Our Day of (Book Cover) Judgment
1 Corinthians 4:5: People should wait for Layla and Sophia to judge, and not judge before the appointed time. Amen.
Covers are meant to be judged — sorry! As a premiere literary Substack, we get the best perk of all: free books. Our apartments are filled with stacks of galleys and today we wanted to engage in a little bit of healthy cover judgment. Below, a look at our current stacks and a vulnerable look at (one of our) un-manicured hands.
LOCAL WOMAN. by Jzl Jmz - Nightboat Books, April 29
Skinny cig, long nails, period at the end of the title…not to mention cigarette warning packaging! We’re big fans of the indie press Nightboat Books, which consistently publishes covers that could double as rave flyers. Local Woman, a dispatch from an “anarchist jurisdiction" follows a local Portland, Oregon Black trans woman’s movement through the world as she encounters natural disasters, anti-fascist protest, romantic engagements, and an expanding sense of personal autonomy.
THE MÖBIUS BOOK by Catherine Lacey - FSG, June 17
Catherine Lacey’s forthcoming genre-bending memoir-novel explores life after heartbreak and a quest for real faith. Like life, it’s a story with no beginning or end. Literally, though… this gorgeous phthalo blue baby is a dual cover: You read the first half and then flip the book around and read it starting from the back cover. Remember how reading is supposed to be fun? Did I look illiterate on the train? Yes! Is it important, like my laundry guy reminded me this morning when I told him that no, my boyfriend and I don’t live together, that we all have secrets? Also yes!
MY DOCUMENTS by Kevin Nguyen - Penguin, April 8
Informed by real-life events — from Japanese incarceration to the Korean War — Kevin Nguyen’s portrait of the mundanity and brutality of racism traces an eerie-near future. I can’t wait to crack it open and not just because of its beautiful use of Big Brother eyes, unbeatable Lisa Frank-esque fuchsia-meets-lime combo, and archival photos to show a reality that’s wholly part of, and just outside of our own.
Bonus…
GIRL ON GIRL by Sophie Gilbert - Penguin Press, April 29
GREAT BLACK HOPE by Rob Franklin - Summit Books, June 4
MAGGIE; OR, A MAN AND A WOMAN WALK INTO A BAR by Katie Yee - Simon & Schuster, July 22
PLUM by Andy Anderegg - Hub City Press, April 8
Andy Anderegg’s debut has been billed as dark and unflinching look into girlhood, which I fully believe based on the cover in which a girl seems to be drowning. Potentially violent flailing for one’s life aside, Plum’s protagonist J does through it, navigating an alcoholic father, a complicit mother, the internet at large, and dreams of a nourishing love.
SWEETENER by Marissa Higgins - Catapult, Aug. 19
To see an image of sticky, glossy lips and then learn the novel is about lesbian exes who end up dating the same woman? All kinds of lips are represented here!
HOT GIRLS WITH BALLS - Benedict Nguyễn, Catapult July 1
If the cyber-forward volleyball net with splashes of candy-hued pinks, purples, and greens weren’t enough material to judge Benedict Nguyễn’s satire by its cover, there’s also the title itself. The hot girls in question are trans Asian-American indoor volleyball players — and they’re heading into the the men’s pro indoor volleyball league, controversies be damned!
NEXT TO HEAVEN - James Frey, Authors Equity
I was a little drunk when I opened the package containing James Frey’s Next To Heaven and got the same thrill as when I see a ransom note with cut-up magazine letters. The intrigue heightened when I realized that there are various ARC covers — I love when people have fun! (The official cover has a gold McMansion resting on a tongue peeking out of an eager open mouth. I also love sex appeal!) Frey’s novel promises some exhilarating darkness, taking us to New Bethlehem, Connecticut, where the manicured elite ache for something to make them feel alive. Their solution? An unforgettable party that spirals into betrayal and murder.