much! also the aesthetics in this video are just over the top I mean your top, your jewellery, your hair, your books, all the colours? you are such a queen 🥰

[@ArielBissett]

😭 thank you!

[@naymadic5053]

@@ArielBissett I just got to the part about 10 reasons for deleting your social media accounts and I read it a few days ago because of you and absolutely loved it! I wish from the bottom of my heart that everyone would read it.

[@kayley]

omg the edition of house of the spirits that you wanted to buy is the one I read in high school! I don't know if I still have it back at my parents house, but if I ever find it, it's yours lol

[@ArielBissett]

WHAT! DEAL!! ♥️♥️♥️

[@SauronsAccntnt]

I'm so curious if Ariel got her pretty Isabel Allende book lol

[@Sarahac8]

I am a book cover designer and it’s the best job in the world. ❤️

[@frozendonut722]

That's so cool!

[@wanderer4414]

how and where do i find a job like that? I'm in college for graphic design and I have no idea how to find an interesting job after. :(

[@Sarahac8]

wanderer build your portfolio up with book cover work. Maybe do side projects where you re-design covers for you favorite books. The hardest part is getting your foot in the door. Try to find an internship or apprenticeship with a publishing house-keep in mind this is difficult to do without living in NYC where the big 5 publishing houses are located. Look at book spines and learn the imprints/publishing houses. A college press is another good place to get experience and those can be found all over. I had a difficult time getting into book design even though that was my dream so I started out in magazine design. I got a couple of years under my belt and then applied for every single publishing house I could think of. My magazine experience translated well to book design. Then my current boss took a chance on me and hired me despite my living outside NY (again it’s really hard to get a job here if you don’t live in the city). Also look at other cover designers’ work and learn all you can. Some of my favorites are Jaya Miceli, Na Kim, Stephen Brayda, Rodrigo Corral, Oliver Munday, and Matt Dorffman. But there are so many other amazing designers. Other good cover design resources are spinemagazine.co and The Casual Optimist. Best of luck on your journey! Enjoy every moment you can. ❤️

[@charlene9489]

I literally drop everything for your videos. Ugh I needed this today! Thank you!

[@ArielBissett]

🥲 thank you for always watching!

[@karolinenavarsete6925]

I think it’s important to note that sometimes there’s a third cover for the rest of Europe/or the language it’s translated to from English😅 I’ve ordered certain books from U.K. sites because the covers available in Norway didn’t cut it for me

[@ArielBissett]

Absolutely! I didn’t want to include every single translated cover since we’d be here all day but it’s always worth looking!

[@countrycrossstitcher3573]

Yes! I've loved books shown on booktube and looked them up on good reads and they often have a blah cover shown on there🥴

[@anshgujral4841]

I’m so in love with the lilac in the background and your plants😍

[@zhisu2665]

I die inside everytime there's a book cover for Lolita that shows younger women, making it look aesthetic instead of plain or showing the book as it is CREEPY [in content] like Vladimir Nabokov would despise all of the covers

[@georginachard8604]

I love seeing a really wacky cool spine or cover in a second hand bookshop and unearthing a really strange fun book! I always feel like I've discovered a treasure, like the book was waiting for me : D

[@elizabethlinaresalcantara8507]

Some of the covers for the spanish copies of the House of the Spirits are really beautiful, I had one and It was kind of surrealist, one of my favourites!

[@ellelucius]

I feel something similar with the paper quality of certain publishers. Mostly blindingly bright white paper or the rough paper that feels like trash. ... Love your hair, btw :)

[@viennaw8ts4u]

My Brilliant Friend!!! (The whole series) If my grandma hadn't sent them to me I would have never picked them up on my own. I know you mentioned this book cover issue in one of the podcast episodes!

[@taaptee]

massively inspired by you to get into orwell

[@ArielBissett]

i can die happily now :D

[@jeywithane130]

atmosphere! u put it into words. it's the same with youtube thumbnails and the same with book-to-movie adaptation. what is the first thing you have to translate? the atmosphere. the mood. dare i say, the vibes. if i'm a lover of jane austen type stories and i wanna read aristocrats in the country fall in love, i don't want a minimalist book cover. if i'm a minimalist, i don't want a super cluttered yt thumbnail. if i want to watch my favourite drama book on tv, and they stay super close to each plot beat but then add a ton of jokes -- its not the same story anymore. covers are so damn important

[@tilly2907]

The Tiny Beautiful Things covers are giving me very much ~ free PowerPoint template ~

[@LauraGomez-bl2so]

I've had Fly On The Wall on my wishlist for ages! I actually don't mind the pink and red cover on the far right. LOVE Metamorphosis, so I really have to get this. :D

[@panicsounds2239]

I have a whole week off next week and kind of fell out of reading because Corona times are sad. Love watching these videos and I hope to stock up on interesting books tomorrow and read a bunch!

[@JessicaPawlitzki]

Congrats on your new camera! A Pentax is always a good option. I learned photography on my dad's analogue Zenit, a pull-up-the-next-frame-of-film-with-your-thumb style of camera, and let me tell you, it's magic :)

[@thesukhe]

Ariel's hair is looking gorgeous✨

[@nikhilsukumar23]

You are one reader who makes reviews easier for confused older people like me. There are thousands of reviewers but most of them want to show off and make reviews such a challenge for book lovers to comprehend. You are rare and you help us older readers to understand the new books and you talk to the point in fact all the fillers you use has logic and is connected to each book that you review. You need an award for this hard work.

[@AndreaMGC]

Hey Ariel, have you ever used Better World Books website? The minute I can't find a book I want (usually because it's old) I will check there. The House of Spirits with the cover you want is on there right now for 10$. And it helps environment because they are donated books or books salvaged before going to landfills.

[@Christinka888]

I learned that there is a whole book analyzing Lolita covers and I am quite tempted to check it out. It is definitely an example of a book you should NOT judge by the cover because most of them are horribly misrepresenting what it's about...

[@thepuddleclub]

i'm a fan of that "fly on the wall" cover on the right actually, though i'm surprised about the fact that all of these designs were approved and in print at one point 😂

[@_jo-jo_]

Only just started watching your video, but just wanted to quickly say loving the black and white top and orange/red/lilac nails 😊❤ Edit: and the piles of books in the background 😍

[@ArielBissett]

thank you!!!!

[@StoriesForCoffee]

I loveeee this topic, but i also LOVE how your nails are different colors on each hand! How did I not think of doing that omgggg 🤩

[@sayingoodbye4]

Since you've read the book about social media, can you make a video about how you deal with social media and anxiety around it?

[@rebeccaalley9762]

Yes please that would be a great topic for sure

[@bettyreads222]

I remember when you first mentioned fly on the wall, I had just read metamorphosis in a lit class in college so reading it after was just a fun adventure. Yess I love book covers, pride and prejudice and gatsby are two that I like to get different versions of bc its cool to see what keeps being done. I have that cover of Allende's book and didn't realize it wasn't that widely available.

[@Jacob-gu3in]

I love Fly on the Wall! I read it last year and definitely agree that it deserves a cover that will do it justice! It's so good!

[@oonamcdermott7263]

I just re read Tiny Beautiful Things!!! I've been trying to decide which college to attend in the fall, and man did I need advice. And as I hoped she would, Sugar afforded me such incredible clarity, and now I know where I'm goin to school.

[@EmilyCritchfield]

you should do a follow up video of you re-designing some of these covers! i love your drawings and little doodles you put in your videos & they would make some great book covers!

[@ariannelg]

The house of the spirits became huge in Brazil recently (it’s not a new book) and the cover is beautiful !

[@seachicky913]

I’m loving that chair, fireplace, and plants combo happening in the background! Great video, like always.

[@oliviabarbosa4086]

Omg, I read Tiny Beautiful Things this year. I laughed out loud, I cried. What a book!!! 😂😭 Thank you so much for sharing your passion for books with us. And for just being so freaking creative and all around badass renovating your lovely home. I'm kind of obsessed with your content 🥰

[@KtRosemary]

I just have to say I'm loving the colors you have going in the background - green and purple is quite possibly my fave color combo lol! Beautiful!

[@booksandroses5307]

I totally get attached to covers too. Whenever I go to the bookstore to “browse” I end up buying books that have pretty covers

[@san2709g]

All my friends are superheroes is a book I really want to read, but I hate its cover! (The one with the picture of a man on it)

[@ArielBissett]

THIS IS SO TRUE. I refused to buy that book because the cover is so creepy!! I finally found a different cover that still isn't GOOD (it's like a shield?) but at least didn't freak me out and it was a great book! What a shame!

[@derykmusic]

Your editing and personality and everything is so magic, thank you for making such high quality videos and being so genuine.

[@emmafare8214]

The lilac fireplace surround is truly beautiful

[@laurarouanet4257]

i love how your videos have so much personality and match your personal style so much, makes me want to be a bit more like myself too

[@jewelcameron6477]

The edition of house of the spirits I have is gorgeous! It’s all these orange vines and they are 3D so it has texture. I love it! But I usually see that yellow cover with a face in bookstores.

[@BethMaryHal]

You put up the cover of Boy Proof, and I just had a visceral memory reaction of reading it. Totally agree. The cover says so little compared to the book. I do recall staring at the cover a lot with her eye contact.

[@eli_drottningu]

I love the little plant corner!!

[@nishthaarora9533]

Loving the plants in the background! Also, nail paint, I notice it every time and girl you have a great collection.

[@aynoywon8599]

I really do like covers that look like "dang, that person is reading sone heavy stuff". I love to read during train rides so sometime I get that " Basics of electrical Engineering" book out and feel really confident. Therefore I actually like the cover of the first book you mentioned. I like my covers to be just title and aurhor an a color that is not too ugly

[@emilymartin5418]

So, do you agree they're bad covers? That's what creates that impact, I think.

[@aynoywon8599]

@@emilymartin5418 I like the simple covers but yes, they are bad

[@AnnaTalks-videos]

Ok - I enter this as a life-long book-cover-judger. Let's see if Ariel can change my mind... 👀 Update: Reader, she did it again.

[@rachelbee9242]

the house of the spirits cover you talked about I found in a library box near my home which is pretty cool I had picked it up because I thought it looked super cool ! excited to read it is next on my list 0.o

[@emilyboedo5298]

Omg I work at a library and I just checked out the pretty cover version of A Moveable Feast to someone today! It was very old and faded but I still was like whoa that’s nice

[@mediumjohnsilver]

The issue of bad book covers reminds me of when I worked for a printing company in Owen Sound, Ontario (in accounting). Sometimes I walked around the factory floor and I would see pallets with thousands of catalogs or books with slap-dash poorly drawn illustrations on the cover. Seeing thousands of them always made me think that the publisher should have put in just a little more effort before duplicating it thousands of times.

[@anniecarlile2673]

I feel this! When I was younger I bought my books exclusively from thrift stores and now half my collection is books with horrendous covers 😓

[@ChaoticBibliophile]

I love the concept of this video! I agree with you both on Tiny Beautiful Things and the love for book design 🥰 I love reflecting upon not only cover choice but typography, margins, page type and dimensions, etc

[@ArielBissett]

I ended up cutting out a three minute speech where I talked about fonts and paper types and book sizes because it was already so long but I AGREE

[@bbbproductions7059]

Oh, I saw the movie version of the house of spirits. It was really great! I’ll have to check out the book 😉

[@PinkieMilkie]

I have the spanish edition of The House of the Spiritus and it is gorgeous 💓

[@laurenab]

This is such a great video topic and I've just added Tiny beautiful things to my TBR.

[@ForTheLoveOfMusicals]

I truly don’t understand why the spines of classics are so often identical. I don’t like how it looks (but that’s taste I guess) but it makes it so much harder to find individual books in a row of identical spines then if you made them all at least slightly different

[@Sarahac8]

Lol I am the opposite of you. Nothing gets me going like a beautiful edition. It’s so aesthetically satisfying to me when they all go together. 😍 penguin black spines and penguin English library are my favorite editions.

[@BooksIReadToo]

Thank you for sharing these. I’m going to try a couple. I started boy proof today.👍💙💚📚 I’m enjoying it so far.

[@karin.007]

I got Fly on the Wall for really cheap at a bookstore in my area. I read the edition with the boxers on the cover lol. I thought the story was good, but I now pray the forces above don't turn me into an insect whenever I see a fly. A life-changing, hilariously traumatizing read this book was.

[@hannahs_blog]

This is the moment when I realise all of my favourite books have really lovely covers!!! Black Beauty doesn't have many great covers though and I loved that (and read it for last year's Reading Rush for the first time!).

[@readingjoelle2735]

I have the superhero cover of fly on the wall, and yes I just discovered it, because I wanted to read all of E. lockhart‘s books. It‘s amazing! I love it, might be my fave of hers and I love the superhero cover! It‘s so strange

[@thegreenonions]

I LOVE a Moveable Feast! It was my first Hemingway and honestly love it the most out of what I've read of his so far. His style really suits the short vignettes of Paris. Also I have the cover on the left! but without the teal color and I like it personally.

[@brookedixon9139]

I have the copy of the house of the spirits you found after !! It’s so tiny and thick I didn’t like holding it while reading

[@NEON-uc9no]

Really enjoyed this video and I love this topic of conversation! I also love your jumper!

[@literarygarments]

All of the north american editions of the Beth O'Leary books! The UK editions are so cute! They all match really nicely and then the US versions are all random and different sizes. I loved the audiobooks so much that I bought the physical copies and was dissapointed with the covers.

[@loganmackenzie3355]

I have the last addition of “The House of the Spirits” you showed! I got it at a used bookstore so long ago and still haven’t read it. I’d be happy to mail it to you once I do read it though!

[@jessicadrocourt2861]

I am the opposite! When I see a truely heinous book cover I am instantly drawn to pick it up....maybe it’s my way of feeling sorry for them 🤣

[@SauronsAccntnt]

Aw, like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree but with books :)

[@ninac.5921]

I like the 1984 one so much tho! I love how it looks vintage and like those retro ads

[@sweetpeabee4983]

I love and really miss buying physical books!! But I pay attention so much better with audiobooks. 😩 I totally agree with you on ugly covers, though. So while I sadly miss out on the beautiful ones, I do benefit from never suffering the ugly ones haha.

[@louisa2830]

your enthusiasm really makes this whole video!

[@karenstairs8273]

Loved Tiny Beautiful Things... Saw the play based on the book

[@heyheybooks]

I just finished reading The House of the Spirits two days ago, and it was that awesome cover with the birdcage! I totally agree those two other covers do not speak to the book at all!

[@FreshlyReadBooks]

I hadn't seen the cover of In Memory of Memory that's available in Canada, but now I'm even more happy with my cover lol

[@aed2069]

Ooooh spooky! I JUST started Tiny Beautiful Things this evening! Per your previous recommendation! My cover is stripy (I’m in Australia).

[@shellsisacoolpear]

You and I have completely different ideas of good covers and I find that very interesting. I'm actually more likely to pick up a book if it has a very plain low key cover than one with strange text and illustrations.

[@vaibhav6826]

boy proof - I saw this John Green video ages ago and noted all the books down and made a point to read them one by one. I have read some of the video's recs by now but not boy proof yet. Maybe this is my sign.

[@ArielBissett]

THIS IS IT!

[@Maxwellhyde14]

Same here!!!! I still have a list in one of my old journals of all the books from that video!

[@lilybee_]

Have you shown us this room? The fireplace looks great!

[@paulinereid]

Wow, I would never have picked up any of those mentioned going by the book covers, all of them sound extremely interesting that I will definitely put all of them on my list, thank you so much, Ariel.

[@luluwn8772]

I actually own the beautiful cover version of house of spirits and it 100% is why I picked it up. I was in some insane thrift book place, three stories, books piled floor to ceiling, I didn't realize just how lucky my find was lol

[@alexisa8554]

The house of the spirits was part of my high school curriculum and we had the edition you showed last with the interesting cover!

[@naisma5920]

I recently stumbled upon your channel and I am binge watching all your videos. Rarely have I had such a great time procrastinating ':) This is such a fun video idea! Sometimes I bind a book in a piece of newspaper or something just so that I don't have to look at the ugly cover, and let me tell you, it's always a relief ':)

[@ers9441]

I love this video premise!! Hope more booktubers do it too🌟✨

[@roastbeefsandwich6769]

Agreed book jacket design is a great art! I missed my calling.

[@emilyflavell1658]

My favourite book series growing up was the Molly Moon series, which I recently re-read and loved just as much as I did when I read it for the first time. It's funny, gripping, has some absolutely amazing suspense and world building, and I love all the characters. The only problem is that it's cover looks like it's aimed exclusively at 8 year olds, which is so sad because none of my friends wanted to read it and I got self conscious reading them in public. I mean I think they're iconic and nostalgic but they definitely aren't timeless

[@snghglvr]

Omg I have searched for years and years for a beautiful copy of A moveable feast and finally finally found one in a used bookstore in Seattle. It was like Christmas come early. Seeing anyone else mention is great

[@mojimoji5368]

I have a beautiful hardcover copy of The House of the Spirits! Sought it out especially because the other editions were aesthetically disappointing

[@RachelAnastasiaFurman]

i like the fly on the wall right cover .its actually nice from a graphic design perspective

[@kayley]

also the house in the cerulean sea straight up looks like middle grade, so much so that many people I know don't care to give a chance because they don't read MG. really don't understand that, but I suppose it does sort of fit the tone of the book.

[@ArielBissett]

I 100% thought it was middle grade literally until this moment.. ITS NOT? Isn’t it amazing how much covers lead us to make assumptions?!

[@adrianneconstant]

It kind of is sold in middle grade sections of the bookstore around here though.

[@MrsJasminJo]

Nothing really with the video. But i have to say that i got Animal Farm in a birthday gift and im excited to read it!!! I'm always so surprised when i see how small it is 😂😍

[@Steph-bv6io]

Your house looks really pretty!!🥺💕

[@Jennheartsqs]

That 3rd cover of House of the Spirits you showed is the edition I read in middle school. Sadly, I think I was too young to appreciate it (it was required reading for school) and didn't like the actual book - even though I really liked the cover. Now I'm disappointed I don't still have the book since it sounds like that edition's hard to get.