We can get very excited about book covers in the Readings office – the book as object is our trade, after all. Here are our favourite covers for July fiction titles.

The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman

This is the paperback edition of Adelle Waldman’s widely read and praised debut novel. It’s quite different to the hardback, which was released last year, but equally appealing. Many readers and critics have highlighted Waldman’s skill in writing a balanced account of the ‘love affairs’ in her book, the apportioning of blame is spread evenly across her characters. I think of this when I look at the two-toned heart (which also, of course, serves to highlight the heavyweight endorsements).

Silence Once Begun by Jesse Ball

This cover is so intriguing – the red scribble over ‘A Novel’ immediately made me wonder what secrets are being kept (as this text also sits in the place of a mouth). This is Jesse Ball’s fourth novel, and his writing has been described as combining ‘subtlety and simplicity in such a way that it causes a reader to go carefully, not wanting to miss a word’ – this cover suggests this so well.

Bobcat and Other Stories by Rebecca Lee

We have only heard good things about Rebecca Lee’s short-story collection. This cover isn’t giving too much away, but the image of a wild bobcat, bird in mouth, plays nicely against Lee’s more domesticated settings within. The simple but loose typography looks fantastic, too, paired with the illustration, which wraps to the back cover. Book covers with white backgrounds, it seems, were a big thing for July.

Belle Place