Monday, August 5, 2013

You Can't Judge a Book.....

There are still plenty of people (like me) who enjoy a trip to the bookstore and still buy actual books.  I enjoy browsing through the titles, looking at the cover photos or illustrations.  And even though the price of paperback is up to about ten dollars these days, I still prefer that over something you download on to a "reading device".

The book cover and the title are the two main selling points of any book.  It's what the book publishers hope will make you pick up a copy and take it to the cashier.  Usually they do a very good job of marrying an image to a title.

But not always.

Sometimes, the book titles are horrible.  You can't help but wonder if anyone at the publishing company gave  any real thought to what the books were called.  Here are a few examples (and yes, these are real books)--






Sometimes, there's nothing wrong with the title.  The title is fine.  But the picture used to illustrate the cover?  Someone was not paying close attention.




And sometimes, it's the book title and the book cover that wind up being a horrible, horrible combination.  They are just wrong on so many levels.






That last one is particularly disturbing...... :-)

I take no credit for finding any of these, by the way.  There's a wonderful website called Ramp.ie that recently posted a list of the Top 10 worst book covers and titles.  The "Top 10" list actually has 34 examples in it, by the way.  The books above are some of them.  If you'd like to see all 34, here's the web address (you can copy and paste this into your browser):

http://ramp.ie/index.php/reviews/books/top-ten-horrible-book-covers/

When you're done with the horrible book covers, take some time and explore some of the past posts on their site.  Some of them are bound to make you laugh out loud or, at least, put a smile on your face.  Ramp.ie is an excellent site.  You'll be glad you went there.


4 comments:

Hermione said...

A very strange (but hilarious) site! Thanks for the link. I took a stroll through the creepy cakes.

Actually, "bomb-proofing" is a valid equestrian term. Not PC nowadays, though.

Hugs,
Hermione

Renee Rose said...

I am totally cracking up!! Thanks for posting.

Penelope said...

LOL! I was chuckling (and grimacing) right the way through... and then the last one, with Grover and Elmo, too much! XD

Dr. Ken said...

Hermione -- Probably best I don't ask. Heaven knows I wouldn't want to be inappropriate....

Renee Rose -- You're welcome! Glad you got a kick out of it.

Penelope -- Too much, indeed. I still find it hard to believe that, somewhere in the process, an editor or someone would have looked at the books and gone, "Hey....wait a minute!"