Chose the Next Best Book Cover of the Year 


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It’s the festive season, which means our fourth annual book cover tournament begins today! We had a tough job winnowing the hundreds of thousands of book covers published this year to the best 32 designs, so we need your help to crown a winner via an interactive poll on our Twitter and Instagram stories starting now. Get into the festive spirit by downloading the full bracket and fill out your predictions for the tournament.

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The bracket features 16 pairs for the first round. Vote for your favorites on our Twitter and Instagram stories throughout the week, with round two on Tuesday, quarterfinals Wednesday, semifinals Thursday, and the final face-off Friday.

Here are the best book covers of 2023:

Left: Illustration by Angela Faustina, design by Natalia Olbinski Heringa
Right: Design by Oliver Munday

Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter vs. Rouge by Mona Awad

Left: Design by Rachel Ake Keuch
Right: Art by Kudzanai-Violet Hwami

Welcome Me to the Kingdom by Mai Nardone vs. Innards by Magogodi Oamphela Makhene

Left: Design by Nicole Caputo
Right: Photograph by Oumayma B. Tanfous, design by Na Kim

Brutes by Dizz Tate vs. Close to Home by Michael Magee

Left: Art by John Wilde
Right: Cover design by Michael Morris, illustration by Lauren Tamaki

Dykette by Jenny Fran Davis vs. Dances by Nicole Cuffy

Left: Art by Nada Hayek
Right: Illustration and cover design by Olivia McGiff

Speech Team by Tim Murphy vs. Vintage Contemporaries by Dan Kois

Left: Art by William Paul Thomas
Right: Illustration by Gérard DuBois, design by Frances DiGiovanni and Rodrigo Corral Studio

Trinity by Zelda Lockhart vs. Fire in the Canyon by Daniel Gumbiner

Left: Cover design by Christopher Sergio
Right: Illustration by Alan Berry Rhys, design by Frances DiGiovanni and Rodrigo Corral Studio

Live to See the Day by Nikhil Goyal vs. Pedro and Marques Take Stock by José Falero, translated by Julia Sanches

Left: Design by Mark Abrams and Caitlin Landuyt
Right: Art by Katy Horan

Normal Women by Ainslie Hogarth vs. Toska by Alina Pleskova

Left: Design by Oliver Munday
Right: Design by Linda Huang

Bathhouse and Other Tanka by Ishii Tatsuhiko, translated by Hiroaki Sato vs. The Nursery by Szilvia Molnar

Left: Art by Jessica TranVo, design by Ashley Sheriff
Right: Art by Amber Cowan

A Plucked Zither by Phuong Vuong vs Tarta Americana by J. Michael Martinez

Left: Design by Will Staehle, art direction by Evan Gaffney
Right: Design by Jamie Keenan, art direction by Erik Rieselbach

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy vs. This Is Not Miami by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes

Left: Design by Beth Steidle
Right: Design by Vivian Lopez Rowe

Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith vs. Tomb Sweeping by Alexandra Chang

Left: Design by Jeremy John Parker
Right: Design by Vivian Lopez Rowe

Cravings by Garnett Kilberg Cohen vs. Terrace Story by Hilary Leichter

Left: Cover design by Kyle Hunter, art by Dorothea Tanning
Right: Art by Shannon Cartier Lucy, design by Joel Amat Güell

A Film in Which I Play Everyone by Mary Jo Bang vs. Earth Angel by Madeline Cash

Left: Sara Wood
Right: Design by Tristan Elwell

How Not to Be a Politician by Rory Stewart vs. Starter Villain by John Scalzi

Left: Design by Holly Ovenden, art direction by Tom Etherington
Right: Design by Sophy Hollington

You, Bleeding Childhood by Michele Mari, translated by Brian Robert Moore vs. Rotten Evidence by Ahmed Naji, translated by Katharine Halls