Can't Wait Wednesday

  

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tessa at Wishful Endings which spotlights and discusses forthcoming books that bloggers are looking forward to reading. Generally it's about books that haven't been released yet. This meme is based on Waiting on Wednesday, formerly hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

There are so many exciting new books on the horizon, so without further ado, this week's Can't Wait For book is . . .  

 

Release Date:  January 22, 2019

Publisher:  Dutton

From Goodreads:   An impossible-to-put-down domestic thriller about secrets and revenge, told from the perspectives of a husband and wife who are the most perfect, and the most dangerous, match for each other.

Rebecca didn’t know love was possible until she met Paul, a successful, charismatic, married man with a past as dark as her own. Their pain drew them together with an irresistible magnetism; they sensed that they were each other’s ideal (and perhaps only) match.

But twenty years later, Paul and Rebecca are drowning as the damage and secrets that ignited their love begin to consume their marriage. Paul is cheating on Rebecca, and his affair gets messy fast. His mistress is stalking them with growing audacity when Rebecca discovers Paul’s elaborate plan to build a new life without her. And though Rebecca is spiraling into an opiate addiction, it doesn’t stop her from coming up with a devious plot of her own, and this one could end absolutely everything.

What follows is an unpredictable and stylish game of cat and mouse—a shocking tale of unfaithfulness and unreliability that will keep you racing until the final twist and make you wonder how well you really know your spouse.

My thoughts:  Secrets, revenge, and a troubled marriage are winning ingredients for a domestic thriller and make this novel a can't wait read for me.

This Can't Wait Wednesday post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. Sharing this original post on Twitter, Google+ and/or other blogs with appropriate recognition is appreciated.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . . 

                                                      

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, now hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.   

Today I'm featuring my current read, Watchers by Dean Koontz.  The excerpt shared is from a paperback version I purchased. 

  

Part One

Shattering the Past

1

On his thirty-sixth birthday, May 18, Travis Cornell rose at five o'clock in the morning.  He dressed in sturdy hiking boots, jeans, and a long-sleeved, blue-plaid cotton shirt.  He drove his pickup south from his home in Santa Barbara all the way to rural Santiago Canyon on the eastern edge of Orange County, south of Los Angeles.  He took only a package of Oreo cookies, a large canteen full of orange-flavored Kool-Aid, and a fully loaded Smith & Wesson .38 Chief's Special.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

I must admit that this is not a book or author I would have chosen for myself, but one of my book clubs selected it.  Previously, what I've heard about the author's subject matter and the book covers I've seen have been too scary for me.  I've read a few chapters and it is indeed scary.  Guess that makes it a good read with Halloween fast-approaching.  It is also worth noting that this book made it to the PBS Top 100 Great American Read Book List, coming in at number 79.  (I was in the live audience when it was announced!)  

Have you read this book or others by Dean Koontz?  I'd like to know what you think.

This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. Sharing this original post on Twitter, Google+ and/or other blogs with appropriate recognition is appreciated.

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings

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.

Today I'm featuring an upcoming read, Exhibit Alexandra by Natasha Bell.  The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version borrowed from the library.

 

  

Beginning:  Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Beginning

 

Marc sat on the bottom stair and tried not to think the worst.  The voice continued: "The vast majority of people return safe and well within the first forty-eight hours, Mr. Southwood.  There's no need to panic."  There was a pause.  Marc knew he should take comfort from this.  Sit tight and wait for his wife to return with a perfectly reasonable explanation.

 

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Page 56:  I remember those first months as blissful, but I know they were also tainted for Marc by his concern that I would regret staying.  He tried to hide it but I knew.

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My thoughts:  I'm always intrigued by stories about the relationship between spouses and the inner workings of marriages, so I'm looking forward to reading this psychological thriller.

Note:  This book has also been published under the title His Perfect Wife.

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From Goodreads:  A shocking, original psychological thriller about a mother gone missing and the family she leaves behind, ultimately proving how unknowable even those closest to us can be.

Alexandra Southwood is missing. Held in a room against her will, she's forced to imagine how her husband, Marc, and two daughters are coping in the wake of her disappearance. She's shown news clips of Marc, desperately appealing to the public for information on her whereabouts. She tortures herself with visions of her family's devastated new reality. She thinks of what's lost, remembering the beginnings of her romance with Marc and the beautiful family they built together.

Marc's pain is visceral. He thinks of nothing but his wife. He shifts from utter despair to frantic action, and when the police discover Alexandra's bloody belongings by the river, turning their missing-persons case into a murder investigation, he cannot accept that she is lost to him. He embarks on his own journey, through the dark maze of the art world that so gripped his wife, following a trail that leads him to find answers to questions he never meant to ask.

 

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This Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. Sharing this original post on Twitter, Google+ and/or other blogs with appropriate recognition is appreciated.

 

Thursday Thoughts ~ Books from the Backlog

Happy Thursday . . .  aka Happy Almost Friday!!

It's time for Books from the Backlog, hosted by Carole's Random Life in Books.  It's a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.  If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks . . . or on your eReader.

 

This week's neglected book is . . . 

 

Release Date:  July 29, 2014

Publisher:  Harlequin Mira

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

One night, Mia Dennett enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. 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.

When Colin decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota instead of delivering her to his employers, 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.

Why I selected it:  This debut novel made it to my must-read list before it was published, and I've had a copy since May of 2014.  This book was well received, and the author has published several successful novels since.  I think about this book from time to time, and  I'm hoping to take The Good Girl off the shelf soon.  

This Thursday Thoughts ~ Books from the Backlog post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. Sharing this original post on Twitter, Google+ and/or other blogs with appropriate recognition is appreciated

Can't Wait Wednesday

  

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tessa at Wishful Endings which spotlights and discusses forthcoming books that bloggers are looking forward to reading. Generally it's about books that haven't been released yet. This meme is based on Waiting on Wednesday, formerly hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

There are so many exciting new books on the horizon, so without further ado, this week's Can't Wait For book is . . .  

 

Release Date:  January 8, 2019

Publisher:  Algonquin Books

From Goodreads:  On the far side the view was nothing but ridgelines, the craggy silhouettes rising up against the night sky like the body of some dormant god. Jodi felt her breath go tight in her chest. This road went only one way, it seemed, in under the mountains until you were circled.

In 1989, Jodi McCarty is seventeen years old when she’s sentenced to life in prison for manslaughter. She’s released eighteen years later and finds herself at a Greyhound bus stop, reeling from the shock of unexpected freedom. Not yet able to return to her lost home in the Appalachian mountains, she goes searching for someone she left behind, but on the way, she meets and falls in love with Miranda, a troubled young mother. Together, they try to make a fresh start, but is that even possible in a town that refuses to change? Set within the charged insularity of rural West Virginia, Sugar Run is a searing and gritty debut about making a run for another life.

My thoughts:  I am drawn to stories about people trying to start over or who have the odds stacked against them, which is why this novel caught my attention.

This Can't Wait Wednesday post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. Sharing this original post on Twitter, Google+ and/or other blogs with appropriate recognition is appreciated.

  

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . . 

                                                      

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, now hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.   

Today I'm featuring an upcoming read, Little Comfort by Edwin Hill.  The excerpt shared is from a hardcover version borrowed from the library.  

 

CHAPTER 1

 

All Hester Thursby wanted was a single day to herself, and today was going to be that day--even if it killed her.  She left the baby monitor on the nightstand next to her snoring non-husband, Morgan, and slipped out of the house with Waffles on the leash.  Okay, maybe she glanced into Kate's bedroom to be sure her three-year-old niece was still alive; maybe she crept up to the queen-size bed where the tiny girl slept within a protective barricade of stuffed animals.  And maybe Hester felt a wave of relief when Kate rubbed her nose with a fist and rolled over.  Kate had been staying with them since September, and no matter how much Hester wanted to keep the kid from cramping her style, she still hadn't adjusted to worrying about another human being all day and every day.  "We're making this up as we go along, kid," she whispered, kissing Kate's forehead.

 

 

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

After reading the opening paragraph, I am wondering why Kate has been staying with Hester for an extended period of time.  This angle certainly piques my interest enough to continue reading.  Yet I was initially attracted to this novel for other reasons:  (a) it's the first in a series; (b) it's a mystery/thriller; and (c) the protagonist is a librarian. 

 

 

 

 

 

This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. Sharing this original post on Twitter, Google+ and/or other blogs with appropriate recognition is appreciated.

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings

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.

Today I'm featuring my current read,  Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts.  The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version borrowed from the library.

 

Beginning:  On Friday, July 22, 2005, Simone Knox ordered a large Fanta--orange--to go with her popcorn and Swedish Fish.  The choice, her standard night-at-the-movies fare, changed her life, and very likely saved it.  Still, she'd never drink Fanta again.

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Page 56:   Reed knew what the papers and TV said about Paulson, what neighbors and teachers said.  How shocked they were, how he'd never been violent.  Always bright and helpful.

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My thoughts:   This story is a bit of a departure for Nora Roberts, with its "ripped from the headlines" theme.  It may not be a comfortable read, but in her able hands, the story is taking some interesting and unexpected turns.

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From Goodreads:  Sometimes, there is nowhere safe to hide.

It was a typical evening at a mall outside Portland, Maine. Three teenage friends waited for the movie to start. A boy flirted with the girl selling sunglasses. Mothers and children shopped together, and the manager at the video-game store tended to customers. Then the shooters arrived.

The chaos and carnage lasted only eight minutes before the killers were taken down. But for those who lived through it, the effects would last forever. In the years that followed, one would dedicate himself to a law enforcement career. Another would close herself off, trying to bury the memory of huddling in a ladies' room, hopelessly clutching her cell phone--until she finally found a way to pour her emotions into her art.

But one person wasn't satisfied with the shockingly high death toll at the DownEast Mall. And as the survivors slowly heal, find shelter, and rebuild, they will discover that another conspirator is lying in wait--and this time, there might be nowhere safe to hide.

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This Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution. Sharing this original post on Twitter, Google+ and/or other blogs with appropriate recognition is appreciated.