2014 Favorite Covers & First Lines

Well, it's hard to believe it, but it's that time of year again. Time to sum up the year in reading with my favorites lists. For those who may be new to the blog this year end, I have foregone the use of the term "best" because the connotation indicates there is a standard or rubric that makes the selection objective, when in reality all of these lists--no matter who they are compiled by--are completely subjective and dependent on the choosers' tastes and interests. So my lists are "favorite lists."

I had hoped to integrate some stats from what blog readers also liked this year, but the responses were too few to offer anything up in that realm. Maybe next year?

As for my favorites in the categories of covers and first lines, here are those that rocked my reading world for 2014:

FAVORITE COVERS

5.  A Better World (Marcus Sakey): I think you'll notice a running theme of simplicity in my favorite covers. In addition to A Better World's cover having a connection with the first in the trilogy, it screams a big meaning in a subtle use of art. The only thing that would have improved this cover is a more subtle use of the blurb--preferably moving it to the back cover.

4. Roosevelt's Beast (Louis Bayard): The rich layered approach of Bayard's writing is epitomized in the dimension of this cover. His atmosphere and setting are nailed.  The minimalistic use of color gives each hue strength in the overall arrangement. The font choice for the title builds the suspense before readers even crack the cover. And the wording is limited to the title and author--how wonderfully refreshing.

3. Conquest (John Connolly & Jennie Redyard): I absolutely love the use of shape and light in this cover. It exudes so many elements of the novel: the blending of cultures, the sci-fi genre, they mysterious and unknown, as well as the strong connection to basics of the planet. Again, I think the simplistic color scheme adds strength to each shade and highlight.

2. The Global War on Morris (Steve Israel): This is a very late entry for 2014. The book comes out tomorrow and you'll hear more about it after my review runs in Shelf Awareness, but this cover has a less subtle use of color which is perfect for this political satire. The stark contrast between the elements in this composition are bold and loud and funny, just like the points Israel makes inside the book.

1. The Intern's Handbook (Shane Kuhn): I listened to this audiobook for Audiofile Magazine and much like The Global War on Morris, the colors of this cover are minimal but they are bold and jump out at the viewer. The composition of the cover is brilliant and intricately tied to the plot. I can't help but love a cover that makes a concerted effort to accurately tie into the novel it's representing.  Kudos to Simon and Schuster on this beauty!

FAVORITE FIRST LINES:

5.  Talk by Michael Smerconish: "Fire, tits and sharks are TV gold."

4. Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix: "It was dawn, and the zombies were stumbling through the parking lot, streaming toward the massive beige box at the far end."

3. Don't Look Back by Gregg Hurwitz: "Terror came as a vibration, a plucked-wire note more felt than heard, primary to the deadening heat, to the flick of unseen insects against her face, to the oppressive night humidity that pressed into her pores."

2. Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta: "On the last day of Jace Wilson's life, the thirteen-year-old stood on a quarry ledge staring at cool, still water and finally understood something his mother had told him years before: Trouble might come for you when you showed fear, but trouble doubled-down when you lied about it."

1. The Happiest People in the World by Brock Clarke: "The moose head was fixed to the wall, the microphone in its mouth was broken, but the camera in its left eye was working just fine, and as far as the moose head could see, this was just another Friday night in the Lumber Lodge!"

What covers and first lines tickled your fancy this year? Share with us in the comments, we'd love to know. Tomorrow I'll have my favorite debuts and favorite audiobooks for 2014. See you then!

Horrorstör - Grady Hendrix

Hi all, happy Friday. I have to regroup on the Five on Friday, so please pardon this short hiatus while I line up some more fun authors. In the meantime, my review of the creative and fun Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix first appeared this week as a starred review in Shelf Awareness for Readers. It's appearing here today with their permission.

First line: "It was dawn, and the zombies were stumbling through the parking lot, streaming toward the massive beige box at the far end."

It’s something out of a whacky dream, jolting the sleeper awake with a racing heart and sweaty palms—being trapped in a mammoth furniture retail store after closing when all the lights go out. Not being able to find your way in the maze of home furnishings and storage solutions. And then creepy things start happening…

In Horrorstör, Grady Hendrix’s debut novel, the nightmare happens in the Cleveland, Ohio, Orsk furniture super-store. A building that has the unfortunate location of the old Cuyahoga Panopticon.

Each morning the employees come in to find bizarre damage not present when they left the night before. The employee entrance is broken, the escalator runs the wrong direction and employees receive text messages from an unknown caller, simply reading, “help.”

Basil, the deputy store manager, is determined to solve the mystery of the nightly vandalism. He’s recruited Amy and Ruth Anne to work an overnight shift with him, making regular rounds of the store in hopes of nabbing the culprit before he—or she—can strike again.

Hendrix’s parody offers social commentary on retail structure in a satirically humorous tone. Horrorstör is bound like a catalog: each chapter is a piece of creatively named furniture accompanied by an image of the flat-pack item, and the book includes a map of the store with directions on how to visit Orsk’s labyrinthine showroom.

In the vein of a classic Scooby Doo ghost story but set inside a modern retail environment, Hendrix brings nightmares to life with wildly fun and outrageously inventive style.

Horrorstör is available in paperback (ISBN: 9781594745263) from Quirk Books. There is an unabridged audio version (ISBN: 9781483049809), narrated by Tai Sammons and Bronson Pinchot, from Blackstone Audio. But I honestly have to advocate for the print version in this case because the packaging of the book is so much fun and that can't be recreated in an audio. If you want to listen, get the print book and follow along!