All the Covers of the Rainbow: Red

Inspired by the “Book Cloud” that hangs over our front desk, pictured above, welcome to All the Covers of the Rainbow.

We all know the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate them. A beautiful cover can grab a reader and draw them into the book before they even look at the first page. Today, we’re sharing the first post of brand-new blog series: All the Covers of the Rainbow. In this series, we’ll highlight a collection of books that share the same cover color, as well as quotes from American literature that reference that color.

Today’s post is all about the color RED. Historically, the color red has been associated with sacrifice, danger, and courage. Red is a powerful color. It’s the power of love, seduction, violence, danger, anger, and adventure. For centuries, human beings have seen red, painted the town red, and have been caught red-handed. Studies have shown that we perceive potential partners dressed in red more attractive than others. Red is an attention-grabbing color and, as you’ll see below, is a great color for a book jacket.

Each book cover below is also a link to purchase the book on Bookshop.org, which supports local, independent bookstores. We also strongly encourage you to support your local bookstores by ordering online. They need our help more than ever, and we need them to stick around.

Written by Matthew Masino


“As she always did on any really important day, Penelope Hayes wore red.”

― Anna Godbersen, The Luxe

Beloved by Toni Morrison
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Red goes with everything and red goes with nothing.”

― Chloe Thurlow, Katie In Love

The Red Letter Plays by Suzan Lori-Parks
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

“Xander Harris: Hair. Red. Red is good. Fire engines are red. Porsches are red.”

― Christopher Golden, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 2

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
theatre and sexuality by Jill Dolan
The Library Book by Susan Orlean

“your veins are using up the redness of the world.”

― Frank O’Hara, Meditations in an Emergency

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon
Revision and Self-Editing for Publication by James Scott Bell

“And honey, I say
Little Red Corvette
Baby, you’re much too fast (Oh, oh)
Little Red Corvette
You need a love that’s gonna last”

― Prince, “Little Red Corvette”

The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson
One of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus
Something Wonderful by Todd S. Purdum
The Secretaries by Samuel French

Matthew Masino is the Social Media Coordinator for the AWM. He is also a content creator, writer, and theatre director based in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated with a B.F.A. in Theatre Directing from Columbia College Chicago in 2019. As a theatre artist, Matthew has worked with the International Voices Project, the Chicago Fringe Festival, and BYOT Productions. You can learn more by visiting his website www.matthewmasino.com.

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