WHY THIS SPINE WAS OUR FAVOURITE ON THE SITE IN 2010:

To be honest, despite the fact that spines are so unloved, we ended up struggling to choose between two strong contenders: this and Fangland. In the end, however, The Last Letter From Your Lover won because it looks so unusual. More than just being a nice piece of design, it disrupts the uniform rows of spines on the shelf. This is what makes it work so hard. Also, unlike most others, it captures completely the content and tone of the book and does a lot of communication before the reader has even picked it up.

AND HERE’S WHAT WE SAID ABOUT IT IN THE ORIGINAL POST:

This is a very rare thing -  a spine that has been treated as a piece of artwork both in its own right and as an integral part of the overall cover design. And it really really works.

It’s almost impossible to read the title from a distance — but in this case that doesn’t matter, as the “bundle of letters” device gives the spine real stand-out. Crucially, the artwork allows the spine to reveal the nature of the book straight away, reducing the need for masses of explanatory text all over the front and back.