To join in with the #FridayFiveChallenge please read the rules at the bottom of the page
While busy scanning the postcard selection I inherited from my grandmother, I thought I should search for a book on the theme of postcards since I have always loved buying, sending and receiving them, even if it out of date to do so!
There are many sets of postcards in book form such as The Golden age of Disney Art and Patterns at the V and A which are tempting but expensive. Then there are books telling you how to collect postcards and value them which are earnest and boring.
Eventually I was divided between two very different books. The first, Living with Postcards is an account by Joy Muller about her collection of fantasy postcards. Looking inside the rather boring cover I discovered incredible vintage coloured postcards showing babies growing inside flowers, real photos of dogs wearing clothes (just like cats on Twitter!) and fairies fluttering round Peter Pan’s statue in Kensington Gardens.
I would love to leaf through this book or borrow it from a Library but Shall I BUY or will I PASS? I am going to PASS.
The other book I discovered was fiction, although it is simply titled The Postcard. 
Written by Leah Fleming, this is the book description:
At her father’s funeral, Melissa makes a shocking discovery that will send her on a journey across continents and into her family’s hidden past…
2002, Australia.
When Melissa discovers a postcard addressed to ‘Desmond’ among her recently deceased father’s effects, she is determined to discover this person’s identity and his relationship to her father. She soon embarks on a journey that will take her across oceans and into the past…
1930’s, London.
Caroline grew on a secluded Scottish estate with her ‘Aunt’ Phoebe. Now, the shocking realisation that Phoebe is actually her mother fuels a rebellious streak in Caroline, who elopes to Cairo to get married. But her marriage quickly turns sour and leads to an affair with an old lover, and to a baby boy, Desmond. With her personal life in tatters and WWII approaching, she volunteers as a secret agent, smuggling valuable information into Europe for the British government.
I think perhaps this description reveals too much about the plot, but it has an average of four point five stars from 202 reviews. Some reviewers are really enthusiastic,
This book was utterly absorbing and amazing, it truly is a brilliantly woven masterpiece of dangerous secrets and old ghosts, it mesmerizes the reader all way through. the story spans continents and decades and intertwines the past and the present in an intelligent way
While others have reservations,
The plot was slightly unbelievable at times, the female characters of Phoebe and Callie were hard to warm to. Sad at times but I felt the characters brought it on themselves.
little depth to the characters and the storyline seemed to drag on for ever.
So I am in a quandary. Shall I BUY or will I PASS? At £4.99 for the Kindle version I think I will PASS at the present.
What have others chosen this week?
Rosie has found a book to teach us all about vlogging https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/2015/11/13/girl-online-on-tour-by-zoe-sugg-fridayfivechallenge-zoezeebo/
Shelley is exploding into Sci-Fi http://shelleywilsonauthor.com/2015/11/13/would-you-buy-or-pass-oxygen-a-scifi-novel-for-fridayfivechallenge/
Cathy has selected a short action thriller http://betweenthelinesbookblog.com/2015/11/13/friday-five-challenge-11/
So now it’s your turn.
Get yourself a cuppa and give yourself 5 minutes.
In today’s online shopping age, readers often base their buying decisions from small postage stamp size book covers (Thumb-nails), a quick glance at the book description and the review. How much time do they really spend making that buying decision?
AUTHORS – You often only have seconds to get a reader to buy your book, is your book cover and book bio up to it?
Rosie’s Friday Five Challenge is this….. IN ONLY FIVE MINUTES….
1) Go to any online book supplier,
2) Randomly choose a category,
3) Speed through the book covers, choose one which has instantly appealed to your eye,
4) Read the book Bio/ Description for this book, and any other details.
5) If there are reviews, check out a couple,
6) Make an instant decision, would you BUY or PASS?
Lizanne lost in a good book 
Sounds interesting, but a bit over budget for an eBook.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hmm, I thought it sounded quite good until the second review put me off slightly, and it is over budget, as Shelley says.
LikeLike
I do like the cover of the second book, but as you say, what is left to read after the book description and the high price is a bit off putting. The first book doesn’t do much to advertise itself with all the black and white, perhaps at least one of the postcards could have been in colour to give it more eye appeal.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The first one interests me not a jot, the second one has a gorgeous cover, but yes, the blurb is a synopsis, not a blurb. I don’t do unfeasible, or Kindle books for £4.99, so definitely a pass from me!
LikeLike
ps, and if the blurb itself hasn’t put me off, the wrongly placed apostrophe in 1930s definitely has!!!
LikeLike
Yes apostrophes in years are maddening!
LikeLike
I’m intrigued by the first one, despite the unappealing cover. I’d pass on the novel. I don’t think I’d ever be able to suspend disbelief that such a character would be recruited as a spy.
LikeLike
It’s worth looking inside the first book on amazon as the postcards are incredible!
LikeLiked by 1 person