February 2016 Paperback Best Sellers- A Review

One of the easiest jobs in the publishing industry might be book cover designer for Jojo Moyes.

The best seller list for paperbacks is often more interesting than the hardcover fiction list because the paperback novels seem to change more frequently.  Hardcover lists are dominated by new books that have been heavily promoted by publishing companies.  The current paperback list is a combination of last year’s best sellers and older books that have been discovered or are being turned into movies.

I like paperbacks because they’re cheaper, and they are lighter and easier to carry around in public.  Even though I like paperbacks, I’m still picky about what I read, so I have to make split-second decisions based on just a little bit of information about each book.

Below are the best selling paperback novels so far in February, 2016:

I think I could have designed a cover like this.

I hope making covers like this is more difficult than it looks.

1. Me Before You by JoJo Moyes- I’ve never read a Jojo Moyes book, but all the covers look alike, with pretty much the same letter fonts and solid backgrounds.  That must be a great job, being the cover artist/designer for Jojo Moyes.  Jojo Moyes writes a book, and all you do is choose a color for the font and a color for the background, and then you go home and goof off until Moyes writes another book.

2. The Revenant by Michael Punke.-  Maybe I’d read this book, but the movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio, and I don’t want to picture his face while I’m reading the book.  I have nothing against Leo DiCaprio, except that I think that he’s been miscast in almost every movie he’s been in, and so he’s probably been miscast in this role, and I don’t want to see a miscast actor’s face while I’m reading a book.

3. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks- Ugh, another Nicholas Sparks book turned into a movie.   I really hope my wife doesn’t want to see it.

4. The Martian– by Andy Weir-  Maybe I’d see Matt Damon’s face when I’m reading this, but at least he hasn’t been miscast as often as Leo DiCaprio.  Still, I like to read books made into movies before they’ve actually been made into the movies.  That way I can picture the characters my own way before the movie ruins everything.

5. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin- I’ve never been to Brooklyn, and I don’t have any desire to go (no offense, Brooklyn, but there are a bunch of other places I want to see first), so I might read this book just to make up for not going.  Maybe I’ll see the movie instead.

6. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante- This is Book One in a series that is now up to four books, which means I’ll probably never read it because I don’t read book series anymore.  If a story can’t be told in three books, I usually don’t read it.  Plus, I already have a brilliant friend.  My brilliant friend is probably more brilliant that Elena Ferrante’s brilliant friend, but I don’t know for sure, so maybe I should read this book to find out.

7. A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman- When I first saw this book, I thought the title had a typo.  If a title makes you look twice, it’s a good title.

8. The Alchemist by Paul Coelho- My wife bought this book a few months ago, but she hasn’t read it yet.  I keep telling her to download free samples instead of buying new books, but she still impulse buys books.  Maybe The Alchemist is good, but I won’t read it until my wife does.  Then again, maybe I should read it for her just to make sure we get our money’s worth.

9. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara- Here’s a novel that’s won (or almost won) a bunch of awards and lots and lots of praise.  Despite it’s title, it’s not so little.  I’m sure that was done on purpose.  I probably don’t read enough award-winning novels, but this one sounds kind of intense, so I’ll have to be in a certain mood to read it, and I’m hardly ever in that certain mood.

10. Room by Emma Donoghue- I like one-syllable book titles.  You don’t see one-syllable book titles very often.  I think the publishing world needs more books with one-syllable titles.  I read Room a couple years ago, but not because it had a one-syllable title.  If you haven’t read it but are interested, you’ll probably know within the first few pages if you’ll enjoy it or not.

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Out of all the above books, the one I’m most likely to read is The Martian.  I like science fiction, and I’m pretty sure I can visualize the main character without picturing Matt Damon.  I’ll just make sure to buy an older copy that doesn’t have Matt Damon’s face on the cover.

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What do you think?  Which book on this list are you most likely to read?  What books have been ruined for you by miscasting of characters?    Should I read The Alchemist, or should I wait until my wife reads it?  Is designing a Jojo Moyes book cover more difficult than I think it is?

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Maybe I shouldn’t complain about another author’s book covers when mine aren’t so great either.

Only 99 cents on the Amazon Kindle!