July 2025 Cover Cat - Fruit on Cover

In my part of the world we are finishing up strawberry season and looking forward to blueberry season. We have a lot of blueberry farms in our area and so are looking forward to picking up fresh ones.

Fruit is often pictured on book covers, from the exotic fuits like mangoes and papaya to citrus varieties like oranges and lemons. Countless covers depict apples, cherries and plums. This month our cover challenge is to read a book that has a fruit pictured on the cover. I have listed few for examples and I am looking forward to seeing what everyone is going going to read.

Examples
: Devotion by Madelaine Stevns (peach)
: Revenge by Yoko Ogawa (Strawberry)
: Things We Say in he Dark by Kirsty Logan (Passion Fruit)
: The Cider House Rules by John Irving (apple)
: At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier (apple)
: The Villa by Rachel Hawkins (lemons)
: The Mango Season by Amulya Malladi (Mango)

Enjoy July’s Harvest and if you wish, The Wiki can be found here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/CoverCAT_2025#June:_fruit_

I am going with the ever popular apple with Don't Sit under the Apple Tree by Margaret Thornton

and
The White Robin by Miss Read

I am thinking of reading A Crime of Passion Fruit by Ellie Alexander.

I will be reading Snow So White by C Gockel

This one has been on my shelves for ages, so I will read Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens. It will also fit with ScaredyKIT for ghosts.

I have a book called Clover which has been on my shelf for ages as something of a mystery--it doesn't seem like something I'd normally grab, and I don't remember getting it. It does have a peach on the cover, though, so it looks like this is the time!

I just started the pumpkin Spice cafe, which has, you guessed it, pumpkin on the cover. Since this is the only option I’ve encountered so far, I think I will save it for July.

My plan now is to read Commonwealth by Ann Patchett. There are oranges on the cover.

Believe it or not, 393 books on my TBR, and not one has fruit on the cover!

ETA: Did not think of a pumpkin as a fruit. I will go back and check!

I’ll probably also read Commonwealth by Ann Patchett, since it looks like my library hold will arrive in time. If not, I have these alternatives:

Appleseed by Matt Bell (an apple, obviously)
The Island of the Missing Trees by Elif Shafak (I think it’s a fig?)
Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees (a bit of a cheat, since mine is a Standard Ebook, and these have sort of generic, public domain artworks for covers. This has a still life with fruit.)
Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller (oranges, obviously)
Light from Other Stars by Erika Swyler (more oranges)
Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong (lemons)
The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker (a plum)

Lilo and Stitch Cookbook by Tim Rita with a pineapple on the cover.

I thought I didn't have anything for this prompt, but then I looked again and found Restoration by Rose Tremain

I read Snow so White by C. Gockel for this

Which way is Home?byMaria Kiely

What? They aren't showing but there are strawberries at the bottom. I''ll come back later and attempt to fix.

I never would've found this YA coming-of-age book without this month's challenge, but I'm so glad I did.



This Will Be Funny Someday by Katie Henry

The Shadow of the Pomegranate by Jean Plaidy
Back in the 1970s I read a lot of Plaidy’s novels even though I’m not a fan of fiction about real people and events. This was OK as a light read but just doesn’t compete with a well-written nonfiction account.

I finished Commonwealth by Ann Patchett, which has oranges on the cover:



What a terrific book! Ann Patchett has become an author whose books I want to read every one of.

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
I know I’m fussy about food but there were so many ingredients here that I would never even consider never mind consider essential. The worst was the saccharine sweet text. Not for me.

I read Away which was very good.

I read Apple Strudel Alibi by H.Y. Hanna.

120. Snow So White by C Gockel ★★

Once upon a future-time, in a city of steel, concrete, and Magick, a wicked queen trapped a mighty warrior with a curse. In the tiny village of Somer, far from the city, Cherie knows nothing of the evil spell. Her home is a safe, Magickal place. The Fae travel freely along its roads, Magickal humans and animals are welcome, and everyone is hidden from the Queen’s sight by Jack Frost, the local ghost, who blurs the Queen’s mirror with snow and ice. But when Jack’s spell begins to crack, the Queen’s eyes fall on Somer. Nothing will keep her from abducting all of Somer’s Magickals, not even a war with the Fae. To avert a war, save her village--and herself--Cherie strikes a perilous bargain. Aided only by Jack and her own small Magick, she’ll set off on a quest … If she fails, she’ll lose more than her life.

I found this book to be very confusing. The interactions between the characters did not make sense and the author seemed unable to make up her mind on where the story was going (and takes the reader along for the ride). The book also concludes without a true ending, setting up the reader to get the next book in the series.

I read Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell, and some of the titular strawberries are featured at the bottom of the cover (tiny, but present!):

Read a Gammelpot graphic novel for this months challenge:


since
It is funny, I remember the artwork as a lot more clean than this, but maybe it is because the illustrator had a brain aneurism, and had to relearn to draw with his left hand. Or maybe it is just such a long time since I read the previous albums.

I read Indexing by Seanan McGuire which has an apple on the cover.

The Art of Frugal Hedonism



This book is all about reducing spending to maximise pleasure. 51 bite-sized chapters give tips on everything from groceries to relationships, sourced from friends, scientists, and the past. Some tips were very eye-opening, and if you have an open mind you may discover you're only living the way you are because of a culture of surplus, and not because it actually gives you joy. Like any self-help book, not all advice will apply to all people. Nonetheless, I did find good tips for myself and I am glad I picked this book up.

Full review on my thread.