For those wondering where I’ve been for the past year: Like many of you, this pandemic thing quashed my creative juices for book reporting, plus WordPress “improved” their format and I just didn’t have the energy to figure it out. The other issue is the app I used to make collages for my book covers wasn’t working right but it’s back along with my desire to write about books. I will follow with more posts over the next few weeks, including a continuation of my reading history series. Was it because I received my first dose of the Covid vaccination? Or could it be because Typing Maniac is kaput and I seem to have a bit more time? You make the call.]
How many of you have browsed the shelves at the library (pre-quarantine, natch) and picked up a book only to discard it thinking you had read it? Don’t be so quick to judge! Check out the inside flap before reshelving as it’s entirely possible the title has a “copycat” jacket with the publisher using a similar font and graphic similar to another popular book. It’s more common than you might think with some even using the same photograph, as seen in the article Why Do So Many Book Covers Look the Same? Blame Getty Images. Here’s a small sample of the image used for two very different books but check out the article for at least ten books that used the same graphic.
Another interesting article, 57 Books That Look Like Other Books, is worth reading in order to see the various cover trends from the past few years. Here’s a sample. Hmm, I wonder which book graphic was copied.
This trend has interested me for years but it wasn’t until I read Lucy Foley’s The Guest List that I started collecting graphics of books with similar covers. Here is my collage of recent thrillers. Can you name the book that started it all and the similarities?
Here’s another cover trend for books with the setting of a world war (usually) featuring characters on the cover (mostly with their backs to the viewer) and planes (or a plane) in the sky.
So don’t think your mind is going south if you can’t remember if you’ve read a particular book; it’s most likely you are picking up a book with a copycat cover!
Please let me know in the comments below how your reading year has been going. Also, you are welcome to email me at ilovelibraries at gmail dot com should you wish to send me a private message.
ROBIN'S BOOKS 
Hi Robin, Good to hear from you! I’ve had a heart attack. 2 days in hospital. Good reports tho
Sent from my iPad
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Aren’t you the Sherlock Holmes! Yes, I have noted the similarities on jackets and did indeed believe I had read the bookpreviously only to find out -OOPS
Wrong book.
Thanks, Robin. You are always worth waiting for….
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Thanks Coleen. It’s good to be back. 🙂
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I’m always happy to see your posts, Robin! It’s been a hard year of reading and blogging for me too, you definitely weren’t alone in that. But glad that you’re feeling back up to it (I was very frustrated with the WordPress update too, which isn’t so bad when I’m using my Mac laptop but is unbearable on the HP I use for work, and it’s most often while working that I decide to take a break and blog!)
Love these cover comparisons, that’s so interesting that you picked out these trends! I’ve noticed those WWII covers all looking the same, always with the planes in the background distance! So funny.
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Thanks, Rennie. WP wasn’t too bad once I switched to the “classic” mode but it’s still confusing. One thing I haven’t been able to figure out is how to wrap text around an image like I could do before. Any ideas? Or has that option gone away on the free version?
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I’m really not sure, I tend to just post the image squarely. But I feel like I see plenty of people doing that in their posts, might be one of those things you have to really play around with (I kind of just lost patience with it, having gotten so confused!)
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I was wondering, Robin! So pleased you made it through the year safely and are back on a creative uprise sharing about books. All the best….
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Thanks, Mary. I hope to get to more posts soon as I have much more to say about books, as I’m sure you know. Hope you are doing well, too.
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Glad you’re back!
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Just like there are no truly original book plots, there are no truly original book covers. It was interesting to see how similar many are. Thanks for the countless hours this must have taken you to put together.
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