Friday Face Off: Off the TBR

Posted on July 22, 2022 by WordsAndPeace

The Friday Face-Off was originally created by Books by Proxy:
each Friday, bloggers showcase book covers on a weekly theme.
Visit Lynn’s Books (@LynnsBooks) for a list of upcoming themes.
Please visit also Tammy at Books, Bones & Buffy (@tammy_sparks)
thanks to whom I discovered this meme.

This week, the theme is
“Off the TBR“

So I’m featuring the latest book I have added to my TBR.
First, why did I add this book?
Because I just finished Confessions, another book by the same author Kanae Minato. I was very impressed by the writing and plot in this psychological thriller – very smart twists and turns like many Japanese authors are so good at (I’m thinking of Higashino, for instance).
This one seems to be displaying the same qualities:

240 pages

Published April 11th 2017 by Mulholland Books (first published June 11th 2009)

Original Title in Japanese: 贖罪 [Shokuzai]

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Synopsis:
“The tense, chilling story of four women haunted by a childhood trauma.
When they were children, Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko were tricked into separating from their friend Emily by a mysterious stranger. Then the unthinkable occurs: Emily is found murdered hours later.
Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko weren’t able to accurately describe the stranger’s appearance to the police after the Emily’s body was discovered. Asako, Emily’s mother, curses the surviving girls, vowing that they will pay for her daughter’s murder.
Like Confessions, Kanae Minato’s award-winning, internationally bestselling debut, Penance is a dark and voice-driven tale of revenge and psychological trauma that will leave readers breathless.”

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Click on the picture below if you want to identify the various editions
You can also right click and ‘open image in new tab’ to zoom in

I haven’t read this book, so some covers are hard to understand.
I’ll go with the art itself, and my favorite is the Chinese edition.

Have you read this book?
WHICH COVER IS YOUR FAVORITE? WHY?
My next participation may be on Friday, July 29:
“Gigantic”

Friday Face Off: A turquoise cover

Posted on June 10, 2022 by WordsAndPeace

This week, the theme is
“Sparkling like the sea – a cover that is turquoise”

I didn’t find a whole turquoise cover in the books I have read, but at least this is the main accent color in this one:

If you click on the link, you will find the questions prepared by Julie Anna at Julie Anna’s Books for our buddy read of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, with links to our answers and questions for the various parts of the book. A wonderful read!

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Click on the picture if you want to identify the various editions
You can also right click and ‘open image in new tab’ to zoom in

WHICH COVER IS YOUR FAVORITE? WHY?

I ended up selecting the Hungarian edition for my favorite.
I like that it really focuses on the coffee cup, with the movement of the coffee alluding for me to the changes that happened in the people who decided to try that coffee.

Have you read this book?
WHICH COVER IS YOUR FAVORITE? WHY?
Next Friday:
“So pretty – exactly what it says”

Friday Face Off: The Box Man

Posted on March 11, 2022 by WordsAndPeace

This week, the theme is
“The most recent book you’ve read that has covers to compare”

And that would be The Box Man, by Kobo Abe.

I usually enjoy Kobo Abe and his quirkiness, but this time, it was over the top, and I basically didn’t understand what was going on, as I explained in my short review.
BUT it does make for a fantastic diversity of covers.

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Click on the picture if you want to identify the various editions
You can also right click and ‘open image in new tab’ to zoom in

WHICH COVER IS YOUR FAVORITE? WHY?

My favorite is the Turkish edition, encircled in red
I think it conveys well some themes in the book, and the eyes are very important, as it is the main way the person under the box can interact with the world around him.

But I also enjoyed a lot the Persian edition (encircled in pink), for its cleverness.
There are actually so many good covers here, some eluding to the disintegration of personality for instance #12, 13, 15 and 16 – at least that’s how I interpret these covers.

Have you read this book?
WHICH COVER IS YOUR FAVORITE? WHY?
Next Friday:
Somewhere over the rainbow – a very colorful book cover