Which books do you love despite their unattractive cover design?

To answer your question Meredith about "Which books do you love despite their unattractive cover design," I would have to answer The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I read this book in 2009, and was really into it. The first edition paperback of this book was to me, terrible. No, not terrible, more like cliched. I think I am a little put off by the fact that the image on this cover was so literal…..a girl with a dragon tattoo. How original right?

I may not have been so opposed to it, if it were a little more artfully shot, a little more creatively laid out. But as this cover version stands, it is too straightforward. True, it is provocative in that this girl will possibly have an interesting story…..but what disappoints me is that the title itself is asking the reading to be piqued by the story, then gives you a literal image that does not hint at any other elements in the story.

Thank goodness other editions of the book/series have been re-designed to be less literal, more artful. Those newer covers are so iconic right now, and thank goodness for this! Such a good read deserves a good cover design.