Well, someone has to do it!

Despite the maxim, I mostly always judge a book by its cover.  The weight of it in my hands.  How the pages feel when you brush your thumb against their edges.  That musky hint of a scent that so very slightly mingles through the air.  That's how every good book should start.  By feeling good in your hands.  And the goal of every book you buy (apart from a terrific story of extreme and wondrous proportions) should be that it will look damn good on your bookshelf as soon as you've finished reading it.  Because, let's be honest.  Everyone judges or at least assumes something about a person based upon what sort of books they keep out in the open.  A person who has a stack of Chuck Palahniuk books and a mashed up copy of Howl is going to be a completely different sort from the person whose bookshelf is stuffed with leather-bound volumes of the Complete Works of Shakespeare. 

So, here's to the covers, and the work they do.  What a funny job to have.  The book cover designer.  Funny in that, it's easy to forget that there's someone somewhere out there doing it...