Hi everyone! Now that 2021 is a wrap, let’s look at some pretty book covers (and a few just plain smart ones) from 2021!
Good book cover art is so important to a book’s sales, and with the rise of Bookstagrammers and then of BookTok, aesthetic book covers have become a more effective element of marketing than ever before. While the old saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” is still valid, I know we all enjoy looking at beautiful books. If you’re a self-published author or an art director, even if you have a much smaller budget than some of the publishers here, you might be inspired by the color palette, the layout, or the cool approach of one of these book cover examples.
I’ve decided not to include any book covers from my day job at Hallmark Publishing in the roundup. That’s because I really struggle to pick favorites! (Other releases by authors I’ve worked with were also disqualified, because I can’t play favorites.) If you like uplifting fiction, I hope you’ll check out Hallmark Publishing books.
I’ve tried to include beautiful book covers from several different genres, and I’ve tried to reflect several different aesthetics. I decided to do this post after looking at thousands of book covers for research at work, but obviously, I haven’t seen every cover design of 2021. Also, these things are incredibly subjective!
One interesting thing to note about book cover design is that if there’s an audiobook version, in the past year or so (?), Amazon has started to feature that cover as the thumbnail. I’m not going to go into the reasons why they’re doing that; I’ll just say this makes the audiobook design a lot more important than it used to be.
Here are some of the best book covers I saw in 2021!
1. Our Violent Ends, Chloe Gong
To be honest, it took me a minute to realize I was looking at a lighter here. Is it just me? Usually, not being able to tell what the main image is on the cover is a huge red flag. Not so here: the color palette, the typography, and the way the flames become a dragon, all add up to an gorgeous design.
2. The Plot, Jean Hanff Korelitz
This mega-bestelling psychological thriller includes excerpts from the main character’s novel, written from a plot he stole from a former student. I thought this book-cover-on-the-book-cover was clever and made a bold statement.
3. Dead Souls, Sam Riviere
This one got redesigned. I love everything about this original cover! I want to touch it. Maybe there were some concerns about readability in the thumbnail version on websites, though.
4. The Unbroken, C.L. Clark
Fantasy novels were my first love as a reader, and this epic cover captures the heroism and excitement I love in the genre.
5. Plot Twist, Bethany Turner
There’s been a huge megatrend in the last several years for contemporary romance covers that are bright and bold, with simple illustrations. I think these vary wildly in terms of quality, but I love many of them, including this one with all the little objects that form a surface pattern while suggesting elements of the story.
6. Velvet Was the Night, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Whew, this one might be my favorite? It just screams noir.
7. In the Quick, Kate Hope Day
This is the cover that inspired this post! The pink is so unexpected with the astronaut…it stopped me in my tracks the first time I saw it.
8. Malibu Rising, Taylor Jenkins Reid
The four small figures on surfboards tie in nicely with the back cover copy on this one, and the sparkling turquoise expanse is really appealing. Turquoise has been very hot for covers in the past few years (so much so that I expect it to cool off), and you’ll see a couple more examples of that in this list.
9. Song of the Forever Rains, E.J. Mellow
Montlake routinely does a great job of book cover art, and this Art Deco-inspired fantasy cover is lovely.
10. The Sentence, Louise Erdrich
Such a talented author! Maybe it’s because I’m a quilter, but I love the bold geometric look of this cover, and the seed bead detail makes it special.
11. Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, Mary Roach
A Boy Scout patch-type design with a bear ransacking a trash can. Great concept for the book!
12. The Lost Apothecary, Sarah Penner
Lush florals have been a big cover art trend in recent years, and this is a spectacular example.
13. Island Queen, Vanessa Riley
I’m a longtime fan of Vanessa Riley, and I think this cover, in particular, is even more striking on the shelf than it is on the computer screen.
14. The Duke Heist, Erica Ridley
Old-school historical romance concept, gorgeous all-gold palette. I just love it.
15. Harlem Shuffle, Colson Whitehead
I love how all the elements come together. It just looks like a classic.
16. Great Circle, Maggie Shipstead
This one has a classic feel, too!
17. The Escapement, Lavie Tidhar
Inspired by Mardi Gras and classic playing cards. Love it!
18. Never Saw Me Coming, Vera Kurian
Another cover from Park Row! Nice work, friends. This New York Times pick for best thrillers of 2021 has a really arresting title and design combination.
19. An Orange, Ted Dodson
This is a poetry collection from Pioneer Works, and it’s so minimal the title isn’t even on the cover. I put a little bit of a black line around the cover for the sake of this blog post, so it wouldn’t blend with the background. This is exactly why a lot of publishers shy away from white covers (which may have also been a factor in the Dead Souls re-design above.) But I just love the look of this, and I’m not usually a minimalist!
20. How to Find a Princess, Alyssa Cole
I love Cole’s books, and all her covers in this series are knockouts.
21. The Fire Keeper’s Daughter, Angeline Boulley
I really like the illustration on this YA cover.
What did you think of my picks? If you know of another one you want to share, you should feel free to link to it in the comments! If it’s your book and you want to talk about the decisions you made, I think that would be really interesting, too. I’m already saving good 2022 book covers for next year’s post, so if you want me to consider one, let me know on Twitter! Thanks for reading, and I hope you’re having a great week!
Xio Axelrod’s Girl With The Stars in Her Eyes was one of my faves. Bold colors and great colors! The face and I love the detail in the glasses. And it’s very fitting for the story that she’s kind of hiding behind the words, like she prefers to let her music speak for her, if that makes sense? And Annabeth Albert’s Geek Who Saved Christmas. It’s just a fun illustration that makes you feel just as happy as the story does.
Thanks for these!!
I almost had that one on here!! I thought maybe I had too many face closeups 😀 But I love that cover. I haven’t read the book yet. It sounds terrific. The Geek Who Saved Christmas is so cute, I just looked it up now!
I think my favorite was for “Our Violent Ends.” The detail is so intricate. I wouldn’t have known it was a lighter if you hadn’t mentioned it. They’re all inspiring.
Hi Tom! Okay good, I’m not the only one!! It really is gorgeous, though, so it doesn’t matter. Thanks for stopping by and for chatting! Hope 2022 is treating you right so far. 🙂
A book I read a couple of years ago (in the self-help genre) by a special ops guy named Jocko Wilink is black with a silhouette of his uniquely tough-looking and massively faced and trademark bald head. It’s become his company trademark to some extent. Being a guy, it just says “toughness” to me and might be part of why I reached for it. That book (which is very short, and sparse of text, almost to a poetic extent) is titled Discipline = Freedom.
Another thing I’d mention is that when I was a kid and videogames were prevalent in my life, I’d spend a lot of time looking at the covers of videogame boxes for rental in Blockbuster Video. They varied quite a bit, and certainly got better with time as advancements in printing allowed more computer generated 3dish gradients, realistic shadowing and reflections rather than cartoony or painted scenes.
Lastly, when I was in high tech, the go-to programming books (going back to my college years, when there were actually tech bookstores) were those written and published by O’Rielly Publishing, which all have their trademark black-and-white animal covers. There’s even an article on how they came to be (search for the article: The Story Behind all the Animals on O’Reilly’s Book Covers, by David Cassel).
My favorite of your selections above is the astronaut one. Reminds me of somebody, plus clicking the link and reading the synopsis and critical acclaim makes me want to see how it goes and how it ends. Just added it to my Amazon cart. Maybe it will help direct me in writing out the female lead in the book/screenplay I’m writing.
I always loved the O’Reilly covers! There was something about both the cover and overall book design that made me want to read them, no matter the topic.
I was unfamiliar with those covers! I just looked…those are so smart and sharp. It makes me want to learn more things! 😀
Hi Chris! I couldn’t immediately find the Jocko Wilink one you’re talking about…I’m on my break and about to get back to work so I’m going to look again later. 🙂 Isn’t that astronaut one great? So simple but so iconic! Hope your new year is off to a good start!
This is a great selection and it gives me lots of ideas for my next book. Thank you for sharing. My favourite was The Escapement.
Thanks for visiting, Naomi! Always nice to see you 🙂 Good luck on the next book!
Nice selections! Island Queen is one of my favorite.
Thanks! And yes, it’s so good!
Great covers!
Katherine Center’s have beautiful coordinated florals.
denise
Hey there! I just checked them out…oh my goodness, they are to die for! One probably would’ve made this list if I’d seen them. I’m so glad you mentioned them!
The Shattered Castle by Jennifer A. Nielsen is THE most beautiful cover I’ve ever seen. I have it standing up in my room so I can look at it every day.