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 The French Girl, a debut novel by Lexie Elliott.  The excerpts shared are from a hardcover edition I borrowed from the library.

 

Beginning:  Looking back, the most striking thing is that she knew I didn't like her and she didn't care.  That type of self-possession at the tender age of nineteen--well, it's unnatural.  Or French.  She was very, very French.

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Page 56:  "I suspect Lara's definition of careful won't match mine."

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My thoughts:  I am looking forward to starting this novel, which has elements I find enticing:  a French setting, college friends, a mysterious disappearance, and a body found ten years later.

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From Goodreads:  They were six university students from Oxford--friends and sometimes more than friends--spending an idyllic week together in a French farmhouse. It was supposed to be the perfect summer getaway--until they met Severine, the girl next door.

For Kate Channing, Severine was an unwelcome presence, her inscrutable beauty undermining the close-knit group's loyalties amid the already simmering tensions. And after a huge altercation on the last night of the holiday, Kate knew nothing would ever be the same. There are some things you can't forgive, and there are some people you can't forget, like Severine, who was never seen again.

Now, a decade later, the case is reopened when Severine's body is found in the well behind the farmhouse. Questioned along with her friends, Kate stands to lose everything she's worked so hard to achieve as suspicion mounts around her. Desperate to resolve her own shifting memories and fearful she will be forever bound to the woman whose presence still haunts her, Kate finds herself buried under layers of deception with no one to set her free.

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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 of this original post 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 an upcoming read, Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser.  The excerpt is from a hardcover edition purchased from Book of the Month club
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Ever wonder what your friends really think of you?

I take a lot of care in my appearance, for instance.  I'm a small-town doctor's wife, so I need to look the part--even if I don't feel the part.  And I have twins enrolled in pre-K at a charter school so obsessed with freethinking it will shove free thoughts down your throat.  So I make sure it's obvious to everyone there what happy, healthy, cherished little people my kids are.  I never forget to dress them in their pajamas for pajama day.  I always sign up to bring the most elaborate snacks to the class parties.  I help other moms in the parking lot when their pumpkin seats jam or their strollers collapse.  I make a point of knowing all their names.

You probably think I care a lot about what my friends think.

I don't.

None of this charade is for them.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

The narrator shares quite a bit of information in the opening paragraphs, and has me wondering what makes her tick.  All seems perfect on the surface, but I get the feeling that things are really far from it once you take a closer look.

There's a considerable amount of buzz for this book, which makes me eager to start it.

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 an upcoming read, The Girlfriend by Michelle Frances, a debut psychological thriller.  The excerpts are from a hardcover edition borrowed from the library.

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PROLOGUE 

Monday, March 2

I love my son, that was all that counted.  It didn't matter that she was about to do something heinous.  An opportunity had been granted to her, a beacon of light through the devastating last few months, and Laura knew she had to take that opportunity.  She'd agonized over it for hours; but now that the decision was final, she felt a wave of terror at what she had to say.  The words that were going to break her into pieces.  This was the first time.  She briefly considered rehearsing it, but the words--the word--wouldn't form properly in her head.  Her instinct was to bat it away violently.

*~*~*~*~*

1

Nine months earlier, Saturday, June 7

Laura had a good feeling about today, a delicious start-of-the-summer sensation had embraced her the minute she opened her eyes.  She was up and dressed before it was even seven-thirty on an already-hot Saturday in June.  Walking along the landing to Daniel's bedroom, she listened for sounds of him stirring, but the room that they kept clean and welcoming while he was at medical school was silent.  He was still asleep, hardly surprising, seeing as he'd come home long after she'd gone to bed the last couple of nights.  Daniel had been home from university for two whole days now, but she'd not yet seen him.  Work was at a pressure point and she left early in the mornings and he was out when she came home.  Catching up with old friends, no doubt.  She was envious of those conversations, hungry for information.  She wanted to hear everything, soak it all up, enjoy the excitement she felt for him just starting out in his professional life, and relish the summer with him before he went off to do his hospital training.  Today was their day, no last-minute urgent changes to the drama series she was producing for ITV that kept her in an edit suite until nine o'clock at night, no meetings, just a day together, mother and son.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

The first paragraphs of the prologue and chapter one are quite intriguing.  I am definitely curious to read more, and see this as the type of book to spend a weekend curled up with while rapidly turning its pages.

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 The Breakdown by B.A. Paris, which I will begin reading soon.  The excerpts shared are from a hardcover edition I borrowed from the library.

 

Beginning:  FRIDAY, JULY 17TH

The thunder starts as we're saying goodbye, leaving each other for the summer holidays ahead.  A loud crack echoes off the ground, making Connie jump.  John laughs, the hot air dense around us.

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Page 56: "I wait until he's upstairs, then rewind the news until I find the number and jot it down on a piece of paper.  I don't want the police to be able to trace the call back to me so I'll have to use a pay phone, which means I won't be able to phone until Monday, when Matthew's back at work.  And once I have, hopefully some of my guilt will disappear."

 

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My thoughts: The opening lines don't give much detail about the story, but the Goodreads description, and the quality of the author's previous novel Behind Closed Doors, which I couldn't finish fast enough, have me eager to begin this novel.

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From Goodreads:  Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside—the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.

But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby.

The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

Or the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her…


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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, 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 a current read, That Darkness by Lisa Black, which is the first book in the Gardiner and Renner series.  I'm reading an eBook version borrowed from the library.

 

Chapter 1

Monday, 8:10 p.m.

The room wan't much, just a steel table and chairs, old paint on the walls with the occasional rust stain, two windows frosted by contact paper and a battered desk in the corner, well out of splattering range.  A siren sounded in the distance but traffic on the street outside stayed minimal at this past-dinnertime hour.  A typical county services budget leftover, a hand-me-down formerly used as a storage room, standard government issue all the way.  Jack Renner's clients would have seen many such rooms in their time and it would fit their expectations.  Opulence would make them nervous, and he didn't want them nervous.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

Lisa Black has been on my authors to try list for quite a while.  I thought I'd sample her writing by reading That Darkness, the first in a series introducing forensic investigator Maggie Gardiner and detective Jack Renner from the Cleveland Police Department.  Each works toward seeing that justice is served, but Jack's methods are highly unorthodox.

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 current read, The Bookworm by Mitch Silver.  The excerpts shared are from a hardcover edition I borrowed from the library.

  

Beginning:

Prologue

Villers-devant-Orval, Occupied Belgium

August 1940

The monk walked out of the cool woods from the French side of the road.  On the tall man's back, weighing him down, was the sort of rucksack the Dominicans use, fraying almost to the point of tearing where the canvas straps crossed his shoulders.  He walked with a slight limp and carried a poplar walking stick that had seen years of hard use.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 1

Moscow, Russia

Monday

In a vast Stalin-era granite box several kilometers north of the capital's outer ring road, Larissa Mendelova Klimt checked her cell phone one last time—nothing—before packing up the box for the return leg of her "daily commute."  Her routine never varied: pick up the yashchik in the morning, walk it along two rows of the Osobyi Arkhiv and three rows over.  Unlock the door to her carrel and set the box of old papers down on the desk.  Turn on the light.  Be seated.  At night, pick up the box, lock up, and walk her burden back to its parking place with the other wartime files on the archive's shelf. 

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Page 56: "Lara lifted the lever that was playing the cylinder.  This couldn't be right, could it?  Dietrich?  Maugham?  The Kennedys?  What did any of it have to do with a long-lost book?"

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My thoughts:  This novel has two story lines—one set in present-day Russia, London, and Alaska—and the other set in World War II-era Europe.  Many historical figures make appearances, including Jack Kennedy, Marlene Dietrich, and Noel Coward.  Espionage and intrigue abound, along with a mysterious book.  Figuring out how the two stories are connected keep the reader engaged.

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From Goodreads:  Why did Hitler chose not to invade England when he had the chance?

Europe, 1940: It’s late summer and Belgium has been overrun by the German army. Posing as a friar, a British operative talks his way into the monastery at Villers-devant-Orval just before Nazi art thieves plan to sweep through the area and whisk everything of value back to Berlin. But the ersatz man of the cloth is no thief. Instead, that night he adds an old leather Bible to the monastery’s library and then escapes.

London, 2017: A construction worker operating a backhoe makes a grisly discovery—a skeletal arm-bone with a rusty handcuff attached to the wrist. Was this the site, as a BBC newsreader speculates, of “a long-forgotten prison, uncharted on any map?” One viewer knows better: it’s all that remains of a courier who died in a V-2 rocket attack. The woman who will put these two disparate events together—and understand the looming tragedy she must hurry to prevent—is Russian historian and former Soviet chess champion Larissa Mendelovg Klimt, “Lara the Bookworm,” to her friends. She’s also experiencing some woeful marital troubles.

In the course of this riveting thriller, Lara will learn the significance of six musty Dictaphone cylinders recorded after D-Day by Noel Coward—actor, playwright and, secretly, a British agent reporting directly to Winston Churchill. She will understand precisely why that leather Bible, scooped up by the Nazis and deposited on the desk of Adolf Hitler days before he planned to attack Britain, played such a pivotal role in turning his guns to the East. And she will discover the new secret pact negotiated by the nefarious Russian president and his newly elected American counterpart—maverick and dealmaker—and the evil it portends.

Oh, and she’ll reconcile with her 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.