How important are covers?

Let me start by saying that I completely judge a book by its cover. I pick up books I’ve never heard of to read the description based solely on if the cover is aesthetically pleasing to me. I’m sure I’m missing out on a crap ton of good books, but 🤷🏻‍♀️

If the cover is ugly, the only reason I’m picking up the boom is because a) a friend has read and enjoyed/recommended it to me or b) there is a show I like that’s based on the book or series.

Books I never would’ve picked up:

1. Dead Until Dark:  I loved True Blood (even when it got weird), and while falling into a Wikipedia hole one day, I found out that True Blood was based on the Southern Vampire Mystery series. 

2. Amulet #1 The Stonekeeper: while I was at Powell’s one day with a friend, I mentioned that I really wanted to get into graphic novels to try them out. She recommended The Stonekeeper to me because her son had enjoyed it. It’s not a cover I would’ve picked up as it looks like it’s for little kids, and I probably won’t read any more of this series. It was very geared towards kids, and I don’t even remember what it was about now as it was very forgettable. 

3. Outlander: I know, it’s a great book. But I had never even heard of it before I joined a Facebook book group. The cover is very boring to me, so it’s not something I would just pick up on a whim.