Top Ten Book Covers of 2011...Well, Sort Of

Welcome to Tuesday of Top 10 week, hosted by Fiktshun, Confessions of a Bookaholic, A Life Bound by Books, and Two Chicks on Books! Today's topic: book covers.

I tried to do this. I really did. But here's the thing.

I really, really can't bring myself to care about book covers.

Sure, I like it when they're pretty or interesting, but they could be really boring or ugly and I would barely even notice. What I care about is the content, not the packaging.

Don't worry, I'm not trying to say that I'm a less shallow person because I'm indifferent to cover art. If anything, judging by the frequent squeals of delight among book bloggers over new covers, there may be something wrong with me. Even so, I refuse to bend to the peer pressure of cover love (mostly because I truly don't see that much of a difference between what people consider good and bad covers).

Of course, I may judge book covers by their font choice. (Please don't use Papyrus. Or Times New Roman.) Maybe I'm just a font snob rather than a cover snob! I have found my niche! I am pleased.

Anyway, since you were promised a list, I decided to pick ten of my favorite quotes of the year. I won't guarantee that they're the best quotes of 2011 (because all I did was go on Goodreads and look at some of my favorite books), but I like them. And hey, I put the covers there too! Enjoy!

"Jump into an open grave? What kind of idiot are you?" Butters replied. "I might as well put on a red shirt and volunteer for the away team. There's snow and ice and slippery mud down there. That's like asking for an ironically broken neck."
-Jim Butcher, Ghost Story

"I have an apple that thinks it is a pear," she said, holding it up. "And a bun that thinks it is a cat. And a lettuce that thinks it is a lettuce."
"It's a clever lettuce, then."
"Hardly," she said with a snort. "Why would anything clever think it was a lettuce?"
"Even if it is a lettuce?" I asked.
"Especially then," she said. "Bad enough to be a lettuce. How awful to think you are a lettuce too."
-Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear

“Are you sure you know where you're going?" Andrea frowned.
"Would you like me to pull over and ask that bamboo for directions?"
"I don't know, do you think it will answer?"
We peered at the bamboo.
"I think it looks suspicious," Andrea said.
"Maybe there is a heffalump hiding in it."
Andrea stared at me.
"You know, heffalump? From Pooh Bear?"
"Where do you even get this shit?”
-Ilona Andrews, Magic Slays

Hope strengthens, fear kills. That simple adage is master of every situation, every choice. Each morning we wake up, we get to choose between hope and fear and apply one of these emotions to everything we do.
-Karen Marie Moning, Shadowfever

"Can you draw a skeleton riding a motorcycle with flames coming out of it? And I want a pirate hat on the skeleton. And a parrot on his shoulder. A skeleton parrot. Or maybe a ninja skeleton parrot? No, that would be overkill. But it'd be cool if the biker skeleton could be shooting some ninja throwing stars. That are on fire."
-Richelle Mead, Bloodlines

“There!" Mars finished writing and threw the scroll at Octavian. "A prophecy. You can add it to your books, engrave it on the floor, whatever."
Octavian read the scroll. "This says, 'Go to Alaska. Find Thanatos and free him. Come back by sundown on June twenty-fourth or die'."
"Yes," Mars said. "Is that not clear?"
"Well, my lord...usually prophecies are unclear. They're wrapped in riddles. They rhyme, and..."
Mars casually popped another grenade off his belt. "Yes?"
"The prophecy is clear!" Octavian announced. "A quest!”
-Rick Riordan, The Son of Neptune

"None of this makes any sense."
"I'm beginning to think I should make that the title of my autobiography"
-Rachel Hawkins, Demonglass 

Noah shifted on the bed, and the oddest crunching sound came from beneath him. I looked, really looked, at the bed for the first time.
"What," I asked slowly, as I eyed the animal crackers strewn all over it, "the hell?"
"You were convinced they were your pets," Noah said, not even trying to surpress his laughter. "You wouldn't let me touch them."
-Michelle Hodkin, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

"If you're going to carry a knife, you need to learn how to use it."
I frowned at it. "I know how to use it. I stick the pointy end in things I don't like."
-Kalayna Price, Grave Dance 

"Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it."
-Veronica Roth, Divergent

I hope you enjoyed my nonconformity! Stop by tomorrow for my top ten book boyfriends of 2011!