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.    
 

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.