Teaser Tuesday: The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
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 Life by Deborah Harkness.

The Book of Life –
Headline

From that moment my aunt and the house were in an all-out battle for supremacy.
The house was winning, thanks to its chief weapon: Fleetwood Mac.
— Chapter 11

“Do we happen to know of any megalomaniacs with an interest in vampire genetics? Oh, wait, we know two of them”.
— Chapter 14

I am not finished reading and I need to get back to the last 150 pages asap so just quickly this: Deborah Harkness is a witch of word-magic. And I mean this in the most positive way possible. This book has me laughing tears as well as bawling them. I’m currently in the “everything is going to hell in a hand basket stage”, which is also the overall theme of the trilogy, but this never seems unnecessarily cruel or overstated. I fear for all my favourite characters, but not in the they’re all going to die sense. It’s the equally devastating emotional punch I dread. This book is amazing in being able to amaze you and in being absolutely fantastic. I already know that the trilogy will need a thorough re-read (after I’ve coped with this conclusion) to catch all the clever foreshadowing and connections. An exceptional book by a truly gifted writer.

Have you followed the All Souls trilogy? I mainly picked up the first book because it featured my university's city of Oxford ... and after the first page I couldn’t imagine putting the book down. How about you? Share your teasers and stories in the comments.

Teaser Tuesday: Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
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!

Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens.

Murder Most Unladylike –
Corgi Childrens

Murders, unfortunately, always come with murderers attached.
— Chapter 1-6

I still remember that first meeting – it would be hard to forget it. It was the first time I’d ever stepped onto a Games field, and incidentally also the first time I truly thought I might die. 
— Chapter 2-5

I snoozed on the release date of this one. Shame on me, really. This is such a fun read, if you’re only the tiniest bit partial to British humour and detective stories. Daisy is determined to be the next detective wonder and Hazel reluctantly accepts the role as Dr Watson to Daisy’s Sherlock. All this in the delightful setting of a 1930ies boarding school for girls of affluent parents. I enjoyed this story a lot, especially guessing along who the murderer might be and why they did it. This is a very clever book definitely aimed at a younger audience with an inclination towards mystery. I would like to accompany Hazel on her next adventure, which Daisy will inadvertently steer them into.

The end of the World Cup finally means more reading time for me. I desperately have to catch up on some books I neglected during the past weeks. And then there is this highly anticipated tome The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness, which comes out tomorrow and which will mean that I’ll drop everything to read this first.
Do you interrupt your reading of one book to read something else or do you finish your current book before you start something new?

Teaser Tuesday: After the End by Amy Plum

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
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!

After the End by Amy Plum.

After the End – HarperTeen

“Juneau, you can’t be perfect. You’re going to be clan Sage, not our sole protector.”
“I’d rather be prepared to do both,” I respond.
— Chapter 1

Death by ponytail. It could happen.
— Chapter 4

Just a quick note about this as I’ve just started reading. These two scenes are from the two protagonists of the novel and with just a few words you already know the sort of person the are, or at least project to be on the surface. That’s very skillful writing and I admire Amy Plum a lot, especially when I see how much she has evolved during her first trilogy alone. I love watching writers grow with their books and this is definitely the case here. The whole idea of the story is an interesting concept and I’m looking forward to seeing Juneau stumble through not-at-all-post-apocalyptic modern day ... and meet and clash with Miles.

Do you have an author whose development you’ve followed from their debut? Let me know about them and share your teasers in the comments.

Teaser Tuesday: Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
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!

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo.

Ruin and Rising –
Henry Holt and Co.

“Everyone okay?” Mal asked.
“Never better,” said Genya shakily.
David raised his hand. “I’ve been better.”
— Chapter 5

“Are you going to make a habit of winning arguments? It’s very unbecoming.”
“Was this an argument?”
“Obviously not. I don’t lose arguments.”
— Chapter 8

There are two things tearing on my nerves at the moment. One is the football world cup where I’m part of a heavily fought betting game and the other is this book. And not only my poor nerves, but also my poor heart! This book will happily dangle everything you ever wanted before your very nose and then either reveal it as deadly poisonous or burn it to ashes. I still have quite a bit to go so I also still have hope ... which I by now presume to be a dangerous thing. Because even if the teasers sound light-hearted and fun, which there is also a bit of, there is also the very opposite of it.
Some books demand a considerable amount of space in your life and you gladly give it, while other books simply install themselves there and you find yourself wondering when that happened but can’t find it in you to be unhappy about it. This series more or less stole into my reading pile at first and now I simultaneously can’t wait for the conclusion and don’t want to reach the end ... because of said suspicions about certain hopes. Damn you, Leigh Bardugo, you word magician.

Are you following the world cup or staying as far away from it as possible? If the latter, which books are with you? And if the former, what are you reading between the games? Teasers and opinions are welcome in the comments. Also tips about the championship.

Teaser Tuesday: The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
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 Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel.

The Break-Up Artist –
Harlequin Teen

I should throw the slippers out like I’ve done with the rest of my memories from that train wreck of a friendship, but I won’t. I never do. I keep them here, in plain sight, a perpetual reminder of why I do this.
— Chapter 1

“Are you serious?”
She glares at me with the fire of a thousand tanning booths. I’ll take that as a yes.
— Chapter 13

Summer is here and with it numerous summer comedies and light romances. This one has an interesting premise insofar as that the snarky narrator starts out as a romantic grump convinced that relationships are meant to be broken. I’ll venture a guess and say that this will have changed by the end of the story. Just how this will happen is not quite clear at this point. Sure, there is the potential guy to convince her otherwise but there is not that much going on there yet.

Do you read according to seasons? At work I’m reading slightly asynchronous and currently have Christmas stories on my table. So Summer reads are definitely necessary to prevent me from humming Jingle Bells in 30 degree weather.