First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #63

 

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 Murder at the Breakers, the first book in the Gilded Newport Mystery series, which I borrowed from a friend.  With summer on the horizon, this is one of the books I am planning to read this month.

 

Chapter 1

Newport, Rhode Island, August 1895

She awoke that morning to an angry sea

battering the edges of the promontory, and

gusting winds that kicked up a spray to rattle

against her bedroom windows.  She might simply

have rolled over, closed her eyes again, and sunk

pleasantly back into sleep, if not for the--

Here the nib of my pen ran dry and scratched across the paper, threatening to leave a tear.  If not for the what?  I knew what I wanted to say; this was to be a novel of mystery and danger, but I was having a dickens of a time that morning finding the right words. 

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

What are you reading now or planning to read soon?

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #63 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.

Weekly Book Recap #69

The last week of May is always the best book week of the year for me.  From Wednesday to Saturday, I have been immersed in all things books.  I've been to panels, presentations, and author talks at pre-BEA events and BEA.  I've met fabulous authors and received more than 100 copies of published and forthcoming books.  This is what I call book heaven, and I feel like the kid in the candy store who can choose as many treats as she wants (and can carry away).  I'm still pinching myself because it is a dream come true.

I haven't unpacked all my goodies yet, so I'll be sharing only a portion of my haul today.  But stay tuned . . . there's a lot more to come. 

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 . . .

  The Land of Steady Habits by Ted Thompson

 

 

Listening to . . . 

    The Returned by Jason Mott

 

Currently reading . . .

     River Road by Jayne Ann Krentz

      A Vicky Hill Exclusive! by Hannah Dennison

 

From the Eighth Annual BookExpo America Librarians' Dinner 

Co-hosted by the Association of American Publishers and Library Reads . . .

    So We Read On:  How The Great Gatsby Came To Be and Why It Endures by Maureen Corrigan

      Four Friends by Robyn Carr

    The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker 

    The Arsonist by Sue Miller

    I'll Be Back Right After This by Pat O'Brien

 

Reading next . . .

    Exodus 2022 by Kenneth G. Bennett . . . for an upcoming blog tour . . .

 

. . . and if you read my Waiting on Wednesday Post earlier this week, I am happy to report that I met author Mary Kubica and got a signed ARC of her forthcoming book:

 

 

 

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 #69 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.

 

 

 

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #44

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:

  

The Land of Steady Habits by Ted Thompson

Beginning:  Part One 

Chapter 1

One of the great advantages of Anders's divorce -- besides, of course, the end of the squabbling and the sudden guiltless thrill of freedom -- was that he no longer had to attend the Ashbys' holiday party.  Their party, like all of the parties he'd attended in his marriage, was his wife's domain, and he was relieved to no longer have to show up only to be a disappointment to her friends.

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

Page 56: "All his life he'd been resisting what was expected of him, a habit of reaction followed by a battery of justification."

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

From barnesandnoble.com:  Anders Hill, entering his early sixties and seemingly ensconced in the "land of steady habits"--a nickname for the affluent, morally strict hamlets of Connecticut that dot his commuter rail line--abandons his career and family for a new condo and a new life. Stripped of the comforts of his previous identity, Anders turns up at a holiday party full of his ex-wife's friends and is suprised to find that the very world he rejected may be one he needs. 

Thus Anders embarks on a clumsy, hilarious, and heartbreaking journey to reconcile his past with his present. Like the early work of John Updike, Ted Thompson's first novel finely observes a man in deep conflict with his community. With compassion for its characters and fresh insight into the American tradition of the "suburban narrative," THE LAND OF STEADY HABITS introduces an auspicious talent.

Which book are you reading now?

 

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #44 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.    

 

Waiting on Wednesday: The Good Girl

 

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:  Harlequin

Publication Date:  July 29, 2014

From barnesandnoble.com: "I've been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don't know the color of her eyes or what they look like when she's scared. But I will." 

Born to a prominent Chicago judge and his stifled socialite wife, Mia Dennett moves against the grain as a young inner-city art teacher. One night, Mia enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. With his smooth moves and modest wit, at first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life.

Colin's job was to abduct Mia as part of a wild extortion plot and deliver her to his employers. But the plan takes an unexpected turn when Colin suddenly decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota, evading the police and his deadly superiors. Mia's mother, Eve, and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them, but no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually cause this family's world to shatter.

An addictively suspenseful and tautly written thriller, The Good Girl is a propulsive debut that reveals how even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems….

I will be stalking the Harlequin booth at BEA this week to see if I can score an ARC of this novel and meet the author.

Which book are you waiting for?

Enjoy life with books . . .

Catherine

   

Waiting on Wednesday: The Good Girl was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be published without attribution.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #62

 

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 River Road  by Jayne Ann Krentz, an ebook that I borrowed from the library.  I'm planning to read this as I commute back and forth to BEA later this week.

  

1

"Who appointed you my guardian angel?" Lucy Sheridan asked.

She was pissed--really, really pissed.  But she was also thrilled.  She was alone with Mason Fletcher, driving down a narrow, moonlit road.  It should have been the most romantic night of her life--the stuff teen dreams were made of.  But Mason had ruined everything by treating her like a kid who didn't know enough to come in out of the rain.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

What are you reading now or planning to read soon?

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #62 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.

Weekly Book Recap #68

Sunday/Monday greetings to all on this Memorial Day weekend.  My weekend started with the Spring Lake 5 mile run at the Jersey shore.  The weather was overcast, but the rain held off, and it was fun to be at what I consider the unofficial start to summer.  This has been my ritual for over 20 years and it always inspires and motivates me.

Next week brings another ritual, Book Expo America.  On Wednesday I'll be participating in Library Journal's Day of Dialog for librarians, followed by the American Association of Publishers (AAP) dinner for librarians.  On Thursday morning I'll be attending a breakfast for librarians at Random House, a Library Journal lunch at BEA, and the start of the main event, which runs through Saturday.  All of these events are opportunities to meet with authors, hear them share what inspired them to write, and get copies of their newest novels. It's what I call book heaven.  Stay tuned for updates on author meetings and new books that I'll post as soon as I can. 

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 . . .

    The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison

  The Accident by Chris Pavone

Currently reading . . .

 The Land of Steady Habits by Ted Thompson 

Listening to . . . 

    The Returned by Jason Mott

Borrowed from the library . . .

   Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

  Tenth of December by George Saunders

   The Land of Steady Habits by Ted Thompson

Downloaded . . .

  Swan by Katherine Hole 

Reading next . . .

  River Road by Jayne Ann Krentz

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 #68 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.  

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #43

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:  Prologue

He awakens suddenly, in terror.  He spins his head around the spare room, searching the darkest shadows in the blue wash of moonlight, sitting bolt upright, head cocked, alert for noises.  He reaches his hand across his body, and grabs the gun.

Part 1:  Morning

Chapter 1

 

It's just before dawn when Isabel Reed turns the final sheet of paper.  Halfway down the page, her mouth falls open, her heartbeat quickens.  Her eyes dart across each typescript line at a rapid-fire pace, accelerating as she moves through the final paragraph, desperate to arrive at a revelation, to confirm her suspicions.  She sucks in her breath, and holds that breath, for the last lines.

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

Page 56: "Alexis pushes open the door, steps inside, shuts the door behind her.  She turns away from her door, into her apartment--

A man is standing on the far side of the room, holding the manuscript."

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

From Goodreads:  As dawn approaches in New York, literary agent Isabel Reed is turning the final pages of a mysterious, anonymous manuscript, racing through the explosive revelations about powerful people, as well as long-hidden secrets about her own past. In Copenhagen, veteran CIA operative Hayden Gray, determined that this sweeping story be buried, is suddenly staring down the barrel of an unexpected gun. And in Zurich, the author himself is hiding in a shadowy expat life, trying to atone for a lifetime’s worth of lies and betrayals with publication of The Accident, while always looking over his shoulder.

Over the course of one long, desperate, increasingly perilous day, these lives collide as the book begins its dangerous march toward publication, toward saving or ruining careers and companies, placing everything at risk—and everyone in mortal peril.  The rich cast of characters—in publishing and film, politics and espionage—are all forced to confront the consequences of their ambitions, the schisms between their ideal selves and the people they actually became.

The action rockets around Europe and across America, with an intricate web of duplicities stretching back a quarter-century to a dark winding road in upstate New York, where the shocking truth about the accident itself is buried.

Gripping, sophisticated, layered, and impossible to put down, The Accident proves once again that Chris Pavone is a true master of suspense.

 

Have you read this book or Pavone's previous book, The Ex Pats?  Which book are you reading now?

 

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #43 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.