Top 10 of 2012: Best Book Covers of 2012 (Cover Lovin' #3)

Welcome to Day Two! And for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, go here, feel the awesomeness of Day One that you missed out on, and then be welcomed into Day Two. Guess what we get to do today? Look at pretty pictures! And no, I'm actually not kidding.

Today is actually right up my alley. I've been known to stare at a piece of grass for hours on end, taking about three hundred photographs of it until I come up with something I'm satisfied with. And why was I taking pictures of grass, you ask? Well, if I knew the answer to that question, then I wouldn't have had to take three hundred of them until I got it right, now would I?

The point is that I'm always thinking about stuff like this. How things should be framed, what's screwing up my shot, and how the light reflects off of different surfaces to present a unique illusion. I find all of it fascinating, trying to pick apart how something like that is created and try to replicate those same techniques. Some may call me crazy.... and what the heck, they're probably right.

Here are some of the most amazing book covers that I've seen so far this year:

Lullaby by Amanda Hocking

The thing that I like about this one is how bright and beautiful everything is without seeming so unrealistic and overdone. The dress and the feathers stand out perfectly, and the water is just so incredibly vivid that I'm jealous. 

Breathe by Sarah Crossan

I like the dark and desolate feeling that this cover presents, but I really appreciate that they were willing to throw some color in there within the "bubble" of the city. The contrast of the three people against its light is great, and I love the placement of the title behind them.

Beguiled by Rashelle Workman

The picture itself here is very simple, but the cover artist spent a lot of time trying to craft all of the creatures into the foreground. The animals made out of fire are really cool, and a lot of care was taken to add in the little things, like the faint planets overlaid on top of the girl.

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

This one.... oh my gosh.... I love this one. It is so beautiful and majestic and perfect, that I'm sure it took countless shots to create, but it really doesn't look that way. The color palette is really simple, but it fits in so well that anything else would have seemed overdone. I don't know who came up with this, but somebody needs to send them a box of chocolate!

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

There is a whole lot of interesting contrast going on in this one. There really isn't much color to it, but I personally think it fits in well with what the author is trying to get across. The way it's framed, I keep wanting to look around the girl and see more of the crumbling city, and everything about it makes me want to know more about the book.

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

This thing is bea-u-ti-ful. I can't really tell how they made this. At first I thought it was a photograph, then I swore by the fact that it was a painting, but now I'm leaning back to highly airbrushed and digitized picture. Either way, it's still awesome. My favorite part about it is the clockwork in the background, which I didn't notice until a really long time after I first saw it.

Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

This one is simple and elegant all at the same time. It really only has varying shades of one color, but not once have I thought that it's needed anything more than that. I love that her face is shadowed and that her skin stands out so much against everything else. It's so mysterious with the red smoke, which makes me want to know even more about it.

Illuminate by Aimee Agresti

I'm not really sure what it is about this cover that I like, but it's certainly something. I know that you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but before I even read what it was about, I knew that I was going to be getting my hands on it. The shadowed wing intrigued me, the girl looked like she really had something to say, and the texture of the wall was greatly appreciated, seeing as how texture is one of the most neglected things in book covers. At least in my opinion.

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

This cover is coooooool!!! Whatever they did to make the smoke rise up and blend in with the dress, I want it. Bad. It's amazing! There's a lot of depth to it for just being smoke, and I don't really see a beginning or ending point for it, so whoever took care of this did a really good job.

Tempest by Julie Cross

This cover is one of my favorites because it is so unique. If you look at all of the others, you'll see that eight out of nine of them involve the camera looking directly at the cover model, and the other one is just silhouettes. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but this one is a very beloved breath of fresh air. Just from the cover you can tell that something big is going down, making me really excited to dive into the story that it holds.

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Now if I'm being completely honest here, I have to admit that I've only actually read one of these books so far this year. I know, I know, I'm a horrible person, but I swear they're all on The LIST. They will all be read.... eventually. Hopefully sooner rather than later, but I'm going to have to just take what I can get.

And I suppose this post qualifies as a Cover Lovin' post, right? Eh, what the heck, it's close enough.

So what beautiful covers have been your guys' favorites this year?