Wednesday, January 13, 2016

I Have Stuart MacBride Covered!


Sometimes I really wonder about myself. Ever since Denis and I returned from the UK and I've worked on one of this posts comparing the US and UK covers of a specific crime fiction title, a vision of Harrod's book department flashes before my eyes. (And I drool every time.) I wonder if my subconscious is telling me that I should've made a purchase?

Too late now!

This week I've chosen another favorite author of mine, Stuart MacBride. The covers for the title I've chosen are very similar, and I don't know if that makes comparison easier or more difficult. 

Let's take a look!



 

See what I mean? They're basically identical with the only real differences being in the color and font choices. In fact they're so similar that I'm not going to do my usual breakdown for each cover.

The one thing that piques my interest is the fact that the UK cover is the one that has a blurb on the front telling us that it's "A Riveting Page-Turner." All the US cover says in that regard is that it's "The New Logan McRae Novel." I would think that-- since MacBride is a UK author-- that the US cover would be more in need of that page-turning blurb than the UK cover. Perhaps MacBride is better known over here than I realized?

Both covers have the same (rather bland) waterside scene. The US cover uses two splashes of red-- one for the author's name, and one for the shoe lying on the ground. However, the UK cover uses a pale yellow for MacBride's name, and the shoe is white, which blends into the very grey background compared to the more blue hued one in the US.

Which cover do I prefer? Neither one is the most scintillating cover that I've ever seen, but they're not bad. I do prefer the fonts and the red used on the US cover, I must admit. If I walked past in the bookstore, this would be the one that would jump out at me and insist on being brought home.

How about you? Which cover do you prefer? US? UK? Neither one? Too close to call? Inquiring minds would love to know!



10 comments:

  1. I like the US cover, too, Cathy. I especially like that it doesn't have a blurb on it. I really prefer covers that don't.

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  2. I like the red. It does stand out more, plus the author name is bigger. Another series that I have the first and need to start. See why I want to read the books on my shelves?

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    1. Oh, I understand all right! I read over 150 books per year from my shelves (I'm not counting ARCs), but I just can't seem to stop adding more as I go along! LOL

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  3. I prefer the US cover, too. It's the red shoe - and the fact that it tells me that it's part of a series. That's an important bit of info for me.

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    1. Yes, that little red shoe draws my eye, too. It's as though it wants to tell me a story.

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  4. The red is the only thing about the two covers that really pops, so that would be the thing that would draw me the most.

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    1. It seems that the color red is the deciding factor for all of us here-- but not on Facebook. Vive la différence! :-)

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  5. Well, I'll weigh in here with a strong opinion. I prefer the U.S. cover, not only because of the red ink, but more importantly to me, the font and design is easier for me to read.

    The touching and overlapping of the letters makes me feel like I'm trying to read an eye chart. Too hard to read!

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    1. I had someone say almost exactly the same thing to me in an email, Kathy, and I agree with both of you.

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