Musings of a Bookish Kitty: 1stChapter

Showing posts with label 1stChapter. Show all posts

Monday, September 18, 2017

Where Is Your Bookmark? (Owl and the Japanese Circus & the Top Ten Books on My Fall TBR List)

Every Tuesday Diane from Bibliophile By the Sea First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where participants share the first paragraph (or a few) of a book they are reading or thinking about reading soon. It is also where I share my first impressions about the book I am sharing.

I hate potholes. I hate desert highways too, about as much as I hate wearing high heels.

My Winnebago jolted over a bad pothole before I could swerve around it. I scrambled to keep the wheel straight and grabbed for my water bottle before it toppled and spilled across my laptop keyboard.

Too late.

My thoughts: I am not a fan of high heels or potholes either, frankly. And why is she driving with her laptop open? That scene still makes me scratch my head. But then again, it is Owl. And she's just that kind of person.

I dove right into my September TBR list poll winner (thanks again to all who voted!), Owl and the Japanese Circus (The Adventures of Owl #1) by Kristi Charish last week, and it's been quite a wild ride of a read. Indiana Jones come to mind, heavy on the supernatural. I am just about finished with the book and enjoying it. The main character is a former archaeologist and an international antiquities thief who seems to be unable to keep away from the supernatural despite her best efforts.

Does this sound like something you would read?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies at Broke and Bookish.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday theme is the Top Ten Books On My Fall TBR List. It is best not to hold me to any list I make. What whets my reading appetite today might not tomorrow. Still, these are the books I am most likely feeling the urge to read this fall--at least as of this moment.

1. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer ~ Cinderella as a cyborg. This one has been sitting on my shelf for quite a while now, and I feel like the last one to finally be getting to it.

2. Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding ~ Who doesn't know this story? I had seen the movie years ago and never really had an interest in reading the book, until a friend talked it up so much, it's made my to read list for this year. No time like the fall.

3. The Fire By Night by Teresa Messineo ~ I enjoy reading historical fiction. I knew I wanted to read this the minute I heard about it:a World War II novel about two American nurses.

4. Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb ~ Another historical fiction novel that I find irresistible, this one set in World War I.

5. Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo ~ Set in Nigeria, this novel is about a couple struggling with infertility and other marital issues. I hadn't heard of this book until it arrived on my doorstep earlier this month in a subscription box. I was immediately intrigued and cannot wait to dive in.

6. A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell, #1) by Deanna Raybourn ~ Deanna Raybourn's books are a great escape an this first in her "new" Victorian mystery series sounds too delicious to pass up. I'm just slow at finally getting to it . . .

7. Monstress, Vol. 2: The Blood by Marjorie M. Liu, illustrated by Sana Takeda ~ Monstress, Vol. 1: The Awakening was among my favorite books read last year. I can't wait to dive back into this series.

8. Pressed to Death (Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum, #2) by Kirsten Weiss ~ Doesn't this sound like the perfect fall read? A cozy mystery set in a museum full of haunted items? I really enjoyed the first book in the series and am looking forward to reading the next installment.

9. A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles #1) by Amanda Bouchet ~ This is another one that has been on my TBR pile longer than it should have been. A rebellious clairvoyant who will do just about anything to fight her destiny.

10. Ink and Bone (The Great Library, #1) by Rachel Caine ~ Am I the last one to read this one too? It's likely. I enjoyed Rachel Caine's Weather Warden series, which would have been enough to make me want to read this one, but add in a library--a magical one at that--and I knew I would be reading this.

Have you read any of these? Which do you think I should read first?

© 2017, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Monday, May 22, 2017

Where Is Your Bookmark? (05/23/2017)

I am about half way through Sarah-Jane Stratford's Radio Girls, historical fiction, at the moment and thoroughly enjoying it. I have had to stop several times to make notes of names of well known historical figures in history for further research. I feel like I'm apart of something big while reading this book. To be a fly on the wall! Maybe I can temp you with a teaser or two or perhaps three . . .

She ran, weaving in and out of the startled pedestrians, but her pursuer was still close on her heels.

All their meticulous planning, all that work in spinning the web and catching all these flies, but they hadn't factored in this possibility, the chance that the papers in her bag were worth so much that someone would chase after her to get them back.

Chase after her with a gun.

Every Tuesday, Ambrosia from The Purple Booker hosts Teaser Teaser at which participants grab their current read, open to a random page, and share two or more sentences from that page while avoiding any spoilers.

Teaser from 27% of Radio Girls:

"Well, that's a turnup," he said, echoing the unspoken sentiment. "I'd have pegged you for the type who faints at the sight of blood."

"Yes," Maisie agreed. "And I'd have pegged you for a gentleman. Some surprises are nicer than others."

and

from 29% of Radio Girls:

There were moments when Maisie felt the chill of walking shadows, all those vanished people under poppies. Sometimes, she was sure others felt them too, even the brightest and most beautiful, glancing nervously over their shoulders. Maybe we're all trying to outrun something, like me outrunning the kids in Toronto. They'd wanted to beat her till she broke, and not just her bones. The suffragettes had put themselves forward for breakage, hadn't they? That would be something, being the person who could put herself in harm's way for a cause.

What about this one from 33%:

Maisie had never owned a book and couldn't imagine rereading anything when time was so short and the libraries so full.

What do you think? Would you keep reading?

As I mentioned earlier, I am really enjoying Radio Girls so far. The opening certainly caught my attention--who is she running from? What are on those papers?

The teasers that follow each caught my attention as I read, and I couldn't help but share them. Maisie is very innocent and naive at the start of the book, although she has quite an impressive backstory, I think.

What are you reading at the moment? Is it anything you would recommend?

Monday, May 08, 2017

Where Is Your Bookmark? (05/09/2017)

I am a small few pages away from finishing Louise Erdrich's LaRose and next up is Planetfall by Emma Newman, the first in a science fiction series.

Every time I come down here I think about my mother. I don't want to; it just happens. My brain has decided it's a critical subroutine that must be executed when the correct variables are in place: (when time = predawn) + (when physical location + beneath the colony) + (when physical act = opening the door to the Masher) run "unpleasant memory of mother #345."

My hand is pushing the door open and I'm back at my old lab and she's following me in, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. I've prepped the equipment to run one hour before her arrival so there's something to show straightaway. She never was a patient woman.

Teaser from page 12% of Planetfall:

I blink and look around Mack's living room to remind myself I'm not back in that prison again.

What do you think? Would you keep reading?

I admit the opening isn't especially grabbing me, but the random teaser sure has me curious!

What are you reading at the moment? Is it anything you would recommend?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies at Broke and Bookish.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is Ten Things On My Reading Wishlist---- things you want to see more of in books -- tropes, a time period, a specific type of character, an issue tackled, a certain plot, etc. All those things that make you think I WANT MORE OF THIS IN BOOKS!

1. There are a number of series or trilogies I really enjoy that I wish authors would continue with--or go the spin-off route. J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter world, The Others by Anne Bishop, The Fairwick Chronicles by Juliet Dark, among others. I don't think it is too much to ask.

2. I would like to see more mysteries in which the crime does not include murder. Art theft investigations can be quite fun to read about, for example.

3. More realistic and well-written heroes and heroines who are people of color who are not defined by their ethnicity or race. Especially in the genres of crime fiction, romance, and fantasy.

4. More realistic and well-written leads who are LGBTQ who are not defined by their gender identity or sexual orientation.

5. More realistic and well-written heroes and heroines who have disabilities, including mental illness, who are not defined by their disabilities or mental illnesses.

6. Women leads in comics and graphic novels who don't fit the usual stereotypes, are more realistic, ones who can save themselves, are the main characters, aren't loud or meek or meeting one extreme or another.

7. More children's books involving only children. So many of the books featuring families I read with my daughter include siblings. It'd be nice for her to read books with functional families with only children.

8. More books written in verse. This is definitely an area I want to explore more, but I also wouldn't mind seeing more of this, especially in the fantasy genre.

9. More Choose Your Own Adventures for adults. I'm not talking about "R" rated. Just ones that are aimed at an older audience. I loved reading them as a child and do not see them as often nowadays.

10. More books about witches. I know there are a lot out there. Everywhere you look, really. But there can never be enough.

What about you? Is there anything you would like to see more of in books?

Monday, May 01, 2017

Where Is Your Bookmark? (05/02/2017)

After much hand wringing, I finally settled into a new book this week, deciding to read LaRose by Louise Edrich. It wasn't even one I had been considering to read at that moment, but sometimes the book that calls to me isn't the one I was expecting.

Where the reservation boundary invisibly bisected a stand of deep brush--chokeberry, popple, stunted oak--Landreaux waited. He said he was not drinking, and there was no sign later. Landreaux was a devout Catholic who also followed traditional ways, a man who would kill a deer, thank one god in English, and put down tobacco for another god in Ojibwe. He was married to a woman even more devout than he, and had five children, all of whom he tried to feed and keep decent. His neighbor, Peter Ravich, had a big farm cobbled together out of what used to be Indian allotments; he tilled the corn, soy, and hay fields on the western edge. He and Landreaux and their wives, who were half sisters, traded: eggs for ammo, rides to town, kids' clothing, potatoes for flour--that sort of thing. Their children played together although they went to different schools. This was 1999 and Ravich had been talking about the millennium, how he was setting up alternate power sources, buying special software for his computer, stocking up on the basics; he had even filled an old gasoline tank buried by his utility shed. Ravich though that something would happen, but not what did happen.

Teaser from page 11 of LaRose:

No, said Emmaline. She growled and showed her teeth. I'll kill you first. No.

Teaser from page 11 of LaRose:

Then he looked at Nola and saw that her face had broken open. All softness was flowing out. And the greed, too, a desperate grasping that leaned her windingly toward the child.

What do you think? Would you keep reading?

I started reading this yesterday morning and was pulled in immediately. Events unfold fairly quickly in terms of the tragic event that changes both the Landreaux and Ravich families' lives. I really like Edrich's writing. This is my first novel by her. It promises to be an emotional one, and I am eager to read more of it.

What are you reading at the moment? Is it anything you would recommend?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies at Broke and Bookish.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is Cover Theme Freebie. I am guilty of being drawn to a book by its cover. And honestly, I can sit and gaze upon books with beautiful covers all day long if given the chance. What better way to tackle this week's topic than to look over the books I've read over my book blogging career and share with you my favorite cover for each year? (Covers listed are from the year I read the book, not the year they were necessarily published.)

1. 2006: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

2. 2007: Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

3. 2008: Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

4. 2009: Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal

5. 2010: The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli

6. 2011: Witchlanders by Lena Coakley

7. 2012: Ironskin by Tina Connolly

8. 2013: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

9. 2014: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

10. 2015: The Uninvited by Cat Winters

11. 2016: The Magician's Lie by Greer Macallister

12. And of the books I have read so far this year (2017), my favorite without a doubt is Lisa See's The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane.

Do you have a favorite cover?

Monday, April 24, 2017

Where Is Your Bookmark? (04/25/2017)

I am in the middle of Hannah Dennison's A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall, the third in her Honeychurch Hall cozy mystery series. This is my first book by Dennison, but if this book is anything to go by, it will not be my last. I am quite enjoying getting to know Kat Stanford, antique dealer.

"You are absolutely not selling William Dobson, Rupert!" The dowager countess, Lady Edith Honeychurch, was furious. Even Mr. Chips, her tan-and-white Jack Russell, seemed to bristle with indignation.

Edith's son looked pained. "Do we have to go through this again, Mother?"

For emphasis, Edith slapped her riding crop against the side of her leather boot. "As long as I am alive, this is still my house!"

"Mother," Rupert hissed and gestured to where Mum and I were standing in the doorway. "Not in front of . . . "

"The servants?" Mum chimed in cheerfully. "Don't mind us. We're always arguing--aren't we, Kat?"

Teaser from 7% of A Killer Ball at Honechurch Hall:

"Don't! she cried and roughly elbowed me aside. I lost my balance and thrust both hands out to save my fall but fell heavily onto the top shelf.

There was a whoosh of air and I felt myself falling, falling, a sharp pain, a deafening crack and then - - darkness.

What do you think? Would you keep reading?

What are you reading at the moment? Is it anything you would recommend?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies at Broke and Bookish.

I missed last week's topic which was the Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly Want to Read a Book. It ties in nicely with this week's Top Ten Tuesday, which is is Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly Not Want To Read A Book. I decided to do both--and couldn't stop at five with either one.

Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly Want to Read a Book:

1. British/Scottish/Irish crime fiction~ Whether contemporary or historical, I enjoy a good novel set in the British Isles.

2. A World War I/II setting ~ There is just something about these time periods that draws me in.

3. A book with a character who shares my daughter's name ~ Silly, maybe, but for some reason, I can't help but take interest when I see a book mentioning her name.

4. Magic/Supernatural ~ Nothing attracts me to a book faster than the mention that it involves magic. Witches, shapeshifters, wizards, high fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal . . . I love anything involving magic or supernatural beings. Throw in mythology and folklore too, and I get even more excited.

5. Favorite authors or series ~ I do not even care what the book may be about. If it is by a favorite author or a part of a favorite series of mine, I instantly want to read it.

6. A banned or challenged book ~ tell me I should not read something and it makes me want to read it even more, especially if it's for so-called religious or moral reasons.

7. Emotional books (especially ones that make me cry) ~ Or what some might refer to as depressing books. These are often character driven books in which the main character faces some sort of traumatic event or giant obstacle and is forced to work through, overcome or accept it. The ending may or many not be a happy one. Sometimes it is ambiguous.

8. Books set in countries or cultures other than my own ~ I love exploring the world through books. Celebrating differences and yet also seeing how much alike we are in our experiences and thoughts and feelings. It's a reminder of just how small the world is.

9. Female leads who save themselves and possibly the day ~ There's nothing wrong with needing to be saved by someone else, including a man, but I really enjoy a story featuring a woman who is more than capable of getting herself out of tight situations more often than not.

10. When my favorite book bloggers gush and gush about a book and tell me I HAVE to read it ~ Because you know what I like.

Top Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly Not Want To Read A Book (or at least give it a second thought before I do):

1. An animal/pet book in which the animal dies in the end.

2. Animal cruelty.

3. Excessive violence and gore. If I know ahead of time, a book will feature either, chances are I will give the books a pass.

4. Although I do read and enjoy a number of books featuring serial killers, I am finding myself turned off more than not these days by them when the victims are all women.

5. If a character wants to lose my respect fast, committing adultery or cheating is sure to do it. I tend not to like books that feature adultery, although it won't always completely turn me off of reading a book. I do tend to avoid them, however--at least unless convinced by you all it's worth my time. This is another instance in which I have read some really good ones despite my aversion to the topic in question.

6. Incest/Sexual Abuse. It comes up in books I read and sometimes I have even sought out certain books knowing they tackled the subject (and they've been very good). Still, it's a topic I mostly avoid.

7. Books about or featuring American football, the sport or players.

8. Erotica. I prefer more story than sex in my novels. This is another area though where there might be exceptions--I just haven't had much luck with this sub-genre.

9. There are a couple romance tropes I do not like. Particularly rape to love and step-sibling romance. Both hold an ick factor I just can't get past.

10. Nonfiction titles I have absolutely no interest in. Like learning how to fly fish or (please don't hate me). . . cookbooks.

What about you? What things will make you instantly want to read or not read a book?

Monday, April 10, 2017

Where Is Your Bookmark? (04/11/2017)

I just finished reading reading Etched on Me by Jenn Crowell, and thought I would share a few teasers with you today.

Have you ever wanted something so much, it's not a desire so much as a beacon? Have you ever prayed for it so hard, your fingernails curl into your palms and your eyes squinch shut and your whole body just hums?

My daughter is that simple, shining thing. Taken away from me under bright lights in a white room, my stitches still raw. I fought so much they put me in hard restraints. I screamed so loudly they shot me up with sedative.

Teaser from page 48-49 of Etched on Me:

Dizzy now, I crawled to the stall door and pulled myself by its latch. Staggered out to the sinks, my gait wobbly. I couldn't look in the mirror. Couldn't look down at the dribbly trail I knew I was leaving. All i could do was yank paper towels from the dispenser on the wall. Stupid of me, I know--I mean, if thick work wasn't stopping anything, rough little paper scraps were hardly going to save the day. But still I pulled and pulled, dabbed and dabbed, until my knees buckled under me and I fell to the floor.

and from page 53:

"Waste of drugs." His face and his voice were one massive sneer. "She's obviously fine with pain."

My chin jerked from the tray to the doctor to Miss as my mind stuttered. Oh my God oh my God oh my God, they really are going to hurt me--.

What do you think? Would you keep reading?

This book has taken me through a range of emotions. I think you can see why from the opening and teasers shared.

What are you reading at the moment? Is it anything you would recommend?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies at Broke and Bookish.

Author Emily St. John Mandel wrote an interesting article back in October called "The Gone Girl With the Dragon Tattoo on the Train", in which she discusses the trend of "girl" in book and movie titles. Not all books with "girl" in the title are mysteries or or thrillers, of course, but quite a few are. While not meant as an academic piece, it is an interesting read. Taking a look at Goodreads data, Mandel found

A number of patterns emerged in our analysis: The “girl” in the title is much more likely to be a woman than an actual girl, and the author of the book is more likely to be a woman. But if a book with “girl” in the title was written by a man, the girl is significantly more likely to end up dead.

Publishers are always on the lookout for ways to market their books, and having the word "girl" in the title seems to be one of the most recent selling trends the last few years. I have certainly read a number of books with "girl" in the title over the last several years.

I decided to go in my own direction for this week's Top Ten Tuesday, and make a list of all the books in my TBR collection (books I own but have not read) that have the word "girl" or "girls" in the title. There are a lot. More than ten. *hanging head in shame*

The Girl in the Flammable Skirt: Stories by Aimee Bender
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
The Burning Girl by Mark Billingham
Dead Girl Walking by Christopher Brookmyre
The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
The Lost Girls of Rome by Donato Carrisi
The Last Girl by Jane Casey
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow
The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor
Mercer Girls by Libbie Hawker

Gasa-Gasa Girl by Naomi Hirahara

When All The Girls Have Gone by Jayne Anne Krentz
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson
The Girls Guide to the Apocalypse by Daphne Lamb
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
The Tattooed Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker
Girl in the Dark by Marion Pauw
The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Amanda Quick
White Collar Girl by Renée Rosen
Radio Girls by Sarah-Jane Stratford
The Girl With the Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson

Now to read them all . . .

What other title trends have you picked up on over the years?