Friday Focus: The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

Today I'm featuring The Guest List by Lucy Foley.  The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version I purchased.

  

Beginning:  Now

The Wedding Night.

The lights go out.

In an instant, everything is in darkness.  The band stop their playing.  Inside the tent the wedding guests squeal and clutch at one another.  The light from the candles on the tables only adds to the confusion, sends shadows racing up the canvas walls.  It's impossible to see where anyone is or hear what anyone is saying: above the guests' voices the wind rises in a frenzy.

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Page 56:  When I think about everything that happened in the last year my mind goes hot, and blank, and I can't think about it properly or sort it all out in my head.

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My thoughts:  After reading Lucy Foley's novel, The Hunting Party I am eager to start another one of her fast-paced page turners.

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From Goodreads:  A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the author of The Hunting Party.

The bride ‧ The plus one ‧ The best man ‧ The wedding planner ‧ The bridesmaid ‧ The body

On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.

But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.

And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?

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This Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. Sharing this original post on Twitter with appropriate recognition is appreciated.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . . 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros now hosted by Yvonne at Socrates' Book Reviews, where bloggers share excerpts from a book they have read, are currently reading, or are planning to read.

Teaser Tuesday hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, where bloggers post two teaser sentences (no spoilers allowed) from a random page of their current read. 

Today I'm featuring Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore. The excerpts shared are from an advanced readers copy I received from the publisher at a library association conference in January.  This book was published this month (April 2020).

 

Book Beginning:  Gloria

Sunday morning begins out here in the oil patch, a few minutes before dawn, with a young roughneck stretched out and sleeping hard in his pickup truck, shoulders pressed against the driver's side door, boots propped up on the dashboard.  His cowboy hat is pulled down far enough that the girl sitting outside the dusty ground can see only his pale jaw, freckled and nearly hairless, a face that will never need a daily shave, no matter how old he gets, but she is hoping he dies young.

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Teaser:  A lot of years will pass before I think my daughter is old enough to hear it, but when I do, I will tell her the last thing I remember seeing before I leaned back against the doorframe and passed out cold on the front porch.

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What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

The last sentence of the opening paragraph gives quite a jolt.  Who is the young man being observed and what would make Gloria have such strong feelings about him?

This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. 

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

Today I'm featuring For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt.  The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version I purchased.

  

Beginning: Prologue
Seventeen Years Earlier

On their first date, Will took Natalie to a cozy French bistro in uptown New Orleans. The restaurant was painted a dark, moody red and had gilt-framed mirrors on the walls that reflected the candles that flickered on every table.  It was a popular eatery and every table was full, even on a Thursday night.  It was also nearby the Tulane University campus, where Will and Nat were both law students.  They'd each ordered the steak-frites—which had given them reason to exchange a brief smile.  We're so compatible we ordered the same thing!  And shared a bottle of the house red, which was better than expected.  While they sipped their wine, and waited for their salads to arrive, they chatted about the Contracts class they had together.

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Page 56:   "I just hope I made the right decision telling you all.  I would appreciate it if we could keep it between us," Grace said.

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My thoughts:  I find myself drawn to the domestic suspense and thriller genres these days.  Such stories grab me from the opening pages and keep me enjoyably engaged, thus providing a respite from the much scarier reality of today's world.

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From GoodReads:  On their first date back in law school, Natalie and Will Clarke bonded over drinks, dinner and whether they could get away with murder. Now married, they’ll put the latter to the test when an unchecked danger in their community places their son in jeopardy. Working as a criminal defense attorney, Nat refuses to rely on the broken legal system to keep her family safe. She knows that if you want justice…you have to get it yourself.

Shocked to discover Nat’s taken matters into her own hands, Will has no choice but to dirty his, also. His family is in way too deep to back down now. He’s just not sure he recognizes the woman he married. Nat’s always been fiercely protective, but never this ruthless or calculating. With the police poking holes in their airtight plan, what will be the first to fall apart: their scandalous secret—or their marriage? 

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This Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. Sharing this original post on Twitter with appropriate recognition is appreciated.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . . 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros now hosted by Yvonne at Socrates' Book Reviews, where bloggers share excerpts from a book they have read, are currently reading, or are planning to read.

Teaser Tuesday hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, where bloggers post two teaser sentences (no spoilers allowed) from a random page of their current read. 

Today I'm featuring The Last Flight by Julie Clark. The excerpts shared are from an advanced readers copy I received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book will be published in June 2020.

  

Book Beginning:  Prologue  

John F. Kennedy Airport, New York 

Tuesday, February 22

The Day of the Crash

Terminal 4 swarms with people, the smell of wet wool and jet fuel thick around me.  I wait for her, just inside the sliding glass doors, the frigid winter wind slamming into me whenever they open, and instead force myself to visualize a balmy Puerto Rican breeze, laced with the scent of hibiscus and sea salt.  The soft, accented Spanish swirling around me like a warm bath, blotting out the person I was before.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Teaser:  I'm unsure how to describe my role.  Am I a victim?  A coconspirator?  I was neither, just a woman desperate for a solution.  Any solution.

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What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

Who hasn't fantasized about leading a different life or trading places with another? For Eva and Claire, a chance encounter at an airport has them doing just that. Their decision, however, is a desperate one made on the spur of the moment. Eva and Claire are from very different backgrounds and social strata, but what they do share in common is a need to escape dangerous circumstances that have them literally running for their lives. Each will have to rely on their wits and limited resources to outrun the past. Can these women assume new identities that will ensure them a new start and safe future?

Told in their alternating voices and in cliff-hanging chapters, The Last Flight had me rooting for each of them to succeed. The book's many twists and turns had me on the edge of my seat turning pages at a breathtaking clip to the story's conclusion.

This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. Sharing this original post on Twitter with appropriate recognition is appreciated.

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

Today I'm featuring The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes.  The excerpts shared are from an advanced reader copy I got from the publisher.

 

Beginning: Prologue

December 20, 1937

Listen: Three miles deep in the forest just below Arnott's Ridge, and you're in silence so dense it's like you're wading through it.  There's no birdsong past dawn, not even in high summer and especially not now, with the chill air so thick with moisture that it stills those few leaves clinging gamely to the branches.  

 

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Page 56:   She cursed herself silently, wondering whether she would ever be able to find the right balance with these people.

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My thoughts: I've read and enjoyed several of Moyes's contemporary novels.  I'm now completely captivated by her historical fiction. The Giver of Stars is based on the true story of the traveling librarians who rode through the mountains of Kentucky delivering books to residents in remote areas.

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From GoodReads:  From the author of  Me Before You, set in Depression-era America, a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond.

Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically.

The leader, and soon Alice’s greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who’s never asked a man’s permission for anything. They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky.

What happens to them–and to the men they love–becomes an unforgettable drama of loyalty, justice, humanity and passion. These heroic women refuse to be cowed by men or by convention. And though they face all kinds of dangers in a landscape that is at times breathtakingly beautiful, at others brutal, they’re committed to their job: bringing books to people who have never had any, arming them with facts that will change their lives.

Based on a true story rooted in America’s past, The Giver of Stars is unparalleled in its scope and epic in its storytelling. Funny, heartbreaking, enthralling, it is destined to become a modern classic–a richly rewarding novel of women’s friendship, of true love, and of what happens when we reach beyond our grasp for the great beyond. 

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This Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. Sharing this original post on Twitter with appropriate recognition is appreciated.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . . 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros now hosted by Yvonne at Socrates' Book Reviews, where bloggers share excerpts from a book they have read, are currently reading, or are planning to read.

Teaser Tuesday hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, where bloggers post two teaser sentences (no spoilers allowed) from a random page of their current read. 

Today I'm featuring The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan. The excerpts shared are from a trade paperback copy borrowed from the library.

  

Book Beginning:  Mayo, Ireland

February 1993

Prologue

Cormac leaned forward to peer through the windscreen, then nearly cracked his head on the steering wheel as the car bounced through another pothole.  Shite.  There was no sign of the house, and he'd been searching for over an hour.  He could barely read house names or numbers in the settling gloom.  Maybe the whole thing was some kind of first-week hazing ritual.  If it had been Dwyer who'd sent him he would have been sure of it.  Dwyer was the sort of bastard who was forever telling jokes, jokes with an edge to them and usually a target.  But it had been Marcus Tully who'd called him in off traffic duty, barely looking up from his newspaper as he handed Cormac the post-it note that was now stuck to his dashboard.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Teaser:  He got no further after that.  Her answers got vaguer, and started to wander into old memories that had little relevance to the Blakes.  He felt sure that her sudden senility was an act, but equally didn't know what else, if anything, he could hope to get from her.

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

This story drew me in from the very beginning and held my interest throughout.  

My thoughts:  When DI Cormac Reilly transfers from Dublin to Galway, he is drawn back into a case that has haunted him for the past twenty years. Ruled an accidental drug overdose, the death of Hilaria Blake was the detective's very first case in 1993. Decades later, when Hilaria's son Jack is found dead in 2013, his death is considered a suicide. But is it possible the two deaths are linked, and that they weren't tragic accidents after all? Reilly is tasked with reopening the twenty-year old case on suspicion that Hilaria might have been murdered. And there are hints that Jack might have met a similar fate. 

Author Dervla McTiernan weaves together a complex sinister web of secrets and past despicable acts which collides with a series of current clandestine misdeeds in this first book in the Cormac Reilly series. Reilly, an outsider, doesn't know who can be trusted as he uncovers a dark shared history and complicit coverups. In his pursuit of the truth, will the detective's investigation bring closure and justice, or will it end his career on the police force?

This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. Sharing this original post on Twitter with appropriate recognition is appreciated.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . . 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros now hosted by Yvonne at Socrates' Book Reviews, where bloggers share excerpts from a book they have read, are currently reading, or are planning to read.

Teaser Tuesday hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, where bloggers post two teaser sentences (no spoilers allowed) from a random page of their current read. 

Today I'm featuring Such a Fun Age, a debut novel by Kiley Reid. The excerpts shared are from an ARC provided by the publisher at a library conference.

  

Book Beginning:  Part One 
One

That night, when Mrs. Chamberlain called, Emira could only piece together the words ". . . take Briar somewhere . . ."  and  ". . . pay you double."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Teaser:  "There's a video?" Tamra asked.  She looked to Alix with a face that said, I knew it.

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

This novel tells an absorbing, captivating story of intersecting lives through the lenses of race, class, gender, and privilege. Its spotlight on how one's previous life experiences continue to influence behavior and decisions makes Such a Fun Age an important commentary on contemporary society, with much-needed moments for personal reflection.

This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. Sharing this original post on Twitter with appropriate recognition is appreciated.