Thursday, December 17, 2020

Holiday Wishes 2020--2021


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While I take a short blogging break 
to celebrate the holidays . . .
  

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here's hoping the remaining days of 2020 bring you some joy, cheer, 
and happiness . . .



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and that better things will come in 2021, 
including good books and enjoyable reading. 



Thursday, December 10, 2020

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings


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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 a current read, The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. The excerpts shared are from an eBook borrowed from the library.


Beginning:  Part One

Meet New People and Try New Things

Joyce

Well, let's start with Elizabeth, shall we?  And see where that gets us?

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Page 56:  With respect, I am nearly eighty, and so this won't be my problem, but I do hope they sort it out.

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My thoughts:  This first book in a new series is a delightful read.  Set in an English retirement village, its eclectic cast of characters are brimming with resourcefulness and witty observations.  Don't let their advanced age fool you, these retired professionals are whip smart and extremely capable.


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From GoodReads:  In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. 

When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it’s too late?

 




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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.

 

 

Monday, December 7, 2020

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph

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.
 

Today I'm featuring an upcoming read, The Margot Affair by Sanae Lemoine.  The excerpt shared is from a digital copy of the novel borrowed from the library.

 


First Chapter:  Onstage my mother was her truest self.  I would see the transformation within moments, a slow-building intimacy between herself and the audience.  Mid-scene she would remove her shirt with the ease of a man, as if taking off a pair of socks.  Then she would hold her red curls with both hands and life them high enough to expose the length of her neck, jut out her elbows and accentuate the slope of her shoulders.  She could be whomever she wanted.  In her one-woman shows she would address the audience as though they were old friends.  I could feel her effect on them as they tilted forward, eyes wide, their pores opening in her presence.  She carried this effortless familiarity out into the world.  With strangers, she was joyful and gracious.  She dazzled.  In other words, she was a true actress.

 

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

I like the description of the actress and her craft.  I am eager to delve in further and discover what all the buzz around this book is about.

Have you read it?  Please share your thoughts if you have.






This First Chapter~First Paragraph post was originally composed and/or compiled by Catherine for the Book Club Librarian blog.  It cannot be republished without attribution.    



 

Thursday, December 3, 2020

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings


  16


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 an upcoming read, They Never Learn by Layne Fargo.  The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version of the book borrowed from the library.


 

 Beginning:  Scarlett

I'll know it's working when he starts to scream.

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Page 56:  I don't know whether it's his harsh grading or his height or that unsettling gaze of his, but the students seem far more scared of him than they are of me.  If they only knew.

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My thoughts:  I like stories that are set on college campuses, and this particular story promises twists and turns to hold my interest.


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From GoodReads:  Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder.

Every year, she searches for the worst man at Gorman University and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she’s avoided drawing attention to herself—but as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Scarlett insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge, Dr. Mina Pierce. Everything’s going according to her master plan…until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure.

Meanwhile, Gorman student Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year. Finally free of her emotionally abusive father, all Carly wants is to focus on her studies and fade into the background. Her new roommate has other ideas. Allison Hadley is cool and confident—everything Carly wishes she could be—and the two girls quickly form an intense friendship. So when Allison is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly becomes obsessed with making the attacker pay...and turning her fantasies about revenge into a reality.
 

 




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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.