Happy New Year. Here at MyJewishBooks.com it is out with the old and in with the new, and time to look at some of the best Jewish book covers of 2009 before they get pulped (just kidding). Of course, there were lots of entertaining, critical, informative books in 2009, but I am only concerned with the covers that made me (or maybe you) want to pick up the book for a closer inspection. Any trends? Nope. Well, maybe four. (1) When in doubt, add a camel to the cover. (2) When it is academic, forego pictures and just use words (ie, Why Are Jews Liberals?), (3) Blue and white and a star can’t hurt (row three), nor can some food (row four), and (4) Americans like pictures (notice the difference between the blue Rabbi Sacks UK version and the sandy American edition). Below are some of my top pics for cover art. What were yours?:
Jan Laghi
1/6/2010
Pray for all of you.Stay safe.We in America have a demon in The White House.Obama is a muslim at heart.Beware.God Bless Israel and all of you.Jan
themiddle
1/7/2010
But Jan, what were your favorite Jewish book covers?
froylein
1/7/2010
Interesting sidenote maybe, to read the “spine” on German books, you have to tilt your head to the left and for most English books to the right.
I’ve noticed that the American dustjackets / paperback covers often are more colourful than the European editions.
themiddle
1/7/2010
That’s because we judge our books by their covers.