Friday Five Challenge

Rosie Amber’s Friday Five Challenge, involves taking only five minutes to choose a book cover which appeals instantly. So take a few minutes, pour yourself a coffee…..and have a browse.

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?

My 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?

Trying to get away from the Crime/Suspense that I seem to be drawn to, I looked under the link for 40 Books for £1 Each and found this one…

I love the title and the cover. This is the book description..

Volume 2 in the internationally bestselling In the Land of the Long White Cloud saga

Song of the Spirits continues the soaring saga begun with In the Land of the Long White Cloud, as the founding families of colonial New Zealand experience trials and triumphs of friendship, romance, and unforgettable adventure.

Elaine O’Keefe is the radiant grand-daughter of Gwyneira McKenzie, who made her way to New Zealand to take a wealthy sheep baron’s hand in marriage in In the Land of the Long White Cloud. Elaine inherited not only her grandmother’s red hair but also her feisty spirit, big heart, and love of the land. When William Martyn, a handsome young Irishman of questionable integrity, walks into her life, she succumbs rapidly to his charms. Only to have her heart broken when her sensual half-Maori cousin Kura Warden arrives for a visit and draws William away. 

Though both young women must endure hardships and disappointments as they learn to live with the choices they make, each of them also discovers an inner resilience—and eventually finds love and happiness in new, unexpected places. Tested by the harsh realities of colonial life, both girls mature into spirited young women with a greater understanding of the challenges—and joys—of love, friendship, and family.

Pages: 704!

Kindle price: £1

There are just over 140 reviews, 91 0f which are 5* and 40 4*. The remaining 12 are divided between the lower star rating with 8 of them 3*. I think that’s quite impressive. It’s a popular book on Amazon.com too with 521 reviews, with 61% giving a 5* rating and 26% giving 4*.

I had a quick look at the ratings for the first book – 335 reviews with an average 4.3 out of 5*. That one has 666 pages but there were mentions of historical inaccuracies. There is also a third book which is a more manageable 494 pages. The Kindle price of the other two volumes is £3.98.

Ok, so it’s obviously book 2 in a series but honestly, I was drawn in by the blurb. So much so that I would be tempted to start with the first book. There’s enough information to get a real feel for the story and although it sounds epic, the story is appealing. The only stumbling block would be the length of the books. If and when I have a spare few weeks I could see myself reading these.

So would I BUY or PASS? I’d PASS (for now) but I’m making a note of the books for future reading.

If you’d like to enter next week’s challenge check out Rosie’s blog to read about the Friday Five Challenge.

Check out the other Friday Five Challenges

Rosie Amber chose a dog inspired memoir

Lizanne Lloyd‘s choice is social history

Shelley Wilson found a part fantasy/dystopian/alternative history

Barb Taub wanted Amazon to cool her off