Ship of Fools: Worst Christian book covers 2014

Thread: Worst Christian book covers 2014 Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Lucia (# 15201) on :

A friend shared this on Facebook and it struck me as something the Ship should be informed about!

Worst Christian Book Covers of 2014

What do you think? Deserving? Inspiring? Any others you'd like to add?

[Link edited to remove double "http://". - Ariel, Heaven Host.]

[ 22. November 2014, 08:57: Message edited by: Ariel ]

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

The link doesn't work, so we're none the wiser ...

Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :

Someone else beat me to it. I can't even get to the main link.

Posted by Lucia (# 15201) on :

Oops, sorry. Thanks for fixing it Ariel. Link seems to work ok for me now.

[ 22. November 2014, 09:21: Message edited by: Lucia ]

Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :

A difficult list to rank, but the couple Doing It up against a tree probably deserve to win.

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

The site is a major contender for the "Greatest number of ad-revenue-generating page click-throughs required to view content" award.

Posted by Lucia (# 15201) on :

Oh I'm sorry! I didn't realise as none of them appear for me as I use Adblocker. Oh well...

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

Some of those break every known principle of book cover design... [Ultra confused]

Super stuff, thanks for sharing. I may have to forward this to a designer friend.

"Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow" is a great one. I particularly like the gap where clearly the fourth photo from someone's holiday snaps wouldn't fit. But my favourite for the No 1 spot would have to be "Texting with the Enemy".

Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :

Aren't you all worried about the mail order bride who has been widowed, jilted and made pregnant on the wagon train west? I can't even get my head around it.

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

Has anyone ever seen a good Christian book cover?

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
Has anyone ever seen a good Christian book cover?

The largely blank and functional ones. Anything else risks being naff.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

If "Christian" includes theology as well as inspirational, yes, there are some good covers around. The ones with images tend to be the stereotypical images of stained glass, religious art (including medieval), statues and mosaics, but these can work well if there's a designer who knows how to put a good image together with a suitable background colour and a font that works.

Otherwise, sunsets, clouds and cartoons are probably the way forward.

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

Theology, if it is old and in a leather bound edition (like it "should" be) is fine.

My paperback copy of City of God however is truly naff.

eta, the cover not the contents.

[ 22. November 2014, 20:23: Message edited by: balaam ]

Posted by Athrawes (# 9594) on :

I was somewhat perturbed by the gun wielding granny, myself. I am definitely not bringing her a basket of goodies. [Ultra confused]

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

Actually this old classic takes some beating.

Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :

I suppose that the cover to this 1970s Lutheran sex-ed book was not as cheesy as it could have been, but then, things can always be cheesier, can't they.

The advice given in the text was pretty much what you'd expect, judging the book by its cover. As I recall, they somewhat hedged on the question about whether it was the particular responsibility of girls to curtail sexual desire on a date.

Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Eutychus:
Actually this old classic takes some beating.

I'm guessing the writer who thought it was a good idea put "pigs" and "deliverance" on the same cover wasn't a fan of 1970s American cinema.

Posted by Oscar the Grouch (# 1916) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Twilight:
Aren't you all worried about the mail order bride who has been widowed, jilted and made pregnant on the wagon train west? I can't even get my head around it.

I'm beginning to think I need to get the whole series.

And I simply HAVE to have "Stand your ground". It sounds like a must-have book....

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Betty Bowers joins the NRA. Hee. [Big Grin]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Twilight:
Aren't you all worried about the mail order bride who has been widowed, jilted and made pregnant on the wagon train west? I can't even get my head around it.

Apparently she's a fiercely independant Frenchwoman, so she'll be okay.

( There's a whole Mail Order Bride series! We need to get this on the roster for the book club!)

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

Words fail me.

.
.
.

Okay, I lied.

I think what gets me most is the er, extreme restraint with which the commenter describes the covers. I mean, the book with rays shooting out from the woman's HIPS? It's a vagina, people. We can say the word on the Internet.

And any book titled "Under the Mantle" with a slicked up priest in sunglasses on the cover would get some seriously off-color readings of it, even if the only female sharing the picture is the virgin of Guadalupe.

It's all in Ovid, all in Ovid... what DO they teach them in the schools these days?

Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :

Lamb Chopped wrote:

quote:
I think what gets me most is the er, extreme restraint with which the commenter describes the covers. I mean, the book with rays shooting out from the woman's HIPS? It's a vagina, people. We can say the word on the Internet.

And any book titled "Under the Mantle" with a slicked up priest in sunglasses on the cover would get some seriously off-color readings of it, even if the only female sharing the picture is the virgin of Guadalupe.

Which books are you referring to here? I can't find anything like that in the OP, or any other link on the thread.

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

Look at the similar lists for 2013 and 2012 (I believe the ones I mentioned are 2013). You can reach them from the original link, where the landing page gives the archival links. Some of us on this thread have looked at them too.

Posted by Stetson (# 9597) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
Look at the similar lists for 2013 and 2012 (I believe the ones I mentioned are 2013). You can reach them from the original link, where the landing page gives the archival links. Some of us on this thread have looked at them too.

Thanks.

Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :

"I went to heaven and this is my story". Well, honeymoon nights can be pretty good, but most people don't write about them.

Posted by Galilit (# 16470) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:

And any book titled "Under the Mantle" with a slicked up priest in sunglasses on the cover would get some seriously off-color readings of it, even if the only female sharing the picture is the virgin of Guadalupe.

I happened upon this in one of those "Recommended for you" Amazon lists - couldn't resist checking him out on-line.
1. He doesn't look like this any more
2. He doesn't surf as much as he used to wot with praying, priesting and preaching all over telling his life-story.
3. He runs tours - Lourdes, Medugordje, The Holy Land

All in all a short-lived personal fantasy but surprised to asee it on any "worst" list

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

This particular "worst" list has nothing to do with content or indeed with the life of the person on the cover. It's all about double entendre, bad layout and dreadful color & fonts on the cover of books only.

There are similar "bad romance cover" contests which are a hoot. You can google for them. The best(worst) leave you shaking your head and wondering, "what was the designer thinking?"

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

Not a cover - but I remember this as one of the worst Christian book titles of all time!

Posted by churchgeek (# 5557) on :

They're not all Christian books, I think. #10 looks to be more of a spiritualist book (assuming those are "orb" photos - which some people think is ghosts rather than, say, dust on the lens or dust in the air struck by a flash).

I do love that the illustration in #5 includes "Cover by: Reginald Matthews" quite prominently. Written into the illustration by Mr. Matthews himself, it seems.

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