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 a recent read, A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline. The excerpt shared is from a eBook version of the novel borrowed from the library.

 

First Chapter:  1939

I'm working of a quilt patch in the kitchen on a brilliant July afternoon, small squares of fabric and a pincushion and scissors on the table beside me, when I hear the hum of a car engine. Looking out the window toward the cove, I see a station wagon turn into the field about a hundred yards away. The engine cuts off and the passenger door swings open and Betsy James gets out, laughing and exclaiming. I haven't seen her since last summer. She's wearing a white halter top and denim shorts, a red bandanna tied around her neck. As I watch her coming toward the house, I am struck by how different she looks. Her sweet round face has thinned and lengthened; her chestnut hair is long and thick around her shoulders, her eyes dark and shining. A red slash of lipstick. I think of her at nine years old, when she first came to visit, her small, nimble fingers braiding my hair as she sat behind me on the stoop. And here she is, seventeen and suddenly a woman.

 

What do you think?  Would you continue reading? 

This historical novel centers on the life of Christina Olson, the muse for Andrew Wyeth's iconic painting, Christina's World. Set in the coastal town of Cushing, Maine, the story portrays the isolation and stark reality of farm life in the 1930's-1950's, as well as the limitations imposed on Christina due to personal health challenges.

Determined to live a normal life despite the debilitating effects of a neurological condition and a controlling family, Christina's world is ultimately confined to the farm and its surrounding locale. Her friendship with Wyeth and others, however, broadens her perspective and experience, offering her pieces of the world she might otherwise have missed.

 

This First Chapter~First Paragraph post was originally composed and/or compiled by Catherine for the Book Club Librarian blog. © 2021, Book Club Librarian All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Book Club Librarian without attribution, know that this post is being used without permission.

 

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #58

It's Friday . . . time to share excerpts from a current or upcoming read 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, which I picked up at my local branch of the public library last week:

  

Beginning: Prologue

The night Jennifer disappeared, fireworks lit up the sky above Bangor, Maine, for nearly an hour.  Down in the harbor, graduating seniors on a boat anchored to its moorings danced to a rock band until the steely light of dawn washed over the Penobscot.

Part One -- Homecoming

Sitting in a window seat near the front of the tiny plane, staring out at the evergreen expanse below, Kathryn twists the gold ring on her finger.  She eases the ring off, feeling the cool weight of it in her hand, and then slips it back on.  She holds her fingers out to look at it.  Turning her wrist, she glances at her watch.  Then she leans back and closes her eyes.  The plane will be landing in fifteen minutes.  In half an hour she'll be home.

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Page 56:  "She didn't want to be bitter, but she also didn't want to pretend that everything was all right.  It was safer to keep her distance."

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My thoughts:  This author's novel, Orphan Train, was one of the best books I read last year.  This is one of the reasons I am looking forward to staring this one.

Which book are you reading now or about to start?
 

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #58 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.    

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #20

 
It's Friday . . . time to share excerpts from one of my current reads 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.

This week's selection:

   

Beginning:  Prologue

I believe in ghosts.  They're the ones who haunt us, the ones who have left us behind.  Many times in my life I have felt them around me, observing, witnessing, when no one in the living world knew or cared what happened.

 

I am ninety-one years old, and almost everyone who was once in my life is now a ghost.

 

My thoughts:  Such a sad opening, but I've heard so many good things about this book, and one of my book clubs selected it for our November meeting.  I'm only a few chapters in, but I am liking the story so far.

 

 

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56% of ebook:  "I follow her down the hall and through the door into a parlor, where a plump, bosomy woman with a nimbus of downy gray hair is sitting on a rose velvet sofa next to a glowing fire.  She has long lines beside her nose like a marionette and a watchful, alert expression.  'Well, my girl, it sounds as if you've had quite a time of it,' she says, motioning for me to sit across from her in one of two floral wingback chairs."

 

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From barnesandnoble.com:  Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by pure luck. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude?

 

As a young Irish immigrant, Vivian Daly was one such child, sent by rail from New York City to an uncertain future a world away. Returning east later in life, Vivian leads a quiet, peaceful existence on the coast of Maine, the memories of her upbringing rendered a hazy blur. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past.

Seventeen-year-old Molly Ayer knows that a community-service position helping an elderly widow clean out her attic is the only thing keeping her out of juvenile hall. But as Molly helps Vivian sort through her keepsakes and possessions, she discovers that she and Vivian aren't as different as they appear. A Penobscot Indian who has spent her youth in and out of foster homes, Molly is also an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past.

Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Train is a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience, second chances, and unexpected friendship.

Enjoy life with books . . .

 

Catherine
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Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #20 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.