Judging A Book By Its Cover: The Night Circus

This is my weekly post where I highlight and appreciate cover designs and the general physical appearance of books. We all judge book covers to some extent. I can’t say that I’ve ever decided against a book with terrible cover art if I liked the sound of the plot, but I have purchased special editions of books or multiple editions of books based on their cover art. If book covers didn’t matter, publishers wouldn’t put out so many beautiful editions!

I already owned a copy of The Night Circus (which I’ve actually read and absolutely loved) but when I saw one of my Instagram buddies tweeting about this Vintage Classics copy…well…we know it doesn’t take much to convince me to buy a pretty book!

My new copy is on the left, published in 2016 with a cover illustration by Kate Forrester (whose work is awesome) ISBN: 9781784871055. As with my anniversary edition of Locke Lamora, I wish this edition had a few more special features on the interior, like illustrations.

My original copy is on the right, a 2011 First Anchor Books edition with silhouettes by Vania Zouravliov and tent by Helen Musselwhite, ISBN: 9780307744432.