{Do} Judge a Book By Its Cover {no. 9} // Season of Change by Lisa Williams Kline

My ninth and second-to-last {Do} Judge a Book By Its Cover post features Lisa Williams Kline's Season of Change, Book Five in the Sisters in All Seasons series.

I see . . .

A slightly curvy dock, water, two young women, a sky slightly clouded, an island or shoreline filled with trees, a possible boat or dock in the distance, and something like birds in the left of the page, above the trees.

I think . . .

I know something of this book already, but the cover makes it hard to draw conclusions. It has something to do with a lake, obviously, and with the girls. I'm not going to tell readers what I already know, but really, it's hard to predict the story from the cover.

{Do} Judge a Book By Its Cover {no. 8} // The Hidden Deep by Christa Kinde

Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh! Three books left in the Zonderkidz stack! I am so excited about that. So happy that I only have three. Then I'll get to read something interesting for once. This is The Hidden Deep, #2 in the Threshold series, by Christa Kinde.

I see . . .

A young girl with blonde hair and a green dress--in some sort of white flats, I believe--running down a set of black stairs. Yawning above her is the mouth of some monster--it almost looks like an owl. Below, the stair winds until it reaches a platform, and there's some kind of doorway . . . I think. There's also a light in the deep.

I think . . .

The truth? Not a clue. No, that's not the truth. Obviously the story has something to do with a hidden deep. But beyond that, I really don't have much idea where this story could be leading. I'm sure the owly face has something to with the deep--possibly what's hidden down there. And the light? Could have something to do with the owl. The girl is probably going down to find out something. Or someone?

Well, this series is winding down to its close. It's beginning to hamper me, so I think once I reach the tenth installment I'm going to quit. Besides, I don't want to bore you by constantly having the same things on my blog. It may be time to introduce a new series--but I haven't had an idea for one yet, so that will have to wait.

{Do} Judge a Book By Its Cover {no. 7} // Avenger by Heather Burch

I believe this may be a vampire story.

Yuck.

Sorry. I suppose I shouldn't have disclosed my opinion so loudly. I'm trying to work on being less critical. But I just have bad experience with vampire stories. I mean, not bad experience exactly because I've never read one--but isn't Twilight a bad experience whether you've read it or not? Insert emoticon with tongue sticking out.

I see . . .

A girl with brunette hair with a reddish tint. She's in a black jacket. Behind her head is a set of white wings. She's apparently in a dark forest nearly bereft of leaves. It seems a little foggy in there. The tagline is Sometimes facing your destiny means risking everything.

I think . . .

The girl is the main character. That she's wearing black may mean that she's involved with the vampires (if this is the vampire story; I can't quite remember even though I read the back). The set of wings . . . ? I don't think vampires have wings. But these wings are white, so they seem like they would symbolize something good. The dark forest makes me think the book as a whole is rather creepy, especially considering the purpleish, foggyish backdrop. The tagline and the title show that this is one of those on-the-edge-of-your-seat books--or supposed to be. We'll see how well Heather Burch manages the suspense.

Have you ever heard of Heather Burch, or read anything by her? I'd love to hear your thoughts on her if you have. I'm not looking forward to having to wade through the rest of my Zonderkidz stack before I get to embark on the journey of Merlin, but I guess I'll just have to suck up and live with it.

{Do} Judge a Book By Its Cover {no. 6} // Back Before Dark by Tim Shoemaker

This is Book Number Five of Ten in the intimidatingly modern Zonderkidz stack. Hopefully I'll be able to start reading it sometime today or tomorrow, or at least sometime after I get this post out. I already know this to be a thriller, so we'll see how much else I can get out of the cover.

• Well, the text is big and blocky, so if I hadn't already known it was a horror(ish) story, I should have (hopefully) been able to figure out that what's within is scary. 
• There are three figures on top of a hill, with some building behind them. There appears to be a car coming up the road toward them.
• The main part of the cover is black; the sun is rising behind.
• The three figures are most likely a trio of investigators or good friends. Sometimes rescuing a friend from darkness means going in after them--I wonder if one of these three is the friend who needs rescuing.
• The hill? I'm not quite sure about that point. Ideas?
• The building could possibly be a base for the murderer and his/her cohorts.
• The car could be representative of the bad guy or killer. And he's apparently going toward the trio. So is he after them? (He/she. Somehow in books the villains are never women. Has anyone else noticed this?)
• The black cover is probably just another illustration of the blackness of the plot and the nastiness of the villain, whereas the sun rising may denote some beacon of hope.

Have any of you read Back Before Dark? I know it is part of a series, but unfortunately I don't have the rest of the novels in my keeping.

{Do} Judge a Book By Its Cover {no. 5} // The Princess and the Sage by Anneliese Blakeney

Perry Elisabeth requested on my Requests page that I judge this book, The Princess and the Sage by Anneliese Blakeney, by its cover. Perry Elisabeth actually designed this cover.

• Fonts attract me. They spell, or can spell, the personality of a book just as effectively as any symbols on the cover. This one is a shade careless, almost clumsy—it gives me the impression of a less-than-popular, less-than-graceful princess. In fact, this entire book cover reminds me of the storyline of The Salamander Spell by E.D. Baker, in which the princess Grassina rests in the shadow of her beautiful, supposedly magical sister Chartreuse.
• There is a crown on this cover. It’s not a “formal” crown: it’s big and lumpy and the kind I’d expect to see in a child’s fairy tale. This is again reminding me of The Salamander Spell—the author appears to target a young audience.
• Within the crown is a bottle of sage. As the title is The Princess and the Sage, the sage itself is obviously crucial to the storyline and thus the conflict. Maybe the sage has something to do with her quest for her crown?
• Sage is identified with long life (even immortality), fertility, wisdom, and warding off evil. It seems very good as far as herbs go—but I don’t see its folklore connecting with what I feel from the cover. (sage information via Garden Guides)

{Do} Judge a Book By Its Cover {no. 4} // Red Rain by Aubrey Hansen

Rebecca Rash requested that I review this book. 

• I already knew this novella covered the space subject, which is obvious anyway because of the cover photo. The cover itself is well-done and intriguing.
• Someone, or something—perhaps just the camera—views Earth and its moon from another planet. I believe it’s Mars, from what I can remember from the synopsis, but I can’t be sure and I’m horrible at recognizing planets.
• Stars obviously adorn the outward skies.

What does all this mean? I’m not sure exactly: it doesn’t look much like a cover intent on symbolism, though it gives me the feeling of impending doom, almost, because of the vastness of the planet the camera stands on as it looks toward Earth. The darkness also plays a factor.

{Do} Judge a Book By Its Cover {no. 3} // A Handful of Flowers by Rebecca Rash

In the last month or so I've had four new requests on my Requests page. It's very exciting--thank you to all of you who have requested! This was the most recent: A Handful of Flowers by Rebecca Rash, a short story collection published in 2012. Sorry the image is blurry; there wasn't any matching image on Pinterest (which I generally use now for higher-quality photos).

I see

• An army-green-colored cover.
• A sunflower.
• Maybe a little lupine?
• A road going off in the distance, with empty grassland around it.

I think

• Army-green . . . hmm. In looking it up on Wikipedia, I can't find anything about its symbolism--though it having any symbolism is probably unlikely. It's a war color . . . what else would it mean? But as I doubt that the color surrounding the photo would have much to do with the story itself, I also doubt this means anything.
• The sunflower. Teleflora.com says, "Their open faces symbolize the sun itself, conveying warmth and happiness, adoration and longevity." So this must be at least a somewhat happy story.
• Lupines, according to www.livingartsoriginals.com, symbolize imagination. A happy, imaginative story. . . . I am finding a problem here, peeps. Where's the conflict?
• Although, of course, this is actually a collection of stories. But I think the conflict, or something close to a conflict, is found in the emptiness of the land beyond the flowers. Could this mean either a meaningless, hopeless future--in the eyes of one of the main characters--or a bright future full of dreams which will one day fill the now-empty horizon?

Haha, I'm so bad at this. But anyway, I hope you enjoy my ramblings trying to figure out the inside of the story based on its outside. And because Layla asked me to, this is now a linkup :) Have fun, linky people!

{Do} Judge a Book By Its Cover 2 . . . The Lost Years of Merlin Book 1

Layla requested that I review The Lost Years of Merlin series on my blog. And since I've only heard of it once or twice and know basically nothing about it save the little she said, it's the perfect nominee for my {Do} Judge a Book By Its Cover series.

Here's what I see:

• A man/boy with rather long hair in an Indian-like outfit hanging onto either a rope held in the eagle's talons, or a huge extension of the eagle's tail.
• The man/boy is standing on what appears to be a mountain.
• On the horizon there's more mountains.
• The sky is fairly peaceful, though there are some smoky-colored clouds in it.
• There's the symbol "M" in the middle of the page.

I have one little conclusion, somewhat influenced by what I heard:

• The "M" attracts my attention almost to something ancient and powerful. 

Does this look like fun? If you want, I can make this a linkup!

Any tips on symbolism and the making of book covers? I would love to have them!

{Do} Judge a Book By Its Cover #1 || A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Introducing a new series.

    I’m rather excited about this idea. I got it a while ago, and now it’s finally time to post about it! Basically, here’s what I’m going to do:

1. Choose a book I’ve not read before.
2. Look over the cover of the book very carefully.
3. Judge what I think the book is about based on the cover.
4. Compare my eventual review of the book to what I originally thought of it based on the cover.
5. Do this series at least once a month.

    The book I’m “judging” today is A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain. Emily requested that I review this, so it’s my next stop after The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. I do know a little about it already, but I’m still going to “judge” it as best I can.

   Here’s what I see:

1. A full-body-panoplied knight riding a white horse.
2. Red coat of arms with a gold animal--lion?--on it.
3. Red feathers on the crown of the knight and horse.
4. The knight holds a spear.
5. There’s a castle with flags in the background.
6. The knight and horse are riding on a green hill.
7. There are white clouds in the sky, but directly above the knight’s head the clouds turn gray.

   I wish I knew more about symbolism, because then I would almost certainly be able to draw far more conclusions than I can now.

•    The knight carries King Arthur’s coat of arms.
•    The knight is in full armor and holding a spear . . . could this possibly mean he’s  going to war? Or is he just part of the palace guard?
•    The knight is in King Arthur’s vicinity.
•    Is there some conflict with the knight being there? Why do the clouds darken above him but everywhere else remain white and cheerful?

   Some of the above was influenced by my limited knowledge of the book.
   How do you think I did? Was I terribly far off?