Once Upon a Read-a-Thon: Update and Challenge

I've now finished four books during the read-a-thon. As out of the seven books I chose, I hoped to finish four, I'm going to call it quits. I could push myself to read another book this afternoon and evening, but I have other things to do, like unpacking and decorating my new room with adorable paper cutouts (scherenschnitte) of fairy tales and classic literature...all that remains for my part in the read-a-thon today is to participate in a challenge and then post reviews of the last two books I read. Actually, I might be a bad blogger and wait with the reviews until later this afternoon or tomorrow...

Cover challenge from IB Book Blogging:
Question 1) What is your favorite cover that has been revealed this summer and why?

Yeah, yeah, I know the cover changes to the Across the Universe series and the reveal for the third book, Shades of Earth, have been all over the blogosphere lately. But this is my favorite recent series, so I'm really excited to see the last cover! I hate the changes made to the first two books (I thought the other covers suited the books more and looked less...I don't know...space-opera-y and cheap). I do like this cover, though, especially how the green plant life ties into both the title and what's upcoming in the trilogy.



Question 2) Do you rely on the cover to help you choose whether you want to read a book or not?
Usually book covers affect me more with not wanting to read a book. Covers that look self-published or like pulp novels (you know, the historical romances with girls' dresses falling down, or cheesy sci-fi/fantasy scenes, or melodramatic fonts) totally turn me away. And I don't usually want to read a book based on a cool cover alone, but a cool cover combined with an interesting plot idea is enough to make me at least a little bit obsessed with obtaining a copy.