Ugly Book Covers: Vote for the Ugliest!
Over the winter we hosted a scavenger hunt challenge. One item on the list was to read a book with an ugly cover. Participants were competing against each other to find (and read) the book with the ugliest book cover. Now we need your help to pick the winner!
We got some truly horrific entries. Check them out then scroll down for the poll to vote on the one you think is the ugliest! The winner will be announced on June 15th. Note: Only entries that were read prior to the deadline were included in the voting. Some participants entered books but did not complete them in time.
The winner will receive their choice of print from Litographs (24X36). Litographs prints are posters with images composed of the text of a book. They offer a large range of books to choose from.
Here are the nominees:
- Herland
2. The Princess Bride
3. Purity by Jonathan Franzen
4. Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
5. Seven for a Secret by Elizabeth Bear
6. Barabbas
7. The Real Charlotte by Somerville and Ross
8. Astonishing Stories
9. A Personal Matter
10. Man’s Fate by Malraux
11. Aztec by Gary Jennings
UPDATE: Congrats to JoLene for winning this prize! The voting was really close and she won by one vote!
Think you can find an uglier cover? Post your links to ugly book covers in the comments section or share your photo on twitter or instragram (#rrscavengerhunt).
Book Worm
jenp27
Nicole Del Sesto
The Reader's Room 
This is a difficult choice, but I’m also amused because there are several I don’t think are ugly at all!
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Me too! Coincidentally, I’m reading A Personal Matter and am fascinated by its cover. I don’t know why, but it draws my eye, and not at all in a bad way.
There are two that top the list for me and, now I’ve voted, I see they top the list for most other voters as well.
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I agree, especially having read the book, that the cover is intriguing. I just hate that combination of colors, and the way they’re presented is so bland.
In other news, seeing that cover again and again this week is making me want to read it again already. I really loved it.
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I’m with you – I think A Personal Matter is a beautiful cover. Aztec, also not ugly to me. It’s an Aztec symbol.
I’m baffled by The Princess Bride cover. It’s a great cover – just NOT for that book! There are only two I find aggressively ugly.
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which two? I hate the Princess Bride cover but not sure if it’s due to the fact that it’s a total mismatch or due to the fact that I find it ugly regardless. But, I didn’t vote for that one 🙂
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I can’t fathom why The Princess Bride would have been printed with that cover—which I agree is an interesting design, but I hate the colors. The colors are also the problem for me with Herland. Other than that, Astonishing Stories is the only one I find truly ugly; most of the rest are just boring. And I quite like Unseen Academicals, probably because I never look closely at it and just enjoy the background color. 🙂
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That’s an AMAZING Princess Bride cover. It’s campy and weird, but also sort of lovely in its own way… total mismatch to the novel itself, though – I agree!
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Unfortunately I didn’t read any of the books apart from the one with my cover, so I was literally judging by the way they look, and not if they relate to the book itself.
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That’s the way to vote — based on their overall ugliness!
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JoLene, congratulations! 🙂
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You were so close and I think it’s tied again but JoLene was up by one vote at the time I tabulated. Congrats to you too even though you don’t get the prize -but second place is good!
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I know, lol, I was checking every day 🙂 When I checked it last around 16th, she was ahead @14, so I knew I didn’t win 🙂 Still was fun to participate!
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