“The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm.”
26 January 2018
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Among Others, Books by Proxy, Friday Face off, Jo Walton

Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book, compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future week’s themes are listed below. This week’s theme:
“The grass is always greener on the other side of personal extinction” – a cover featuring grass
This week’s book is Among Others by Jo Walton. It’s the book that initially sprung to mind and it wouldn’t be replaced:
I like a couple of these covers and in a way I really want to pick the cover with the library. I also really like the two bottom corner covers but my pick this week is:

And, it really suits the theme 😀
Which is your favourite?
Next week – a cover that is psychedelic
Future themes:
2nd February – Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – a Psychedelic cover
9th February – ‘My what big teeth you have’ – a cover featuring a cloaked figure
16th February – ‘Groovy baby’ – a cover that is: Retro
23rd February – “There are too many steps in this castle, and it seems to me they add a few every night, just to vex me” – a cover featuring a staircase
2nd March – ‘The only true wisdom is to know that you know nothing’ – a cover featuring something from Greek mythology
9th March – ‘…but Icarus flew too close’ – a cover featuring the Sun
16th March – ‘I got no strings to hold me down’ – a cover featuring a doll or puppet
23rd March – “When she was a child, the witch locked her away in a tower that had neither doors nor stairs.” – a cover featuring a Tower
30th March – ‘A little soil to make it grow’ – a cover featuring seeds/spores
6th April – “After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.” – a cover featuring a family
13th April – ‘lawns and rocks and heather and different sorts of trees, lay spread out below them, the river winding through it’ – a cover featuring a panorama
20th April – Where there’s fire there’s… – a cover featuring smoke
27th April – ‘Those darling byegone times… with their delicious fortresses, and their dear old dungeons, and their delightful places of torture’ – a cover that is positively mediaeval
4th May- ‘A Hand without a hand? A bad jape, sister.’ – a cover featuring a hand/hands
11th May – ‘Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth’ – a cover featuring a dinosaur/s
18th May – ‘Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;’ – a cover featuring a gravestone
25th May – Trip trap, trip trap, trip trap – a cover featuring footsteps
1st June – clinging and invasive – a cover featuring creeping vines
8th June – Raining Cats and Dogs – a cover featuring a stormy sky
That very first one: with the image being smaller, the girl’s face looks to painted a bit like a mine, and with that font choice, those red flowers remind me of blood, and I’m think horror novel all the way… now compare that to those last two covers… XD
I really want to pick that library one about it as my favorite too, but there is something about it that just isn’t quite right; I it almost looks a little too computer generated/needs a bit more finished polish?
Yeah, I wanted to love the library cover but there was definitely something off-putting.
Lynn 😀
I like the one you picked but also like the one done in soft oranges. I think that is the one I see the most often – in fact, it’s probably the one I own but haven’t read 🙂
Yeah, you always tend to hold a soft spot for the book you own – unless, that is, it’s totally hideous! That orange cover is lovely.
Lynn 😀
I liked the cover you chose, but my favorite is the second cover on the second row.
That really is a lovely cover – looks, in Bilbo’s words, like the start of an adventure.
Lynn 😀
LOL, that’s exactly right! 😀
I really love the one you picked. I own the last one on your list, the US cover, and I like that as well.
There are some lovely, romantic almost, covers for this book. Very eye catching.
Lynn 😀
My favourite is your among1 with the oranges and sparkly bits… I absolutely LOVE this book – it’s one of my favourite alltime reads and switched me onto the genius that is Jo Walton – an AMAZING author. It works really, really well with this week’s theme, too – so once again – a fabulous choice!
Thanks Sarah. I enjoyed this book but my favourite books by Walton are without doubt the Thessaly series – I loved Just City.
Lynn 😀
Oh, I love those too:) She is SUCH a clever writer! Have you read her Small Change series?
Ooooh good choice! My favourite cover is the orange one with the girl in the long jacket…the others are nice too, but that one is the first I ever saw so I’m partial. 😉
I like the second cover best!
Left one in the middle row all the way! I just can’t resist the sight of a well stocked library!
Hmm, I don’t have a clear favourite here, actually. None of them “pop” for me. I like your pick, but I also like the ring of light, and the walking stick covers. But I don’t love any of them…
I haven’t read this book so I can’t really base my choice on which suits the theme. I do love your choice but my favourite has to be the 6th cover with that wonderful tunnel of trees! 😀
The library one and the one with the finger touching water. Never realised there were so many covers created for some of these books.
Yeah, if you pick a classic book you can sometimes have many, many, many covers to choose from.
Lynn 😀
Great. Will start the search 😊