Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Book Covers (Talking about Night Road by Kristin Hannah)

While I just discovered Kristin Hannah recently, I really love her books. Her writing is easy to understand, the book is emotionally engaging and it's not 'fluff'' (which refers to mindless books as opposed to chick lit). But, the book cover, I really couldn't stand. I almost didn't read the book because of the book cover, and that's the impact a good or bad book cover can have.

I wonder if you do the same, but sometimes, when I'm trying to decide if I should buy a certain book (that I've never heard of and not read before), the book cover is one of the things I (subconsciously) consider. I suppose it's because I've come to rely on the book cover as a way to tell me about the story. As they say, a picture paints a thousand words.

Anyway, the book cover for Night Road (well, my Aunty Florence's copy) looked like, to me, one of those romance novels. The ones with the predictable plot. And to me, it was completely opposite from the tone and message of the book. But I'm glad that I didn't let the book cover dictate if I should read the book. Now, I just wonder if this bias has led me to forgo many good books....

Going back to Night Road, it's a tale of growing up, and since everyone experiences growth in different ways (think of all the bildungsroman or "growing up" stories, like Huck Finn, Paddy Clarke, To Kill A Mockingbird, etc), this tale is also unique. It's uniqueness stems from its characters, which are crafted really marvelously. Sigh, this is one of the times where words really cannot express how I feel, well, not without giving away the plot.

I wonder if the last book is by Kristin Hannah as well. I hope so(:

No comments :

Post a Comment

I really do appreciate all comments, and I'll try my best to reply within 24 hours!

^_^