August CoverCAT - Photography

For this month, your challenge is to pick a book where a photograph forms part or all of the cover image.

Such covers are especially common in nonfiction:









...but are far from unheard of in fiction:







And if all else fails, if a book has been adapted into a movie or TV show, you'll almost certainly find a cover with a photo from that version somewhere:





Whatever you choose, feel free to add it to the wiki.

I am thinking about Outlandish Knight by Minoo Dinshaw

I’m going to read Girls against God by Jenny Hval, which I got from the library just so I could find out who took the cover photo:



The photographer is Ann Mansolino, and the photographic series that includes this one is haunting and surreal.

I'm going to plan on Reef Life: An Underwater Memoir, which features an undersea photograph with a sea turtle.

I'll probably read:

I will be reading Maids of Misfortune by M Louisa Locke, which contains an actual photograph in a frame on the cover.

I plan to re-read a favorite from my own library: The Writer’s Desk by Jill Krementz.

I am planning on Mrs. Polifax on Safari with a photograph of a hand holding a camera on the cover.

For this, I'm thinking:
Titanic: The Canadian Story / Alan Hustak

I've recently read a few books with photographic covers: The Governess and the Rogue by Mimi Matthews, and Can't Help Falling and Flirting with Forever by Cara Bastone.

I ended up reading The Gift of Joy which features an Amish woman on the cover.

I finished Beacon 23 by Hugh Howey. The cover is the TV show tie in edition with a photo of the two stars of the show.

A Regrettable Proposal by Jennie Goutet has a cover combining multiple photographs:

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

Not only did O’Farrell depict Lucrezia de Medici’s personality credibly, but she brought the era to life. Alphonso II, Duke of Ferraro, the only son of a royal family, has chosen a girl to be his wife, and knowing the significance of succession, his choice is crucial. They married when she was 13-years-old. When she does not immediately become pregnant, her life is reduced in value and continues to lessen each month. It’s a chilling tale and even though the outcome is known, O’Farrell’s ending was brilliant.

I have finished Das verbotene Notizbuch which has a photograph of the author on the cover.

Trick of the Eye

The Prisoner by B.A. Paris
Unbelievable, but then when did you ever come across a mystery that was totally credible? The first half certainly kept me on the edge of my seat. A young woman just beginning to find her feet in London, is kidnapped with her employer and they are kept in separate pitch-black rooms. The first half was good but then it got a bit silly.

Finished Reef Life by Callum Roberts. It was more science and nature writing than memoir, but since I picked up the memoir because of my interest in marine scene more so than anything, it was a lovely read.

I just started ACROSS CHINA by Peter Jenkins.
Cover photo of hills against a vivid sunset, presumably in China.

I took this month's challenge literally and read a book with a photograph on the cover.


Maids of Misfortune by M Louisa Locke ★★★

It’s the summer of 1879, and Annie Fuller, a young San Francisco widow, is in trouble. Annie’s husband squandered her fortune before committing suicide five years earlier, and one of his creditors is now threatening to take the boardinghouse she owns to pay off a debt. Annie Fuller also possesses a secret. She supplements her income by giving domestic and business advice as Madam Sibyl, one of San Francisco’s most exclusive clairvoyants, and one of Madam Sibyl’s clients, Matthew Voss, has died. The police believe his death was a suicide brought upon by bankruptcy, but Annie believes Voss has been murdered and that his assets have been stolen. Nate Dawson wrestles with a difficult decision. As the Voss family lawyer, he would love to prove that Matthew Voss didn't leave his grieving family destitute. But that would mean working with Annie Fuller, a woman who alternatively attracts and infuriates him as she shatters every notion he ever had of proper ladylike behavior. Sparks fly as Anne and Nate pursue the truth about the murder of Matthew Voss in this light-hearted, cozy historical mystery set in the foggy, gas-lit world of Victorian San Francisco.

My favorite character in this book was a one-off character, Wong, the houseman. A typical mystery, I could not find myself interested enough to continue the series.

I just finished Skriv!, a Danish book about how to write good non-fiction.
The very orange cover features a fotograph of a hand holding a pen:

Despite the striking cover of Girls Against God, I gave up on the book. Instead, I listened to the audiobook of Alan Cumming’s memoir Not My Father’s Son, which was well worth reading. The cover has a photo of Alan Cumming:

I read Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves, a rather depressing look at women in pop culture during my adult lifetime.

I have completed Mrs. Pollifax on Safari for this months' CoverCat.

COMPLETED Outlandish Knight by Minoo Dinshaw

I also finished Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.

The House Swap by Rebecca Fleet
I saw this book mentioned somewhere and thought the cover was perfect for this month’s category prompt. I should have remembered that old saying about not choosing a book for its cover.

The idea of swapping homes with a stranger for a holiday horrifies me and while it made a good premise for a horrifying novel the reading was disappointing. Told in two timelines, Caro and Francis have had a difficult relationship since Francis developed a drug addiction, while Caro has an affair with workmate Carl, a much younger man. While there is enough here to fill out the story, Fleet adds gratuitous sex details that add nothing to the plot. It is when the affair is over, Francis has recovered, and the couple are mending, that the house swap takes place. Has Caro inadvertently made the switch with her now former lover? Or with someone who knows about the affair? Who is staying at her house while she believes she may be in Carl’s house? This is the potential scary aspect that Fleet concedes in favour of, what, an illicit affair?

There are serious faults with this story, the treatment of a toddler child being a major one. Some concepts are introduced then not followed up. And who in the world would let their home to a completely unknown party or move into a house not even knowing the owner’s name? But the biggest failing was the uninspired ending, where Fleet appears to have either run out of ideas or just lost interest. Skip this one.

I'm halfway through my read for this one. I'll get it posted soon!

THE GIRL IN THE GATEHOUSE has cover photo of girl in front of gatehouse.

The Book of Hope



Overall, this was a great read. It discusses Goodall's childhood, her work, and the myriad reasons she holds on to hope for future despite everything she knows and has seen. While I am glad people like her are holding the torch for hope, as it were, and passing that hope to others, I can't say I feel the same way — some of the rhetoric for hope depends on the idea that individuals can make a difference in, for example, climate change. 1,000 individuals switching to a locally-sourced, plant-based diet (as she seems to suggest as a positive action) wouldn't be a drop in the bucket to combat the damage even a simple conglomerate mega-corporation does in a year. However, 1,000 individuals voting in their local and national elections, protesting, and contacting their representatives to advocate for these corporations being held accountable? That might make a change.

I'm interested in reading more from Goodall, and perhaps seeing a talk from her some day. She's both very knowledgeable and very personable.