Speaking of Religion

..and speaking of religious books, have a look at this series of classic Christian writings published by Hodder in the UK. The covers are designed by Stuart Bache (last posted about here). You would not think that a colour scheme that was predominantly grey would be so eye-catching.

And my favourite, by a Nineteenth-Century minister and Darwinian, with a lovely 'profusion of life' cover:

UPDATE: The final cover above is actually by Mark Read, Senior Designer at Hodder, while the Bible cover below was designed by Crush.

Which reminds me of this Hodder-published Bible from a little while back, with a clever, gorgeous and funny/sad cover:

Casual Optimist on Scott-Heron

I just saw these covers over at The Casual Optimist, and I love them. They're by Stuart Bache for Canongate's reissues of two of Gil Scott-Heron's novels from the 1970s. I must get these! Go to The Casual Optimist for an interview with Bache.

I'm not the world's biggest Scott-Heron fan (otherwise I would have already read these, I suppose), but he's been on my mind since the release of his first album for 16 years, I'm New Here. Scott-Heron himself seems not to have been as involved as he might in its creation, but one track in particular has wormed its way into my brain. If you want to hear the authentic voice of a man who recognises that he has comprehensively fucked up his life, here you go: