Book Cover Designs

A while ago I came across The New York Times section on books and literature. They provide a variety of information about authors, reviews, changes in the industry and many more topics related to the field of literature.

One article that I found interesting is about book covers. It is a list of the best book cover designs from 2014. So many people just have their eReaders now so the novelty and importance of a book's cover seems to be going along the wayside. Just like the design on a wine or beer bottle or toy packaging; the cover art for a book is instrumental in the selling of the book. Of course the content of the book is the most important. But when you peruse the shelves (or online) the title and cover art jumps out to you. Does it say "Open me now!" or "Will I sleep at night reading this?" or "Hmmm...I must read on" or "What is this about?"

An artist may make a complicated picture to portray what is in the book. Or it may be as simple as the title in black and white, dripping blood, on a back drop of black (Dracula perhaps). Or just plain white with the title. Then there is the difference between the original cover art and the movie cover art (once it is a movie). Which copy sells more? Take your favorite book: how would you depict the story on the front cover? What scene would you illustrate? Or are there certain symbols or colors that you would use? Would you be more detailed or less?

The Huffington Post has an interesting article titled "20 Beautiful Book Cover Designs to Swoon Over." They also have a Rejected Covers series. It is interesting to look at some of them. 

Reading Statistics

I recently found a research article by the Pew Research Center published in January 2014 about the statistics about our reading habits. The study covers parameters like gender, age, and education level of readers. It is pretty interesting. As I suspected eBooks are becoming more popular. This isn't surprising with the number of tablets and other devices available to read on. Of course it is still only 28% compared to print which is 69%. More women have read a book in the last year (2013). Also the higher the education the more likely they have a read a book. All this data (so much more available in the report linked above) is good to see because people are still reading. However, it is saddening because there is much to be said about having the weight, smell, and chance of a paper cut with a print book.

Statista Inc, a leading internet statistics company, has projected that by 2018 eBooks will surpass print by a couple billion dollars. Of course there are many factors that can change the number. I will be sad if that does happen in the next few years. But as long as reading stays popular (and maybe increases in numbers) then I will be happy no matter what format. If I am being honest I have to say that a third of my reading right now is on my Kindle. It fits nicely in the purse without adding more weight. I also have my Kindle books linked to my iPad. Of course I had to buy another bookshelf this year for my print. But now I am more selective in the books that I buy in print. This is partly because of cost (right now I have to be a little cheaper) and space. There are so many books available for free, largely classics, on sites like Project Gutenberg. I also have a free app on my iPad called Free Books. Of course we can't forget the library. In recent years a lot of library systems have begun offering eBooks. This can be tricky because not all eReaders are compatible. But this is changing and is a great way for more people to have access to what is available. 

If you are interested in more statistical evidence check out Statista Inc and the Pew study. I have linked both in this post. Project Gutenberg is also worth a look.

Yesterday HuffPost Books wrote an article titled "Sorry Ebooks. These 9 Studies Show Why Print is Better." It is refreshing and exciting to look into them. 

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

This is the first novel I have read by Anthony Doerr and it is heart achingly beautiful. Doerr takes the viewpoint of a blind French girl in Paris and a German boy and weaves a tale around their lives from 1934 to present. Doerr doesn't tell the tale in a linear path but takes the reader from past to further past to present. His writing is clear and succinct filled with description without bogging the reader down. There are many characters that play an integral part in the story as well the legend surrounding a single blue diamond.

World War II is a fascinating time period for me. I'm sure many cringe at my word choice of fascinating. I receive different reactions when I tell people I have been reading a biography of Hitler. But to read and watch accounts of lives that were forever changed (or obliterated) makes me grateful for the time period I live in now but also curious to learn how social, economic, political, and psychological (to name a few) aspects of a time period can create a perfect storm.

I picked up this book and couldn't put it down. (I apologize: I am still learning how to write reviews without telling to much.) You keep learning more about how the outside world is changing in these children's lives and how these changes are affecting their small worlds. With the French girl, Marie-Laure, the reader learns how a child "saw" and felt the changes in her homeland. She is dependent on others because of her blindness yet a fierce independence grows in her as she ages. Children are often not told everything; yet they are very perceptive and create their own thoughts about the world around them. The German boy, Werner, is a genius with radios and it seems anything mechanical. This leads him to a prestigious school for boys and on to the war. His inner struggle with what he is told to believe (by the Reich), what he has learned about humanity before the school, and what he endures and sees in his life is a continual battle for him.

Although some will think it is a snapshot of the war; I would argue that it is more a snapshot of human integrity and survival. I continued to read to see where their lives intersect and then how they reconcile with themselves and the other characters as well as the world post war. Doerr is definitely an author that I will read again.

The Divergent Trilogy

Yes it took me until 2015 to read the Divergent Trilogy Veronica Roth. After three sleepless nights I have read each one and am very confused. Here is where I say **Spoiler Alert**. Of course I won't say certain facts from the books. But I am very confused by how Roth finished the series. I know from reading other series that the deaths of certain characters are profound and meaningful and sadly necessary for the outcome of the book. The person Roth decides to kill in the end of the series doesn't make sense to me. If someone could explain it that would be awesome! I understand that losing someone close changes a person either to the better or the worse. But things are wrapping up in the end for the better. I think it was a needless death. But on to other matters.

These books are well written and I think are worth reading. A reason that I don't read an abundance of books anymore is because I get lost in them. It isn't good to read non-stop and refuse to sleep until you finish the story. Even harder if it is a series. Divergent reminds me about all the wonderful things in my life that are still available for me. One of them being decision making/freewill. Also having a system that is dysfunctional yet still trying to make things better. There are aspects of the society that I see in real life. Aspects that can get worse and take over our humanity. But we are 'still fighting the good fight' if I think hard about it. Humanity is so destructive to each other. I wonder what my factions would look like if I were to think about it hard enough. What parts of being human would I emphasize. The book is correct in saying that being strong in one area makes a person weak in another. Other than the final act of Tris (the main protagonist) I enjoy the books. I understand the symbolism/meaning that Roth wanted to get across with Tris' final act; but I still think she could have got her meaning across a different way. 

Strong female heroes as well as male heroes. Resistance from the oppressed. Teenagers saving society. I can see why this series swept through the young population. I am not sorry for reading these books. I just have to figure out how to process them. All books that dwell on the collapse of society as I know it and how humans are afterwards are strange for me to stomach. If someone isn't disturbed by reading books from this genre then I would wonder and worry about them. 

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The pink ribbon, the scarlet A, real or dream. These are some famous things remembered from Nathaniel Hawthorne's stories. Usually the only works introduced in school. I would venture to say most people polled would say they know The Scarlet Letter. The majority of people have also read and been made to study the short story "Young Goodman Brown". However, there are many more tales by Hawthorne that are just as thought provoking and deep as this one. It is a shame to not look at the other tales as well. Of course there is only so much time in English classes and a lot of literature to teach. But if one is inclined to read more one can start with Twice Told Tales: a collection of 32 short stories. There are also his stories for children (A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales) that retell some memorable classical myths. These collections are all made available through Project Gutenberg of which I have provided links to. Hopefully you will check them out.

When reading his stories I become thoroughly engaged in them. They are full of so much imagery, historical references and allegories. He is very specific in his use of words, colors, names, and time periods. Although he lived in the 19th century he sets many of his stories in the 17th and 18th centuries centering around happenings and periods in America's early history. He is descriptive yet ambiguous at the same time. Some themes Hawthorne delves into are: insanity, common sense, humanity, Puritanism, supernatural, science, and nature. His knowledge and material comes from historical readings, happenings and places along with classical literature (Shakespeare, Dante, the Bible, mythology, etc) and of course influences from his own life and age. 

One short story I recently read was "Earth's Holocaust." To summarize the story humans decide to rid the world of it's "trumpery" in a large fire. The narrator (I believe is Hawthorne) describes what is tossed into the fire and the reaction of the people watching. Everything from riches, crowns, titles, liquor, literature (everything ever written) and much more. Hawthorne ends the story by commenting "to discern and rectify what is wrong, our whole accomplishment will be a dream so unsubstantial that it matters little whether the bonfire, [...] were what we choose to call a real event and a flame that would scorch the finger, or only a phosphoric radiance and a parable of my own brain." The story makes the reader think about the attachment they have to material objects as well as how institutions like church and state influence their life. It is a large allegory. Has the human race reached it's peak of civilization and now has to/must start over? What would you throw into the fire? How would you react to what others see as "trumpery?"

This is just a small look into Hawthorne's writing. He is a beautiful writer that has influenced many. His stories delve into the bad and good of human nature and ask questions that are on both a group and an individual scale. A good book to check out is Nathaniel Hawthorne: the man, his tales, and romances by Edward Wagenknecht. Wagenknecht writes on specific tales and romances in depth. He has done extensive research on other critiques of Hawthorne and his writings. It is a more scholarly read yet Wagenknecht makes the reader interested in reading more of Hawthorne's stories. I would challenge you to pick up The Scarlet Letter again and reread it now many years after you first read it and now that you have lived some. How do the messages in the book read to you now? What other imagery and symbolism do you find now?