Friday Focus: Weekend Reads

 

 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 My Head is Full of Books, 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 River is Waiting by Wally Lamb. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version borrowed from the library. 

Book Beginning: Chapter One

April 27, 2017

It's six a.m. and I'm the first one up. 

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

Page 56:  I can feel the thumping of my heart. "I mean, it's probably . . . I had insomnia in the middle of last night. Woke up a little after two and couldn't get back to sleep for, I don't know, an hour and a half maybe?"

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

My thoughts:  A young family is torn apart by an unthinkable tragedy that sends the father to jail. Wally Lamb's newest novel explores the affects of personal setbacks, human shortcomings, addiction, grief, injustice, brutality, and resilience in a heart wrenching story. I can't remember the last time a book evoked such strong feelings in me. I cried as I read the final chapters and the characters and story have stayed with me beyond closing the book.

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

From Goodreads:  Corby Ledbetter is struggling. New fatherhood, the loss of his job, and a growing secret addiction have thrown his marriage to his beloved Emily into a tailspin. And that's before he causes the tragedy that tears the family apart.

Sentenced to prison, Corby struggles to survive life on the inside, where he bears witness to frightful acts of brutality but also experiences small acts of kindness and elemental kinship with a prison librarian who sees his light and some of his fellow offenders, including a tender-hearted cellmate and a troubled teen desperate for a role model. Buoyed by them and by his mother's enduring faith in him, Corby begins to transcend the boundaries of his confinement, sustained by his hope that mercy and reconciliation might still be possible. Can his crimes ever be forgiven by those he loves?

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

This Friday Focus: Weekend Reads post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

Friday Focus: Weekend Reads

 

 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 My Head is Full of Books, 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 Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version borrowed from the library. 

 Book Beginning:  Happily Married

 

If all we need is love, why do we always want more?

********************  

Page 56: We are not the same people we were when we met.

I think you're in my seat.

Those were the first words my husband ever said to me.

I wonder what will be the last.

"********************  

My thoughts:  The Green marriage is on the rocks and then the wife disappears without a trace. What happened to Abby and did she meet a tragic end? This is the premise of Alice Feeney's latest twisty, suspenseful tale that's hard to put down.

********************  

From Goodreads: A gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . .and revenge.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible — a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.

 

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

This Friday Focus: Weekend Reads post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

Friday Focus: Weekend Reads

  

 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 My Head is Full of Books, 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 Mystery at an Irish Wedding by L.C. Winters. The excerpts shared are from an eBook version I received from the author in exchange for an honest review. 

Book Beginning:  Chapter 1

The antique bus, with its fading forest green paint, spun around the corner at what was clearly a reckless pace.

********************  

56% of eBook: "I am a moral man," he muttered. "I don't like to tell tales out of school, especially with no evidence."

"********************  

My thoughts: Mystery at an Irish Wedding, the first book in the Half Moon Bay mystery series, introduces a picturesque Irish seaside setting and clever protagonist. The plot includes a solid list of strong suspects with plausible motives and a steady feed of twists and turns that keep one guessing whodunit until the very last pages.

********************  

From Goodreads: Therapist Clementine Moriarty thought her return to the whimsical seaside town of Half Moon in cozy Donegal would be a chance to reconnect with her roots, spend time at her parents' charming little seaside art gallery and heal from heartbreak. But her homecoming is anything but peaceful when she stumbles upon an unwelcome surprise—her ex-fiancé, Greg, is getting married to her best friend, Charlotte, on the very beach where Clementine was supposed to say "I do."

Through a series of unexpected twists and turns, what starts as a personal nightmare soon spirals into an intriguing mystery. An anonymous email had lured Clementine back home, but who sent it and why? As the wedding unfolds, tensions simmer, secrets surface, and Half Moon Bay’s picturesque façade begins to crack. When someone turns up dead with a series of baffling clues and puzzles, Clementine finds herself in the role of unlikely detective as she becomes the prime suspect.

With the help of a heartwarming, blue-haired artist and her sharp intuition, Clementine must navigate a maze of jealous exes, local gossip, and buried betrayals to uncover the truth amid the charming and whimsical backdrop of Donegal. But in a village where everyone has something to hide, will this quirky crime-solving team be able to unmask the killer before it's too late? 

Perfect for fans of small-town mysteries, vibrant characters, clever clues, and a touch of romance, Murder at an Irish Wedding will keep you guessing until the final page.

Friday Focus: Weekend Reads

 

 

 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 My Head is Full of Books, 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 Dressmakers of Prospect Heights by Kitty Zeldis. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version borrowed from the library.

 

Book Beginning:  Chapter One

Catherine

Brooklyn, 1924

Catherine Berrill awoke to blood--again.

********************  

Page 56: Catherine was glad they were taking a different street on their route home and didn't have to pass the dress shop again.

********************  

My thoughts:  Bea and Alice leave a painful past in New Orleans to start a new life in Brooklyn. While focusing their energies on setting up a dress shop in Prospect Heights, they make the acquaintance of a local resident, Catherine Berrill, who visits the shop. As the story unfolds, decisions made by each of the women at crucial times unite and divide them in unexpected ways. Will each attain the fulfillment she longs for? Will their mutual relationship survive and deepen with time, or will they be forced apart by past and present circumstances? 

Told from different character perspectives, The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights explores the lives of women who experience loss, heartbreak, disappointment, setback, and the constraints imposed by their gender. This is a captivating story of resilience that initiated a thoughtful discussion at a recent book club meeting.

********************  

From Goodreads:  Mesmerizing historical novel about three women in 1920s New York City and the secrets they hold.

Brooklyn, 1924. As New York City enters the jazz age, the lives of three very different women are about to converge in unexpected ways. Recently arrived from New Orleans, Beatrice is working to establish a chic new dress shop with help from Alice, the orphaned teenage ward she brought north with her. Down the block, newlywed Catherine is restless in her elegant brownstone, longing for a baby she cannot conceive.

When Bea befriends Catherine and the two start to become close, Alice feels abandoned and envious, and runs away to Manhattan. Her departure sets into motion a series of events that will force each woman to confront the painful secrets of her past in order to move into the happier future she seeks.

Moving from the bustling streets of early twentieth century New York City to late nineteenth-century Russia and the lively quarters of New Orleans in the 1910s, The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights is a story of the families we are born into and the families we choose, and of the unbreakable bonds between women.

 

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

This Friday Focus: Weekend Reads post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

Friday Focus: Weekend Reads

 

 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 My Head is Full of Books, 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 Most by Jessica Anthony. The excerpts shared are from a trade paperback version borrowed from the library.

 

 

Book Beginning:  Kathleen Beckett awoke feeling poorly. It was Sunday. November. Warm for this time of year.

********************  

Page 56 (actually page 55, because page 56 is blank):  She anchored her toes on the bottom, then moved her knees, watching her legs create waves underwater. All thoughts about the woman's phone call, and what might come of it, disappeared.

********************  

My thoughts: This portrait of a traditional 1950's marriage is, on the surface, the norm for the era. Behind the facade, however, are a flawed husband and wife, neither of whom has lived up to their full potential. They are keeping deep secrets from each other and living unfulfilled lives. Their inability and unwillingness to communicate honestly threaten the health and continuity of their relationship. With the phrase "living lives of quiet desperation" springing to mind, The Most is a concise, engrossing read.

********************  

From Goodreads:  It’s November 3, 1957. As Sputnik 2 launches into space, carrying Laika, the doomed Soviet dog, a couple begin their day. Virgil Beckett, an insurance salesman, isn’t particularly happy in his job but he fulfills the role. Kathleen Beckett, once a promising tennis champion with a key shot up her sleeve, is now a mother and homemaker. On this unseasonably warm Sunday, Kathleen decides not to join her family at church. Instead, she unearths her old, red bathing suit and descends into the deserted swimming pool of their apartment complex in Newark, Delaware. And then she won’t come out.

A riveting, single-sitting read set over the course of eight hours, The Most is an epic story in one single day, masterly breaching the shimmering surface of a seemingly idyllic mid-century marriage, immersing us in the unspoken truth beneath.

 

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

This Friday Focus: Weekend Reads post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

Friday Focus: Weekend Reads

 

 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 My Head is Full of Books, 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 Murder on Oak Street by I.M. Foster. The excerpts shared are from an eBook provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

Book Beginning:  Prologue

Friday, April 3, 1902

Cornelius Desmond crept up the staircase of the crumbling tenement. Each step creaked and moaned with the pressure of his heavy boots until, at times, he felt sure he would plunge through to the floor below.

********************  

56% of eBook:  "He's helped you before, then?"

"Yes, on occasion." He glanced nervously around the small restaurant, as if gauging whether or not he could make a break for it.

********************  

My thoughts: This is the first book in a new historical mystery series set during New York's Guilded Age. The story brings to vivid life the ruthlessness of a local group of businessmen and their associates, some of whom will stop at nothing--including murder--to obtain wealth and status. Society's better angels--in the form of a young doctor and librarian--seek justice and accountability in the face of dastardly deeds. The book's many suspects, motives, and red herrings held my attention and kept me guessing who was responsible for the murders until the last few pages.

********************  

From Goodreads:  New York, 1904. After two years as a coroner’s physician for the city of New York, Daniel O'Halleran is more frustrated than ever. What’s the point when the authorities consistently brush aside his findings for the sake of expediency? So when his fiancée leaves him standing at the altar on their wedding day, he takes it as a sign that it's time to move on and eagerly accepts an offer to assist the local coroner in the small Long Island village of Patchogue.

Though the coroner advises him life on Long Island is far more subdued than that of the city, Daniel hasn’t been there a month when the pretty librarian, Kathleen Brissedon, asks him to look into a two-year-old murder case that took place in the city. Oddly enough, the case she’s referring to was the first one he ever worked on, and the verdict never sat right with him.

Eager for the chance to investigate it anew, Daniel agrees to look into it in his spare time, but when a fresh murder occurs in his own backyard, he can’t shake his gut feeling that the two cases are somehow connected. Can he discover the link before another life is taken, or will murder shake the peaceful South Shore village once again?

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

This Friday Focus: Weekend Reads post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

Friday Focus: Weekend Reads

 

 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 My Head is Full of Books, 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 Watch Out For Her by Samantha M. Bailey. The excerpts shared are from an eBook borrowed from the library.

 

I haven't participated for quite a while and am dipping my toe back into the pool, hoping to reconnect with some of my favorite bloggers and post more often.

 

 

 

Book Beginning/First Line:  Chapter One -- Sarah

 

Now

I watch people.

********************  

Page 56:  ". . . I don't know what precipitated this change, what's finally made him really listen when I repeated yet again that I can't handle everything regarding childcare and housekeeping on my own. I hope it's not guilt . . ."

********************  

My thoughts:  I'm several chapters into the book and it's a definite page turner so far. The author is slowly revealing information about a prior relationship between a young family and their babysitter that didn't end well. Something led to a dramatic parting--in fact, the family has moved clear across the country. But what happened and why is there such an unsettling sense of unfinished business between them?

Each chapter, told in the alternating voices of the mother and the babysitter, takes the suspense to new heights. I'm intrigued by each development and eager to find out how the story ends.

********************  

From Goodreads:  Wherever you go…she’ll be watching.

Sarah Goldman, mother to six-year-old Jacob, is relieved to move across the country. She has a lot she wants to leave behind, especially Holly Monroe, the pretty twenty-two-year-old babysitter she and her husband, Daniel, hired to take care of their young son last summer. It started out as a perfect arrangement—Sarah had a childminder her son adored, and Holly found the mother figure she’d always wanted. But Sarah’s never been one to trust very easily, so she kept a close eye on Holly, maybe too close at times. What she saw raised some questions, not only about who Holly really was but what she was hiding. The more Sarah watched, the more she learned—until one day, she saw something she couldn’t unsee, something so shocking that all she could do was flee.

Sarah has put it all behind her and is starting over in a different city with her husband and son. They’ve settled into a friendly suburb where the neighbors, a tight clique of good citizens, are always on the lookout for danger. But when Sarah finds hidden cameras in her new home, she has to wonder: Has her past caught up to her, and worse yet, who’s watching her now?

A spine-tingling, page-turning novel from USA TODAY #1 national bestselling author Samantha M. Bailey, Watch Out for Her is psychological suspense at its very best—a chilling look at trust, voyeurism, and obsession in the modern age, and how far we will go to watch out for those we love.

 

 

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

This Friday Focus: Weekend Reads post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

 

 

Friday Focus: Bookish Memes to Start the Weekend

 

 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 which was hosted for many years 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. Since Freda's blog is currently on hiatus, the meme is being maintained by Anne at My Head is Full of Books. Visit Anne's blog to post and read the weekly entries. 

Today I'm featuring A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales. The excerpts shared are from an eBook borrowed from the library.

 

Book Beginning/First Line:  Chapter 1 -- Introductions

In the English countryside there was a small township called Swampshire, comprised of several lovely mansions and one disgusting swamp.

********************  

56% of eBook:  "There is one thing which might be of interest," Miss Bolton said in a soft voice. Drake stopped pacing and waited for her to continue.

********************  

My thoughts:  Protagonist Beatrice Steele is the most unconventional of young women for her time. She flouts the rules of etiquette and acceptable female behavior to pursue her interest in crime solving. When a murder lands on her figurative doorstep, Beatrice demonstrates her talent for finding clues and drawing sound conclusions based on the evidence she observes.

A Most Agreeable Murder is a most enjoyable read. Its balance of quirky characters, mysterious goings on, humor, and plot twists are first-rate. I hope the author plans a return to this setting and time period for further exploits with the spirited Beatrice.

********************  

From GoodReads: When a wealthy bachelor drops dead at a ball, a young lady takes on the decidedly improper role of detective in this action-packed debut comedy of manners and murder.

Feisty, passionate Beatrice Steele has never fit the definition of a true lady, according to the strict code of conduct that reigns in Swampshire, her small English township--she is terrible at needlework, has absolutely no musical ability, and her artwork is so bad it frightens people. Nevertheless, she lives a perfectly agreeable life with her marriage-scheming mother, prankster father, and two younger sisters-- beautiful Louisa and forgettable Mary. But she harbors a dark secret: She is obsessed with the true crime cases she reads about in the newspaper. If anyone in her etiquette-obsessed community found out, she'd be deemed a morbid creep and banished from respectable society forever.

For her family's sake, she's vowed to put her obsession behind her. Because eligible bachelor Edmund Croaksworth is set to attend the approaching autumnal ball, and the Steele family hopes that Louisa will steal his heart. If not, Martin Grub, their disgusting cousin, will inherit the family's estate, and they will be ruined or, even worse, forced to move to France. So Beatrice must be on her best behavior, which is made difficult when a disgraced yet alluring detective inexplicably shows up to the ball.

Beatrice is just holding things together when Croaksworth drops dead in the middle of a minuet. As a storm rages outside, the evening descends into a frenzy of panic, fear, and betrayal as it becomes clear they are trapped with a killer. Contending with competitive card games, tricky tonics, and Swampshire's infamous squelch holes, Beatrice must rise above decorum and decency to pursue justice and her own desires--before anyone else is murdered.

 

 

 

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

This Friday Focus: Bookish Memes to Start the Weekend post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

Friday Focus: Book Beginnings

 

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts via 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. 

Today I'm featuring Vanilla Chai and a Vanishing Victim by Victoria Tait. The excerpts shared are from an advanced eBook version provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Book Beginning . . . Thirty-three year old Sergeant Keya Varma slumped into her office chair in her team's room on the ground floor of Cirencester Police Station, t he English Cotswolds.

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

My thoughts . . . Thus begins the third installment of The Waterwheel Cafe cozy mystery series by Victoria Tait. Vanilla Chai and a Vanishing Victim is a delightful return to the charming Cotswolds region of England, with its picturesque landscape and cozy atmosphere. Each book in the series is a new chapter in the life of unflappable and extremely competent Keya Varma, a part-time police officer, that  introduces a new tea to savor and crime to solve

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

Synopsis:  A missing child. A half-baked ransom demand. Can a community cop sift through clues and rescue the tot before teatime?

Sergeant Keya Varma’s culinary dreams come true as she joyfully opens her own café. And attending her sister’s wedding is the cherry on the cake. But her excitement sinks like a souffle when a customer’s little boy disappears.

Shaken as well as stirred into action, the part-time police officer joins the search, but she’s shattered when even a ransom payment doesn’t bring the rug rat back home.

For Keya, justice is served with a side of scones, but can she save the child before the clotted cream turns sour?

Indulge in the Waterwheel Café cozy mystery series, where Keya Varma mixes crime with coffee and crêpes. If you crave appetizing characters, a dash of humor, and a dollop of English charm, you’ll devour Victoria Tait’s delicious tale.

Bake your way into intrigue with Vanilla Chai and a Vanishing Victim today!

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

This Friday Focus: Booki Beginnings post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

Friday Focus: Book Beginnings

 

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts via 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. 

Today I'm featuring Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version borrowed from the library.

 

 

Book Beginning:  Pamela

Montclair, New Jersey, Day 15,825

You may not remember me, but I have never forgotten you, begins the letter written in the kind of cursive they don't teach in schools anymore. I read the sentence twice in stinging astonishment. It's been forty-three years since my brush with the man even the most reputable papers called the All-American Sex Killer, and my name had long since fallen to a footnote in the story.

******************** 

My thoughts:  The compelling opening foreshadows the story of innocence shattered and lives irrevocably changed by the actions of a depraved man. Beyond the at times disturbing content, I'm finding it challenging to follow the timeline and relationships between characters which are years apart because of the way the chapters are structured.

********************  

From GoodReads: An extraordinary novel inspired by the real-life sorority targeted by America's first celebrity serial killer in his final murderous spree.

January 1978. A serial killer has terrorized women across the Pacific Northwest, but his existence couldn’t be further from the minds of the vibrant young women at the top sorority on Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee. Tonight is a night of promise, excitement, and desire, but Pamela Schumacher, president of the sorority, makes the unpopular decision to stay home—a decision that unwittingly saves her life. Startled awake at 3 a.m. by a strange sound, she makes the fateful decision to investigate. What she finds behind the door is a scene of implausible violence—two of her sisters dead; two others, maimed. Over the next few days, Pamela is thrust into a terrifying mystery inspired by the crime that’s captivated public interest for more than four decades.

On the other side of the country, Tina Cannon has found peace in Seattle after years of hardship. A chance encounter brings twenty-five-year-old Ruth Wachowsky into her life, a young woman with painful secrets of her own, and the two form an instant connection. When Ruth goes missing from Lake Sammamish State Park in broad daylight, surrounded by thousands of beachgoers on a beautiful summer day, Tina devotes herself to finding out what happened to her. When she hears about the tragedy in Tallahassee, she knows it’s the man the papers refer to as the All-American Sex Killer. Determined to make him answer for what he did to Ruth, she travels to Florida on a collision course with Pamela—and one last impending tragedy.

Bright Young Women is the story about two women from opposite sides of the country who become sisters in their fervent pursuit of the truth. It proposes a new narrative inspired by evidence that’s been glossed over for decades in favor of more salable headlines—that the so-called brilliant and charismatic serial killer from Seattle was far more average than the countless books, movies, and primetime specials have led us to believe, and that it was the women whose lives he cut short who were the exceptional ones.

 

 

 

 

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

This Friday Focus: Bookish Memes to Start the Weekend post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

 

 

Friday Focus: Bookish Memes to Start the Weekend

 

 

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.
• First Line Friday hosted by Reading Is My SuperPower
  

 

Today I'm featuring a current read, Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version borrowed from the library.

 

 

 

Book Beginning/First Line:  William, February 1960--December 1978

For the first six days of William Waters's life, he was not an only child.

********************  

Page 56:  Julia found herself strangely unprepared for their honeymoon, which took place at a resort on the shore of Lake Michigan. She'd spent so much time and energy planning the wedding that she hadn't given much thought to her and William's trip.

********************  

My thoughts:  I am thoroughly enjoying this immersive novel with its fascinating characters, complex family relationships, and rich story lines.

********************  

From GoodReads:  An emotionally layered and engrossing story of a family that asks: Can love make a broken person whole?

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So it’s a relief when his skill on the basketball court earns him a scholarship to college, far away from his childhood home. He soon meets Julia Padavano, a spirited and ambitious young woman who surprises William with her appreciation of his quiet steadiness. With Julia comes her family; she is inseparable from her three younger sisters: Sylvie, the dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book and imagines a future different from the expected path of wife and mother; Cecelia, the family’s artist; and Emeline, who patiently takes care of all of them. Happily, the Padavanos fold Julia’s new boyfriend into their loving, chaotic household.

But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters’ unshakeable loyalty to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?

Vibrating with tenderness, Hello Beautiful is a gorgeous, profoundly moving portrait of what’s possible when we choose to love someone not in spite of who they are, but because of it.

 

 

 

 

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

This Friday Focus: Bookish Memes to Start the Weekend post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

 

 

Friday Focus: Bookish Memes to Start the Weekend

 

 

 

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.
• First Line Friday hosted by Reading Is My SuperPower
  

 

Today I'm featuring a recent read, Zero Days by Ruth Ware. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version borrowed from the library.

 

 

Book Beginning/First Line:  Saturday, February 4 -- Minus Eight Days

The wall around the perimeter was child's play.

********************  

Page 56:  I felt my rage deflate inside me like a pricked balloon, leaving only an intense weariness, close to despair. I felt my shoulders droop.

********************  

My thoughts: I've read most of Ruth Ware's novels and she continues to surprise me with her originality. Her ability to create each new story with settings and characters that are so vastly different from her previous novels is amazing and what keeps me coming back for more.

Zero Days takes readers into the world of computer hacking and security monitoring, where the stakes can be incredibly breathtaking. Secrets and information are highly prized and dangerous in the wrong hands, as Jack learns when her husband is murdered. Who killed Gabe and why? 

When Jack becomes the main murder suspect, she must rely on her wits and steely grit as she descends into a high stakes game of cat and mouse with the police and the real murderer. With the odds stacked against her, will Jack bring Gabe's murderer to justice, or die trying? 

This fast-paced, thrilling novel has unexpected twists and turns, demonstrating that Ruth Ware is one of the best writers of contemporary suspense.

********************  

From GoodReads: Ruth Ware returns with this adrenaline-fueled thriller about a woman in a race against time to clear her name and find her husband’s murderer.

Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect—her.

 

 

 

 

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

This Friday Focus: Bookish Memes to Start the Weekend post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

 

Friday Focus: Bookish Memes to Start the Weekend

 

 

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.
• First Line Friday hosted by Reading Is My SuperPower
  

 

Today I'm featuring a current read, The Engineer's Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version I borrowed from the library.

 

Book Beginning/First Line:  Washington, DC February 1864

The light, sweet honey scent of burning candles did not quite mask the odor of blood and sweat in the makeshift ballroom.

********************  

Page 56:  When I had regained my strength, I accompanied Wash on research trips, sometimes leaving Johnny with the Roebling clan. Words like "caisson" and "quoin" became as familiar to me as "cat" and "dog."

********************  

My thoughts:  Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, and I am enjoying this story about a strong female protagonist and her role in the construction of the iconic Brooklyn Bridge that connects the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan. I've driven over it many times (as recently as last month)--and you can also walk across it. The views are quite spectacular.

********************  

From GoodReads:  She built a monument for all time. Then she was lost in its shadow. Discover the fascinating woman who helped design and construct the Brooklyn Bridge.

Emily Roebling refuses to live conventionally—she knows who she is and what she wants, and she's determined to make change. But then her husband asks the unthinkable: give up her dreams to make his possible.

Emily's fight for women's suffrage is put on hold, and her life transformed when her husband Washington Roebling, the Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, is injured on the job. Untrained for the task, but under his guidance, she assumes his role, despite stern resistance and overwhelming obstacles. But as the project takes shape under Emily's direction, she wonders whose legacy she is building—hers, or her husband's. As the monument rises, Emily's marriage, principles, and identity threaten to collapse. When the bridge finally stands finished, will she recognize the woman who built it?

Based on the true story of an American icon, The Engineer's Wife delivers an emotional portrait of a woman transformed by a project of unfathomable scale, which takes her into the bowels of the East River, suffragette riots, the halls of Manhattan's elite, and the heady, freewheeling temptations of P.T. Barnum. The biography of a husband and wife determined to build something that lasts—even at the risk of losing each other.

 

 

 

 

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

This Friday Focus: Bookish Memes to Start the Weekend post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.