Still, as Kidd tells NPR's Linda Wertheimer, all books — electronic, hardcover or paperback — need covers. "They need some kind of visual representation, whether you're going to be seeing them ...

or they have these family photos that they want you to try using on the cover, or sometimes it'll just be a phrase that they pulled out of the book. It can be really anything,” she says.

A good first impression is, of course, the goal: to elicit curiosity and excitement before you’ve even picked the book off a shelf. But a great cover can fortify itself in our consciousness ...

We may earn a commission from your purchases. We were all taught the old adage “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but when you’re browsing books at your favorite bookstore, it’s ...

The phrase “never judge a book by its cover” is starting to look old hat ... post to social media and now everyone knows you are reading so and so’s latest masterpiece.

The book covers look like well-worn paperbacks you’d find on a spinner rack in a secondhand shop, but these aren’t actual novels. The creased and worn covers for films like “A Quiet Place ...