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
---------------------
If you are already a GFC follower, or if you are a new follower, please sign up to follow the Book Club Librarian Blog via Bloglovin'.  Let me know if you're a follower and leave me a link to your blog so that I can follow you back.  Thanks!
---------------------

 

Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

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.