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Friday Face-Off – 20th December 2019

Friday Face-Off – 20th December 2019

The Friday Face-Off is a meme originally created by Books by Proxy and now hosted over at Lynn’s Books. The idea is to compare the different covers of a book with each week being a certain theme.

This week’s Friday Face-Off theme comes in light of the impending shortest day, December 21st. For this I’m looking for a dark or foreboding cover. I picked James Herbert’s The Dark for this theme.

Cover A:

dark1

Cover B:

dark2

Cover C:

dark3

Cover D:

dark4

Cover E:

dark5

Cover F:

dark6

And the winner is… COVER E!

There is something about this cover that really caught my eye. It stood out for me.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with my winner, or does one of the others work better for you? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s theme is a cover that invokes the spirit of the festive season

Friday Face-Off – 13th December 2019

Friday Face-Off – 13th December 2019

The Friday Face-Off is a meme originally created by Books by Proxy and now hosted over at Lynn’s Books. The idea is to compare the different covers of a book with each week being a certain theme.

This week’s theme is a cover that features a religious icon or temple. For this I have gone with Wilbur Smith’s River God.

Cover A:

temple1

Cover B:

temple2

Cover C:

temple3

Cover D:

temple4

Cover E:

temple5

Cover F:

temple6

And the winner is… COVER C!

The blue hue gives a cold and ominous feel to this cover. And for me, nothing comes to mind faster when I think of ancient Egypt than the pyramids.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with my winner, or does one of the others work better for you? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s theme is a cover that is dark or forboding for the longest night of the year.

Friday Face-Off – 6th December 2019

Friday Face-Off – 6th December 2019

The Friday Face-Off is a meme originally created by Books by Proxy and now hosted over at Lynn’s Books. The idea is to compare the different covers of a book with each week being a certain theme.

For the first Friday Face-Off of December, my theme is a cover that puts me in mind of winter: “Now is the winter of our discontent, Made glorious summer by this sun of York”. I am going with The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey.

Cover A:

winter1

Cover B:

winter2

Cover C:

winter3

Cover D:

winter4

Cover E:

winter5

Cover F:

winter6

And the winner is… COVER F!

The wintery haze, the snowfall and the blue hue to the cover all make me think winter. The flashes of red in the glove, scarf and fox add welcome pops of colour. I love this cover. I have to give a special mention to cover A whose art style really caught my eye.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with my winner, or does one of the others work better for you? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s theme is a cover that features a religious icon or temple.

A Maigret Christmas by Georges Simenon

A Maigret Christmas by Georges Simenon

 In ‘A Maigret Christmas’, the Inspector receives two unexpected visitors on Christmas Day, who lead him on the trail of a mysterious intruder dressed in red and white.

I received a free copy of this book courtesy of the publisher.

Coming into December this seemed a fantastic, short read to enter the festive season. When two women from the apartment building across the road knock upon the legendary Inspector’s door, his Christmas Day will be anything but festive and jolly.35074088What starts out as a mystery of an unexplained figure dressed as Father Christmas in a girl’s room in the depths of night searching for something beneath the floorboards. This puzzling event caught the Inspector’s attention from the outset.

Barely leaving his apartment, Inspector Maigret sets an investigation in motion. He despatches officers to unravel the loose threads of this curious case that ends in murder, mystery and intrigue.

While most versions of this book appear to be a collection with other Maigret stories, the version I read was just the one story. Short though it was, I loved it. It moved along well, and I loved the way the strands of the mystery unravelled to an intriguing conclusion. I would definitely read further Maigret stories.

My rating:
goodread

Friday Face-Off – 29th November 2019

Friday Face-Off – 29th November 2019

The Friday Face-Off is a meme originally created by Books by Proxy and now hosted over at Lynn’s Books. The idea is to compare the different covers of a book with each week being a certain theme.

This week’s theme is a book cover that has a 1960s science fiction theme: “When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.”

This week’s book is J.G. Ballard’s The Drowned World.

Cover A:

scifi1

Cover B:

scifi2

Cover C:

scifi3

Cover D:

scifi4

Cover E:

scifi5

Cover F:

scifi6

Cover G:

scifi7

And the winner is… COVER E!

This week was an interesting one. Cover E won it for me, simple and yet very evocative with the book title. Covers B and F earn themselves special mentions as they really caught my eye too.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with my winner, or does one of the others work better for you? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s theme is a cover that is reminiscent of winter: “Now is the winter of our discontent, Made glorious summer by this sun of York”

Friday Face-Off – 22nd November 2019

Friday Face-Off – 22nd November 2019

The Friday Face-Off is a meme originally created by Books by Proxy and now hosted over at Lynn’s Books. The idea is to compare the different covers of a book with each week being a certain theme.

This week’s theme is a book cover that is futuristic.

For this theme I have picked Dune  by Frank Herbert.

Cover A:

futuristic1

Cover B:

futuristic2

Cover C:

futuristic3

Cover D:

futuristic4

Cover E:

futuristic5

Cover F:

futuristic6

Cover G:

futuristic7

Cover H:

futuristic8
And the winner is… COVER G!

I love this art style. Simple and effective. It is eye catching, and I love the odd vintage/futuristic vibe going on all at once.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with my winner, or does one of the others work better for you? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s theme is a cover that  is 1960’s sci-fi: “When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.”

Friday Face-Off – 15th November 2019

Friday Face-Off – 15th November 2019

The Friday Face-Off is a meme originally created by Books by Proxy and now hosted over at Lynn’s Books. The idea is to compare the different covers of a book with each week being a certain theme.

This week’s theme is a book cover featuring a robot: “No thinking thing should be another thing’s property, to be turned on and off when it is convenient.”

This week I have gone with the work of sci-fi legend Isaac Asimov and his book The Robots of Dawn

Cover A:

robot1

Cover B:

robot2

Cover C:

robot3

Cover D:

robot4

Cover E:

robot5

Cover F:

robot6

Cover G:

robot7

Cover H:

robot8
And the winner is… COVER A!

Another week, another theme that lends itself wonderfully to beautiful, classic sci-fi covers. Once again, I love all of these covers. A just slightly edges it.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with my winner, or does one of the others work better for you? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s theme is a cover that futuristic.