Favorite Covers Staff Picks (7/29/26)

This month, we are sharing some of our favorite upcoming book covers!

AMANDA’S PICK: STRANGE IS THE LIGHT BY SARAH MARIA GRIFFIN

This contemporary fantasy follows a group of estranged childhood friends as they are called back to the island where they spent their summers; it’s time to play the next round of an uncanny tabletop RPG with a mind of its own… and a dangerously real cost to losing. Like a rare, fascinating combination of Yellowjackets, Stranger Things and CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS, this is a cross-over dream, perfect for a reader hungry for authentically chaotic groups of friends (and toxic relationships) with a dreamy and otherworldly slant. The trippy colors, cars going to nowhere, and D20 at the center of it all in the cover shows this book will be a wild ride.

EMILY’S PICK: A WALL IS ALSO A ROAD BY ANNALEE NEWITZ

Ever since I first saw the cover for Annalee Newitz’s next novel, I’ve been transfixed, unable to stop thinking about it. The tentacles and the space theme immediately drew me in, but I think my favorite element is the mosaic tiles, which give the whole thing an added textural layer. In this sci-fi adventure, a graduate student (who also happens to be an amoeba) stumbles upon a discovery that will change everything they thought they knew: a mysterious planet teeming with unexpected life, language, and culture. This is a thought-provoking and heartwarming novel about science, love, and the meaning of life, perfect for fans of Becky Chambers, Ryka Aoki, and Martha Wells.

MARGO’S PICK: UNIVERSE OF GRACE BY RACHEL CALNEK-SUGIN

The cover of UNIVERSE OF GRACE is one of my favorites this year—I’ve been telling anyone and everyone to take a look at it! The blend of bright colors combined with the title and author surrounding the darkness in the center is so eye-catching and satisfying to look at. This is a kaleidoscopic story about the life of a young girl trying to figure out who—or what—she might be. One afternoon at the zoo, a jaguar tells Grace that she isn’t human, which she already suspected. No one else seems to experience things as brightly and painfully as Grace, who then spends her adolescence and adulthood trying to find an answer to the strangeness inside her. This reimagines the classic coming-of-age question of “who am I?”, and touches on neurodivergence, queer love, and sisterhood.

HALLIE’S PICK: HUMPTY DUMPTY BY HAROLD ROGERS

The cover of HUMPTY DUMPTY instantly drew my attention. It’s bold, weird, incredibly clean, and makes you curious about what kind of story blends football culture, fragility, and a classic nursery rhyme trope. In this story Darius Rodgers is Steubenville’s untouchable star quarterback, poised to lead his team to a historic State Championship. But when his exiled twin sister, Anna, returns to town, her secret romance with Darius’s best friend sparks a social detonation. What follows is a brutal chain reaction of corruption, betrayal, and cyber-warfare. Forget fairytales—this is a ferociously dark dive into the rotten core of small-town America, where every crime demands accountability.