Dan Wagstaff
@danwagstaff.bsky.social
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📥 273
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Book stuff. Manager of expectations. Toronto. He/him. www.casualoptimist.com
reposted by
Dan Wagstaff
The Casual Optimist
4 days ago
Notable YA Covers of 2025 - this really is a post for fans of illustrated book covers:
www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2026/01...
#books
#illustration
#YA
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Mieko Kawakami on the cover of
@publisherswkly.bsky.social
5 days ago
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Here's my look back at some of the YA book covers that caught my eye last year. There's a ton of great art and illustration - particularly fantasy and horror - if that's your thing...
www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2026/01...
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Notable YA Covers of 2025
Happy New Year! I hope you’re keeping safe and well. I just re-read the introduction to my 2024 YA post and it says pretty much everything I was going to say about young adult covers this tim…
https://www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2026/01/13/notable-ya-covers-of-2025/
5 days ago
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Dan Wagstaff
The Casual Optimist
10 days ago
"Fuck AI! Film poster art forever!"
@seekandspeak.bsky.social
's Notable Film Posters of 2025
www.seekandspeak.com/notable-film...
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Notable Film Posters 2025 - seekandspeak.com - Made by Brandon Schaefer
Notable Film Posters 2025 Fuck AI! Film poster art forever! Below are posters made by other people throughout the past year that I think are particularly swell. Posters are arranged alphabetically by ...
https://www.seekandspeak.com/notable-film-posters-2025
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Dan Wagstaff
Anton Hur
about 1 month ago
I loved loved loved loved LOVED this book
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Dan Wagstaff
E. O'Brien
about 1 month ago
This was GREAT, and it brings my "weird books about whaling" canon title count up to 2.
#booksky
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Dan Wagstaff
The Casual Optimist
about 1 month ago
Here are Spine’s best book covers of 2025!
spinemagazine.co/book-covers-...
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SPINE-2025 Book Covers We Loved
Welcome to 2025 Book Covers We Loved! My plan was to write a little commentary on this year’s notable design trends but then I read The Casual Optimist’s and he’s summed everything up so perfectly th...
https://spinemagazine.co/book-covers-we-love/2025-book-covers-we-loved
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Dan Wagstaff
DoctorSyntax
about 1 month ago
Gayle has been working on this book for two decades—“long-awaited” hardly covers it, at least for publishing nerds
add a skeleton here at some point
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Dan Wagstaff
The Casual Optimist
about 1 month ago
Mark Sinclair weighs in on AI vs the actual real work of design, and chooses his favourite book covers of 2025 for Creative Review:
www.creativereview.co.uk/the-best-boo...
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The best book covers of the year 2025
Mark Sinclair picks his ten favourite book covers of the year, chosen for their “strong, characterful, challenging and exciting” design
https://www.creativereview.co.uk/the-best-book-covers-of-the-year-2025/
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Dan Wagstaff
Jane Casey
about 1 month ago
Overheard in the supermarket. Two teenagers. 1: 'Where's Dad?' 2 (with ineffable weariness): 'In the cheese aisle, having the time of his life.'
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Dan Wagstaff
The Casual Optimist
about 1 month ago
For the folks waiting for Matt Dorfman’s list for the NYT, here it is (gift link):
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/b...
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The Best Book Covers of 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/books/review/the-best-book-covers-of-2025.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8k8.tbbD.C-9Rr4VRuIdu&smid=nytcore-ios-share
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Dan Wagstaff
CHOAM Nomsky
about 1 month ago
Friends, Romans, countrymen, I read a lot of comics this year and these were the best ones
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The Best Graphic Novels of 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/books/review/best-graphic-novels-2025.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8E8.w82h.PejM_P216e-h&smid=nytcore-ios-share
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Dan Wagstaff
Daniel Benneworth-Gray
about 1 month ago
BEHOLD, my list of the best movie posters of 2025.
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The best movie posters of the year 2025
Daniel Benneworth-Gray picks his favourite movie posters of 2025, from Frankenstein to Pillion, Sentimental Value to Hard Truths
https://www.creativereview.co.uk/movie-posters-of-the-year-2025/
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Just in case you need a second opinion...
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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Dan Wagstaff
SarahJSloat
about 1 month ago
LOVE looking at book covers. I like the collage covers of "Slow Poison" (designer: Arsh Raziuddin) and the Mishima book (John Gall). Also like the Erpenbeck (Oliver Munday). "Food Person" (Janet Hansen) is quite fun. Also "Time and Chance" (Joan Wong) and "Casanova 20" (Victoria Maxfield).
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Here’s my look back at some of the book covers and design trends of 2025
www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2025/12...
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Notable Book Covers of 2025
Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar; illustration by Stephen Smith; art direction by Suzanne Dean (Vintage Classics / August 2025) Bestiary: The Selected Stories of Julio Cortázar by Julio Cortázar; illust…
https://www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2025/12/10/notable-book-covers-of-2025/
about 1 month ago
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Dan Wagstaff
The Casual Optimist
about 1 month ago
Here are Adrian Curry's picks of the best movie posters of 2025 for MUBI:
mubi.com/en/notebook/...
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The Best Movie Posters of 2025
Our movie poster columnist unveils his favorite designs of the year.
https://mubi.com/en/notebook/posts/the-best-movie-posters-of-2025
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Dan Wagstaff
Adam Morgan
about 1 month ago
What's the best book *review* you wrote, read, edited, or published this year? I'm rounding them up again for Lit Hub. (Must have a 2025 pub date, no exceptions.)
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Dan Wagstaff
Lit Hub
about 2 months ago
If you love a small press, check out these 100 notable small press books from 2025!
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100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025
The idea of 100 Notable Small Press Books was born November 2024, after The New York Times’s annual 100 Notable Books list featured eighty-two books from the Big Five publishing houses (Pengu…
https://buff.ly/Xvkyuz6
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reposted by
Dan Wagstaff
The Casual Optimist
about 2 months ago
End of year lists are hard.
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On the subject of best of the year lists, here's a gift link for the NYT's 100 Notable Books of 2025 too...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/b...
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100 Notable Books of 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/books/notable-books.html?unlocked_article_code=1.308.PCot.ySWTPCymm8tD&smid=url-share
about 2 months ago
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Here's a gift link to the Globe 100 for the Canadian book folks:
www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/b287550...
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The Globe 100: The best books of 2025
Our annual guide to the books that captured, delighted and informed us this year. Plus, track your favourites from years past in our first Book Archive
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/b28755069fa72903c9f96681672f8a5c3b140a6e628330ada7be690547ffba84/FTG7Q4WM3ZAWDA26XNEHMWADIQ/
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
Dan Wagstaff
The Casual Optimist
about 2 months ago
More publishers should do this!
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Dan Wagstaff
The Casual Optimist
about 2 months ago
And here are Lit Hub's November cover picks:
lithub.com/the-15-best-...
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The 16 Best Book Covers of November
Another month of books, another month of book covers. This will be my last roundup of the year, as December will be occupied by our annual Big List of the best covers of the year as chosen by the d…
https://lithub.com/the-15-best-book-covers-of-november-2/
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reposted by
Dan Wagstaff
The Casual Optimist
about 2 months ago
Here are SPINE's November book cover picks!
spinemagazine.co/book-covers-...
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SPINE-November Book Covers We Love!
Welcome to November’s Book Covers We Love! The full list is comprised of a selection of covers reviewed by a panel including Co-Founder of Chapman & Wilder, Cherie Chapman ; Freelance Designer M...
https://spinemagazine.co/book-covers-we-love/26112025
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Dan Wagstaff
The Observer
about 2 months ago
Bridget Riley and the pleasure of looking. With her mesmeric, geometric work, now on show at Turner Contemporary, the British artist hopes the “eye can travel over the surface” like it “moves over nature”.
https://bit.ly/4rq9h5A
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Bridget Riley and the pleasure of looking | The Observer
https://bit.ly/4rq9h5A
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Dan Wagstaff
Paul Tobin
about 2 months ago
I'm a total sucker for the maps on the backs of old Dell books.
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Dan Wagstaff
Chris Power
about 2 months ago
My review of the third part of Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume - one of the most exciting things happening in fiction right now
observer.co.uk/culture/book...
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Paperback of the week:Â On the Calculation of Volume III by Solvej Balle | The Observer
https://observer.co.uk/culture/books/article/paperback-of-the-week-on-the-calculation-of-volume-iii-by-solvej-balle
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Dan Wagstaff
Ian Austen
2 months ago
This phone in Barry's Bay, Ontario is on the highway where the payphone madness began over four years ago. I've been past this grocery store many times since but somehow only spotted the phone in August. A friendly watchman was proud of it (Chamonix57N1, Schneider 180mmf5.6 APO Symmar, Kodak TXP320)
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Dan Wagstaff
The Casual Optimist
2 months ago
Monocle on 3 independent publishers with distinctive cover designs
monocle.com/culture/char...
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Three independent publishers getting book design just right - Monocle
These bookmakers have caught our eye with their distinctive designs and unique offerings hidden between covers.
https://monocle.com/culture/charco-press-wetlands-poursuite-editions/
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Dan Wagstaff
Stephen Collins
2 months ago
When you think 'I should probably post more from my sketchbook' and then you look at the sketchbook and realise that since you got a dog two years ago your brain has turned into 90% dog
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Dan Wagstaff
Tom Gauld
2 months ago
My latest
@newscientist.com
cartoon. p.s. my new book of science cartoons 'Physics for Cats' is out now! Order from your local bookshop or online:
www.tomgauld.com
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Dan Wagstaff
Present & Correct
3 months ago
From 1973, Ed Emberley’s Little Drawing Book of Weirdos.
www.presentandcorrect.com/blogs/blog/e...
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Dan Wagstaff
Tom Gauld
3 months ago
A halloween cartoon for
@newscientist.com
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Dan Wagstaff
We Made This
3 months ago
New post: Updating Albertus for the City of London
wemadethis.co.uk/blog/2025/10...
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Updating Albertus for the City of London - We Made This
The story of the updated version of the Albertus font, designed by Toshi Omagari, used on the City of London's street nameplates.
https://wemadethis.co.uk/blog/2025/10/updating-albertus-for-the-city-of-london/
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Here's the last of my monthly cover round-ups for the year...
add a skeleton here at some point
3 months ago
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Dan Wagstaff
gray318
3 months ago
Opens tomorrow!
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Dan Wagstaff
Michael Lobel
3 months ago
Today is Robert Rauschenberg's centenary; a wildly inventive & influential artist, he was born on this day in 1925. To mark the occasion, a thread celebrating his love of animals. First up, Rauschenberg working in the studio with his dog Laika, in about 1968. Laika looking really chill here
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Dan Wagstaff
PGC Books
3 months ago
“Books need to have someone loudly clamoring behind the scenes to rise above the general masses" The NYT talks to founders Naomi Huffman and Julia Ringo about their indie press Hagfish (Gift link) :
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/s...
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They’re Trying to Publish the Best Books You’ve Never Heard Of
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/style/hagfish-books-reissues-fsg.html?unlocked_article_code=1.tU8.lz4z.qTHXGrrvbxJo&smid=url-share
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reposted by
Dan Wagstaff
The Casual Optimist
3 months ago
László Krasznahorkai covers by the Office of Paul Sahre for
@ndbooks.bsky.social
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Dan Wagstaff
Caroline Casey
3 months ago
the absolutely terrific
@ndbooks.bsky.social
is responsible for every happy english speaking nerd (on this continent) right now
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László Krasznahorkai
New Directions was founded in 1936, when James Laughlin (1914–1997), then a twenty-two-year-old Harvard sophomore, issued the first of the New Directions anthologies.
https://www.ndbooks.com/author/laszlo-krasznahorkai/
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Dan Wagstaff
Shakespeare and Company
3 months ago
Lászlóóóóóóóóóóóóóó!
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I love this book...
add a skeleton here at some point
3 months ago
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Dan Wagstaff
East Bay Booksellers
3 months ago
This is of niche industry interest, but here goes: The digital catalog platform most independent bookstores use to peruse and order new books for their stores (called Edelweiss) has jacked up their prices on publishers to catalog new titles 200-300%. Why does this matter?
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Dan Wagstaff
Ed Burmila
4 months ago
RIP Patricia Routledge one of the best ever to do it.
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Here is my late look at some of September's more interesting book covers:
www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2025/09...
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Book Covers of Note, September 2025
Hey. I hope you’re keeping safe and well. I’m posting this late on the last day of the month, but hopefully it was worth waiting for. I will let you get to the covers posthaste, but bef…
https://www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2025/09/30/book-covers-of-note-september-2025/
4 months ago
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My book covers post is late again. It should be done by the end of the day but it does feel a little redundant after SPINE and LitHub have already posted 30 or so covers for the month between them...
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
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These new illustrated covers by Neasden Control Centre for the Vintage Classics editions of Julio Cortázar are great! Art direction by Suzanne Dean.
www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2025/09...
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Vintage Classics Julio Cortázar
I like these bright and bold covers by Stephen Smith, AKA Neasden Control Centre, for the new Vintage Classics editions of Julio Cortázar a lot. It feels like an inspired match of illustrator to au…
https://www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2025/09/24/vintage-classics-julio-cortazar/
4 months ago
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Dan Wagstaff
Tom Gauld
4 months ago
My latest cartoon for
@theguardian.com
books p.s. My new book of science cartoons is here:
www.tomgauld.com/comic-books-v2
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Dan Wagstaff
Charco Press
4 months ago
RESTORATION is a "masterful - a ghost story where the ghost is capitalism’s oldest accomplice: patriarchy."
morningstaronline.co.uk/article/lett...
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Letters from Latin America with Leo Boix: September 23, 2025
“I REMEMBER the first time Zuri showed me the house. He took my hand as we crossed the street, stopped on the corner, then said suddenly: This is it.” So begins Ave Barrera’s masterful ghost story Res...
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/letters-latin-america-leo-boix-september-23-2025
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