Cover Stickers! The Horror!

I'm sure most readers know about stickers on book covers. It used to be these stickers are actual stickers that you can peel and remove for good (sometimes leaving glue residues that will never come off) but now publishers are printing them directly on the cover so the only way to remove them is to physically take a scissor and cut them out or stick some other sticker over it or block them out with black markers. Whatever you do, those stickers are there forever. 
    The stickers are mostly to encourage sales, promote books, brag about what the book/author had garnered but basically are advertisements shoved into readers' faces. So what's the point of creating beautiful covers only to have them ruined by these stickers that never come off? 
    Often when I look for book covers for my book posts, I look for covers without these stickers or if it looks like I can remove them (digitally), I would. The ones I hate the most is the one announcing 'made into a movie or a show' and 'Some famous person's book club picks'. 
    There is a point to these stickers but at the same time, they are mostly offering stale information or information readers didn't care about, at least, I don't. But it's not as rampant as I made it sound but they are around and probably will never go away. Do they really work? They don't seem to work for me but maybe they work on other people.
    Here are some samples covers that covered most type of print-on stickers:

#1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Book Club Picks
01 - Read With Jenna - No idea who Jenna is until I looked her up. Jenna Bush Hager, is a co-host on the Today show and daughter of former President George W. Bush - it makes perfect sense not to read her recommendations.

02 - The Good Morning America Book Club Pick! (with exclamation point) - Good Morning America is a morning tv show that I have never watched and I don't see why I would read their picks.

03 - Oprah's Book Club 2025 - I had seen Oprah Winfrey's show and she had some wisdom but that didn't mean I care for her book selections.

04 - Reese's Book Club - I had seen some of Reese Witherspoons' movies but they don't inspire me to read any of her book picks.

05 - Zibby's Book Club - A book club hosted monthly by Zibby Owens who owns a bookshop but I've never heard of her until today when I searched for book covers so no reason to read her picks.

Completing book titles for no reason

I thought it would be fun to complete some book titles as most of them seem to be incomplete sentences. I guess they sort of sounded a bit murderous, don't ask why that is but I did wrote these under two hours. These books are chosen from the amazon bestseller various lists.

01 - At the quiet edge by Victoria Helen Stone
At the quiet edge of Oak Town, I met the man who will murder me.

02 - When the past came calling by Larry S. Kaplan
When the past came calling, I knew I had to find Larry the Annihilator to erase my tracks and turn me into a ghost.

03 - Or Else by Joe Hart
'Or else' was what our mother said right before she choked on her lasagna and before she threw a knife at the wall when we told her we wouldn't name our cat after her.

04 - It ends with us by Colleen Hoover
It ends with us standing around a lifeless body with shovels in our hands and regrets in our cold, dead hearts.

05 - The last thing he told me by Laura Dave
The last thing he told me before he struck a knife in me was, 'Sorry, I had to kill you in order to make up for my small manhood.'

06 - Just haven't met you yet by Sophie Cousens
Just haven't met you yet but I know who you are and where you live but don't worry, in time, you will know what is like to be notorious for murdering a famous actress.

Here's one for you to complete:

07 - After she left by Claire Amarti
After she left...

For more about Blogging from A to Z Challenge, click on the image above or go here.

Retitling Books As How-To Titles

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is a Freebie which means I choose my own topic. So I'm listing books I'll most likely never read and turned them into how-to titles that I make up based synopses and reviews. If I'm wrong about any of these, feel free to correct me. I added links for book info in case you actually want to read them. And remember, these are for fun.

Be aware: There are spoilers for The Midnight Library by Matt Haig; Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; maybe You by Caroline Kepnes and maybe Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

Things that I don't like on book covers

This week's Top Ten Tuesday's prompt is: Titles or Covers That Made Want to Read/Buy the Book. As it's easier for me to say what I don't like than what I like, I decided to do the opposite: Covers that made me NOT want to read/buy the book or things that I don't like on book covers. For my list, I was going to gave examples but that doesn't seem fair and I don't want to spotlight any particular book but I hope it's clear what I meant.

01 | Surreal-looking people — Those 3D-looking people, they looked kind of real but you can tell they aren't. Honestly, they just creeps me out especially those ones with really large eyes.

02 | Shirtless men — I don't really read romance much but I keep seeing these covers even when I'm not looking for them. Every time I see one, I think, how is this romantic? I'm sure if I see men go around shirtless, I would tell them to put on a shirt. Maybe it's the prude in me but I just find these covers unromantic.

03 | Witches in triangular hats and striped tights — I should say women in triangular hats and striped tights as this is really a cliche image. The idea of designing book covers to a certain genre irks me especially books about witches. Why use such covers when the characters never ever wear striped tights or triangular hats?

04 | Movie tie-in covers — For some odd reasons, they always choose the least flattering image. It's like the people at the promotion department say to one another, 'Hey, let's choose the most unattractive, annoying image from the movie. That will sure to attract readers!' Sometimes I don't mind if the image fits with the book but most of the time, it's just faces of the actors which never makes me want to pick up a book.

05 | Ladies in ball gowns — For the most part, I see these covers as Cinderella romance stories because they are almost always involves princesses or royalties and also, the more glamorous these ladies look, the less appealing to me. I don't know who the audience is for these covers but they are not for me.

06 | Badass women that dressed a bit scantily — Women in some tight outfits like tank tops and leather pants or anything that enhance their bosoms and looking like a badass. I'm all for badass women but why do they need to dress like they are showing off their bodies more than their talents/abilities? I find these covers sort of degrades women. But you might argue a woman have a right to dress however she wants and I agreed with that. But are these covers saying women can't fight while dress modestly or that in order to be a badass, they have to dress sexy?

07 | Faceless people with lips — I have seen covers with people with detailed clothing and everything else but they have no facial features other than their lips. This freaks me out a little. If they don't want to use features, then why add lips??

08 | Snakes — I don't want to say snakes freaks me out but there is this quote from the show Early Edition: "See, I have this thing about snakes. It's called 'fear of death.'"

09 | Vampires, Zombies — I don't like seeing them especially when they show fangs with blood dripping down their chins for the vampires and someone holding a brain for zombies - aren't these a bit of a cliche? But also because they freak me out.

10 | Print-on stickers — I still hate regular stickers on book covers even if they leave a residue or even if the top coating of the paper is removed along with the sticker but at least, they come off. The ones that are printed on is worst because you can't remove them in any way unless you tear the whole cover off. 
    I understand these stickers are for promoting a book and enticing readers but for me, I didn't care for any of the information given. Most of time, the info is outdated. All the awards notices means nothing to me because I don't know them and I would never read a book because they received some award. I don't care if a book is made into a movie either. Extra features? Sure but most of the time, those extras aren't worth mentioning.
    So maybe this one is a bit superficial or shallow and I'm not saying I wouldn't read books with stickers on the cover but when I do purchase a book, is it wrong to want a cover without silly notices to ruin a good design? I'm already looking at the book and reading all the information on the book, I don't think I need a sticker to entice me.

What don't you like on a book cover?

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