Packing for Mars by Mary Roach Mary Roach is one of my favorite non-fiction writers. She picks a topic and then explores every aspect of it in a humorous and scientific way. Her past books include: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife and Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Sex and Science. In her latest, Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, she takes a look at the strange science of space travel, and the psychology, technology, and politics that go into sending a crew into orbit. She has an impeccable way of finding absurd and stranger-than-fiction tales to share that make it a hilarious and educational read. You can find out more about the book here.
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Packing for Mars by Mary Roach

Mary Roach is one of my favorite non-fiction writers. She picks a topic and then explores every aspect of it in a humorous and scientific way. Her past books include: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife and Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Sex and Science.

In her latest, Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, she takes a look at the strange science of space travel, and the psychology, technology, and politics that go into sending a crew into orbit. She has an impeccable way of finding absurd and stranger-than-fiction tales to share that make it a hilarious and educational read.

You can find out more about the book here.

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking Looks like it’s turning into SPACE month here as I post my latest cover, another book having very much to do with the universe: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.  Definitely an interesting and mind-bending read, I can’t say that I completely understand everything he lays out in here, but it’s certainly cool to think about. My cover uses the awesome desktop background artwork of Jon Ashcroft, which I encourage you to check out here.  Playing with the title text, I wanted it to serve as a staircase of sorts for the obsessed stargazer to get down into his telescope viewing room…
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A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

Looks like it’s turning into SPACE month here as I post my latest cover, another book having very much to do with the universe: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. 

Definitely an interesting and mind-bending read, I can’t say that I completely understand everything he lays out in here, but it’s certainly cool to think about.

My cover uses the awesome desktop background artwork of Jon Ashcroft, which I encourage you to check out here. 

Playing with the title text, I wanted it to serve as a staircase of sorts for the obsessed stargazer to get down into his telescope viewing room…

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut is amazing. I remember tearing through most of his books in high school after reading Slaughterhouse-Five for English class. And although it’s hard for me to pick a favorite, The Sirens of Titan would have to be it. The book follows Malachi Constant, the richest man in 22nd-century America, on his journey back and forth across the universe, where he ultimately ends up on one of Saturn’s moons, Titan. If you haven’t read any Vonnegut, go do it now. You can find out more about The Sirens of Titan here.
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The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut is amazing. I remember tearing through most of his books in high school after reading Slaughterhouse-Five for English class. And although it’s hard for me to pick a favorite, The Sirens of Titan would have to be it.

The book follows Malachi Constant, the richest man in 22nd-century America, on his journey back and forth across the universe, where he ultimately ends up on one of Saturn’s moons, Titan.

If you haven’t read any Vonnegut, go do it now. You can find out more about The Sirens of Titan here.

A Dead Bat in Paraguay by Roosh Vorek A Dead Bat In Paraguay is about a 28-year-old man who decided that the best way he could deal with his existential crisis was to sell his possessions, quit his job as a scientist, and hop on a one-way flight to Ecuador in order to visit every country in South America. Along the journey he chronicles the friendships, the women, and the struggles, including one fateful night in Paraguay (referring to the title) that he thought would lead to his end. For my cover, I took a modern approach to a map with the colors and the zig zag waves of the ocean. The dotted travel line represented both the author wandering around South America and the flight path of the soon-to-be-dead bat, each ending up in Paraguay. 
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A Dead Bat in Paraguay by Roosh Vorek

A Dead Bat In Paraguay is about a 28-year-old man who decided that the best way he could deal with his existential crisis was to sell his possessions, quit his job as a scientist, and hop on a one-way flight to Ecuador in order to visit every country in South America. Along the journey he chronicles the friendships, the women, and the struggles, including one fateful night in Paraguay (referring to the title) that he thought would lead to his end.

For my cover, I took a modern approach to a map with the colors and the zig zag waves of the ocean. The dotted travel line represented both the author wandering around South America and the flight path of the soon-to-be-dead bat, each ending up in Paraguay. 

Milk Winter by Elizabeth McConaghy My friend Beth writes essays and short stories. As a surprise to her, Kyle, her husband, wanted me to design a cover for her most recent collection of essays. The title story, Milk Winter, deals with an unsavory spoiled-milk smell that’s lingering in their car throughout the winter. The cover depicts one of Kyle’s several attempts to purge the car of the smell, with his light footprints being printed (in my dream world) with an aqueous coating to give them a little sheen when tilted in the light.
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Milk Winter by Elizabeth McConaghy

My friend Beth writes essays and short stories. As a surprise to her, Kyle, her husband, wanted me to design a cover for her most recent collection of essays.

The title story, Milk Winter, deals with an unsavory spoiled-milk smell that’s lingering in their car throughout the winter. The cover depicts one of Kyle’s several attempts to purge the car of the smell, with his light footprints being printed (in my dream world) with an aqueous coating to give them a little sheen when tilted in the light.

Manhunt by James L. Swanson In honor of the first issue of best-comic-concept-ever, Time Lincoln, arriving in the mail this past week, I thought I would make a new cover for one of my favorite nonfiction books: Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer.  As the title implies, it follows the days after Lincoln was assassinated and the hunt for John Wilkes Booth. You can find out more about it here.
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Manhunt by James L. Swanson

In honor of the first issue of best-comic-concept-ever, Time Lincoln, arriving in the mail this past week, I thought I would make a new cover for one of my favorite nonfiction books: Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer. 

As the title implies, it follows the days after Lincoln was assassinated and the hunt for John Wilkes Booth. You can find out more about it here.

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami Battle Royale is a book that has been on my to-read list for quite a while. Last weekend, I finally had a chance to sit down and watch the movie that came out based on the book and it was definitely interesting.   The basic gist of the story is that in the near future, Japan’s society is crumbling as their economy and job market are drying up. Because of this, students in Japan start neglecting school and treat their teachers and other adults with extreme disrespect. As a result, the Japanese government creates the Battle Royale Act. In order to restore fear into the students and get them to respect adults, each year a random classroom of students is chosen to compete to the death.  Sent to a deserted island, they are each given a small bag of food, water and a random weapon. They have 3 days to compete and there can only be one remaining student. If there are more than 1 remaining after 3 days, all that remain are killed. Pretty grisly. If you’ve heard of the recently completed Hunger Games trilogy, those books pull heavily from the premise established in Battle Royale. Getting back to my cover, I wanted to do something clean and concise…so I gave a gruesome twist to the Japanese flag. My darker interpretation of the flag features a blood spatter in place of the normal simple red circle on white. Find out more about the book here.
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Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Battle Royale is a book that has been on my to-read list for quite a while. Last weekend, I finally had a chance to sit down and watch the movie that came out based on the book and it was definitely interesting.  

The basic gist of the story is that in the near future, Japan’s society is crumbling as their economy and job market are drying up. Because of this, students in Japan start neglecting school and treat their teachers and other adults with extreme disrespect. As a result, the Japanese government creates the Battle Royale Act. In order to restore fear into the students and get them to respect adults, each year a random classroom of students is chosen to compete to the death. 

Sent to a deserted island, they are each given a small bag of food, water and a random weapon. They have 3 days to compete and there can only be one remaining student. If there are more than 1 remaining after 3 days, all that remain are killed. Pretty grisly.

If you’ve heard of the recently completed Hunger Games trilogy, those books pull heavily from the premise established in Battle Royale.

Getting back to my cover, I wanted to do something clean and concise…so I gave a gruesome twist to the Japanese flag. My darker interpretation of the flag features a blood spatter in place of the normal simple red circle on white.

Find out more about the book here.

The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean Admittedly, this is one of the nerdier books I’ve taken on, but if you were ever a fan of Bill Nye the Science Guy, you should check this one out. In The Disappearing Spoon, Science magazine reporter Sam Kean takes on the periodic table and tells short funny and interesting tales associated with each of the elements.  For my cover, I used the periodic table as inspiration and flooded the space with random elements, leaving white space to fill in the shape of the disappearing spoon of the title. You can find out more about the book here.
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The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean

Admittedly, this is one of the nerdier books I’ve taken on, but if you were ever a fan of Bill Nye the Science Guy, you should check this one out. In The Disappearing Spoon, Science magazine reporter Sam Kean takes on the periodic table and tells short funny and interesting tales associated with each of the elements. 

For my cover, I used the periodic table as inspiration and flooded the space with random elements, leaving white space to fill in the shape of the disappearing spoon of the title.

You can find out more about the book here.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is one of my favorite books. It centers around two magicians (the title characters) as they try to reintroduce magic into 19th century England. Think of it as The Prestige meets Charles Dickens. And just like the fueding magicians in The Prestige, the relationship between the two involves twists, betrayals and power struggles. Because they’re always trying to one-up the other, I decided I would make dual covers, each showcasing one of the magicians, with the other being just out of the frame (and their name considerably smaller) allowing the reader to decide which character they prefer. Find out more about the book here. 
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Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is one of my favorite books. It centers around two magicians (the title characters) as they try to reintroduce magic into 19th century England. Think of it as The Prestige meets Charles Dickens. And just like the fueding magicians in The Prestige, the relationship between the two involves twists, betrayals and power struggles.

Because they’re always trying to one-up the other, I decided I would make dual covers, each showcasing one of the magicians, with the other being just out of the frame (and their name considerably smaller) allowing the reader to decide which character they prefer.

Find out more about the book here. 

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl A cover for one of my favorite children’s books of all time, James and the Giant Peach. Roald Dahl is just awesome and I’m thinking I might have to do a 3-4 part Dahl collection, not to be confused with me 3-4 thousand doll collection. (Just kidding. My doll collection is only at 1,500 currently.) Find out more about the book here.
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James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

A cover for one of my favorite children’s books of all time, James and the Giant Peach. Roald Dahl is just awesome and I’m thinking I might have to do a 3-4 part Dahl collection, not to be confused with me 3-4 thousand doll collection. (Just kidding. My doll collection is only at 1,500 currently.)

Find out more about the book here.

Oil! by Upton Sinclair My design for the novel OIL! by Upton Sinclair featuring a plump oil baron who’s taken a quick break from counting his money and a type treatment for the title that looks like it’s left a slick sheen on the cover. This book was the inspiration for the awesome film There Will Be Blood. Find out more about the book here.
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Oil! by Upton Sinclair

My design for the novel OIL! by Upton Sinclair featuring a plump oil baron who’s taken a quick break from counting his money and a type treatment for the title that looks like it’s left a slick sheen on the cover.

This book was the inspiration for the awesome film There Will Be Blood.

Find out more about the book here.

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