To celebrate winter, I've decided to put together a little list of my favourite winter-themed book covers. I definitely wouldn't consider winter to be my favourite season but I am a bit partial to it because a) my birthday and b) Christmas and c) New Year's. But thinking about it now, those are mostly all in December so really I just love December and not the actual season. Which seems fair enough. Whoever said that Canadians love winter is wrong, okay? Just because we spend a good one-third of our year stuck in winter does not mean that we like it. Or maybe I'm just speaking for myself. But I'm pretty sure anyone could get sick of winter after having to deal with the freezing weather, gross wet snow, ice, and sucky driving conditions for three months and sometimes four. Though to be honest it hasn't been that bad this year. But I talked about that in my last post so I won't get into that again.
You know it's funny though because despite all the horrible truths about winter - the slush, the freezing weather, the terrible driving conditions, the possibility of an ice storm that shuts down all electricity - we still love to romanticize it. Besides Valentine's Day, the winter time might just be the most romantic time of the year. Or maybe even more so because who actually likes Valentine's Day? Now I don't really know why, over the years, winter has been honoured with this lovey image but perhaps the below zero temperatures really draw out our affection for each other? Regardless of the reason, I have to admit that as much as I try to hate on winter, there really is something magical about it all. Especially when Christmas swings around, it's hard not to feel like you're living in your very own made-for-TV holiday special! So to celebrate this wonderful time, I've put together a collage of 13 books with beautiful winter-themed covers!
Another graphic novel to add to my ever-growing list of ones to read. I see this all the time whenever I visit my school library and am always inclined to pick it up - now even MORE so because well, it's winter! And look at that beautiful winter cover! But unlike most of the others, Blankets has a very chilling, isolating feeling. And I think those are sorta the two extremes of the type of covers we have here: on one end there's the really cute, lovey-dovey cover and on the other end, there's the bleak, almost grim cover. And for me, Blankets seems to fit that bill a bit better. But that isn't to say that it isn't pretty because it really is. But it's pretty in a different way.
Another cover that seems to fit the bleak bill better. In fact, it fits the bill rather perfectly. What could be more bleak and grim than being trapped in a snow storm? Worst nightmare. And I love how the cover really exudes that emotion through the colours and I also love how it's really simple but aesthetically interesting? It's not bright, it doesn't have fancy flourishes but it still stands out to me.
This is another one that is really visually stunning for me for the same reasons as Trapped. It's not bright but the focus on the person running through the woods and the little blurry snowflakes around the cover are really pretty... Wow we are not off to a great start so far. Curse my inability to say anything about these covers that doesn't sound innately dumb.
This is probably one of my favourite covers in this post. Honestly. I love the colours that were used and how they were used and I like how the lines are very clean-cut, making it seem like the cover was made using paper cut-outs and I like how beautiful the trees look. I LOVE TREES. As you will soon find out. I actually think trees are just about one of the most gorgeous things on our planet and whenever trees are in anything, I immediately love it. Case in point, The Snow Child.
I like this cover mostly because it's like an image I'd see in my day-to-day life out on the streets in a quiet residential neighborhood. And because of that, it struck some wistful chord in me. You don't know how much I want to live in a grand ole house one day with a giant bright red door. This is literally the door of my dreams. Okay, moving on.
Man, do I prefer this over the blue cut-out snowflakes cover. Which is cute as cut out snowflakes always are but this is just such a less awkward cover. The placement of things on that one always left me with question marks but here? No question marks! Okay I admit, it's still not in my top three covers of this list but it's still really, really cute and wintry.
So now you guys know about my love for trees so maybe you can figure out why I love this cover in particular? YES. TREE. Especially a tree cloaked in snow. I think that's probably one of the most beautiful sights, maybe at the top with a cherry blossom tree full of budding flowers - which was another thought I had when I saw this cover because of the colours. Which by the way are gorgeous! I love the gradation and the white border is gorgeous and then the way the title is placed and the font... I LOVE THIS COVER SO FREAKING MUCH.
I am a little in love with how adorable this cover is. Everything from the colour scheme to the teeny tiny illustrations of the people and the Ferris wheel inside the snow globe is so CUTE. I still have no idea what this book is about but I don't care, all I know is that I want it in my hands NOW.
I've always wanted to read a Rachel Hawthorne book just because they seem like the perfect, cutesy read but the thing is, I never see them ever in the bookstores or libraries here. If I did, this would be numero uno on my December TBR because SKI TRIP. You can't get more winter than that. But also, cute cover alert again! I really just think I love anything with hearts and fluffy clouds.
This cover is still one of my favourite-winter themed covers. I am OBSESSED with the little heart shaped snowflakes and the pretty houses in the background and the signs with the title and the author names. It just feels SO New York even though nothing really gives the impression that it is New York but I DON'T KNOW, it just is to me! And New York during the winter is probably the best thing ever if Miracle on 34th Street is anything to judge by. (By the way, how cute was Natalie Wood in that movie??)
Illustrated covers are my literal fave. And I love the illustrations here. I like the symmetry. I like the font of the titles. I love the blue sky with the nicely size snow, interspersed evenly throughout. The only thing is the font and colour of the author's name but that's a little thing compared to the rest of this stinking gorgeous cover!
I've always loved this cover because it's just so stunning. I love the gradation of the navy blue in the background and also the gradation in quantity and size with the snowflakes. I ALSO love the silhouetted figure and the ground which looks like crumpled sheets of paper but either way, I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. It's just the title font that bugs me but the rest is really pretty and I think it's probably the cover that hits the winter theme best for me? I don't know, there's just something about it that really entrances me.
I want to read this book so bad! Literally every single time I see this in someone's book haul, my voice cracks a little with emotion because I still don't have this in my hands. I was actually debating which version of the cover to include here because they're both freaking gorgeous but I ended up with this one because I think it's more winter-y which is sorta what we're aiming for here? THIS COVER IS STILL CUTE THOUGH. I love illustrated covers so much and this makes my heart happy. I can rest in peace.
And as usual, it is now your turn to SPEAK YOUR MIND. In the poll below, vote for your favourite covers! I've added the option this time to vote for more than one cover because I know it can be hard to just pick one when there are so many you like. SO VOTE, GO CRAZY. Looking forward to seeing what you guys have to say!
Which of these winter-themed covers strikes your fancy the most?
