First Chapter ~ First Paragraph and Tuesday Teaser

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 one or two teaser sentences (no spoilers allowed) from a random page of their current read. 

Today I'm featuring 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand, a book I finished reading this week.  The excerpts shared are from an eBook I received from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Beginning:  Prologue

Fifties

Summer #28: 2020

What are we talking about in 2020? Kobe Bryant, the coronavirus, and...The presidential election. A country divided. Opinions on both sides. It's everywhere: on the news, on the late-night shows, in the papers, online, online, online, in cocktail-party conversations, on college campuses, in airports, in line at Starbucks, around the bar at Margaritaville, at the gym (the guy who uses the treadmill at six a.m. sets TV number four to Fox News; the woman who comes in at seven a.m. immediately switches it to MSNBC). Kids stop speaking to parents over it; couples divorce; neighbors feud; consumers boycott; employees quit. Some feel fortunate to be alive at such an exciting time; they turn up the volume, become junkies. Others are sick of it; they press the mute button, they disengage. If one more person asks if they're registered to vote...

What do you think? Would you continue reading?

In 28 Summers, bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand tells the story of Mallory Blessing and Jake McCloud, who meet in Nantucket in 1993, when they are in their twenties. Over the course of twenty-eight consecutive Labor Day weekends, the lovers reunite every year at Mallory's oceanfront cottage ala the film, Same Time, Next Year. 

Despite their individual circumstances and personal commitments, Jake and Mallory spend three glorious days together each year, escaping their everyday reality and deepening their bond. They share an idyllic existence at summer's end, albeit one fraught with moral ramifications.  

28 Summers is an engaging story of friendship and love, with a bittersweet ending that left me in tears.  Each chapter recounts developments in Mallory and Jake's respective lives, opening with a paragraph of headlining events related to each consecutive summer from 1993 to 2020--a nostalgic contextual cultural trip down a collective memory lane.  This novel provides the perfect summer "getaway," particularly for those who have cancelled their own vacation plans and are staying close to home.

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Teaser:  The end of summer was the saddest time of year.

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This First Chapter First Paragraph and Tuesday Teaser 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 & Book Beginnings #91

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 Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand, which I borrowed from the library.

 

 

 

Beginning:  

NANTUCKET

 

We didn't like to gossip; we loved to gossip.

 

Did you hear?

 

*********************
Page 56:  "'Sultan Nash, who had been hired to repaint the outside trim on Black-Eyed Susan's, watched Madeline King park her car in one of the three spots of the blue Victorian across the street."

*********************   

 

My thoughts:  Hot "news" travels fast on Nantucket, especially when it's juicy and speculative.  A great summer read (or way to extend that summer feeling). 

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

 

From Goodreads:  Madeline King and Grace Pancik are best friends and the envy of Nantucket for their perfect marriages, their beautiful kids, their Sunday night double dates with their devoted husbands. But this summer, something's changed, and if there's anything Nantucket likes better than cocktails on the beach at sunset, it's a good rumor.

And rumor has it...

...that Madeline, a novelist, is battling writer's block, with a deadline looming, bills piling up, and blank pages driving her to desperation--and a desperately bad decision;

...that Grace, hard at work to transform her backyard into a garden paradise, has been collaborating a bit more closely that necessary with her ruggedly handsome landscape architect;

...that Grace's husband, successful island real estate developer "Fast Eddie" Pancik, has embarked on quite an unusual side project;

...that the storybook romance between Madeline's son, Brick, and Grace's daughter Allegra is on the rocks, heading for disaster.

As the gossip escalates, and they face the possible loss of the happy lives they've worked so hard to create, Grace and Madeline try mightily to set the record straight--but the truth might be even worse than rumor has it.

 

 

 

Which book are you reading now or about to start?

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #91 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are encouraged and appreciated.

  

Waiting on Wednesday: New Summer Novels

 

 

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature of the Breaking the Spine blog.  It's a great way to share information about forthcoming books with other readers.

 

This week I'm featuring TWO new novels, both of which will be available next week, on June 25th.

 

Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand (Publisher: Little, Brown & Company)

From barnesandnoble.com: The Carmichaels and the Grahams have gathered on Nantucket for a wedding. Plans are being made according to the wishes of the bride's late mother, who left behind The Notebook: specific instructions for every detail of her youngest daughter's future nuptials. Everything should be falling into place for the beautiful event—but in reality, things are far from perfect.

While the couple-to-be are quite happy, their loved ones find their own lives crumbling. In the days leading up to the wedding, love will be questioned, scandals will arise, and hearts will be broken and healed. Elin Hilderbrand takes readers on a touching journey in BEAUTIFUL DAY—into the heart of marriage, what it means to be faithful, and how we choose to honor our commitments.

 

  Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld (Publisher: Random House Publishing Group)

From barnesandnoble.com: From an early age, Kate and her identical twin sister, Violet, knew that they were unlike everyone else. Kate and Vi were born with peculiar “senses”—innate psychic abilities concerning future events and other people’s secrets. Though Vi embraced her visions, Kate did her best to hide them.

Now, years later, their different paths have led them both back to their hometown of St. Louis. Vi has pursued an eccentric career as a psychic medium, while Kate, a devoted wife and mother, has settled down in the suburbs to raise her two young children. But when a minor earthquake hits in the middle of the night, the normal life Kate has always wished for begins to shift. After Vi goes on television to share a premonition that another, more devastating earthquake will soon hit the St. Louis area, Kate is mortified. Equally troubling, however, is her fear that Vi may be right. As the date of the predicted earthquake quickly approaches, Kate is forced to reconcile her fraught relationship with her sister and to face truths about herself she’s long tried to deny.

Funny, haunting, and thought-provoking, SISTERLAND is a beautifully written novel of the obligation we have toward others, and the responsibility we take for ourselves. With her deep empathy, keen wisdom, and unerring talent for finding the extraordinary moments in our everyday lives, Curtis Sittenfeld is one of the most exceptional voices in literary fiction today.

 

My thoughts:  In time for summer reading, two new novels about families and significant events from popular authors. I was fortunate enough to snag copies of both books at BEA 2013 and look forward to breaking their spines.

 

 

Enjoy life with books...

Catherine

Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

Waiting on Wednesday: New Summer Novels was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.