What's on the cover?

First off, Happy Memorial Day everyone!! Unlike me, I hope you have the day off. Enjoy the sun (hopefully you have some wherever you are), music, food and (if you can) your family.

Today is the first of many "What's on the cover?" Mondays. I want to take a look at the covers of books I'm reading. The cover usually draws me in first, then the jacket copy. What draws the rest of you in?

I'm currently reading "The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating," by Elisabeth Tova Bailey and "The Haunting of Andrew Sharpai," by Jerome Peterson. Bailey's cover is rather simple. Of course since this is an Advance Reading Copy, the cover could change. But for now all there is a blue background with a snail sitting on top of the text. A busy cover usually draws me in because I think that writer has a story to tell. The only thing that sparks my interest about this cover is the snail. Without the snail I'm not sure I would have read the summary on the back. I'm about 40 pages from finishing, and perhaps the simplicity of the cover reflects the simplicity of the story. It's about Bailey's relationship with a snail.

Peterson's cover has a little more depth to it. A mysterious woman on the glossy cover appears to be dancing during sunrise. If you look a little closer you can see Native American art in the background. The artwork has some very spooky looking yellow eyes staring at me. Perhaps they're trying to warn me that their is something scary on the horizon. Without reading the summary, the first thought I had was this woman is haunting Andrew Sharpai. I'm not sure what the significance is of the dark bird sitting on the branch. Perhaps the bird is a foreshadowing of things to come. I'm about 60 pages in, it's probably too early to discover the secret.


Note: I'm still hosting a giveaway for "The Souls of the Fire Dragon," by John Wrieden. Check the post and let me know if you're interested. http://asiturnthepages.blogspot.com/2010/05/book-giveaway.html