I recently stumbled on Matt Dorfman’s annual Ten Best list in the New York Times Book Review and was impressed by the terrific book covers. Here’s how Dorfman introduced the article:

If most book cover designs are conceived as quick-to-metabolize marketing tools, a great one can make the reader do a double take in slow motion. A good first impression is, of course, the goal: to elicit curiosity and excitement before you’ve even picked the book off a shelf. But a great cover can fortify itself in our consciousness, resonating more deeply as we absorb the text within, ideally prompting a second impression after we finish reading.