#FridayFiveChallenge

This fun feature is a mini workshop invented by Rosie Amber. We look at book covers just from their thumbnail pictures at online selling book sites and make quick fire buying decisions. We look from a READERS Point of View and this exercise is very EYE OPENING.

To join in with the #FridayFiveChallenge please read the rules at the bottom of the page.

I’ve received a great many emails from Amazon this week so I browsed among the thumbnail books they recommended to see if anything caught my attention.

The Separation by Dinah Jefferies appealed to me on a number of levels.  It appears to be set in the Tropics, it talks of separation of a mother and her daughter and it is called, “Captivating, powerful and passionate.”  The book’s description is enticing:-

“What happens when a mother and her daughters are separated; who do they become when they believe it might be forever?

1953, the eve of the Cartwright’s departure from Malaya. Eleven-year-old Emma can’t understand why they’re leaving without their mother; why her taciturn father is refusing to answer questions.

Lydia arrives home to an empty house – there’s no sign of her husband Alec or her daughters. Panic stricken, she embarks on a dangerous journey to find them through the hot and civil-war-torn Malayan jungle – one that only the power of a mother’s love can help her to survive.”

The 147 reviews average out at 4.7 stars for this debut novel.  Reviews include these comments:-

The author, Dinah Jefferies, drew inspiration from her experience of living in Malaya as a child to bring the place to life and, although adjectives are used liberally, she harnesses all senses with great effect. As she described the bus “stuffed with people, baggage, chickens and goats”, “the endless battle against humming mosquitoes” and the “wet heat which approached like a solid wall,” I felt like I too was sweating in the humidity as I turned the pages of The Separation.

In Malaya, we have Lydia’s search for her children – gripping and exciting – set against a background of barely suppressed violence, with a background of political intrigue and treachery.  And in England, we have young Emma struggling to understand her mother’s absence, her years at an austere private school, with some of her experiences moving me to tears. The contrast between the two settings can, at times, make it a bit of a wrench moving from one storyline to the other – I was mesmerised by Lydia, and did resent at times the move to the grey and cold. But as the story unfolds – and the way in which the reader always knows a little more than the characters is very well done – the stories start to converge, and there are plenty of unexpected and shocking twists and turns to keep you eagerly turning the pages.

At £1.99 for the Kindle and two more promising books by the same author, shall I BUY or will I PASS?   I’m going to BUY.

What have others chosen this week?

Barb has given us a fascinating cover comparison between the US & Uk versions of a variety of books.

Rosie is bravely venturing into Horror.

Shelley has found suspense in Texas.

Cathy is concerned, as we all are at the moment, with the Weather.

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 appeal.

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?