Booking Through Thursday

Are there any good books that you read IN SPITE OF the cover and ended up wondering what on earth the artist and publisher were thinking to pair up a cover that so badly represented a perfectly good book?
And … if you didn’t like the cover, what made you pick up the book? The author? Assigned reading from school? A recommendation from a friend?

I have to say, the first Harry Potter book cover was a horror. Actually, the majority of them weren't too good, but by the time you've finished the first book, you are so hooked into the story that you really don't care about the covers at all.
I don't understand why they'd choose such a bad illustration. Of course, I picked it up because everyone was talking about it.