Waiting on Wednesday: New Chris Bohjalian 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:  Doubleday

Publication Date:  July 8, 2014

 

From Goodreads:  Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is the story of Emily Shepard, a homeless girl living in an igloo made of garbage bags in Burlington. Nearly a year ago, a power plant in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont had a meltdown, and both of Emily's parents were killed. Devastatingly, her father was in charge of the plant, and the meltdown may have been his fault—was he drunk when it happened? Thousands of people are forced to leave their homes in the Kingdom; rivers and forests are destroyed; and Emily feels certain that as the daughter of the most hated man in America, she is in danger. So instead of following the social workers and her classmates after the meltdown, Emily takes off on her own for Burlington, where she survives by stealing, sleeping on the floor of a drug dealer's house, inventing a new identity for herself, and befriending a young homeless kid named Cameron. But Emily can't outrun her past, can't escape her grief, can't hide forever-and so she comes up with the only plan that she can.

 

Which book are you waiting for?

 

Enjoy life with books . . .

 

Catherine

 

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

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #61

 

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 paragraph(s) of a book I am currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

Today I'm featuring the opening paragraphs from The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison, which I got as a gift.

 

Part One

Her and Him

1

Her

It's early September.  Jodi Brett is in her kitchen, making dinner.  Thanks to the open plan of the condo, she has an unobstructed view through the living room to its east-facing windows and beyond to a vista of lake and sky, cast by the evening light in a uniform blue.  A thinly drawn line of a darker hue, the horizon, appears very near at hand, almost touchable.  She likes this delineating arc, the feeling it gives her of being encircled.  The sense of containment is what she loves most about living here, in her aerie on the twenty-seventh floor.

At forty-five, Jodi still sees herself as a young woman.  She does not have her eye on the future but lives very much in the moment, keeping her focus on the everyday.  She assumes, without having thought about it, that things will go on indefinitely in their imperfect yet entirely acceptable way.  In other words, she is deeply unaware that her life is now peaking, that her youthful resilience--which her twenty-year marriage to Todd Gilbert has been slowly eroding--is approaching a final stage of disintegration, that her notions about who she is and how she ought to conduct herself are far less stable than she supposes, given that a few short months are all it will take to make a killer out of her.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

What are you reading now or planning to read soon?

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #61 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.

Weekly Book Recap #67

Sunday/Monday greetings to all.  I'm glad to bid farewell to this past week because I was under the weather.  A mild bout of the flu sidetracked me and I spent several days resting on the couch, with pots of tea and books for company. With the extra down time, I gave the blog a new look.

Now that I'm on the mend, I am counting the days until  Memorial Day weekend and my participation in the Spring Lake 5, a five mile foot race down the Jersey shore, and BEA 2014 the week afterwards.

Here are the latest books I've finished reading, am currently reading, and bought, downloaded, or picked up from the library during the week, along with what I plan to read next. I'm sharing my reading updates on the following blogs:

 

 Sunday Post hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer  

Showcase Sunday hosted by Vicky at  Books, Biscuits, and Tea
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? hosted by Sheila at Book Journey

 

Finished reading . . .

    Shadow Spell by Nora Roberts 

  Final Appeal by Lisa Scottoline

Currently reading . . . 

    The Accident by Chris Pavone

Listening to . . . 

    The Returned by Jason Mott
 

Borrowed from the library . . .

  River Road by Jayne Ann Krentz
   Death on Demand by Carolyn G. Hart
 

Downloaded . . .

    Dying to Get Published by Judy Fitzwater 

ARC from Penguin Debut Author Series and Pamela Dorman Books/Viking . . .
 Dollbaby by Laura Lane McNeal

Reading next . . .
   Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison

What did you read this week?  What did you add to your shelves or wish list?  What are you reading next?

Enjoy life with books . . .

Catherine

Weekly Book Recap #67 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. 

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #42

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:

   

Beginning: 

At times like this I realize I'm too old to be starting over, working with law clerks.  I own pantyhose with more mileage than these kids, and better judgment.

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

56% of ebook, which I borrowed from the libary:  "'He looks directly at me.  'Are you really going to do this?'"

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

From Goodreads:  Grace Rossi is starting over after a divorce, and a part-time job with a federal appeals court sounds perfect. But she doesn't count on being assigned to an explosive death penalty appeal. Nor does she expect ardor in the court in the form of an affair with the chief judge. Then Grace finds herself investigating a murder, unearthing a secret bank account and following a trail of bribery and judicial corruption that's stumped even the FBI. In no time at all, Grace under fire takes on a whole new meaning.

 

Have you read this book?  Which book are you reading now?

 

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #42 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.    
 

 

 

Waiting on Wednesday: The Hundred-Year House

 

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: July 10, 2014

 

From barnesandnoble.com: The acclaimed author of The Borrower returns with a dazzlingly original, mordantly witty novel about the secrets of an old-money family and their turn-of-the-century estate, Laurelfield.

 
Meet the Devohrs: Zee, a Marxist literary scholar who detests her parents’ wealth but nevertheless finds herself living in their carriage house; Gracie, her mother, who claims she can tell your lot in life by looking at your teeth; and Bruce, her step-father, stockpiling supplies for the Y2K apocalypse and perpetually late for his tee time. Then there’s Violet Devohr, Zee’s great-grandmother, who they say took her own life somewhere in the vast house, and whose massive oil portrait still hangs in the dining room.

Violet’s portrait was known to terrify the artists who resided at the house from the 1920s to the 1950s, when it served as the Laurelfield Arts Colony—and this is exactly the period Zee’s husband, Doug, is interested in. An out-of-work academic whose only hope of a future position is securing a book deal, Doug is stalled on his biography of the poet Edwin Parfitt, once in residence at the colony. All he needs to get the book back on track—besides some motivation and self-esteem—is access to the colony records, rotting away in the attic for decades. But when Doug begins to poke around where he shouldn’t, he finds Gracie guards the files with a strange ferocity, raising questions about what she might be hiding. The secrets of the hundred-year house would turn everything Doug and Zee think they know about her family on its head—that is, if they were to ever uncover them.

In this brilliantly conceived, ambitious, and deeply rewarding novel, Rebecca Makkai unfolds a generational saga in reverse, leading the reader back in time on a literary scavenger hunt as we seek to uncover the truth about these strange people and this mysterious house. With intelligence and humor, a daring narrative approach, and a lovingly satirical voice, Rebecca Makkai has crafted an unforgettable novel about family, fate and the incredible surprises life can offer.

 

  

Which book are you waiting for?

 

Enjoy life with books . . .

 

 

Catherine

 

Waiting on Wednesday: The Hundred-Year House was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #60

 

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 paragraph(s) of a book I am currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

Today I'm featuring the opening paragraphs from Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen, which I borrowed from the library.

    

Paris, France

Autumn 1962

The wet night air bounced against the electric streetlamps, giving off tiny sparks like flint.  Almost tripping again, Eby Pim laughed and looped her arm through George's.  The uneven sidewalk was buckled by old roots of lime trees long since gone.  George's large flat feet made him sure of his step, but she was in heels and her gait was unsteady, the tick-tick-pause-and-sway making her feel quite drunk or like she was dancing to music that was out of tune.

George leaned in and whispered that he loved her, that she looked beautiful tonight.  Eby smiled and buried her face in his shoulder.  They had such an easy sense of themselves here.  And the longer they spent away, the longer they wanted to stay away.  They wrote short notes on postcards to their families, and George regularly sent home crates of extravagant furniture and antiques, but to each other they never spoke of going back.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

What are you reading now or planning to read soon?

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #60 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.

 

Weekly Book Recap #66

Happy Mother's Day and Sunday/Monday greetings to all.  Hope you are spending some time today doing the things that bring you joy.  Here are the latest books I've finished reading, am currently reading, and bought, downloaded, or picked up from the library during the week, along with what I plan to read next. I'm sharing my reading updates on the following blogs:

 

 Sunday Post hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer  

Showcase Sunday hosted by Vicky at  Books, Biscuits, and Tea
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? hosted by Sheila at Book Journey 

 

 

Currently reading . . . 

     Shadow Spell by Nora Roberts 

 

Listening to . . . 

    The Returned by Jason Mott

Borrowed from the library . . . 

  Murder at Mullings: A 1930s Country House Murder Mystery by Dorothy Cannell

  Under a Silent Moon  by Elizabeth Haynes

 

   Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

  A Vicky Hill Exclusive!  by Hannah Dennison 

 

Reading next . . . 

  Final Appeal by Lisa Scottoline

 

 

Enjoy life with books . . .

Catherine
 

Weekly Book Recap #66 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.