Pretty Things Thursday: Book Covers

I am a huge book nerd and could probably write a million posts like the one I am about to write.  I will try and keep book cover PTT posts to a minimum, because it's just so easy!

We have thousands of books, some of which have pretty awesome covers.

First up, Maps & Legends by Michael Chabon.  Nick and I are suckers for anything map related, which you'll see again later on.  So when I saw this cover I was initially disappointed that it wasn't an awesome map line drawing or illustration.  But I think this illustration is just as good.  The brown, green, and blue sections are different sized pieces of paper that form a tri-level cover of sorts.

I picked up this gem of a copy of Brideshead Revisited for a Brit Lit class in my college bookstore.  I didn't so much enjoy the discussion of the book in class, but I did enjoy the time I spent admiring the cover's insane details. 

Check out the wallpapery background behind the guys' legs.  Did you notice the green flowers on the brown suit?  Slouching in the desk in my jeans and hoodie, these dapper guys made me want to live in fancier times when everyone wore suits and dresses all of the time.

We picked up this set of Sherlock Holmes books at a book sale last year.  They look so pretty sitting on the shelf next to each other!

Each book has its own design.  Don't they look like bolts of fabric?

The cover for Migraine is not only pretty, it fascinates me.  As a migraine sufferer, it's hard to describe what happens to my vision during a migraine.  This cover explains a little bit of what happens and makes it easier for others to understand.

This is going a bit off topic, but here is an absolutely perfect example of what I see when I'm about to get a migraine.  The best way that I have been able to describe this is a blind spot that is bordered with the marching ants that display when you copy a cell in Excel.  Other than not capturing that those jags of light move around the border of the blind spot, this illustration is spot on.

Illustration in Migraine by Oliver Sacks

I discovered the line of Best American Non-Required Reading in 2004.  I love the small collection of drawings on this cover.

Each year's cover showcases a different artist.  I love the small objects in this cover, and not just because it reminds me on the Wizard of Oz.

Finally, I bring you one of the most interesting nonfiction books that I've read in a while.  Rats.  It is about just that—rats.  A guy observes how rats behave in NYC.  It's actually quite fascinating.   Here is where my love of maps comes in.  See what they did there?

I refrained from showing all seven of my special edition Harry Potters that came in a trunk that was labeled to be delivered to Hogwarts.  Perhaps I'll show them off another time.

What about you guys?  What are your favorite book covers?