Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Book Covers I'd Frame as Pieces of Art

In which Sam starts out serious then slowly descends into goofing off, but can you blame her?  She just finished law school!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so we'll let the covers do the talking today!  One caveat: this is a JUDGMENT-FREE ZONE.  I promise not to judge you, if you promise not to judge me :-)

As always, thanks to The Broke and Bookish for this fabulous feature!

10.  Nick Bantock, Sabine's Notebook.  The entire trilogy is a delight, but it was the art on the second book I found most enchanting.

Image Courtesy of the Denver Public Library

9.  J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit.  More specifically, the one I first had my hands on, which according to Wikipedia, was a first edition (?!?) That can't be right . . . 

Image Courtesy of Wikipedia

8.  Joanne Fluke, the Hannah Swensen mystery series.  Okay, remember how we promised not to judge each other?  Think of how cute these prints would look all lined up in a kitchen!  Morbid, yes . . . but cute!

Image Courtesy of Sheppard Memorial Library's Pinterest

7.  Katherine Ashe, How to Marry a Highlander.*

 . . . REMEMBER HOW WE TALKED ABOUT NOT JUDGING.

Image Courtesy of Katherine Ashe and Also Scotland

Listen, listen, though. I'm Scottish.
 . . . 

Moving on.

6.  Chris Van Allsburg, Jumanji.  Or, you know, literally any page from any book by Chris Van Allsburg.

Image Courtesy of 3 Blue @ Hill Mead Primary School

5.  Collin Thompson, How to Live Forever.  One of the most beautiful children's books I've ever read, and a bibliophile's dream to page through.

I'm also noticing I tend to go back to children's books for beautiful art . . . anyone else in the same boat?

Image Courtesy of Mrs. O's Blog of Children's Literature

4.  Rick Riordan, The Kane Chronicles.  I was tempted to include ALL of Rick Riordan's covers, because I think they're all beautiful (BEFORE THEY WERE MARRED BY THE FILM COVERS) but since I couldn't, I'll include The Kane Chronicles because they get less play and love, but I think they're equally amazing and I actually think the covers are more beautiful and vibrant than the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series.

Image Courtesy of Clean Teen Reads

3.  Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Mists of Avalon.  You may begin to sense a theme as the top of the list approaches . . . the theme being women . . . with swords.

Image Courtesy of the Misadventures of Moppet

2. Garth Nix, Abhorsen.  It was a tough call between Abhorsen, Lirael, Sabriel, and Across the Wall, because I love Leo and Diane Dillon's cover art.  (That's why I am VERY disappointed that the cover art for the upcoming Clariel looks to be in a different vein, akin to the more recent reissues of the Old Kingdom novels.)  But in the end, I have to  go with the final book in the trilogy, with Lirael captured at an absolutely gorgeous moment in the story.

Image Courtesy of Neoseeker

1. Tamora Pierce, The Song of the Lioness (omnibus).  My favorite cover featuring Alanna, and one of the few pieces of art I look at and think, "There. Yes. That is who I want to be."  I like my art inspirational, and there's nothing more inspiring to me than this piece of art.

Hmm . . . let's see how I manage in corporate America! :-(

Image Courtesy of the Tamora Pierce Wiki

Happy Tuesday, readers!  Thanks for stopping by!

-Sam

*All jokes aside (especially the joke about wanting to frame the cover) I've actually read (and enjoyed) How to Marry a Highlander.  I highly recommend it for an otherwise tedious activity, e.g. sitting at the DMV.