Tuesday, 26 May 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey.
This book had me at the first sentence. How could I resist “[She] had gone to the library in search of hope.”? Impossible. As luck would have it, the next sentences didn’t disappoint either and this is shaping up to be a great story. It has an interesting conflict and apparently well thought out characters who come with a complete background. The two sides haven’t actually met yet, but I assume that when they do, this will be very complicated but entertaining to read.
This book has been mentioned to echo (ha, p-un-intended) both the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series and The Mortal Instruments and I can definitely see that. Maybe the former a little more at the beginning of the book. I have no objection to that as long as the level of it doesn’t increase too much.
Many of us have had a long weekend (if you’re not one of them, I’m very sorry to rub it in and sincerely apologise); did you invest the time off in some serious reading time? Or did you, by any chance, watch that minor music competition that took place in Europe on Saturday? Feel free to comment on either reading or music in the comments along with sharing your teaser.
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 Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey.
 |
| The Girl at Midnight – Delacorte Press |
Books didn’t give her dirty looks or whisper snide comments under their breath. Books didn’t judge.
— Chapter 2
“Young?” Echo took another look at the date. “This is a hundred years old.”
“Youth is a relative concept.”
— Chapter 4
This book had me at the first sentence. How could I resist “[She] had gone to the library in search of hope.”? Impossible. As luck would have it, the next sentences didn’t disappoint either and this is shaping up to be a great story. It has an interesting conflict and apparently well thought out characters who come with a complete background. The two sides haven’t actually met yet, but I assume that when they do, this will be very complicated but entertaining to read.
This book has been mentioned to echo (ha, p-un-intended) both the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series and The Mortal Instruments and I can definitely see that. Maybe the former a little more at the beginning of the book. I have no objection to that as long as the level of it doesn’t increase too much.
Many of us have had a long weekend (if you’re not one of them, I’m very sorry to rub it in and sincerely apologise); did you invest the time off in some serious reading time? Or did you, by any chance, watch that minor music competition that took place in Europe on Saturday? Feel free to comment on either reading or music in the comments along with sharing your teaser.
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
Wrong About the Guy by Claire LaZebnik.
What’s that saying? If I had a [insert currency of your choice] for every time someone ... said they didn’t understand why Jane Austen or retellings were a thing, well, I wouldn’t be rich, but I could afford a very decent meal and probably a weekend spa trip. Like any good English Literature student I couldn’t avoid an introduction to Jane Austen’s novels at some point during my studies. Luckily, I had a lecturer who was very fond of teaching by showing, by which I mean BBC versions of Jane Austen. And from there I found myself voluntarily picking up the source material. A very clever way of teaching, if you asked me. Way better than teaching Hemingway through making students analyse each and every sighting of the blasted fish. But I digress.
This is a perfectly pleasurable read in and of itself if you have no affection for Austen at all. But if you do, it is a lot of fun to draw parallels between LaZebnik’s and Austen’s versions of the characters. Emma is one of the books that I didn’t immediately appreciate, I’ll admit, and if I had to choose now I think I’d pick up another novel of hers. However, LaZebnik’s story is a very cute and fun one with quite a few relevant undertones, which I think are well adapted from the original and translated into a modern setting. Maybe it’s cramming almost too many themes into one novel, but then again, that’s so totally Emma as she also fits in and manages everything somehow while almost overlooking the important things right in front of her nose. Please, just don’t ever make me choose between Mr Darcy and Mr Knightley ...
And on the topic of choosing: There is a truly evil Would You Rather.Very revealing and soul baring. Let me know how it went for you along with your teasers.
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!
Wrong About the Guy by Claire LaZebnik.
 |
| Wrong About the Guy – HarperTeen |
“Yes,” he said. “You’re right. I have no idea what your point is, but I know you can’t be wrong.”
“It’s theoretically possible,” I said. “It’s just never happened.”
— Chapter 18
I don’t like uncertainty. Or waiting around for other people to do things I’m perfectly capable of doing myself.
— Chapter 32
What’s that saying? If I had a [insert currency of your choice] for every time someone ... said they didn’t understand why Jane Austen or retellings were a thing, well, I wouldn’t be rich, but I could afford a very decent meal and probably a weekend spa trip. Like any good English Literature student I couldn’t avoid an introduction to Jane Austen’s novels at some point during my studies. Luckily, I had a lecturer who was very fond of teaching by showing, by which I mean BBC versions of Jane Austen. And from there I found myself voluntarily picking up the source material. A very clever way of teaching, if you asked me. Way better than teaching Hemingway through making students analyse each and every sighting of the blasted fish. But I digress.
This is a perfectly pleasurable read in and of itself if you have no affection for Austen at all. But if you do, it is a lot of fun to draw parallels between LaZebnik’s and Austen’s versions of the characters. Emma is one of the books that I didn’t immediately appreciate, I’ll admit, and if I had to choose now I think I’d pick up another novel of hers. However, LaZebnik’s story is a very cute and fun one with quite a few relevant undertones, which I think are well adapted from the original and translated into a modern setting. Maybe it’s cramming almost too many themes into one novel, but then again, that’s so totally Emma as she also fits in and manages everything somehow while almost overlooking the important things right in front of her nose. Please, just don’t ever make me choose between Mr Darcy and Mr Knightley ...
And on the topic of choosing: There is a truly evil Would You Rather.Very revealing and soul baring. Let me know how it went for you along with your teasers.
Tuesday, 12 May 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.
One day, I’ll stop jumping headfirst into new series by authors who I know will have me begging for the next book to be published sooner ... she said as she added another to her growing list.
However, there aren’t many authors with two series underway in which I’m so very impatiently anticipating the next book. I should have known with this one though. Sarah J. Maas is a brilliant storyteller and the mythology she so casually weaves into this wonderful re-imagination (I don’t want to use the term retelling because that would be misleading as there is so much more to it) of the beauty and the beast theme is very thorough and fantastically implemented. I strongly disliked Feyre’s family and the rational part of me will never understand why she didn’t leave them, but my messy heart was totally on board with that and with the forgiveness. It’s in my opinion the skill of a great writer to create a character (or a host of characters) whose actions you would personally never support and comprehend, but which make absolute sense for this character in their context. So yes, I might have guessed the riddle but my background (and that of many readers, even those complainers) is vastly different from Feyre’s. And if I had been brave enough to voice that guess about the solution, is written on a completely different page.
I love the clever foxy Lucien and his grudging but growing acceptance of Feyre; and I am so!intrigued! by the dark and mysterious Rhysand (isn’t that name alone really cool?). And the most amazing thing is that I was expecting a major cliffhanger, as I know the author is capable of them, but the end is actually quite tame. But don’t think that there aren’t still enough open questions that have me chomping at the bit for the next book. Maybe if I barter a week of service each quarter as a house elf?
What would you be willing to trade in for a chance to have any of your upcoming anticipated books right now? Leave 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!
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.
 |
| A Court of Thorns and Roses – Bloomsbury Children’s Books |
He jerked his chin at the knife. “It’s yours. Don’t bury it in my back, please.”
— Chapter 18
“I realized he wouldn’t have gone with me to save you from Prythian.”
And for her, with that raging, unrelenting heart, it would have been a line in the sand.
— Chapter 30
One day, I’ll stop jumping headfirst into new series by authors who I know will have me begging for the next book to be published sooner ... she said as she added another to her growing list.
However, there aren’t many authors with two series underway in which I’m so very impatiently anticipating the next book. I should have known with this one though. Sarah J. Maas is a brilliant storyteller and the mythology she so casually weaves into this wonderful re-imagination (I don’t want to use the term retelling because that would be misleading as there is so much more to it) of the beauty and the beast theme is very thorough and fantastically implemented. I strongly disliked Feyre’s family and the rational part of me will never understand why she didn’t leave them, but my messy heart was totally on board with that and with the forgiveness. It’s in my opinion the skill of a great writer to create a character (or a host of characters) whose actions you would personally never support and comprehend, but which make absolute sense for this character in their context. So yes, I might have guessed the riddle but my background (and that of many readers, even those complainers) is vastly different from Feyre’s. And if I had been brave enough to voice that guess about the solution, is written on a completely different page.
I love the clever foxy Lucien and his grudging but growing acceptance of Feyre; and I am so!intrigued! by the dark and mysterious Rhysand (isn’t that name alone really cool?). And the most amazing thing is that I was expecting a major cliffhanger, as I know the author is capable of them, but the end is actually quite tame. But don’t think that there aren’t still enough open questions that have me chomping at the bit for the next book. Maybe if I barter a week of service each quarter as a house elf?
What would you be willing to trade in for a chance to have any of your upcoming anticipated books right now? Leave suggestions and teasers in the comments.
Tuesday, 5 May 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien.
It’s children’s book week! Luck has it that work requires me to take a closer look at this beautiful classic. I loved the animated movie when I was younger even if the two stories don’t quite match up (the movie has an element of magic while the book really is a classic animal tale). I adore the writing and especially the little gems of wisdom that are hidden in the text. I think that it is a special talents that allows authors to put these truths in their texts without sounding patronising and not all authors have it. It’s a lovely story with short chapter that you can easily fit in when you only have a short time to read ... if you’re the kind of person who reads while standing in line at the supermarket check-out and the likes for example. And if you have someone to read this book aloud to, all the better! You’ll discover amazing new things about a story when it’s read aloud.
Can you recommend other children’s books classics? Are you doing anything interesting for children’s book week? Share 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!
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien.
 |
| Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH – Puffin Books |
The size of the brain is no measure of its capacity. And well she might recall it, for the crow’s head was double the size of her own.
— Chapter 3
One warm day, she told herself, does not make a summer. No, nor even a spring.
— Chapter 4
It’s children’s book week! Luck has it that work requires me to take a closer look at this beautiful classic. I loved the animated movie when I was younger even if the two stories don’t quite match up (the movie has an element of magic while the book really is a classic animal tale). I adore the writing and especially the little gems of wisdom that are hidden in the text. I think that it is a special talents that allows authors to put these truths in their texts without sounding patronising and not all authors have it. It’s a lovely story with short chapter that you can easily fit in when you only have a short time to read ... if you’re the kind of person who reads while standing in line at the supermarket check-out and the likes for example. And if you have someone to read this book aloud to, all the better! You’ll discover amazing new things about a story when it’s read aloud.
Can you recommend other children’s books classics? Are you doing anything interesting for children’s book week? Share thoughts and teasers in the comments!
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