In a recent interview with novelist Lauren Groff, I did something I rarely do: mentioned how beautiful the cover of “The Vaster Wilds” is.  

The advanced reader’s copy had come to me with a cover that featured a painterly old tree, gnarled and wise and scalloped green flaps that closed over the tree. 

The art was mysterious and sinister and reassuring.

If you’ve heard the interview from Sept. 29 you heard Lauren say that they went through nearly 85 proposed covers before they landed on the right one.  

And that reveals a few interesting morsels about this particular author and her cover.

Writers rarely have so much clout in determining what the book looks like when it hits bookshelves around the world.  

And the attention to the tiniest detail of the tree and the leaves and the right representation of the work inside is intriguing.  

You may not realize it but book covers are trendy.

Go to a bookstore and you’ll notice that in a given year, a color or font, the use of a photograph or an abstract drawing will pop up on covers across the genres.

Last year, an association of graphic design professionals named 50 book covers the most beautiful, most impactful and the best designed.  

The entries came from 27 countries. Winners included the book “A Novel Obsession,” “Animal Histories of the Civil War Era,” by Earl Hess and a biography about Vladimir Putin with a vivid black and red cover.

My favorite all-time book covers for 2023?  

“Yellowface” by R.F. Kuang: It’s simple, clever and evocative.

“The Covenant of Water,” by Abraham Verghese: The turquoise and coral palette is gorgeous. 

And, yes, Lauren Groff’s knowing old tree on the cover of “The Vaster Wilds.”

Do you have an all-time favorite book cover?Snap a photo if you can or send me a title at kmiller@mpr.org.

— Kerri Miller | MPR News