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. 

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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?"

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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.

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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?

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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?

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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.

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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.

 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

 

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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 Women on Platform Two by Laura Anthony. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version borrowed from the library.

 

 

 

Book Beginning:  Chapter I

Dublin City, 22 May 2023

Saoirse

 

I have pee on my fingers. It's my own pee, but it makes me feel gross nonetheless. I've never taken a pregnancy test before and I wasn't expecting it to be this fiddly.

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Page 56: Rita races toward the car, waving her arms above her head. "Doctor, Doctor, come quick!"

********************  

My thoughts: A chance encounter on a train from Dublin to Belfast is the setting for a conversation between two women from different generations with considerably contrasting experiences. What ensues is a discussion that illustrates the hard-won rights for women's bodily autonomy over the decades, particularly in conservative societies.

Told in alternating timelines and featuring strong female characters, this novel addresses the pertinent topic of a woman's right to determine her own future in a compelling story with courageous, heartbreaking, and uplifting moments.

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From Goodreads:  In 1970s Dublin, all forms of contraception are strictly forbidden, but an intrepid group of women will risk everything to change that in this sweeping, timely novel inspired by a remarkable and little-known true story.

Dublin, 1969: Maura has just married Dr. Christy Davenport and they look forward to growing their family. But as her husband’s vicious temper emerges, Maura worries that her home might never be safe for a child. Meanwhile, her close friend Bernie, a mother of three, learns the devastating news that if she conceives again, her health complications could prove fatal.

Dublin, 2023: A close call makes Saoirse realize that she may never want to be a mother. Little does she know that only a few decades ago, a group of women made this option possible for her. And she’s about to meet one of them…

The Women on Platform Two is a haunting, powerful story of feminine resistance and resilience that reminds us all of where we started—and how far we still have to go.

 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

 

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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 Katharine, the Wright Sister by Tracey Enerson Wood. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover edition borrowed from the library.

 

 

 

 

 

Book Beginning:  Wilbur

Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

September 1900

 

Wind. We chose a place where it abounded, in order to capture it and soar like the birds.

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Page 56: I missed my friends from Oberlin, the thrilling discussions of world events, of traveling and gossip and the latest fashions.

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My thoughts:  Katharine Wright played an integral part in the success of her brothers, Wilbur and Orville. She contributed important ideas that helped lead to the creation of their flying machine and their world-wide recognition. In addition to her practical ideas for perfecting the aircraft, she supported them behind the scenes—procuring materials and communicating on their behalf. Katharine was totally devoted to her brothers at great personal cost. She sacrificed her own desires and opportunities to make her brothers' dream of flight come true.

While the story includes an example of the age-old saying—behind every successful man there's a woman—I enjoyed a behind-the-scenes look at the dynamics of the Wright family and learning more about the historic events of their time.

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From Goodreads:  She helped her brothers soar… but was the flight worth the fall?

 It all started with two boys and a bicycle shop. Wilbur and Orville Wright, both unsuited to college and disinclined to leave home, jumped on the popular new fad of bicycle riding and opened a shop in Dayton, Ohio. Repairing and selling soon led to tinkering and building as the brothers offered improved models to their eager customers. Amid their success, a new dream began to take shape. Engineers across the world were puzzling over how to build a powered flying machine—and Wilbur and Orville wanted in on the challenge. But their younger sister, Katharine, knew they couldn't do it without her. The three siblings made a pact—the three of them would solve the problem of human flight.

 As her brothers obsessed over blueprints and risked life and limb testing new models on the sand beaches of North Carolina, Katharine became the mastermind behind the scenes of their inventions. She sourced materials, managed communications, and kept Wilbur and Orville focused on their goal—even when it seemed hopeless. And in 1903, the Wright brothers made the first controlled, sustained flight of humankind.

What followed was the kind of fame and fortune the Wrights had never imagined. The siblings traveled the world to demonstrate their invention, trained other pilots, and built new machines that could fly higher and farther. But at the height of their success, tragedy wrenched the Wright family apart… and forced Katharine to make an impossible choice that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

 From internationally bestselling author Tracey Enerson Wood, Katharine, the Wright Sister is an unforgettable novel that shines a spotlight on one of the most important and overlooked women in history, and the sacrifices she made so that others might fly.

 

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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 . . ."

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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.

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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.

 

 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

 

 

 

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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 Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version borrowed from the library.

 

 

Book Beginning/First Line:  Salem was meant to be a new beginning, a place where the sharp scent of cinnamon and tea perfumed the air with hope; a place where the colors could be safe and alive in me.

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Page 56:  "I'm grateful." I try again to show that I mean to be a friend. "I'm glad to have you as my neighbors."

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My thoughts:  This very imaginative and harrowing fictional account of a relationship between a young Scottish woman who emigrates to Massachusetts and Nathaniel Hawthorne, future author of The Scarlet Letter, is a realistic depiction of the power structure and plight of women and immigrants in America in the nineteenth century. 

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From GoodReads:  A vivid reimagining of the woman who inspired Hester Prynne, the tragic heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, and a journey into the enduring legacy of New England's witchcraft trials.

Who is the real Hester Prynne?

Isobel Gamble is a young seamstress carrying generations of secrets when she sets sail from Scotland in the early 1800s with her husband, Edward. An apothecary who has fallen under the spell of opium, his pile of debts have forced them to flee Edinburgh for a fresh start in the New World. But only days after they've arrived in Salem, Edward abruptly joins a departing ship as a medic––leaving Isobel penniless and alone in a strange country, forced to make her way by any means possible.

When she meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorne, the two are instantly drawn to each other: he is a man haunted by his ancestors, who sent innocent women to the gallows––while she is an unusually gifted needleworker, troubled by her own strange talents. As the weeks pass and Edward's safe return grows increasingly unlikely, Nathaniel and Isobel grow closer and closer. Together, they are a muse and a dark storyteller; the enchanter and the enchanted. But which is which?

In this sensuous and hypnotizing tale, a young immigrant woman grapples with our country's complicated past, and learns that America's ideas of freedom and liberty often fall short of their promise. Interwoven with Isobel and Nathaniel's story is a vivid interrogation of who gets to be a "real" American in the first half of the 19th century, a depiction of the early days of the Underground Railroad in New England, and atmospheric interstitials that capture the long history of "unusual" women being accused of witchcraft. Meticulously researched yet evocatively imagined, Laurie Lico Albanese's Hester is a timeless tale of art, ambition, and desire that examines the roots of female creative power and the men who try to shut it down.

 

 

 

 

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

 

 

 

 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

 

 

 

 

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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.