Cover Love – with Julia Gibbs… #books #amreading

I read once that the main purpose of a book cover is to attract the reader’s attention. Obviously, it should have something to do with the subject of the book too – you wouldn’t put an image of a vegetable garden on a book called How to Crochet, but the cover needn’t tell the story of the book, just be appropriate in some way. It set me thinking – what makes us pick up a book in a bookshop? Sometimes it’s the author name, but it could also be the image. Or the title, or strapline, or maybe a combination of all of these. I thought it might be fun to find out what different people think. Over the next few months I’ll be asking different people in the book world to choose two books, one simply with a cover they like, the other one of their own book covers.

This week’s victim is proofreader Julia Gibbs, who has proofread most of my suspense books and some of my feel-good fiction too. Her second cover image here is from a book she proofread recently. Over to Julia:

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
I was always enthralled by Manhattan even before I ever visited there, and this picture encapsulates its magic for me, not only because of the glittering lights of the night, but also juxtaposition of Mother Nature. And the lone figure, walking from one world to the other without any apparent barrier in between. I used to have a Penguin edition of this book with a plain silver cover, but mislaid it years ago. Seeing this cover on a Facebook post made me want to buy it again, in fact I loved the colours and the simple images so much that I saved the picture. I very rarely save pictures, I relate much more to words.

Salt of the Earth by JJ Marsh. (Cover by JD Smith)
Even more than the strong image of the purple butterfly, what initially attracted me to this cover was the vista leading to the endless horizon. And then the powerful colour and size of the butterfly, and finally the texture of the background, the uneven colour of which suggests history and mystery. Purple conveys power, energy, wisdom and spirituality to our subconscious mind, which is probably why I noticed this book among others. Then I ask myself – why the salt? What’s this about? I want to find out.

Thank you, Julia!
Oddly enough, I noticed the cover of Salt of the Earth on social media just a day or two before Julia sent in her post, so I was very pleased to see it included!

You can find out more about Julia and her proofreading business on her website and on Twitter. We’ll have another Cover Love post in a few weeks, and meanwhile, I’ll leave you with a photo of lovely Lake Constance.