IT'S A WRAP

Book jackets get gorgeous thanks to local Brooklyn artists.

Some books function as a virtual status bag when sticking out of your arms - carry the new Mark Spitz biography on David Bowie, for example, and every indie boy on the subway is yours for the taking.

But then there are times you'd prefer your reading materials to be private - for example, if you're secretly skimming Sex for Beginners, Twilight, or - for that matter - an illustrated tell-all book on Rob Pattinson.

That's when the covers from Book City Jackets might come in handy.  Made in Brooklyn, the covers come in limited-edition collections designed by artists - this season, it's Nishat Akhtar (who currently does graphic design for Anthropologie), Cheeming Boey (famous for his extensive collection of illustrated coffee cups) and Michael Hsiung, a Los Angeles native who claims to be "one of the few remaining facially hairy Asians surviving today."

The covers retail in groups of three for $12, and sell on Book City's website.  You cannot order clandestine books on the site to go with them, but we always recommend Amazon for a good pulpy time.
--FARAN KRENTCIL



This story was published on October 21, 2009.