When I saw a list of
top ten book covers on Estella's Revenge, I immediately wanted to do my own post, and then
the Book Blogger Hop had this as its question:
Do You Judge a Book By Its Cover?; however, I'm not exactly a book cover connoisseur, and I quickly realized that any choices I made would be rather arbitrary and random.
But then I remembered I Prefer Girls.
I just adore old pulp fiction book covers, especially of the sexy, sometime lesbian, always sultry, now and then killer chick variety. They are so over-the-top, unique, and wonderful strange. I have five or six hanging in my office. I Prefer Girls may be my favorite of the bunch, but here are a few more that I love.
First up, the book with the No Shit! award for a title:
Next, we have what I consider to be a rather artful cover. I love the composition, and the skull in the mirror is wicked. This one has a pretty good title too.
Then there's the down and dirty cracker girl, who easily pulls off the most lewd position...
And we can't forget the smoke ring stylings of marijuana girl.
And my absolute favorite, next to I Prefer Girls, is...
I did not know that. Did you?
I must say that it is the combination of title and cover art that appeals to me, for who can ignore those awesome, awesome titles. But I still hold that this counts for a top book covers post since the images are so unbelievably strange.
To get down to the nitty gritty and answer the question: I think I'm more of a title person than I am a book cover person. While a cover can definitely strike my fancy, a title can make me buy a book. For example, I bought Maureen Dowd's
Are Men Necessary? and
A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents by Liza Palmer entirely because of the titles.
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On a side note, for those of you who don't know,
the Book Blogger Hop is hosted over at Crazy for Books. Alternately referred to as "A Great Way to Get to Know Other Bloggers" and "A Freaking Hazard to my Google Reader", the Book Blogger Hop gets over 300 links per week. Again, GR overload.
All the covers were new to me and I liked seeing them.
ReplyDeleteI am completely guilty of judging a book by its cover. The ones you posted are a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteThese covers are absolutely awesome! Did you actually read the book??
ReplyDeleteThose are all good, but that last one is by far my favorite. I cracked up when I saw it. :D
ReplyDeleteI saw a book about pulp fiction covers a few weeks ago when I was in Santa Barbara. I tried to find it on B&N to show you, but no luck. Although there are other interesting things when you search for pulp fiction covers. Nothing quite as good as the Satan book, though!
ReplyDeleteMystica - I enjoy the strange.
ReplyDeleteStephanie - I don't see anything wrong with that. I think you know a lot about a book from its cover!
Christina - Not a single one. I've never actually seen a copy of any of them around. I have to admit I haven't searched for them though.
Amanda - It is hilarious isn't it?
Jill - I'll have to look for it! I've only ever found one pulp fiction cover art book, and it was so freaking expensive I just walked away.
The combination of the covers and the titles are totally awesome!! I never knew the devil is a lesbian! Too funny!
ReplyDeleteHaha, those are all hilarious titles and book covers. I have to admit, I'd never seen anything like that before :)
ReplyDeleteFound you through the hop, now following!
ReplyDeleteKathy - I can't decide if the titles or covers are better...
ReplyDeleteKim - I'll need to start putting up more pulp covers on my blog so you can see the wide variety of ridiculousness that is pulp.
Liz - Thanks! Glad you stopped by.
You might want to check out Hand Fire Books
ReplyDeletehttp://hangfirebooks.blogspot.com/
He deals in used books with a speciality in pulp. He posts pictures of book covers, at least on in four posts. Some of the things he finds are wonderful.
Your blog is looking great! Love those pulp covers!
ReplyDeleteHuh, did not know Satan was a lesbian, lol. These were great
ReplyDeleteThose are some hilarious book covers!! I hadn't seen (or heard of!) any of those previously.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if these books are even readable? Still they are great to look at!
ReplyDeleteHi visiting from the HOP! Loved your post - remind me of many of the Perry Mason covers from the mysteries I read as a YA. Love it! And that nasty Satan, hiding out as a lesbian!
ReplyDeleteI hope you will have a chance to visit one or both of my blogs: LibrarysCat and Never Forget !!
Have a great weekend!
Hey, that chick on the first cover looks like Nancy Drew all grown up. Who knew the direction she was heading!!
ReplyDeleteLove the book covers you posted...reminds me of ones I posted for a Top Ten Tuesday post (http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2010/07/top-ten-tuesday_20.html)
ReplyDeletelol just the title of Satan was a Lesbian is enough to make that cover great.
ReplyDeleteHi!
Oh My God ... these are awesome!! Hilariously awful and funny and pulpy and I love them!!! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIf Satan is a lesbian, does that mean male gay sex is okay? Just checking. Making sure I know how to hedge my bets with Jesus...
ReplyDeleteROFL! These novels look so wonderfully bad. And what's not to love about these covers? They're colorful and all the women are buxom.
ReplyDeleteGlad to know Satan is a lesbian. Maybe that's why she became a fallen angel in the first place?
James - Thanks so much for the link!
ReplyDeleteLisa - Thanks!
Blodeuedd - It's amazing what one can learn from books isn't it? :)
Amy - I just love the old pulpy covers. You should check them out just for some giggle time.
Sandy - I'm thinking they might be very very painful to read.
Library Cat - Thanks for stopping by! I'll definitely check out your blogs.
Kathy - LOL! She does! That's hilarious.
Bev - I'll check it out. Thanks for stopping by!
Lucy - I agree! It's a perfect title.
Jenners - I knew you would get a kick out of them. Pulp fiction is just so wonderfully eccentric.
Jason - Hmmm...that sounds about right! If two women going at it is the ultimate evil, then two men together must be the ultimate good. You may want to reconsider your current lifestyle choice. :)
Stephanie - Buxom is the perfect word to describe them! I think we should write the Satan was a Lesbian story as a group of bloggers. :)
Thanks for checking out my pulp covers...we do have a vibe going, don't we?
ReplyDeleteBev - Definitely!
ReplyDeleteBwahahahaha! I love these covers! I also had no idea that Satan was a lesbian (and I love that it says "Adults only" on the cover). Thanks for sharing. These were a riot.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I would read those due to the covers LOL
ReplyDeleteLMAO! Best post ever. And best books and titles ever.
ReplyDelete