Point of View: The Book Cover

Have you ever judged a book by its cover, both literally (of books) and figuratively (of people or things), only to later find out your judgements were inaccurate? I have to admit, I’ve been guilty of thinking a book would be “good” simply by finding the cover attractive. I’ve also bypassed a book thinking it’s bound (no pun intended) to be as dull and boring as its cover is. That’s not always the case of books, people, or situations. Regarding books, I do have some in my home that are just for design purposes on the shelf or coffee table, some of which I’ve read and others not. There are certain books out there that I will never buy or read strictly based on the book’s title or content. I don’t need to crack the cover to know ahead of time the book and I won’t mesh. Those are different scenarios.

Some years back, while I was working in a luxury Italian furniture showroom in the heart of SoHo in NYC, my colleague and I watched our next customer enter the front door. The lady looked unkempt and frumpy making it easy to assume the unlikelihood of a spending customer. We whispered amongst ourselves, “You wanna take this one?” “Nah, you can. She’s not gonna buy anything.” “I know, right?” I took one for the team, if you will, and approached her to start the interaction. The first words out of her mouth, “Hi. I’m ‘so-and-so,’ a shoe designer and I’m designing my new store that’s soon to open in Brooklyn. I’ve been eyeing this bookshelf of yours for some time now and need your help to finalize the custom design and place my order today. Can you help me with that?” The nature of my whispering just a couple minutes prior immediately switched to a silent conversation in my head of reprimanding myself. If it weren’t so unprofessional of a display, I would’ve slapped myself upside the back of my own head. She paid big money that day and I split the commission of the sale with my colleague. Lesson learned.

Study the cover of the above cookbook. What’s your first impression? I did a double take when I walked by it a couple weeks ago thinking I was seeing things. My initial reaction wasn’t a supportive or open-minded one. Was it because of the crook to cook motto? No, I love a good and honest rags-to-riches story. Was it because I don’t like Snoop? Not necessarily the reason either. I just judged his intentions in putting a book like that out there and questioned if the recipes were actually edible. So, to put skepticism on the back burner, I double Dogg dared myself to put one of Tha Boss Dogg’s platinum recipes on the front burner and it was actually pretty good. I’m not endorsing him or his cookbook. I’m highlighting the general topic of judging a book (or person, situation, thing) by it’s cover.

Regarding books for the sake of books, I would suggest The Indonesian Table and the pair of cookbooks flanking it in the cover photo of this post. The books were positioned as such on the store’s bookshelf. Judging the aesthetics of the book covers, I appreciate the individual designs of each one as well as the retro color combo of white, kelly green and poppy red-orange of the aligned grouping. Judging the content of the book trio, I’ve tried recipes out of all three and would recommend them.

Speaking of cooking, visit our online store here to browse our handmade products and ideas for your kitchen and tabletop decor. Maybe you want to visit a bookstore cooking section to scope out new recipes from a cookbook that offers more than meets the eye. It’s all about your point of view.