Welcome to Booking Through Thursday, a weekly bookish meme about books and reading for everyone who loves both. Booking Through Thursday was first hosted by Deb. With permission, I’ve restarted it in 2026.
This week’s prompt:
Have you ever been tempted by a beautiful book cover? Did you go ahead and buy (or check out) the book as a result? How did that turn out?
Have you ever bought (or checked out) a book solely based on the cover?
How to play:
- On your blog: Copy the question/image for your blog, answer it there, and post a quick comment here with a link or trackback to your post so we can read it.
- On social media: Copy the image, answer the prompt, and post a quick comment here with a link.
- Right here: Answer in the comments and start the discussion here. No need to have a blog to play.
Note: If it’s your first time here, your comment may end up in moderation. (My spam filter is aggressive.) I’ll be in after my writing sprints to set it free.
P.S. The prompt is always open, and you don’t have to play on Thursday. Comment whenever you like!
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Nice! I like this prompt a lot!
My Post:
https://thegentlechapter.blog/2026/07/02/booking-through-thursday-go-ahead-judge-that-book/
Great response! I need to get mine up now.
My response is in a separate post here:
https://writingwrongs.blog/2026/07/02/my-btt-response-the-cover-i-couldnt-resist/
Although, the sort answer is Propaganda Girls by Lisa Rogak.
The short answer: I’m sure I have done this. The more honest answer is that I don’t remember any specific examples. I have the feeling that some of the more “elevated” covers I’ve purchased turned out to be more aspirational titles, books I felt like I ought to read (e.g., Possession) vs books I wanted to read (e.g., The Thursday Murder Club series). But for the past 10 years or more, I’ve seldom been in a bookstore, and I choose most of my reading based on recommendations from friends or book reviews I stumble across, or books that are mentioned in books I’m reading. That said, a cover speaks a particular language. It tells me whether it’s part of a series I’ve enjoyed or by an author I like. A book of poetry looks different from a mystery, which looks different from a collection of humorous essays. I definitely judge books by their covers!