Tuesday 16 December 2014
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:
Shut Out by Kody Keplinger.
I have no idea what it’s like to date a football player ... or a soccer player for that matter. At least not a professional one with a team feud and everything. But that’s beside the point. The point is that this book is cleverly funny and entertainingly adorable. It also helps if you like Greek comedies, but that’s optional. I especially like that the book is so open about girls and their talks and experiences of physical intimacy. I am aware that this might repel readers, but I think it’s important to depict in books because the topic is a reality at that age for many girls. No, it’s not an instrument to get what you want, from neither side. And I think this book is a humorous approach to show exactly that. Among other things.
Next I’m in the mood for some seasonal reading, I think. For the past two years I’ve re-read Dash & Lilly’s Book of Dares in the run up to the holidays. Do you have any re-reading traditions? Share suggestions and teasers in the comments.
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Shut Out by Kody Keplinger.
 |
| Shut Out – Poppy |
“I'm serious. They’ll call me a pussy.”
“And if you help them, I’ll call you a dick. So no matter what you do, you’re going to be some form of genitalia.”
— Chapter 2
Chloe didn’t have all the answers, either. I knew that now. But she had known something all along that I hadn’t: that being ashamed of what you want or how you feel is pointless, and letting anyone else make you feel ashamed is a waste. We all wanted different things, and that was okay.
— Chapter 32
I have no idea what it’s like to date a football player ... or a soccer player for that matter. At least not a professional one with a team feud and everything. But that’s beside the point. The point is that this book is cleverly funny and entertainingly adorable. It also helps if you like Greek comedies, but that’s optional. I especially like that the book is so open about girls and their talks and experiences of physical intimacy. I am aware that this might repel readers, but I think it’s important to depict in books because the topic is a reality at that age for many girls. No, it’s not an instrument to get what you want, from neither side. And I think this book is a humorous approach to show exactly that. Among other things.
Next I’m in the mood for some seasonal reading, I think. For the past two years I’ve re-read Dash & Lilly’s Book of Dares in the run up to the holidays. Do you have any re-reading traditions? Share suggestions and teasers in the comments.
Tuesday 9 December 2014
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:
The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.
I like challenging books. And I like books that need time to develop their theory. And I really like books that have a strong underlying network of clues that, if decoded, explains everything. With this final instalment of the Mara Dyer trilogy there are two options for me: It’s not been long enough for me to think about and come to a conclusion, or there was too much time between books that I missed vital details ... I refuse to believe that the hints weren’t there and that I sat there at the end with a complete “what the heck just happened” for nothing because it made no sense.
The previous two books, and this one as well, have a great way of playing with your concept of right and wrong, real and unreal, while always staying grounded in their basic principles. I admire how the author has created such a complex theory and framework for all of it to work and I already know that I will come back to the books and dissect them to find all the hidden hints, links, and meanings. Because I will understand everything about them and not just the basics, dang it!
Do you think that book series suffer when you have too much time between their publication dates? Do you re-read before a new book in a series comes out? Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments!
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.
 |
| The Retribution of Mara Dyer – Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers |
“The freaks shall inherit the earth.”
“I don’t think that’s how democracy works.”
“Democracy is overrated.”
“Spoken like a true dictator.”
— Chapter 26
I’d done things—things I regretted and things I didn’t. I was too old to blame them on being young. My family had been too good to me for me to blame it on them. I’d made my choices by myself. Some of them had been wrong, but they were my choices. I owned them. No one else.
— Chapter 59
I like challenging books. And I like books that need time to develop their theory. And I really like books that have a strong underlying network of clues that, if decoded, explains everything. With this final instalment of the Mara Dyer trilogy there are two options for me: It’s not been long enough for me to think about and come to a conclusion, or there was too much time between books that I missed vital details ... I refuse to believe that the hints weren’t there and that I sat there at the end with a complete “what the heck just happened” for nothing because it made no sense.
The previous two books, and this one as well, have a great way of playing with your concept of right and wrong, real and unreal, while always staying grounded in their basic principles. I admire how the author has created such a complex theory and framework for all of it to work and I already know that I will come back to the books and dissect them to find all the hidden hints, links, and meanings. Because I will understand everything about them and not just the basics, dang it!
Do you think that book series suffer when you have too much time between their publication dates? Do you re-read before a new book in a series comes out? Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments!
Tuesday 2 December 2014
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:
The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.
Here’s what I should know by now but still struggle with: Reading in public is not something I should do if there is any chance of emotional turmoil ... and with these two authors that was obviously going to be the case. Mind you, this time I didn’t burst into tears (progress!), I just started arguing with the book and people maybe thought that I was a little demented. I had a lot of fun with this book and enjoyed the characters and story, the humour and the twisty twist that twists.
I have a severe dislike for all those supposed reviewers who have likened this to a certain seven-book-phenomenon-boy while obviously not having read the book. Or who discredit it because of the authors or whatever. No one is forcing anyone to read anything (well apart from school, but those books live and die with the teacher ... mostly). Books – and their authors – should never be objects of hate. Everyone is free to dislike a book or author, but that’s about it. No reason to be nasty about it or make others feel like they couldn’t possibly like something because that would clearly mean they had no taste.
I for my part am very much looking forward to discovering how this cursed business and the twist will work out. I understand that for this age group the book had to traditionally be a bit shorter, but I really wished that it could have been longer to add a little more detail and flesh out the world and its characters, which I’m sure will happen over the course of the following books. (A gentle reminder that the phenomenon-boy also took quite a while to grow into his characteristics ... I don’t recall him or his friends being fully formed characters in the first book. And rightly so, at eleven. That’s all the comparison I’m going to draw at this point.)
Is there a cooperation of two of you favourite authors that you would like to see? Or maybe it already exists? Share ideas and teasers in the comments.
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.
 |
| The Iron Trial – Scholastic Press |
They all yelled in excitement. Tamara yelled because she was happy, Aaron yelled because he liked it when other people were happy, and Call yelled because he was sure they were going to die.
— Chapter 10
“I see your future. One of you will fail. One of you will die. And one of you is already dead.”
— Chapter 14
Here’s what I should know by now but still struggle with: Reading in public is not something I should do if there is any chance of emotional turmoil ... and with these two authors that was obviously going to be the case. Mind you, this time I didn’t burst into tears (progress!), I just started arguing with the book and people maybe thought that I was a little demented. I had a lot of fun with this book and enjoyed the characters and story, the humour and the twisty twist that twists.
I have a severe dislike for all those supposed reviewers who have likened this to a certain seven-book-phenomenon-boy while obviously not having read the book. Or who discredit it because of the authors or whatever. No one is forcing anyone to read anything (well apart from school, but those books live and die with the teacher ... mostly). Books – and their authors – should never be objects of hate. Everyone is free to dislike a book or author, but that’s about it. No reason to be nasty about it or make others feel like they couldn’t possibly like something because that would clearly mean they had no taste.
I for my part am very much looking forward to discovering how this cursed business and the twist will work out. I understand that for this age group the book had to traditionally be a bit shorter, but I really wished that it could have been longer to add a little more detail and flesh out the world and its characters, which I’m sure will happen over the course of the following books. (A gentle reminder that the phenomenon-boy also took quite a while to grow into his characteristics ... I don’t recall him or his friends being fully formed characters in the first book. And rightly so, at eleven. That’s all the comparison I’m going to draw at this point.)
Is there a cooperation of two of you favourite authors that you would like to see? Or maybe it already exists? Share ideas and teasers in the comments.
Tuesday 25 November 2014
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins.
First things first: It’s pronounced Eye-la ... like the first syllable of island. And now that we have that out of the way, secondly a confession: I still like Anna and the French Kiss best out of this series, but that is simple bias for the fish-out-of-water-experience the protagonist has in that book. Isla is firmly settled into her boarding school life and thus you won’t get the beautiful exploration phase of Paris in this book. Here you get the equally beautiful phase of two people quite freely admitting that they like each other and then encounter obstacles and manage them. I liked that the two didn’t have lengthy “does the other person like me at all moments” but that this story addresses the “does the other person love and accept me enough to overcome these problems”.
And the cameos of the other two couples cleverly gave both of them a great conclusion. I couldn’t stop smiling when I read that part. There were other parts of this book when I had to put it down and walk away for a few moments for love to hate this reasons, but I basically read this book in one sitting. An engrossing feel-good read with none of the shallow vapidity.
You can read this book without having read the other two books. But if you plan on reading those as well, I strongly recommend that you read them in order.
No creative question this week, just plain asking you to share your teasers in the comments. And if you celebrate this week: happy Thanksgiving to you!
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins.
 |
| Isla and the Happily Ever After – Dutton Children’s Books |
I am hard on myself. But isn’t it better to be honest about these things before someone else can use them against you? Before someone else can break your heart? Isn’t it better to break it yourself? I thought honesty made people strong.
— Chapter 27
“Ugh, then who cares? You won’t lose anything you haven’t already lost.” She flicks a snowflake from the tip of my nose. “For once in your life, listen to your younger sister. She’s taller, and she knows better than you.”
— Chapter 30
First things first: It’s pronounced Eye-la ... like the first syllable of island. And now that we have that out of the way, secondly a confession: I still like Anna and the French Kiss best out of this series, but that is simple bias for the fish-out-of-water-experience the protagonist has in that book. Isla is firmly settled into her boarding school life and thus you won’t get the beautiful exploration phase of Paris in this book. Here you get the equally beautiful phase of two people quite freely admitting that they like each other and then encounter obstacles and manage them. I liked that the two didn’t have lengthy “does the other person like me at all moments” but that this story addresses the “does the other person love and accept me enough to overcome these problems”.
And the cameos of the other two couples cleverly gave both of them a great conclusion. I couldn’t stop smiling when I read that part. There were other parts of this book when I had to put it down and walk away for a few moments for love to hate this reasons, but I basically read this book in one sitting. An engrossing feel-good read with none of the shallow vapidity.
You can read this book without having read the other two books. But if you plan on reading those as well, I strongly recommend that you read them in order.
No creative question this week, just plain asking you to share your teasers in the comments. And if you celebrate this week: happy Thanksgiving to you!
Tuesday 18 November 2014
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:
Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan.
As I’m currently reading a few books that won’t be out until late next year and I don’t quite want to tease you too badly, I picked up a random favourite author ... and look, I got a 2 for 1 deal! You might have noticed that I absolutely adore Sarah Rees Brennan and would possibly read a shopping list she wrote with similar enthusiasm to her other writings because I can’t imagine that it would be dull. In this book Sarah and Justine Larbalestier combine their genius to poke some good-natured fun at vampires and their often doe-eyed love interests. All in the name of saving humanity and rational thinking ... or something like that. And on top of that you get a really cool main character in a story that can be read as quite thought-provoking. But I dare you not to laugh or chuckle at least once while you’re reading.
Would you be the one who dates a vampire or the one who tries to convince the friend that there are more viable options? Share ideas and teasers in the comments.
To play along just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan.
 |
| Team Human – HarperTeen |
Let’s examine what a prize that is one more time: no more direct sunlight ever again, no more laughter. You get eternity, but you don’t have the sense of humor to enjoy it! Also, vampires don’t eat food. You never get to eat chocolate again. Ever.
I’d rather die.
— Chapter 4
But I couldn’t tell Cathy about Francis’s undead love-weasel ways. Anyway, this was more proof that Francis really was too old for her.
It truly was for her own good.
Agreeing with Francis gave me a stomachache, so I sat there and made a face.
— Chapter 9
As I’m currently reading a few books that won’t be out until late next year and I don’t quite want to tease you too badly, I picked up a random favourite author ... and look, I got a 2 for 1 deal! You might have noticed that I absolutely adore Sarah Rees Brennan and would possibly read a shopping list she wrote with similar enthusiasm to her other writings because I can’t imagine that it would be dull. In this book Sarah and Justine Larbalestier combine their genius to poke some good-natured fun at vampires and their often doe-eyed love interests. All in the name of saving humanity and rational thinking ... or something like that. And on top of that you get a really cool main character in a story that can be read as quite thought-provoking. But I dare you not to laugh or chuckle at least once while you’re reading.
Would you be the one who dates a vampire or the one who tries to convince the friend that there are more viable options? Share ideas and teasers in the comments.
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