COVER JUDGING CONTEST: ROUND THREE

Deep voice: "Last time on Cover Judging Contest". Cut to a heavily edited montage of these blog posts.

As if two rounds of our epic Cover Judging Contest weren't enough, here is round three. All you have to do is vote on your favourite book cover, as listed below.

The winners from all four rounds will go head-to-head in a final that promises high tension, tearful debate and a higher than average volume of paper cuts for a sleepy summer afternoon.

Vote by using the form at the top of this page, or, for those reading in black and white, leave a comment below.

As with with the rest of the series, we advise you click on a cover to nuzzle your eyes deep into its full-size wondrousness.

Soul Stealers by Andy Remic

A sassy, but true-to-life depiction of lesbian albino vampires that communicates a powerful mix of lust and terror.

Enfance by Nathalie Sarraute

What is he/she thinking? What is he/she wearing? Who is she/he? All that we know is that it's a child.

Les Thibault II by Roger Martin De Gard

Lovely.

Global Shadows by James Ferguson

Rewards repeat viewing. Now look again. And again.

Fighting Bull by Nigel Farage

The gently eccentric Nigel Farage bearing the modern day equivalent of the sword and shield - the megaphone and Union Jack novelty umbrella.

COVER JUDGING CONTEST: ROUND TWO WINNER

Voting in round two of our Cover Judging Contest is over. Blimey. This is dragging on. No. No. This is wonderful. We're having the time of our lives.

The joint winners were the worryingly un-PC Obama book and Dave Egger's hairy Wild Things, both with 33% of the vote. This pair of, quite frankly, freaks go through to the final.

Roll on round three where, as D*Ream once sang, ur the best thing. No. No. Wrong single. As D*Ream once sang, things can only get better.

COVER JUDGING CONTEST: ROUND TWO

Our intrepid trawl of book covers continues with the second round of our Cover Judging Contest.

We have a stack of favourite book cover designs and we are asking you to look through them and vote for your favourite. Using the power of an ultra-modern blog poll, last time you gave the nod to some penguins looking at a dead bear. Nice. I hope you're happy with yourself.

Only four this time, due to the overwhelming quality on display. Have a look at the covers below and vote for your favourite. Either leave a comment or use the poll at the top of this page. Voting now closed: click here for the latest. We'll give it a couple of days, then move on to the next round. After four rounds, we'll have a grand final.

Oh and we strongly recommend you click on a book cover to see a larger image. Go!

Obama and the Jim Crow Media: The Return of the Nigger Breakers by Ishmael Reed

There are not a lot of covers awe-inspiring enough to drown out an n-bomb, so on behalf of nervous white booksellers everywhere, I'd like to thank Ishmael Reed for personally commisioning this tour de force.

This is Not a Pipe by Michel Foucault

Included in this list because of its ugly, thoughtless design. This is a great example of how not to do a book cover. Chosen as a cheeky, ironic addition! ;)

The Wild Things by Dave Eggers

Made hairy due to an odd industrial printing error.

Tout Terrain by Tim Swain and Christiane Salvador

An iconic piece of French design. Unflinchingly modern and empoweringly accessible. .

COVER JUDGING CONTEST: ROUND ONE WINNER

Ben Bradley's antarctic cover of Well-being & Death won round one of our Cover Judging Contest.

43% of you were won over by the cute empathy of the penguins and the cute deadness of the geographically anomalous panda bear.

Optics' sub-Tron nightmare came second with 28% of the vote, while the Word Art wonder of In The House came third with 15%.

Stay tuned our second of four rounds. We're having fun, right?

COVER JUDGING CONTEST: ROUND ONE

At Blackwell, we argue for hours every day about book covers; specifically about the magic quality that transforms a merely good book cover into a transcendental work of art.

We have collected quite a large number of our favourite book covers, in an effort to define that elusive quality, using the power of an ultra-modern blog poll.

Have a look at the covers below and vote for your favourite. Either leave a comment or use the poll at the top of this page. We'll give it a couple of days, then move on to the next round. Voting now closed for this round. Click here for the latest cover judging fun.

There will be four rounds, culmunating in a final featuring the winners of each round.

There is a chance that a promotion based on this information will follow in the shop, which would, probably, qualify as the best sales promotion in the history of trading.

Click on a book cover to see a larger image. Vote now!

Well-being & Death by Ben Bradley

This book has haunted me ever since it came into the shop.

Optics by A H Tunnacliffe and J G Hirst

This book is about, I guess, the process of seeing. Seems ironic.

Отцы и дети. Накануне. “Мировая классика“ (Иван Тургенев)

Спасибо за потрудившись посмотреть это!!!!! К сожалению, это ничего не значит!!!!!!!!! :)

Linguistics for Beginners by W. Terrence Gordon

Based on a true story, this cover depicts a famous meeting between a red-head girl with a basket, and an Inuit. The evocative water-colour wash in the background represents the bubbling, innocent romantic attraction that transcends linguistic boundaries.

In the House by Margaret Johnson

Don't really want to dilute this cover's power by writing anything about it.