Judging A Book By Its Cover

Having received some vouchers for Christmas, plus 20%-off coupons from the papers, it was time to hit my fav bookstore Kinokuniya again. If you're someone like me who is easily hypnotised by the range available everytime I'm there (and can easily spend hours browsing without making up my mind), it's helpful if you can get recommendations from someone who has the same taste in reading (thanks again Ivan!)

As a nation of imports it's common to see different cover versions of the same books from the UK and US publishers. But it was serendipitous to find both versions of my shortlisted books available in the same store at the same time. Guess the country of origin for the covers:



A Short History of Nearly Everything,
Bill Bryson







Freakonomics,
Steven N. Lewitt and Stephen J. Dubner




and the Dresden Files series, by Jim Butcher -









The UK versions are on the left, and the first series for the Dresden files.
I prefer the design of the UK versions for their cleaner design, against the typically brash and loud US covers. Which would you prefer on your bookshelves?

I'm sure there are many other examples out there, would you base your purchase on the cover in such instances?