First Chapter ~ First Paragraph

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . . 

                                                      

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, now hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach, is where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon. 

Today I'm featuring City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert, a novel selected by one of my book clubs. The excerpt shared is from a hardcover version borrowed from the library.

 

New York City, April 2010

I received a letter from his daughter the other day.

Angela.

I'd thought about Angela many times over the years, but this was only our third interaction.

The first was when I'd made her wedding dress, back in 1971.

The second was when she'd written to tell me that her father had died. That was in 1977.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

I'm looking forward to reading this book because I've enjoyed other historical fiction that Gilbert has written, and the opening lines fill me with curiosity.  In my opinion, she's a natural-born storyteller.

This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph 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.

  

Can't Wait Wednesday

  

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tessa at Wishful Endings that spotlights and discusses forthcoming books that bloggers are looking forward to reading as soon as they're published.. This meme is based on Waiting on Wednesday, formerly hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

There are so many exciting new books on the horizon, so without further ado, this week's Can't Wait For book is . . .  

 

Publication Date:  June 4, 2019

Publisher:  Riverhead Books

From Goodreads:  From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love and The Signature of All Things, a delicious novel of glamour, sex, and adventure, about a young woman discovering that you don't have to be a good girl to be a good person.

Life is both fleeting and dangerous, and there is no point in denying yourself pleasure, or being anything other than what you are.

Beloved author Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction with a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s. Told from the perspective of an older woman as she looks back on her youth with both pleasure and regret (but mostly pleasure), City of Girls explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love.

In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance. Her affluent parents send her to Manhattan to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling midtown theater called the Lily Playhouse. There Vivian is introduced to an entire cosmos of unconventional and charismatic characters, from the fun-chasing showgirls to a sexy male actor, a grand-dame actress, a lady-killer writer, and no-nonsense stage manager. But when Vivian makes a personal mistake that results in professional scandal, it turns her new world upside down in ways that it will take her years to fully understand. Ultimately, though, it leads her to a new understanding of the kind of life she craves - and the kind of freedom it takes to pursue it. It will also lead to the love of her life, a love that stands out from all the rest.

Now ninety-five years old and telling her story at last, Vivian recalls how the events of those years altered the course of her life - and the gusto and autonomy with which she approached it. At some point in a woman's life, she just gets tired of being ashamed all the time, she muses. After that, she is free to become whoever she truly is. Written with a powerful wisdom about human desire and connection, City of Girls is a love story like no other.

My thoughts:  I am a huge Elizabeth Gilbert fan, and have enjoyed nearly all of her fiction and non-fiction books.  It's been a while since I've read one of her novels, so I'm really looking forward to this book's release.

This Can't Wait Wednesday 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 and/or other blogs with appropriate recognition is appreciated  

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #54

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.

Today I'm featuring:

 

 

This is my current read, which is this month's selection for one of my book clubs.

 

Beginning:  Prologue

 

Alma Whittaker, born with the century, slid into our world on the fifth of January, 1800.

 

Swiftly--nearly immediately--opinions began to form around her.

 

--------------------------------------------

 

Part One

 

The Tree of Fevers

 

Chapter 1 

 

For the first five years of her life, Alma Whittaker was indeed a mere passenger in the world--as we all are passengers in such early youth--and so her story was not yet noble, nor was it particularly interesting, beyond the fact that this homely toddler passed her days without illness or incident, surrounded by a degree of wealth nearly unknown in the America of that time, even within elegant Philadelphia.

 

********************* 
Page 56:  "On her father's lap, Alma learned that Henry had sailed the world with a great man named Captain Cook.  These were the best stories of all."

*********************   

Which book are you reading now or about to start?
 

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #54 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.    

 

 

Waiting on Wednesday: New Elizabeth Gilbert Novel

 

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's anticipated book:

   

Publisher: Viking Adult 

Publication date: October 1, 2013

 

From barnesandnoble.com:  A glorious, sweeping novel of desire, ambition, and the thirst for knowledge, from the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love and Committed.

 

In The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction, inserting her inimitable voice into an enthralling story of love, adventure and discovery. Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker—a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia. Born in 1800, Henry’s brilliant daughter, Alma (who inherits both her father’s money and his mind), ultimately becomes a botanist of considerable gifts herself. As Alma’s research takes her deeper into the mysteries of evolution, she falls in love with a man named Ambrose Pike who makes incomparable paintings of orchids and who draws her in the exact opposite direction—into the realm of the spiritual, the divine, and the magical. Alma is a clear-minded scientist; Ambrose a utopian artist—but what unites this unlikely couple is a desperate need to understand the workings of this world and the mechanisms behind all life.

Exquisitely researched and told at a galloping pace, The Signature of All Things soars across the globe—from London to Peru to Philadelphia to Tahiti to Amsterdam, and beyond. Along the way, the story is peopled with unforgettable characters: missionaries, abolitionists, adventurers, astronomers, sea captains, geniuses, and the quite mad. But most memorable of all, it is the story of Alma Whittaker, who—born in the Age of Enlightenment, but living well into the Industrial Revolution—bears witness to that extraordinary moment in human history when all the old assumptions about science, religion, commerce, and class were exploding into dangerous new ideas. Written in the bold, questing spirit of that singular time, Gilbert’s wise, deep, and spellbinding tale is certain to capture the hearts and minds of readers.

My Thoughts:  I found out nearly a year ago that Elizabeth Gilbert was writing this novel, and have been counting down the days to its publication.  Although Gilbert is probably best known for her hugely popular memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, she is an accomplished author of fiction and nonfiction alike.  As I wrote in a post about Elizabeth Gilbert last year, she is a keen observer of life and culture whose intelligence and inquisitiveness come across on the page. In this novel, she turns her attention to the past, using her considerable talent to craft a family story set against the backdrop of  historical eras and distant places. Based on the description, it's bound to be one of those books that you curl up with and finish in one or two sessions.

Enjoy life with books . . .

 

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

Saturday Spotlight: BEA Day 2

Yesterday was the second day of Book Expo America 2013.  There were more authors, more books, and lots of tote bags and other book swag.  Tomorrow is the final exhibit day, and as I said in my last post, when I have a chance to catch my breath, I will share more about this fabulous event.

In the meantime, because a picture is worth a thousand words, I am sharing a photo that captures the thrilling moment when I met Elizabeth Gilbert, another favorite author of mine.  I came away with an advance reader copy of The Signature of All Things, which marks her return to fiction writing.

 

Catherine

Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

Saturday Spotlight: BEA Day 2 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.

Tuesday Tidbits--LizNews

Over the weekend, author Elizabeth Gilbert invited fans on Facebook to join her email newsletter list.  Signing up for LizNews via her website, will bring you the latest information on book publishing dates, book appearances, and events at her store, Two Buttons in Frenchtown, New Jersey.

Liz's next book, The Signature of All Things, will be published in fall 2013. The novel's protagonist is a 19th century female botanist.  For more information about the author, visit http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/, or see my previous blog post titled, Sunday Spotlight, October 21--Elizabeth Gilbert.

Catherine

Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

Tuesday Tidbits--LizNews was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.blogspot.com.  This post cannot be republished without express written consent.

Sunday Spotlight, October 21--Elizabeth Gilbert

Author Elizabeth Gilbert mentioned on Facebook the other day that she is writing a new novel, The Signature of All Things, which will be published in October 2013.  This is exciting news!  While Gilbert is probably best known for her memoirs, Committed and Eat, Pray, Love, she has an impressive array of work that includes non-fiction book, The Last American Man; the novel, Stern Men; and an award-winning collection of short stories called Pilgrims.

Her journalistic abilities have also earned Gilbert critical recognition.  Her articles have appeared in such publications as Harper's Bazaar, Spin, and The New York Times Magazine; her stories have been published in numerous magazines including Paris Review and Esquire.

Gilbert is a keen observer of modern life and culture.  She is intelligent and inquisitive, and I find her voice refreshingly honest and open.  One of my book clubs read Stern Men and Eat, Pray, Love.  Both books generated lively discussions and made it to the club's all time favorites list.  For all of these reasons, The Signature of All Things is on my list of highly anticipated new novels.

Catherine

Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

Sunday Spotlight was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.blogspot.com.  This post cannot be republished without express written consent.