Rosie Amber’s Friday Five challenge is to take ONLY FIVE MINUTES to browse an unfamiliar category and select a book based solely on the cover art.

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Summer has (finally) arrived here in Scotland, and we’ve been exploring nearby islands. With Rosie Amber’s daily dose of suggested travel reads as inspiration, I was predisposed to check out travel stories.

But the only possible explanation for why I picked that very first category under Books is that it was not one I would choose under any normal circumstances: Books : Antiquarian, Rare & Collectable : English

So, of course, I went for broke and set the filter for Price: High to low. And my eyes immediately focussed on travel nirvana: AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE OF A VOYAGE PERFORMED BY CAPTAIN COOK AND CAPTAIN CLERKE In His Majesty’s Ships Resolution and Discovery, During the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779 and 1780; In Search of a North West Passage between the Continents of Asia and America

Book blurb:

Leather bound—1783

BUY LINKS:

AMAZON UK

Book Title: AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE OF A VOYAGE PERFORMED BY CAPTAIN COOK AND CAPTAIN CLERKE In His Majesty’s Ships Resolution and Discovery, During the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779 and 1780; In Search of a North West Passage between the Continents of Asia and America

Price: £3195

Reviews: none

Pages: 798

My Analysis: There was almost no information other than the date (1783) and that jaw-dropping price. But the search had taken less than a minute, so I had time for a quick Google. Turns out you can download the microfiche files, and I spent a few minutes flipping through those here. The drawings are astonishing, and the stories (once you get past feeling you’re reading with a lisp because the letter ‘s’ is written as ‘f’) are incredible.

On Monday and Tuefday all the young women of the village were invited on board the Refolution by captain Gore, and in the evening they had a dance, at which the prieft and all his family were prefent. The Ruffian dances are as dull and ftupid as can well be imagined, but thofe of the Kamtfchadales can be compared to nothing but the aukward motions of a bear, the geftures of which animal they frequently imitate.

BUY or PASS:   PAFF on the original, but read for the copy!

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Here is Rosie’s Friday Five Challenge. It only took five minutes and a couple more to write up, and was a ton of fun. I hope you’ll consider joining in. All Rosie asks is that you link back to her original post here so we can all join in viewing your challenge results.

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?
7. I’ll be back next week with another Friday Five Challenge, do feel free to join in.