It’s that time of the year. Time to make some lists. Best of, worst of, most interesting, most surprising. We want to stay on the positive side and only create the “best of” list of the best book covers of 2022. It’s the holiday season, after all.
It is time to judge books by their covers. You will often hear that you should NOT do that. But, as an avid reader, I can tell you that we all do it. Probably more often than we would like to admit. Yes, we should care more about what’s between those covers. And when we know the book is good, yes, we will probably forgive the fact that the cover design could be better.
But, we need something to attract our attention. Otherwise, we will not even pick up the books. Let’s face it - there are so many new books on the shelves daily that it is impossible to know the content of every single one in advance. The excellent cover design will lure us in to read the description.
And to be honest, a well-thought-out book cover design helps tell the story. Don’t you love it when you see the cover, and you are confident you will love the book? If the design team knows what they are doing, the book cover will give us the theme, the vibe, the atmosphere, and the genre.
We have tried to make our choices as diverse as we could regarding style, genre, and the age range of the readers. However, we have our preferences, and we will not apologize.
We want to give you the opportunity to enjoy these beautiful designs as much as we did.
Disclaimer: We have credited the artists whenever we could find who designed the cover. But, it was not always possible. And we did not want to exclude them based on not knowing the designer. So, if you know who those missing designers are, let us know. We are more than happy to credit them just like we did the others. It is not fair that most people do not pay attention to the name of the artist, and they deserve to be recognized.
The best book covers
We have not ranked them in any particular order. We like the first and the last, and every one between almost the same. Some of them are just beautiful, some are clever, some are perfectly conveying the message of the book. But they are all true works of art.
1. You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
2. Tokyo Dreaming by Emiko Jean
3. The Year the Maps Changed by Danielle Binks
4. The Colony by Audrey Magee
5. The Clackity by Lora Senf
6. Stealing Infinity by Alyson Noel
7. Scissorwork by Uche Nduka
8. Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson
9. Lavender House by Lev A.C. Rosen
10. Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
11. I Want to Keep Smashing Myself Until I Am Whole: An Elias Canetti Reader
12. How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz
13. Heart of a Killer by Ayden Perry
14. Gallant by V.E. Schwab
15. Constructing a Nervous System by Margo Jefferson
16. Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye
17. Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
18. A Novel Obsession by Caitlin Barasch
19. A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin
20. A Forgery of Roses by Jessica S. Olson
Feel free to comment, agree or disagree, and send us your cover choices.
They don’t have to be the best book covers of 2022. We accept both old and new favorites. We want to enjoy some amazing art together. And maybe find some new great reads. After all, that’s what book covers help us find. Don’t you agree?
To see some old favorites go to creative cover designs, or if you want to know more about creatives behind the book cover designs, read about Lisa Marie Pompilio and Kerri Resnick.