Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Foreign Edition Book Covers
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every Tuesday, the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a top ten list topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and make our own lists. You can check out all the other Top Ten Tuesday‘s on their site!
***
Guys, I’m excited about this Top Ten Tuesday!! You know why? Because I think we all love a good, pretty, perfect, attention-grabbing (in a good way) cover. I know I do. The little joy you get from seeing a cover that MAKES you want to grab a book and read it is one of my favorite book-nerd feelings. I think–by and large–we get lucky with lots of the US covers for books. But instead of highlighting my favorite covers that we’ve all seen before, I wanted to shout out some of my favorite foreign edition covers instead. In fact, I MIGHT say that I like these foreign editions better than our US-edition covers. Maybe. I’ll let you know. Let us proceed!
Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor (UK). I LOVE THIS COVER. I love the feathers and their dark, opalescent texture. SO PERFECT. No lie: I like this edition’s cover better than the US version and I’ve toyed seriously with buying myself a copy just because it’s so pretty! *SIGH*
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (UK). This cover for THE SCORPIO RACES is so lovely! It’s nice and bright, and I LOVE that heart! I like how the colors are vibrant but not…pretty, maybe? Like, the book is kind of serious and dark, and the colors give that vibe, too, without being as serious-looking as the US edition.
Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson (UK). Guys, AMY AND ROGER’S EPIC DETOUR is one of my favorite contemps, not only because the main character has a FAB name, but because it’s probably my favorite road trip book. Sweet, fun, and heartfelt. The US cover is cool, but this cover totally captures that retro, road trip, Route 66, tourist trap, eating junk food in my car thing. I love it. LOVE IT.
Graceling (The Seven Kingdoms Trilogy #1) by Kristin Cashore (Denmark). So, this publisher printed GRACELING in two volumes, and I love their antique-looking illustrated covers. (Although I HOPE the guy on the second cover isn’t supposed to be Po because…NOT good-looking.) I look at these covers and I know instantly that I’m reading a fantasy. The US covers are AWESOME, but I like these, too. I’m a SUCKER for an illustrated cover.
Lament/Ballad (Books of Faerie #1-2) by Maggie Stiefvater (Bulgaria). I had to put both of these on here because I love how they take the original US versions and go all Spinal Tap on ’em (um, turn them up to 11). The colors and textures are vibrant; I love how real the fire looks on the BALLAD cover. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the depth of the shamrock heart on LAMENT. It looks so three-dimensional.
Emerald Green (Edelstein Trilogy #3) by Kerstin Gier (Germany). The original covers for this series–already published in full in its native Germany–are so whimsical and fun. I love the fonts and the historical-looking illustration. Gwen + Gideon 4 EVA! (Don’t get me started on the US cover on the soon-to-be-released SAPPHIRE BLUE, the second book in this series. ARGH!!)
White Cat (Curse Workers #1) by Holly Black (Germany). So I haven’t read this series yet, but I think the cover is GORGEOUS. I love the white butterfly on the red flower. You guys who’ve read this will have to tell me if it at least makes sense. But SO PRETTY!
The Moorehawke Trilogy by Celine Kiernan (Australia). YO!!! These covers are THE SHIZZZ!! Seriously. The Australian covers for The Moorehawke Trilogy make me wish that I could display the books on my shelves cover-out. Because CHECK IT: You put all three covers in a row, and what are separate, AWESOMELY illustrated covers turn into one huge mural-cover. I can’t even. Capillya @ That Cover Girl shows BIG LOVE for it, and the cover artist, Elise Hurst talks about them on her site, too. So crazy good.
Twilight (Twilight #1) by Stephanie Meyer (Thailand). So I know that there’s a head that’s perpendicular to the cover’s orientation and sometimes people don’t like that (it does usually irk me just a teeny bit), and I’m not sure about the hand Bella’s holding and how it would get from Edward behind her around her neck at that angle without being awkward and uncomfortable. BUT when I was looking at TWILIGHT covers, this was one of only a few that didn’t simply reuse or slightly alter the two-white-arms-holding-a-red-apple image from the US edition. And I love the watercolor-looking image and the COLORS.
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (Portugal). I think this cover is kind of retro with the gradient color blocks and I’m a BIG FAN of the fact that they took that girl’s face away. But what I think is super awesome about this BEFORE I FALL cover is the dandelion. I can’t remember if that’s a thing from the book, so if it is, PROPS. If not, it’s still a fantastic metaphor.
*I WANTED to pick my favorite foreign-edition Harry Potter cover for this list but two things happened: One, I couldn’t decide which was my fave. Seven books + untold foreign editions = bazillions of covers to choose from. And two, in truth, I’m pretty partial to the US covers of the Harry Potter series. I LOVE covers that have illustrations on them, and I think the US covers in all their pastel glory are pretty boss.
These are all wonderful! Not that I’m biased towards one or anything. 😉 Great picks!
Haha…seriously, those covers are AWESOME. I put them on here because I remembered seeing that post on your site and DYING. So creative!
Oh what a fun take on the meme! I love that you posted the foreign covers and some are just really very fun to look at. 🙂
Ree @ Literary Obsession
My TTT Post
Thanks so much! I think it’s fun too! They don’t get enough attention, I don’t think, which is a shame because LOOK! They’re so pretty!
I love this take on this weeks ttt! Sometimes I don’t think foreign editions get much love.
Julia @ TBtB & CompBiblio
Thanks! I was super excited to do it because I agree. More foreign edition cover love!
The covers for Graceling are actually Danish (from Denmark), not Dutch (from Netherlands). Common mix-up:)
I did Top Ten UK covers this week, and I also have The Scorpio Races on my list:)
Gah! Thanks for pointing that out. So much for double-checking! Fixed!
What a cool idea to spotlight foreign editions. The Scorpio Races is so pretty. And the Before I Fall interpretation is very original. I’m a big fan of the book but must admit I don’t remember the dandelion. It works, though!
I can’t remember about the dandelion, either! But I still love it. 🙂
Wonderful idea to pick foreign covers!
And I have to agree that the German cover of Rubyred and Saphireblue are so beautiful. They are on my bookshelf and I still need to read the last one.
Greetings from Vienna, Austria,
Karin
Hi Karin!! Thanks for visiting! I’m so jealous that you have the original covers of these books! Have you seen the US cover for Sapphire Blue? It doesn’t hold a candle to these! (Although the US cover for Ruby Red is very pretty.)
I’m totally loving the UK edition cover love – I actually think I preferred the US version of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, but I totally agree with The Scorpio Races cover being better in the UK.
And I totally love the Bulgarian Lament/Ballad covers – never seen them before!
Thanks for picking such an original topic – great post!
Isn’t UK cover for The Scorpio Races awesome? I like it better than the US version for sure. And those Bulgarian covers are AMAZING. Seriously, you should check out Maggie Stiefvater’s FB page because she has an album of all her foreign covers. I swear, she has some of the best ones.
Some awesome editions there – I especially like the Amy & Roger cover. It’s much better than the one I have.
I like BOTH covers of Amy & Roger (the US and UK versions), but the UK version is so fun! It totally captures the vibe, I think.
I LOVE your list! I’ve really always adored the Amy & Roger edition. I don’t know if I could pick between that cover and the US one. I love them both. Great list!
My Top Ten Tuesday
Thank you! 🙂 I don’t know if I could pick between those two either. I seriously think they’re both great.
Whoa – I’ve already looked at a bunch of these posts and you just knocked my socks off. The Scorpio Races = FANTASTIC. And the cover for Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour is just awesome – fun and tattoo-y but also pretty! But the real gems of the bunch? The Moorehawke Trilogy. WOW. I’ve never even heard of this trilogy, but now I want to read it just so I can see the covers up close and personal. T.O.B. gets a gold star for this Top 10 Tuesday 🙂
Aww, thank you! I’m so glad that you like my little list! Yay! 😀
The Moorehawke Trilogy covers are AMAZING. Alas, I don’t know where to get them here in the US. The US covers of that series are NOWHERE near as awesome. Not even close 🙁 The books sound awesome though!
Some really nice ones there!
Yay! I love them all!
Love this idea! Sometimes I feel like I shouldn’t like foreign covers better than the US versions – that ingrained “Buy American” mentality I guess – but I can’t help it! They’re so much more fun sometimes! One of my favorites is the UK cover for Girl of Fire and Thorns. It’s SO different than the US cover and really captures what I feel the setting of the story actually is. I’m a huge fan of that Emerald Green cover; wonder if I can learn German to read it? 🙂
I know, I wish I spoke another language so I could justify buying some of these covers! The Emerald Green cover is so great, and the German covers of the other two books in that series are just a wonderful. Also, THEY MATCH, which is more than I can say for the US printings of these books. Grrrr…
The foreign covers are GORGEOUS. I want to learn another language just to have an excuse for alternate covers such as these.
ME TOO. Let’s do it. 🙂
LOVE Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Emerald Green is gorgeous!! Here is my Top Ten
That Daughter of Smoke and Bone cover is so pretty, right? I love it. I love the feathers and the colors.
I LOVE the Twilight cover.
I was so surprised by that one! I swear, most of the Twilight covers I saw just reused the same image from the US cover, so this one caught my eye. And I love the way it looks drawn, and the colors are pretty too!
Wow, those Graceling covers are fantastic! I totally want them now.
Alison at The Cheap Reader
I LOVE them! I was going to put the UK cover of Graceling or Fire on here, but then I remembered these and it was no contest. I think these are so cool.
Love the Amy & Roger cover!
Me too! So fun! Thanks so much for stopping by! 🙂
I love what you did here with the non-US covers! They’re all so beautiful. My eyes are so US-centric that EVERY ONE OF THESE is gorgeous and different and I want them all.
Love the personalization in this list!
Yay!! 😀 I know what you mean about each of them catching your eye. I think they’re all gorgeous.
These are great! I love the cover for AMY & ROGER although the typography in the US edition is stunning. And the Before I Fall metaphor is fabulous.
I know. I think the Amy & Roger cover is the one that I really can’t decide if I like the foreign edition better because I LOVE them both. And I really do love that dandelion on the Before I Fall cover! Is that from the book? I cannot for the life of me remember, I read it so long ago. Still pretty, though.
OMG I love your foreign picks, especially since the only foreign covers I usually ever see come from other English speaking countries like the UK or Australia. I don’t even know where to start, I love them all. The biggest shock for me was the Thai cover of Twilight. It made me think ‘I have to read this book’ in a way that I never thought I’d feel about Twilight (but of course, I have read it).
So glad you liked them! I tried to get covers from non-English-speaking places because I’m like you: most of the foreign editions I see are from the UK. I mean, I had to put some on here because they’re so awesome, but that cover of Twilight gives a totally different vibe from the US version, right? I love it.
OMG the UK cover of Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour is gorgeous!! I love it! Great choices of the covers 🙂 😉
I love those. The Moorehawke Trilogy cover are specially stunning!
My Top Ten