Waiting on Wednesday: New Anita Shreve 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: Little, Brown & Company 

Publication date: November 12, 2013

 

From barnesandnoble.com: Stella Bain has no memory of her past when she wakes up in a hospital bed in Marne, France. It is 1916, and she wears the uniform of a British war nurse but speaks with an American accent. As soon as she is able, Stella sets out for London, where she hopes to find answers. What she discovers-with the help of Dr. August Bridge, who takes an interest in her case-both shocks and startles. As Stella's memories come racing back, she must undertake a journey across the ocean to confront the haunted past of the woman she used to be. 

In this gripping historical drama that transports us from Europe to America and back again, Anita Shreve weaves an engrossing tale about love and memory, set against the backdrop of a war that devastated an entire generation.

My thoughts:  Anita Shreve is a master storyteller, and I am looking forward to the publication of this, her 17th novel.  I first discovered the author's writing many years ago when The Pilot's Wife was chosen as an Oprah Book Club selection.  I am intrigued by the plot description of Stella Bain, especially since I enjoy novels set in England around the time of the first world war.

Enjoy life with books . . .

 

Catherine
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Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

 

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

 

Thursday Thoughts: Summer Reading Challenge

Building on the success of my spring reading challenge, I have decided to take on a summer reading challenge.  Jen E is hosting the perfect summer reading challenge on her blog, mommablogsalot, which I am signing up for.

Since I finished 5 books during the spring challenge, I'll be doubling the number of books for this challenge to 10. 

 

Here are the books I've chosen for the challenge:
 
              
              
First Row: The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker, While We Were Watching Downton Abbey by Wendy Wax, The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio, Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
Second Row: The View from Penthouse B by Elinor Lipman, The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro, A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy
Third Row: Cocktail Hour by Tara McTiernan, There Was an Old Woman by Hallie Ephron, An Abundance of Katherines by John Green


Enjoy life with books...  

Catherine

Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

Thursday Thoughts: Summer Reading Challenge was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #16 and Tuesday Teaser

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros is a weekly meme hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea. It's an opportunity to share the first paragraphs of a book I am currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

This week I'm featuring the opening paragraphs from one of my current reads, Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris, a book I purchased quite some time ago.  I know I'm late to the game on this one, but I thought now is a good time to start the Sookie Stackhouse Series since the final book was released last month.  As the saying goes, better late than never.

Read on after the intro for my Tuesday Teaser.

 

Published by Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated

 Publication date: 5/1/2001

 ~1

"I'd been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar.

Ever since vampires came out of the coffin (as they laughingly put it) two years ago, I'd hoped one would come to Bon Temps.  We had all the other minorities in our little town--why not the newest, the legally recognized undead?  But rural northern Louisiana wasn't too tempting to vampires, apparently; on the other hand, New Orleans was a real center for them--the whole Anne Rice thing, right?

It's not that long a drive from Bon Temps to New Orleans, and everyone who came into the bar said that if you threw a rock on a street corner you'd hit one.  Though you better not.  

But I was waiting for my own vampire."

What do you think?  Would you continue reading? Or have you already read this one?  Have you read the entire series?

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Teaser Tuesdays, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading, is a weekly event where bloggers open to a random page and share a teaser from somewhere on that page--no spoilers allowed.

 

Here's my teaser from Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris: 

"I got really busy--everyone came to Merlotte's on Saturday night for some portion of the evening--so I lost track of my vampire for a while.  When I next had a moment to check on him, he was talking to Denise.  Mack was looking at him with an expression so avid that I became worried."

~p. 6

 

 

Enjoy life with books . . .

Catherine

Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #16 and Tuesday Teaser was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #15 and Tuesday Teaser

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros is a weekly meme hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea. It's an opportunity to share the first paragraphs of a book I am currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

This week I'm featuring the opening paragraphs of Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler, a book I recently received as a gift, which I'll start reading soon.

Read on after the intro for my Tuesday Teaser.

   

Published by St. Martin's Press

Publication date: 3/26/2013

PROLOGUE

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Montgomery, Alabama

                                                                                                      December 20, 1940

Dear Scott,

    

     The Love of the Last Tycoon is a great title for your novel.  What does Max say?

     I've been thinking that maybe I'll brave an airplane ride and come to see you for New Year's.  Wire me the money, if you can.  Won't we be quite the pair?--you with your bad heart, me with my bad head.  Together, though, we might have something worthwhile.  I'll bring you some of those cheese biscuits you always loved, and you can read me what you've written so far.  I know it's going to be a wonderful novel, Scott, your best one yet.

     This is short so I can send it before the post office closes today.  Write me soon.

                                                                                                       Devotedly,

                                                                                                                   Z- 

     If I could fit myself into this mail slot, here, I'd follow my letter all the way to Hollywood, all the way to Scott, right up to the door of our next future.  We have always had a next one, after all, and there's no good reason we shouldn't have one now.  If only people could travel as easily as words.  Wouldn't that be something?  If only we could be so easily revised.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading? 

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Teaser Tuesdays, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading, is a weekly event where bloggers open to a random page and share a teaser from somewhere on that page--no spoilers allowed.

 

Here's my teaser from Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler:

"'Really, Baby, if you go out with no corset, men will think you're--'

 'Immoral?'

 'Yes.'

 'Maybe I don't care,' I said."

~ p. 11

Enjoy life with books . . .

Catherine

Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #15 and Tuesday Teaser was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #14 and Tuesday Teaser

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros is a weekly meme hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea. It's an opportunity to share the first paragraphs of a book I am currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

This week I'm featuring the opening paragraphs of The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult, a book I recently borrowed from the library which I'll start reading soon.

Read on after the intro for my Tuesday Teaser.

 

 From Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Publication date: 2/26/2013

"My father trusted me with the details of his death.  'Ania,' he would say, 'no whiskey at my funeral.  I want the finest blackberry wine.  No weeping, mind you.  Just dancing.  And when they lower me into the ground, I want a fanfare of trumpets, and white butterflies.'  A character, that was my father.  He was the village baker, and every day, in addition to the loaves he would make for the town, he would create a single roll for me that was as unique as it was delicious: a twist like a princess's crown, dough mixed with sweet cinnamon and the richest chocolate.  The secret ingredient, he said, was his love for me, and this made it taste better than anything else I had ever eaten.

We lived on the outskirts of a village so small that everyone knew everyone else by name.  Our home was made of river stone, with a thatched roof; the hearth where my father baked heated the entire cottage.  I would sit at the kitchen table, shelling peas that I grew in the small garden out back, as my father opened the door of the brick oven and slid the peel inside to take out crusty, round loaves of bread.  The red embers glowed, outlining the strong muscles of his back as he sweated through his tunic. 'I don't want a summer funeral, Ania,' he would say.  'Make sure instead I die on a cool day, when there's a nice breeze.  Before the birds fly south, so that they can sing for me.'"

What do you think?  Would you continue reading? 

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Teaser Tuesdays, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading, is a weekly event where bloggers open to a random page and share a teaser from somewhere on that page--no spoilers allowed.

Here's my teaser from The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult: 

"Baruch Beiler turned, as if noticing for the first time that I was even present.  His eyes raked over me, from my dark hair in its single braid to the leather boots on my feet, whose holes had been repaired with thick patches of flannel.  His gaze made me shiver, not in the same way that I felt when Damian, the captain of the guard, watched me walk away in the village square--as if I were cream and he was the cat.  No, this was more mercenary."

~ p.3

Enjoy life with books . . .

Catherine

Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #14 and Tuesday Teaser was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #13 and Tuesday Teaser

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros is a weekly meme hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea. It's an opportunity to share the first paragraphs of a book I am currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

This week I'm featuring the opening paragraphs of Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight, a book I recently borrowed from the library which I have selected as my next read.

Read on after the intro for my Tuesday Teaser.

 

  From HarperCollins Publishers

Publication date: 4/2/2013

"gRaCeFULLY

SEPTEMBER 5TH

______________________________________________________

Because there are 176 definitions for the word loser on urbandictionary.com.

Don't Be a Statistic

_________________________________________________

Hey bitches!

Ah, the beginning of another school year.  And I'm back with all the shit that's not fit to print . . .

 

So while you've all been whiling away the summer in Southampton, or on Nantucket or in the South of France, perfecting your tennis game or your pas de deux, or training for your first marathon, or basking in your latest chess championship, I've spent the summer keeping track of the back and forth of our dear faculty members.  Mr. Zaritski went out to UC Berkeley to teach at a science camp for crazy-smart kids.  Word has it the parents had him fired week two because he SMELLED.  Mrs. Pearl took a Latin lover and learned to pole dance in Miami.  Kidding.  She didn't actually have a lover, of course.  Who would ever want to sleep with her?

Ah, and sweet delicious Mr. Woodhouse.  Who wouldn't have wanted to see him in a Speedo somewhere?  Alas, his whereabouts lo these sultry months is unknown, though I have it on good authority that he spent at least one long weekend snuggled up with our beloved English prof Liv.  To which I say, bravo."

 

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?  The opening page (partially quoted above) is a blog post, which is quickly followed by several text and Facebook messages.  Regular chapters come next, introducing readers to attorney and single mom Kate and her teenage daughter Amelia, the main characters in this debut legal thriller. There is a lot of buzz about this book, and it looks like a page-turner.

  

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Teaser Tuesdays, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading, is a weekly event where bloggers open to a random page and share a teaser from somewhere on that page--no spoilers allowed.

 

Here's my teaser from Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight:

""Listen, Amelia, I know we don't know each other very well, and there's a reason for that.  I looked through your file before you got down here, and it's basically flawless--outstanding grades, two varsity letters, head of the French club, four honors classes.  You've never even been marked late.  And now this? Why?'"

~ p. 100

Enjoy life with books . . .

Catherine

Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #13 and Tuesday Teaser was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #12 and Tuesday Teaser

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros is a weekly meme hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea. It's an opportunity to share the first paragraphs of a book I am currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

This week I'm featuring the opening paragraphs of The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin, a book I recently purchased and am currently reading for an upcoming book club meeting. 

Read on after the intro for my Tuesday Teaser.

 

 From Random House Publishing Group 

Publication date: 1/15/2013

 1974

"HE IS FLYING.

Is this how I will remember him?  As I watch him lying vanquished, defeated by the one thing even he could not outmaneuver, I understand that I will have to choose my memories carefully now.  There are simply too many.  Faded newspaper articles, more medals and trophies than I know what to do with; personal letters from presidents, kings, dictators.  Books, movies, plays about him and and his accomplishments; schools and institutions proudly bearing his name.

Tearstained photographs of a child with blond curls, blue eyes, and a deep cleft in his chin.  Smudged copies of letters to other women, tucked away in my purse.

I stir in my seat, trying not to disturb him; I need him to sleep, to restore, because of all the things I have to say to him later, and we're running out of time.  I feel it in my very bones, this ebbing of our tide, and there's nothing I can do about it and I'm no longer content simply to watch it, watch him rush away from me, leaving me alone, not knowing, never knowing.  My hands clenched, my jaw so rigid it aches, I lean forward as if I could will the plane to fly faster."

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?  I am half-way through this historically-researched fictional account of the marriage of Anne Morrow and Charles Lindbergh, and find it to be an engrossing story.  This bestselling novel is beautifully written, and offers an insightful look into the Lindbergh relationship, family life, and major events of their time.

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Teaser Tuesdays, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading, is a weekly event where bloggers open to a random page of their current reads and share a teaser from somewhere on that page--no spoilers allowed.

Here's my teaser from The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin:

"Still the unanswered questions, so many I can't gather them to me in any order, in any list, oh, his damned, disciplined lists!  Now, finally, I have need for one and I can't even pick which question with which to start.  So many demand answers.  Why them?  Why all of them?  Did he love them?  Has he ever loved me?"

~ p.4

Enjoy life with books . . .

Catherine

Follow me on Twitter: @bookclubreader

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #12 and Tuesday Teaser was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.