A Call to Rebellion

Let's take time out to talk about book covers, shall we? You've all heard the old adage, "Don't judge a book by its cover." I'm here to tell you that's a lie. Tolerance is overrated. God gave you a brain. Use it, for crying out loud.

If a book is decorated with daisies and smiley faces, guess what? It's probably a light-hearted read. Or if it's grey and dreary looking and makes you feel weepy, it's likely going to be a drama. Is there a shirtless beefcake wrapping his arms around a doe-eyed damsel with flowing blonde hair? Romance. Yep. It's just that easy. This isn't rocket science.

What rankles me more than my husband chewing gum with his mouth open is when a reader picks up a book and expects something different than the cover is promising. Why would someone do that? Do they pick up a box of Rice-a-Roni at the grocery store and freak out when, gasp, rice comes out?

Yet that's exactly what I often see when I read reviews on Amazon or Goodreads (about books, that is, not Rice-a-Roni), people grousing about a novel not being what they expected and raking the poor author over the coals until they're all charred and blistery. Those kinds of negative reviews make me want to read the story just to see what all the fuss was about.

So here's a little pep talk for all of us . . . let's be discriminating. Designers create these things so that the consumer has an inkling of what's going to be on the inside. Be a rebel and judge books by their covers before you read them.