For the past half an hour I have been sitting here browsing through the Advanced Reading Copies (ARCs) And I suddenly noticed something that I was doing without even realising it. I was refusing to look at books whose covers didn’t catch my eye.

Now, I don’t think I am necessarily judging a book by its cover… no – it more that I refuse to even read into the book unless the cover stimulates my mind. So for the past few minutes I have been pondering the notion of why that is. Why is it that I am not interested unless it catches my eye?

Because I am a visual person.

My mind needs visual stimulation to engage. (Go figure that one!) But the fact of the matter is – about a third of the world’s population are ‘visual’ people. And if a third of the world’s population are visual, and if they are anything like me and refuse to look at a book unless it engages my visual mind – then the authors who wrote those books are missing out on a massive readership. The books could be bloody fantastic for all I know. But since they aren’t capturing my attention, then I’m not looking at them. No… I’m off looking at some other book with a pretty cover – maybe even a book that could possibly be the crappiest read I have ever picked up.

I wrote a post back in January on Sexy Designer Covers. And I still stand by my thoughts and opinions in that post. But in that post – I showed everyone gorgeous covers that all had ‘cover girls’. (Possibly because the majority market the authors are aiming at are female.) But there are many more covers out there that are different and unusual that will capture my eye.

I don’t care what market you are aiming for, as long as you show me something I like. Give me something smart… something different… something that tells me a little about the book without me even having to make the effort of picking it up. If you can do that, then you have halfway sold me the book before I even read the back cover blurb.

Be ‘cover-smart’.

So – I’m going to show you some more covers of books I have read that have most definitely caught my attention. These books are a few series that come as highly recommended reads from me as well. If they ‘look’ like your cup of tea – then pick them up for a read.

THE GRAVEYARD QUEEN series: Not only are the covers unusual and engaging – these books are thrilling and compelling reads from an extremely talented writer – Amanda Stevens. If you like ghost stories, anything paranormal, or just a damn good read that you seriously can’t put down – then pick these books up. They will keep you up through the night reading, and you won’t regret the experience.

THE MATCHED TRILOGY: I know that YA dystopian fiction is a really hot topic at the moment, but this is a fantastic series. (I must admit – I haven’t read the third book yet – but I can’t wait to get my hands on it.) I would never ever have bothered to pick these books up if it weren’t for the covers. There was just something that drew me to the girl who was trapped in a glass bubble.

THE BLACK MAGICIAN TRILOGY: How amazing are these covers? They are so different from anything else in the fantasy genre at the moment, yet they are also very balanced.  If you enjoy fantasy books – then definitely pick up this series as a nice introduction to how Trudi Canavan writes.