Judge a book by its cover?

The old adage warns us never to judge a book by its cover, though we all do, on some level. We're more likely to pick up a book with a pretty or well-designed cover than a plain one. I generally get a lot more recommendations for books with better covers.

So, here are some of my favorite books (in no particular order), and some notes on their covers.

Poison Study, by Maria V Snyder.

For those of you who've read Poison Study, you may not recognise this cover - the Australian edition. I am, in fact, Australian, so this is the cover I read the story from underneath.
The cover really is quite beautiful, and that translates into the story, as well. I read it six months or so ago, and it's one of my favorites.
The original American cover wasn't much to look at, in my opinion, however.

Nightshade, by Andrea Cremer.

A fairly recent release, it has one of the best covers I've ever seen. It's also one of the best books I've ever read. Though, if you think Nightshade is pretty, you have to see its sequel, Wolfsbane.
I wrote a review of Nightshade, if memory serves, three posts ago.

Scarlett Fever, by Maureen Johnson.

This cover is by no means bad, but it isn't spectacular either. The story, however, is amazing. It's quirky and hilarious, and with every word you can see the author's personality behind it.
Also, do yourself a favor and if you aren't already, follow Maureen on Twitter.





This isn't to say I haven't read some beautifully covered books that I didn't like.
And maybe more acclaimed novels have better covers simply because that cover attracts more readers.
Though, really, at the end of the day, most covers are irrelevant to the story. A lot of covers are designed by people who have not actually read the story.
In the comments, tell me what you think.