More Best Book Covers of 2008

The Book Design Review has posted their picks for the best book covers of 2008, a topic they cover all year 'round with entertaining authority, and the main reason I'm linking to it (aside from letting you know it's there), is to get a chance to talk about one of their picks, the paperback reissue of Henry Harrison's "classic novel of the overpopulated future," Make Room! Make Room! Oh lord, this one, designed by Jamie Stafford-Hill, makes me just giddy with delight (maybe because I'm completely afraid of heights), and desire to read the book. It needs to be large to appreciate its vertiginous glory:

Maybe I'm alone on this one: the BDR has a voting widget, and Make Room! is only getting 4% of the votes so far, and no mentions in the busy comments section. A lot of the commenters love the Obsession cover, which is pretty wonderful, although I'd missed its impressive display of its subject on first glance (you might need to see a full image to get it). I also like the joke of The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and the visceral power of Company of Liars (both UK editions):

Lauren's already posted about our own top 10 covers of the year, which I think hold up pretty well (although I can't believe I forgot about Make Room! when it was time to make our nominations). I just wanted to highlight two of my favorites on that list, and one that didn't make the cut. I spent the first half of the year wanting to read Pictures at a Revolution--in part because of the subject matter, but in part because of the thrilling cover. (The book turned out to be as delicious as I'd hoped, but I can't believe they are using a different cover for the paperback!) And I find the cover of Ms. Hempel Chronicles so delicate and evocative (which matches the very appealing reviews of it I've seen--I've spent the second half of the year wanting to read this one, but I haven't gotten to it yet). And then one that didn't make the final cut: Orcs, which I have to say I have little desire to read, but when I saw it at BookExpo, I couldn't help but pick it up. And the final physical edition is even better than the photo, with a matte finish, red-dyed page edges, and a nice floppy/heavy heft to it--I'd love to carry it around, even if I wasn't reading it. (I should also note the pitch-perfect (and diametrically opposed) blurbs the last two feature: "'Pure pleasure.'--Jonathan Franzen" for Ms. Hempel, and "Buy now or beg for mercy later."--Tad Williams" for Orcs.)

All this reminds me that some of my favorite covers of the year could never be found in our warehouses (or anyone else's): the fake covers for fake books concocted in support of Nathaniel Rich's The Mayor's Tongue (whose excellent actual cover made the BDR's list too). --Tom

P.S. One more recent release I forgot to mention (but it's sitting right by my desk). The book itself may be strictly for Stern fans (of whom there are apparently enough to have kept this in our top 25 for most of the past month), but the cover of Artie Lange's Too Fat to Fish is absolute genius.