Tuesday 2 January 2018
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman.
Happy New Year, everyone. May it be lucky and joyful and healthy and full of wonder and books and everything you wish it to be. I used the quiet time between the holidays to savour a book that has been on my reading pile since its publication in October. However, I knew that I would need some quality reading time for this with nothing to interrupt. An eight-hour train ride seemed like a good start … I regularly forget that public transport is not completely advisable for readers who are prone to emotional outbursts.
I read His Dark Materials when they came out in German (I also had them all in their first edition until I lent the second and third to someone and they didn’t give them back – don’t do this, it’s absolutely detestable) and after reading this what is effectively a prequel but also so much more, I really want to read them again. This time in English to hopefully catch even more of that beautiful language the author uses. Lyra was one of my most prominent childhood heroes and now getting this expansion of her story is like a gift I never considered necessary yet I now wouldn’t want to miss it for the world. It is an epic adventure in its own right full of daring and danger but also surprisingly light and with a good ounce of humour at times. The German title is a little more descriptive in calling this “Across the wild river”, which at the same time might give you an idea of the story while also being absolutely misleading. Saying anything about the story would be a vast injustice to everything that cannot be told so to avoid that I won’t say anything more about it. Apart from once again admiring that word magic in the narration itself. A master wordsmith indeed.
If you are not familiar with this fantastic alternative universe, I cannot recommend it enough. I’m trying to figure out if recommending starting with this book would make more sense than starting with the original first book because then you’d read them in their chronological order but maybe wouldn’t catch the references. Quite difficult. Maybe I’ll have an answer once I’ve read Northern Lights (also known as The Golden Compass. Don’t get distracted by the movie. Unless you’re looking for examples of how-not-to-adapt-a-book-to-screen.).
Would you read books in their internal chronological order or their publication order if given the choice? 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 Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman.
 |
| La Belle Sauvage – David Fickling Books |
At one point he seemed to be showing the moon to Lyra, pointing up at it and holding her so she could see, or perhaps he was showing Lyra to the moon; at any rate he looked like a lord in his own domain, with nothing to fear and all the silvery night to enjoy.
— Chapter 10
I was looking for something. Now I’ve found it, I shall go home.
— Chapter 23
Happy New Year, everyone. May it be lucky and joyful and healthy and full of wonder and books and everything you wish it to be. I used the quiet time between the holidays to savour a book that has been on my reading pile since its publication in October. However, I knew that I would need some quality reading time for this with nothing to interrupt. An eight-hour train ride seemed like a good start … I regularly forget that public transport is not completely advisable for readers who are prone to emotional outbursts.
I read His Dark Materials when they came out in German (I also had them all in their first edition until I lent the second and third to someone and they didn’t give them back – don’t do this, it’s absolutely detestable) and after reading this what is effectively a prequel but also so much more, I really want to read them again. This time in English to hopefully catch even more of that beautiful language the author uses. Lyra was one of my most prominent childhood heroes and now getting this expansion of her story is like a gift I never considered necessary yet I now wouldn’t want to miss it for the world. It is an epic adventure in its own right full of daring and danger but also surprisingly light and with a good ounce of humour at times. The German title is a little more descriptive in calling this “Across the wild river”, which at the same time might give you an idea of the story while also being absolutely misleading. Saying anything about the story would be a vast injustice to everything that cannot be told so to avoid that I won’t say anything more about it. Apart from once again admiring that word magic in the narration itself. A master wordsmith indeed.
If you are not familiar with this fantastic alternative universe, I cannot recommend it enough. I’m trying to figure out if recommending starting with this book would make more sense than starting with the original first book because then you’d read them in their chronological order but maybe wouldn’t catch the references. Quite difficult. Maybe I’ll have an answer once I’ve read Northern Lights (also known as The Golden Compass. Don’t get distracted by the movie. Unless you’re looking for examples of how-not-to-adapt-a-book-to-screen.).
Would you read books in their internal chronological order or their publication order if given the choice? Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments!
Tuesday 19 December 2017
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
Schnauze, es ist Weihnachten by Karen Christine Angermayer.
International book time – haven’t done that in a while. However, I thought I’d share one of my favourite holiday books of the past years with you even if it’s not available in English (quote translations by me). The title in German has the wonderful ambiguity that “Schnauze” refers to an animal’s snout but is also used as an exclamation to shut up. So you can read it as “Shut up, it’s Christmas”.
The book is divided in 24 chapters so you can read them as an Advent calendar until Christmas Eve (which in the evening has the main event in terms of presents in Germany). And the first time around, you get to open up the pages because they are bound in a special way that seals the individual chapters. The story is simple yet complex and very, very heart-warming: Bruno, the dog, is very happy and content with his lot. Until Soja arrives at his house to spend the time until Christmas as her family is going on a trip. Soja is different from Bruno in every other way imaginable. You see the problem is … Soja is a C.A.T.! In the same house as Bruno! And not only that, she is also into such ridiculous things as sports, healthy eating, and she talks all the time. Conflict is sure to follow.
How Bruno and Soja survive the 24 days in December, how they argue and fight, find differences and similarities, and finally even develop an understanding and friendship that will support them for another couple of books is such a wonderful tale that I return to this book every Christmas season. Even if I no longer have the pleasure of getting to cut open the pages. But the humour and love and the beautiful illustrations that fit so well to the characters and their friendship adventure delight me each time anew.
I wish you all a very happy Christmas, a wonderful time with loved ones, and lots of fulfilled wishes, if you celebrate. In any case, have a great time and let me know which books you wish for or discovered 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!
Schnauze, es ist Weihnachten by Karen Christine Angermayer.
 |
| Schnauze, es ist Weihnachten – cbj Verlag |
Soja has designed an Advent calendar for Bruno – all by herself! There is no chocolate inside but something sooooo much better!
Well, Bruno didn’t like day one all too much. But today is day two, he’ll like that one.
Maybe.
— Chapter 2
What do you do when you have absolutely no idea what to gift to the other? Especially if it’s supposed to be perfect?
— Chapter 19
International book time – haven’t done that in a while. However, I thought I’d share one of my favourite holiday books of the past years with you even if it’s not available in English (quote translations by me). The title in German has the wonderful ambiguity that “Schnauze” refers to an animal’s snout but is also used as an exclamation to shut up. So you can read it as “Shut up, it’s Christmas”.
The book is divided in 24 chapters so you can read them as an Advent calendar until Christmas Eve (which in the evening has the main event in terms of presents in Germany). And the first time around, you get to open up the pages because they are bound in a special way that seals the individual chapters. The story is simple yet complex and very, very heart-warming: Bruno, the dog, is very happy and content with his lot. Until Soja arrives at his house to spend the time until Christmas as her family is going on a trip. Soja is different from Bruno in every other way imaginable. You see the problem is … Soja is a C.A.T.! In the same house as Bruno! And not only that, she is also into such ridiculous things as sports, healthy eating, and she talks all the time. Conflict is sure to follow.
How Bruno and Soja survive the 24 days in December, how they argue and fight, find differences and similarities, and finally even develop an understanding and friendship that will support them for another couple of books is such a wonderful tale that I return to this book every Christmas season. Even if I no longer have the pleasure of getting to cut open the pages. But the humour and love and the beautiful illustrations that fit so well to the characters and their friendship adventure delight me each time anew.
I wish you all a very happy Christmas, a wonderful time with loved ones, and lots of fulfilled wishes, if you celebrate. In any case, have a great time and let me know which books you wish for or discovered in the comments.
Tuesday 12 December 2017
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.
If there was one book this summer that everyone was talking about, chances are that it was this one. Movement books and especially books like this one with such an important topic and message are at the same time so very important and also often cursed to fall short on their promises. Yet every once in a while such a book emerges and not only meets all those important parameters but basically shatters them and leaves them in the dust. And while I’m not the first (and not the last I suppose) to say so, this book more than delivers. The buzz was so great that I was a bit hesitant at first but that was completely unwarranted.
The scary thing is that the story itself is a short tale while everything around this seemingly basic plot is what makes this book so exceptional: On the way home from a party a girl and her friend are stopped by the police. The girl’s friend is shot and dies. The surrounding circumstances: The girl and her friend are black, the officer is white. The shot boy didn’t have a weapon nor did he do anything wrong. And the girl, Starr, is the only witness. It seems easy to say that she should speak up for justice but how can you trust a justice system where similar incidents had no consequences? Do you endanger the precarious balance in your community? And also your own exposed position, especially when you are one of only two black students at an all-white school? The punch line in all of this is that this is not a fictional world or a historical setting … it is so solidly contemporary it hurts. And the characters while fictional seem so real you want to meet them.
I liked how there are actually quite a few topics in this book apart from the big one. Maybe it is a bit tightly packed but this also begs the question of when did life and reality ever agree to give someone a break just because things got messy in one part? I want to argue that this adds to the feeling of reality that pervades the whole book.
Of course, with such an amazing source there is a movie coming. And again I am quietly hopeful that it will do the book justice. Not just because the author seems genuinely happy but also because of the overall importance that this is done just right. Otherwise, the riots towards the end of this story might be considered slight disturbances in comparison to possible reader riots.
What are your thoughts on buzz books? Has such a book kept its promises to you or were you disappointed? Share your experiences 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 Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.
 |
| The Hate U Give – Balzer + Bray |
When I was twelve, my parents had two talks with me.
One was the usual birds and bees. […]
The other talk was about what to do if a cop stopped me.
Momma fussed and told Daddy I was too young for that. He argued that I wasn’t too young to get arrested or shot.
— Chapter 2
Once upon a time there was a hazel-eyed boy with dimples. I called him Khalil. The world called him a thug.
He lived, but not nearly long enough, and for the rest of my life I'll remember how he died.
— Chapter 26
If there was one book this summer that everyone was talking about, chances are that it was this one. Movement books and especially books like this one with such an important topic and message are at the same time so very important and also often cursed to fall short on their promises. Yet every once in a while such a book emerges and not only meets all those important parameters but basically shatters them and leaves them in the dust. And while I’m not the first (and not the last I suppose) to say so, this book more than delivers. The buzz was so great that I was a bit hesitant at first but that was completely unwarranted.
The scary thing is that the story itself is a short tale while everything around this seemingly basic plot is what makes this book so exceptional: On the way home from a party a girl and her friend are stopped by the police. The girl’s friend is shot and dies. The surrounding circumstances: The girl and her friend are black, the officer is white. The shot boy didn’t have a weapon nor did he do anything wrong. And the girl, Starr, is the only witness. It seems easy to say that she should speak up for justice but how can you trust a justice system where similar incidents had no consequences? Do you endanger the precarious balance in your community? And also your own exposed position, especially when you are one of only two black students at an all-white school? The punch line in all of this is that this is not a fictional world or a historical setting … it is so solidly contemporary it hurts. And the characters while fictional seem so real you want to meet them.
I liked how there are actually quite a few topics in this book apart from the big one. Maybe it is a bit tightly packed but this also begs the question of when did life and reality ever agree to give someone a break just because things got messy in one part? I want to argue that this adds to the feeling of reality that pervades the whole book.
Of course, with such an amazing source there is a movie coming. And again I am quietly hopeful that it will do the book justice. Not just because the author seems genuinely happy but also because of the overall importance that this is done just right. Otherwise, the riots towards the end of this story might be considered slight disturbances in comparison to possible reader riots.
What are your thoughts on buzz books? Has such a book kept its promises to you or were you disappointed? Share your experiences and teasers in the comments!
Tuesday 5 December 2017
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi.
Readers tend to also be board game players, at least to some extent. I’m not necessarily the best example but invite me to an evening of Settlers or Ticket to Ride and I’ll probably turn up. I would, however, never want to actually live inside any of the games we play. And if you know Jumanji and / or Zathura, you can probably guess what is about to unfold here: A group of friends and family gets involved in a magic game, has to solve dangerous riddles and quests, grow personally and as a group, and save themselves from becoming trapped inside the game universe by the malicious spirit of the game (rather than the elements of the game becoming real in their homes like in the aforementioned titles).
So far so good, you might think, what else is new, we’ve seen this before. And you probably have. But I dare you to find all these elements in an adventure book of this calibre and in this constellation. I don’t want to comment on the fact that this is from a publishing imprint that specialises on books with a Muslim background apart from the fact that I’ve just mentioned it. The protagonists in the book are children like any other with the same learning curves and challenges. This is just another aspect of their character.
The siblings in this book are quite special to me because their development towards understanding and respecting each other is so very organic and beautifully executed. In a similar fashion, the friendship between the characters develops in interesting ways and I liked how this is shown over the course of the novel. It is to be expected if you’re familiar with this type of narration but even then the plot managed to surprise me and I often found myself racing along the text to see if the task could be completed in time.
Safe to say just as I would be one of the first to exit the stage in the Hunger Games I also wouldn’t be able to escape the Gauntlet. Luckily, readers have books to take us to the places that are too scary and dangerous to visit in real life and make us see and experience things that would probably scare and break any real person.
If you had the choice, would you rather be sucked into a board game world or have elements from such a board game appear in your home? And which game would you choose? 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 Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi.
 |
| The Gauntlet – Salaam Reads |
It wasn’t a fair game anyway, when playing against someone much younger, and Farah was almost a teenager. She knew losing to Ahmad would build up his confidence and help her avoid his inevitable whining and wailing if he couldn’t claim victory.
— Prologue
“Um, guys? Do you feel something … weird?”
“We’re bunkering down in a sewer to avoid a sandstorm.” Farah sighed. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
— Chapter 14
Readers tend to also be board game players, at least to some extent. I’m not necessarily the best example but invite me to an evening of Settlers or Ticket to Ride and I’ll probably turn up. I would, however, never want to actually live inside any of the games we play. And if you know Jumanji and / or Zathura, you can probably guess what is about to unfold here: A group of friends and family gets involved in a magic game, has to solve dangerous riddles and quests, grow personally and as a group, and save themselves from becoming trapped inside the game universe by the malicious spirit of the game (rather than the elements of the game becoming real in their homes like in the aforementioned titles).
So far so good, you might think, what else is new, we’ve seen this before. And you probably have. But I dare you to find all these elements in an adventure book of this calibre and in this constellation. I don’t want to comment on the fact that this is from a publishing imprint that specialises on books with a Muslim background apart from the fact that I’ve just mentioned it. The protagonists in the book are children like any other with the same learning curves and challenges. This is just another aspect of their character.
The siblings in this book are quite special to me because their development towards understanding and respecting each other is so very organic and beautifully executed. In a similar fashion, the friendship between the characters develops in interesting ways and I liked how this is shown over the course of the novel. It is to be expected if you’re familiar with this type of narration but even then the plot managed to surprise me and I often found myself racing along the text to see if the task could be completed in time.
Safe to say just as I would be one of the first to exit the stage in the Hunger Games I also wouldn’t be able to escape the Gauntlet. Luckily, readers have books to take us to the places that are too scary and dangerous to visit in real life and make us see and experience things that would probably scare and break any real person.
If you had the choice, would you rather be sucked into a board game world or have elements from such a board game appear in your home? And which game would you choose? Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments!
Tuesday 28 November 2017
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant.
Gather round, it’s story time … A short one, I promise: In 2015 I read an article in some magazine about an old study that had something to do with questions and people getting to know each other so well that they might fall in love over this. I thought something along the lines of that’s interesting and would somehow be a good foundation for a book. And then I promptly forgot about it. End of story.
But no! (Because otherwise, I couldn’t possibly remember when I read that article.) Earlier this year I came across the announcement of this sweet little book and due to the title recalled the article (I’m linking to it here, in case you’re interested). Science, Love, and YA Literature, really the perfect mix to tackle this story foundation. There are quite a few things that could go wrong in this scenario no matter how great the idea because even with the best material and possibly the best intentions and craft in mind and at hand humans have a great capacity to make a mess of things. Not naming names and luckily this book also doesn’t fall into that category.
This could have been a sweet and fluffy read that would have been perfectly entertaining but not necessarily memorable. Could have been, but the author chose to add another twist and throw together not one but two onion-layer-characters, even though you wouldn’t quite expect one of them to be like that from the beginning. I quite liked that twist of almost being trope-y and then opening the whole thing up. (Could you be any vaguer? – Why yes, but I’m trying to interest you in a book here.) I really didn’t want this to end apart from wanting to get to the end of the list of questions and thus getting to know both protagonists even better. So I suppose the 36 questions definitely worked for me in that I fell in love with the characters a little. Does it work on the protagonists? Will they be brutally honest? Will there be tears? Running away? Coming back? Different means of communication? And radio silence? Secrets? And discoveries? Or flying fish? Well, maybe.
Scientific verdict: Great idea taken a step further and well-executed. I’d be very interested in a follow-up study, aka a next book, even if it’s just a check in with those characters. Maybe a sort of spin-off, cameo, companion thing?
Published study results or no, I’d like to know if this really works. But what if it does. What if it doesn’t? Both could be really awkward. I might be curious enough but most likely not brave enough. What do you think? 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!
36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant.
 |
| 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You – Hot Key Books |
“You took Prince Charming by mistake.” Jeff raised his eyebrows. “Wonder what Dr. Freud would’ve said about that.”
— Chapter 1
“That’s the problem with parents. They keep turning out to be human.”
— Chapter 2
Gather round, it’s story time … A short one, I promise: In 2015 I read an article in some magazine about an old study that had something to do with questions and people getting to know each other so well that they might fall in love over this. I thought something along the lines of that’s interesting and would somehow be a good foundation for a book. And then I promptly forgot about it. End of story.
But no! (Because otherwise, I couldn’t possibly remember when I read that article.) Earlier this year I came across the announcement of this sweet little book and due to the title recalled the article (I’m linking to it here, in case you’re interested). Science, Love, and YA Literature, really the perfect mix to tackle this story foundation. There are quite a few things that could go wrong in this scenario no matter how great the idea because even with the best material and possibly the best intentions and craft in mind and at hand humans have a great capacity to make a mess of things. Not naming names and luckily this book also doesn’t fall into that category.
This could have been a sweet and fluffy read that would have been perfectly entertaining but not necessarily memorable. Could have been, but the author chose to add another twist and throw together not one but two onion-layer-characters, even though you wouldn’t quite expect one of them to be like that from the beginning. I quite liked that twist of almost being trope-y and then opening the whole thing up. (Could you be any vaguer? – Why yes, but I’m trying to interest you in a book here.) I really didn’t want this to end apart from wanting to get to the end of the list of questions and thus getting to know both protagonists even better. So I suppose the 36 questions definitely worked for me in that I fell in love with the characters a little. Does it work on the protagonists? Will they be brutally honest? Will there be tears? Running away? Coming back? Different means of communication? And radio silence? Secrets? And discoveries? Or flying fish? Well, maybe.
Scientific verdict: Great idea taken a step further and well-executed. I’d be very interested in a follow-up study, aka a next book, even if it’s just a check in with those characters. Maybe a sort of spin-off, cameo, companion thing?
Published study results or no, I’d like to know if this really works. But what if it does. What if it doesn’t? Both could be really awkward. I might be curious enough but most likely not brave enough. What do you think? Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments!
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