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, Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich.  The excerpt is from a hardcover edition I recently purchased. 

  

August 7

When I tell you that my white name is Cedar Hawk Songmaker and that I am the adopted child of Minneapolis liberals, and that when I went looking for my Ojibwe parents and found that I was born Mary Potts I hid the knowledge, maybe you'll understand.  Or not.  I'll write this anyway, because ever since last week things have changed.  Apparently--I mean, nobody knows--our world is running backward.  Or forward.  Or maybe sideways, in a way as yet ungrasped.  I am sure somebody will come up with a name for what is happening, but I cannot imagine how everything around us and everything within us can be fixed.  What is happening involves the invisible, the quanta of which we are created.  Whatever is actually occurring, there is constant breaking news about how it will be handled--speculation, really, concerning what comes next--which is why I am writing an account.

 

Historic times!   There have always been letters and diaries written in times of tumult and discovered later, and my thought is that I could be writing one of those.  And even though I realize that all lexical knowledge may be useless, you'll have this record.

 

 

What do you think?  Would you continue reading? 

The opening of the story feels very current--as though the present state of affairs is being described.  Actually the narrator, who is four months pregnant, is writing to her unborn child. 

This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph post was originally composed and/or compiled 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 next read, Glory in Death by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts).  Last year I decided to give this long-running series a try, even though it may take the rest of my reading life to catch up.  (Book #46 was released last month.) 

 

Beginning:  chapter one

The dead were her business.  She lived with them, worked with them, studied them.  She dreamed of them.  And because that didn't seem to be enough, in some deep, secret chamber of her heart, she mourned for them.

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Page 56: "She could see his jaw tense and noticed the control it took for him to relax it again, but his eyes never flickered.  She imagined he could stare a hole through steel."

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My thoughts:   When I read Naked in Death, the first in this series, I was struck by how well the story (which was published in 1995) has stood the test of time.  After all, this is a series set in the still-distant future.  Yet the In Death series doesn't feel dated, which I attribute to the talented Ms. Roberts and her incredible imagination.

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From Goodreads:   The dead were her business. She lived with them, worked with them, studied them. She dreamed of them. Murder no longer shocked, but it continued to repel.

The first victim is found lying on a sidewalk in the rain. The second murdered in her own apartment building. Both have had their throats slashed.

New York City homicide lieutenant Eve Dallas has no problem finding connections between the two crimes. Both women were beautiful and successful; their glamorous lives and loves the talk of the city. And their intimate relations with powerful men provide Eve with a long list of suspects - including her own lover, Roarke.

As a woman, Eve is compelled to trust the man who shares her bed. But as a cop, it's her job to follow every lead, to explore every secret passion, no matter how dark. Or how dangerous.

 
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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

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 Sunburn by Laura Lippman, my current read.  The excerpt shared is from an advanced reader's copy.

  

PART ONE

SMOKE

1

JUNE 11, 1995

BELLEVILLE, DELAWARE

It's the sunburned shoulders that get him.  Pink, peeling.  The burn is two days old, he gauges.  Earned on Friday, painful to the touch yesterday, today an itchy soreness that's hard not to keep fingering, probing, as she's doing right now in an absentminded way.  The skin has started sloughing off, soon those narrow shoulders won't be so tender.  Why would a redhead well into her thirties make such a rookie mistake?

And why is she here, sitting on a barstool, forty-five miles inland, in a town where strangers seldom stop on a Sunday evening?  Belleville is the kind of place where people are supposed to pass through and soon they won't even do that. They're building a big bypass so the beach traffic won't have to slow for the speed trap on the old Main Street.  He saw the construction vehicles, idle on Sunday, on his way in.  Places like this bar-slash-restaurant, the High-Ho, are probably going to lose what little business they have.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading? 

The opening of the story creates curiosity around a mystery woman--a redhead with peeling shoulders.  I was immediately drawn in, knowing what a master storyteller Laura Lippman is.  It is quickly turning into a compelling read.

This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph post was originally composed and/or compiled 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, 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 The Sixth Victim by Tessa Harris, the first book in the Constance Piper Mystery Series.  The excerpt shared is from a library copy.

 

Chapter 1

London, Saturday, September 8, 1888

CONSTANCE

There's blood in the air.  Again.  They've got the scent of it in their nostrils and they're following it, like wolves honing in for the kill.  Only the killing's already done.  It's the third in a month here, in Whitechapel, and the second in little more than a week and everyone's in a panic.  We're heading toward the scene, to Hanbury Street.  There's a big swell of us and it's growing every minute as news seeps out.  Shopkeepers gawp, arms crossed, on their steps.  Barrow boys are spreading the word.  Commercial Street's always busy at this time of the morning, but now the world and his wife seem to be funneling the rows of old weavers' houses in Fournier Street.  


What do you think?  Would you continue reading? 

Regular visitors to the blog know I like reading historical fiction and mysteries, as well as discovering new series.  That makes this upcoming read a trifecta.  The book cover and opening paragraph are deeply atmospheric and set the stage for a story set in London during the time of Jack the Ripper. 

This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph post was originally composed and/or compiled 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, Class Reunions Are Murder by Libby Klein, which I read for a blog tour.  The excerpts shared are from a Kindle copy provided by the publisher.

 

Beginning: Chapter 1 

I was being bullied by stationery.  The note had arrived the day before by courier service—and it had to be a trap.  I glared at it on the coffee table wondering if I dare open it. 
 

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56% of eBook: "The doorbell rang, so I grabbed my checkbook prepared to pay the landscapers—but it was Rosalind Carson, Everyone's Favorite Social Worker and Darth Vader's mentor."

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My thoughts:   This was a most enjoyable read for me in a new cozy mystery series.  Read my review here which includes a link to enter a giveaway of this book.

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From Goodreads:  For fortysomething Poppy McAllister, taking a stroll down memory lane in Cape May, New Jersey, isn’t just awkward—it’s deadly.

Newly widowed and stuck in a middle-aged funk, Poppy has been running on cookies, infomercials, and one-sided chats with her cat for months. There’s no way on earth she’s attending her twenty-five-year class reunion—especially after receiving a very bizarre letter from Barbie, the popular cheerleader who taunted her all through high school. At least, not until Poppy’s best friend practically drags her to the event . . .

Using the dreaded homecoming as an excuse to visit her eccentric Aunt Ginny, Poppy vows to leave Cape May with pride and Spanx intact. Too bad Barbie is still the queen of mean at the reunion. And worse, that her dead body is lying right in front of Poppy’s old locker. Singled out as the killer, it’s up to Poppy to confront her past and clear her name. But between protecting her aunt from disaster and tackling a gluten-free diet, can Poppy crack the case before she’s voted “Most Likely to Die” by the murderer?

Includes Seven Recipes from Poppy’s Kitchen!


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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.