So, I was dawdling in the book aisle at Target this weekend while my kids were salivating in Electronics, and I noticed that every other book cover in the Bestsellers section had a photograph of a woman or child with her (I think they were all of the female persuasion) back to camera.

Is this some new trend? Do people identify more with a character in a novel if they can’t see her face? Just wondering.

And now, like an annoying song your co-worker sings that you can’t get out of your head, you’re going to be noticing this trend every time you look at a display of popular books…

You may not be able to judge a book by it’s cover, but apparently you can sell it better that way. 

Saw a story in The Wall Street Journal about a decision by Borders to start shelving more books with their covers facing out. The move is intended to increase sales. But it also means there will be fewer books — the number of titles will go down 5 to 10 percent.

It sounds like a good move. Haven’t you ever noticed how you’re drawn to all the books Davis-Kidd has out on the tables, face forward? And even in the stacks, your eyes are drawn to the one shelf on each case that has a few books prominently displayed?

If it doesn’t work, at least we won’t have to crane our necks to read the titles…

While perusing the new releases at Amazon, I noticed local boy John Grisham’s new tome — The Appeal — and had a mini-freakout. Why, you ask?

Settle down, font dorks (a group I’m proud to be a part of). I know it’s not even close (the book title seems to be written in some kind of light version of Bodoni, while the CA’s nameplate is in Caslon). But still, it gave me a little thrill to think that maybe John Grisham might have spent a little ink on our dear daily and the riveting, fast-paced inner workings of a metro paper — the mayoral scandals! school shootings! the tanking newspaper industry! the undercover trips to the strip clubs! the book blogging!

But, alas, it’s another courtroom drama. Sorry, journalism nerds. Maybe next time.