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, White Bodies by Jane Robins.  The excerpts shared are from the hardcover (borrowed from the library).

  

Beginning:  Autumn 2017

The evidence suggests that Felix showered.  Beyond that, I know practically nothing about his final hour on this earth.

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Page 56:  "I wake up queasy, remembering that Tilda's meeting me for lunch today."

 

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My thoughts:  After seeing this book on several other blogs, I was immediately curious.  I enjoy psychological thrillers, and I couldn't resist one that centers around twin sisters and an abusive husband. 

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From Goodreads:  This chilling psychological suspense novel--think Strangers on a Train for the modern age--explores the dark side of love and the unbreakable ties that bind two sisters together.

Felix and Tilda seem like the perfect couple: young and in love, a financier and a beautiful up-and-coming starlet. But behind their flawless facade, not everything is as it seems.

Callie, Tilda's unassuming twin, has watched her sister visibly shrink under Felix's domineering love. She has looked on silently as Tilda stopped working, nearly stopped eating, and turned into a neat freak, with mugs wrapped in Saran Wrap and suspicious syringes hidden in the bathroom trash. She knows about Felix's uncontrollable rages, and has seen the bruises on the white skin of her sister's arms.

Worried about the psychological hold that Felix seems to have over Tilda, Callie joins an Internet support group for victims of abuse and their friends. However, things spiral out of control and she starts to doubt her own judgment when one of her new acquaintances is killed by an abusive man. And then suddenly Felix dies--or was he murdered?

A page-turning work of suspense that announces a stunning new voice in fiction, White Bodies will change the way you think about obsession, love, and the violence we inflict on one another--and ourselves.

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This Friday Focus post was originally written and published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.  

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . .

                                                      

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, 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, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick (borrowed from the library).  This debut novel is the monthly selection of one of my book clubs.  

 

  

The Surprise in the Wardrobe

 

Each day Arthur got out of bed at precisely 7:30 a.m. just as he did when his wife, Miriam, was alive.  He showered and got dressed in the gray slacks, pale blue shirt and mustard sweater-vest that he had laid out the night before.  He had a shave, then went downstairs.

 

At eight o'clock he made his breakfast, usually a slice of toast and margarine, and he sat at the pine farmhouse table that could seat six, but which now just seated one.  At eight-thirty he would rinse his pots and wipe down the kitchen worktop using the flat of his hand and then two lemon-scented wipes.  Then his day could begin.

 

 

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

Arthur is a creature of habit, living a dull existence since the death of his wife.  When on the first year anniversary of her death he finds a charm bracelet hidden inside one of Miriam's boots, his curiosity is piqued.  This may just be the impetus he needs to re-engage with the outside world as well as learn more about the life his wife led before they met.

This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph post was originally written and published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are 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 recent read, It's Always the Husband by Michele Campbell.  The excerpts shared are from the hardcover (borrowed from the library).

  

Beginning:   

Present Day
The Night of Her Fortieth Birthday

She stumbled through the dark woods, the trees dripping raindrops onto her hair and her party dress.  Her shoes were covered in mud, and she trembled from the cold.   

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Page 56:  "She was half tempted to do something crazy, just to show them, to get them off her back once and for all."

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My thoughts:  The lives of three young women from very different backgrounds intertwine in unexpected and fateful ways in this captivating read.

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From Goodreads:   Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny. They first met as college roommates and soon became inseparable, even though they are as different as three women can be. Twenty years later, one of them is standing at the edge of a bridge . . and someone else is urging her to jump.

How did things come to this?

As the novel cuts back and forth between their college years and their adult years, you see the exact reasons why these women love and hate each other—but can feelings that strong lead to murder? Or will everyone assume, as is often the case, that it’s always the husband?


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This Friday Focus post was originally written and published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.  

WWW Wednesdays

It's time for WWW Wednesdays hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words 

   

This mid-weekly meme consists of answering The Three Ws:

What are you currently reading?

 What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here are my updates . . .
         looking forward to seeing what's in your reading queue. . .

I'm currently reading . . .
    It's Always the Husband

      The Marsh King's Daughter

I recently finished  reading . . .
  My review of Body on Baker Street

I'll be reading next . . .
    The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper 

What are your Wednesday updates?

WWW Wednesdays was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.  

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . .

                                                      

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, 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, Grace, borrowed from the library.  This is the third novel by Irish author Paul Lynch, who I very recently became aware of.  His previous novels, Red Sky in Morning and The Black Snow, have been widely acclaimed.

 

I

The Samhain

This flood October.  And in the early light her mother goes for her, rips her from sleep, takes her from a dream of the world.  She finds herself arm-hauled across the room, panic shot loose to the blood.  She thinks, do not shout and stir the others, do not let them see Mam like this.  She cannot sound-out anyhow, her mouth is thick and tonguing shock, so it is her shoulder that speaks.  It cracks aloud in protest, sounds as if her arm were rotten, a branch from a tree snapped clean.  From a place that is speechless comes the recognition that something in the making up of her world has been unfixed.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

I find the opening scene very intriguing, and it makes me want to know more about the narrator and her story.  I'm looking forward to reading this new-to-me author's work.  

This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph post was originally written and published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings

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 most recent read, Body on Baker Street by Vicki Delany.  The excerpts shared are from an advance copy.  (The book was published earlier this week in hardcover.)

 

Beginning:   

"Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, Gemma speaking."

 

"Hi.  I . . . I . . . uh . . . May I speak to the person in charge of author events?  Please?"

 

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56% of eBook:  "Her story was the same as Grant's.  She hadn't even noticed the bottle on the counter, much less seen someone interfering with it."

 

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My thoughts:  This was a fun read for me that hooked me on the series.  Read more in my review, which includes a link to enter a book giveaway.

 

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From Goodreads:  Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson are busy managing the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium on Baker Street and adjoining Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room in anticipation of the store's upcoming book signing with the illustrious Renalta Van Markoff, author of the controversial Hudson and Holmes mystery series. But during the author Q&A session, dedicated Sherlockian Donald Morris verbally attacks Renalta and her series for disgracing Sherlock's legacy, only to be publicly humiliated when the author triumphantly lashes back and gains the upper hand. That is until Renalta collapses on the table--dead. Donald insists he didn't do it and pleads to his friends to clear his name. Fortunately, Gemma and Jayne have no shortage of suspects between author's bullied personal assistant, her frustrated publicist, the hapless publisher, a handsome rare book dealer, an obsessively rabid fan, and a world of other Sherlock enthusiasts with strong objections to Renalta's depiction of the Great Detective. It's up to the shrewd sleuthing duo to eliminate the impossible and deduce the truth before the West London police arrest an innocent man in Body on Baker Street, the second Sherlock Homes Bookshop mystery perfect for fans of Miranda James and Kate Carlisle.

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This Friday Focus post was originally written and published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are appreciated.