Judging A Book By Its Cover: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Contemporary Reads By Black Authors

This is my weekly post where I highlight beautiful books from my collection. We all judge book covers to some extent (don’t lie, you totally do!) so I created this feature to showcase and admire the art and design elements of some of the books I own. If covers didn’t matter, publishers wouldn’t make so many wonderful editions!

In light of the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd (and many others), the country-wide protests, and added visibility and support of Black Lives Matter, I wanted to contribute here on my blog by showcasing some of the beautiful books on my shelves by Black authors. This is a small contribution, I’m aware, but we all must start somewhere. I’m educating myself on how to become a better ally, and how to support bringing an end to police brutality and systemic racism. At least one thing I can do on this platform is share books by Black writers. Today I’m going to highlight some of the pretty books I own and, in the future, I’ll share some of the books by Black authors I purchased recently.

A few of these books have some nice interior details, but like I always say, I think there should be more thought and creativity given to the pages, chapter headings, etc. in all books! And add more illustrations! But that’s just me.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, with cover photo from Arcangel-Images, published in 2015 by Orbit, ISBN: 9780316229296

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, with cover art maybe by Jillian Tamaki (according to one thing I found on the internet – please correct me if I’m wrong), and some internal drawings/text by the author, published in 2011 by Viking, ISBN: 9780670011964 (also the updated cover designs for this duology are also gorgeous and I want them)

Buffalo Soldier by Maurice Broaddus, with cover art by Cliff Nielsen, published in 2017 by Tor, ISBN: 9780765394293

Version Control by Dexter Palmer, with cover art by David Szauder (from a series called Failed Memories), published in 2016 by Vintage, ISBN: 9780307950352

Rosewater by Tade Thompson, published in 2017 by Orbit, ISBN: 9780356511368

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, with jacket art by Debra Cartwright, published in 2017 by Balzer + Bray, ISBN: 9780062498533 – there’s also art on the back of the book but I just couldn’t get a clear shot because of the glare on the covers I use >_<

Everfair by Nisi Shawl, with jacket art by Victo Ngai, published in 2016 by Tor, ISBN: 9780765338051

Pride by Ibi Zoboi, with jacket art by Billelis and T.S. Abe, published in 2018 by Balzer + Bray, ISBN: 9780062564047 – you can check my other post for more details; it’s the same art, but blue!

The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull, jacket design by Kathryn Galloway English, published in 2019 by Blackstone Publishing, ISBN: 9781538584644 – more pictures without my plastic cover that causes glare and makes my life harder when trying to photograph my books here

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden, with cover illustrations by Brenoch Adams, published in 2017 by Harper Collins, ISBN: 9780062493033′

Also, my copy is packed away somewhere, so I had to just use pictures from the MacMillan site:

Tallulah the Tooth Fairy CEO by Tamara Pizzoli, with illustrations by Federico Fabiani, published in 2019 by FSG Books for Young Readers, ISBN: 9780374309190