The 11 Best Book Covers of April

Another month of books, another month of book covers. It’s been gloomy in upstate New York, but according to a certain saying, all this endless rain will pay dividends one day soon. In the meantime, here are some nice things to look at:

Ryan Chapman, The Audacity; cover design by Luke Bird (Soho Press, April 2)

The audacity, indeed. I love a book cover that feels goofy and highbrow at the same time.

Jen Silverman, There’s Going to Be Trouble; cover design by Rachel Ake Kuech (Random House, April 9)

This one kind of has similar vibes as the Luke Bird cover above, only deployed maximally instead of minimally; both covers make me eager to read the book at hand, the ostensible goal.

Allen Bratton, Henry Henry; cover design by Jaya Nicely; art by Kris Knight (Unnamed Press, April 16)

Cropping is everything! This is a very nice way to reflect (ha ha) the novel’s doubled title.

Victor Lodato, Honey; cover design by Robin Bilardello (Harper, April 16)

You don’t see full fur on covers all that often—this one makes me wonder why.

Joy Sorman, tr. Lara Vergnaud, Tenderloin; cover design by Jamie Keenan (Restless Books, April 16)

Deeply creepy massaging of spacial expectations, in the best way.

Salman Rushdie, Knife; cover design by Arsh Raziuddin (Random House, April 16)

The cover for Rushdie’s memoir about his assassination attempt must have been tough to get right; this nails it.

José Donoso, tr. Leonard Mades, Megan McDowell, Hardie St Martin, The Obscene Bird of Night; cover design by Joan Wong (New Directions, April 23)

I love Joan Wong and her squiggles.

László Krasznahorkai, The World Goes On (paperback); cover design by Paul Sahre (New Directions, April 23)

An all-type cover that manages to feel super energetic.

Daniela Tarazona, tr. Lizzie Davis and Kevin Gerry Dunn, Divided Island; cover design by Jack Smyth (Deep Vellum, April 23)

The nose! The egg. The color. I love.

Emet North, In Universes; cover design by Robin Bilardello (Harper, April 30)

Both gorgeous and technically interesting. Excellent blurb placement.

Anoushka Warden, I’m F*cking Amazing; cover art by Nancy McKie, lettering by Lynn Buckley, design and art direction by Emily Mahon (Doubleday, April 30)

You really are.