It’s the second day of the week, and the second Tuesday of August! I hope you are all doing well despite the challenging times. I hope and pray that you will all stay health, in body, mind, and spirit. As it is Tuesday, it is also time for a Top 5 Tuesday update. Top 5 Tuesdays was originally created by Shanah @ the Bionic Bookworm but is now currently being hosted by Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads.

This week’s topic: Top 5 books with creatures on the cover

We have another Tuesday topic dealing with book covers (I also do Top Ten Tuesdays, haha). This week’s post can feature either mythical or real creatures. I do have quite a score to choose from but here are some book covers I love. I hope you enjoy my list. Happy reading!

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

I am kicking off my list with one of my more recent read, Japanese writer Sayaka Murata’s Earthlings. Murata certainly took the literary world by storm with her novel Convenience Store Woman (I am still to read the book) but it was her second translated novel that caught my attention because of its interesting premise. The narrative was thought provoking albeit it turns very graphic and grisly towards the end. However, I can’t help but adore the picture of Piyyut, Natsuki’s alien-friend; Piyyut can be seen as the oriental equivalent of the western culture’s imaginary friend.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

From a recent read to a not so recent one. It has been almost half decade since I read Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, To Kill A Mockingbird. I mean, who haven’t heard of this classic of American, rather, world literature? The coming-of-age story of Scout, it has become one of the most popular, most beloved, and most discussed literary pieces out there. I also loved the book’s cover, albeit it is a paperback one. It is simple but creative. I hope you can spot the mockingbird!

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany is just one of the books that remain with you. Yes, it is not an easy read considering that it is more than 600-pages long. Nevertheless, these 600-pages were all worth it as it contained the story of one of the most interesting literary characters I have encountered in literature. Exploring a plethora of subjects such as religion, war, death, and grief, it is a literary powerhouse. The cover is also rather unusual, but still interesting.

Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada

Memoirs of a Polar Bear was by first novel by Japanese writer Yoko Tawada. It piqued my curiosity for I kept on encountering the book whenever I drop by the bookstore. Tawada being named as a possible winner of the 2018/2019 Nobel Prize in Literature finally convinced me to pick up her book. To be honest, I wasn’t a fan of Memoirs of a Polar Bear. I did like the atmosphere and the nostalgia, and of course the book cover. The book cover, with its monochrome, is a subtle reference the minimalist aesthetic Japanese are known for.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

When I picked up Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch from the bookstand, I barely had any iota on what it was about. I was riveted by what was on the cover: it is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Back then, I had very little knowledge about the Pulitzer Prize but it sounded prestigious. Tedious and lengthy with the tendency to meander at times, The Goldfinch was no easy read. However, it was an ode to the beauty of language and storytelling. It is indeed a memorable read.

To be honest, I have a different set of books in mind but I realized that I have been featuring them one too many times already. My original list included Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, Isabel Ibañez’s Woven in Moonlight, Yann Martel’s Life of Pi and C. Pam Zhang’s How Much of These Hills is Gold. These are all easy choices but I thought I should feature other books I rarely feature, hence, this unusual list.

Below are other books I am yet to read but with covers that feature creatures.

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