Tuesday, 11 August 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
Jesse’s Girl by Miranda Kenneally.
Sometimes you just need to listen to some good old country music to relax to ... or at least read about it and a girl who is decidedly not into this music, but still falls for the prince of country. Reluctantly. Very reluctantly. And in case you haven’t heard of the song this title alludes to, you should check it out. I won’t judge you if you prefer the version made popular by Glee a while back. What is great about Miranda Kenneally’s series is that you don’t necessarily have to read the books as a series, but if you read all of them you get to check in with beloved characters from earlier books. In this case we get to see Jordan and Sam again and I adored catching a glimpse of their matured but certainly not entirely mature relationship. And still this doesn’t take away from the two new main characters at all and I have to say that I loved that the focus was on something other than sport for a change but still heavily on the realising and following one’s dream ... all in the course over falling in love, of course. I appreciated Maya’s attitude of wanting to make it on her own, but finding the strength to rely on her support system. And her determination to in a way save Jesse from himself and the ideals he was chasing.
A very sweet read that rings true and authentic in its character development (even if in some instances forgiveness seems to come too easily, but one girl can only bear so much drama over the course of one book). I recommend this with a good bowl of ice-cream and a shadowy place beneath a tree on a hot summer day.And now I want a friend like Dave ... and Casper, the cat. (Great, I’ll be the cat lady Maya has now avoided becoming ...)
What do you think about same universe but not quite sequels book series? Love to stay in the familiar environment with cameos of former main characters or would you rather not look at them? Share opinions 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!
Jesse’s Girl by Miranda Kenneally.
 |
| Jesse’s Girl – Sourcebooks Fire |
That’s when I remember to check my cell—I don’t think I’ve ever gone so long without checking it—and discover four missed calls from the school number I dialed earlier, two missed calls from my mother, a text from Dad telling me I’m grounded (I wasn’t aware he knew how to send texts), ten texts from my brother demanding an explanation for why I went off the grid on shadow day, and one from Jordan telling me to disregard everything my brother says and enjoy myself.
— Chapter 6
Family can’t always help fix a difficult situation, and everybody makes mistakes. We shouldn’t expect perfect. But we can hope that the people we love love us enough to try to make it right.
— Chapter 15
Sometimes you just need to listen to some good old country music to relax to ... or at least read about it and a girl who is decidedly not into this music, but still falls for the prince of country. Reluctantly. Very reluctantly. And in case you haven’t heard of the song this title alludes to, you should check it out. I won’t judge you if you prefer the version made popular by Glee a while back. What is great about Miranda Kenneally’s series is that you don’t necessarily have to read the books as a series, but if you read all of them you get to check in with beloved characters from earlier books. In this case we get to see Jordan and Sam again and I adored catching a glimpse of their matured but certainly not entirely mature relationship. And still this doesn’t take away from the two new main characters at all and I have to say that I loved that the focus was on something other than sport for a change but still heavily on the realising and following one’s dream ... all in the course over falling in love, of course. I appreciated Maya’s attitude of wanting to make it on her own, but finding the strength to rely on her support system. And her determination to in a way save Jesse from himself and the ideals he was chasing.
A very sweet read that rings true and authentic in its character development (even if in some instances forgiveness seems to come too easily, but one girl can only bear so much drama over the course of one book). I recommend this with a good bowl of ice-cream and a shadowy place beneath a tree on a hot summer day.And now I want a friend like Dave ... and Casper, the cat. (Great, I’ll be the cat lady Maya has now avoided becoming ...)
What do you think about same universe but not quite sequels book series? Love to stay in the familiar environment with cameos of former main characters or would you rather not look at them? Share opinions and teasers in the comments!
Tuesday, 4 August 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella.
Some authors, who are enormously successful on the adult side of publishing, sometimes get it into their heads, maybe egged on by their publicist, to try their hand on writing for a younger audience. In most cases the result reads like a mix of what they seem to remember liking when they were young and what they think a book for this age group should sound like. And if it’s not patronising, you’re in luck.
However, Sophie Kinsella managed this transition with an elegance that is admirable. Her voice is neither bland nor does the story seem shallow. I think she has found a very relevant topic and put it into a story that speaks to readers off all age groups ... possibly mostly the female percentage, but you can’t expect a tiger to change its stripes altogether. And why not address the audience you have anyway and organically expand it downwards? That’s certainly healthier than forcing out a book that should have never seen the light of day.
Audrey is in her own way a very relatable character. Maybe not every girl feels the need to hide from the outside world behind large sunglasses, but everyone has experienced situations where they would have rather run away than stay just a second longer. I like the characterisation of our lizard brain and I also like that the problem isn’t magically resolved completely, but that the reader gets to see steps of improvement as well as setbacks.
Do you know of other adult authors who have published books for a younger audience that you can recommend? Share them and your 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!
Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella.
 |
| Finding Audrey – Delacorte Books for Young Readers |
They talk about “body language,” as if we all speak it the same. But everyone has their own dialect. For me right now, for example, swiveling my body right away and staring rigidly at the corner means, “I like you.” Because I didn’t run away and shut myself in the bathroom. I just hope he realizes that.
— Chapter 11
He didn’t say anything. He stopped mid-sentence.
Except that stopping mid-sentence is the worst thing people can do. It’s, like, totally passive aggressive, because you can’t take issue with anything they’ve said. You have to take issue with what you think they were going to say.
Which then they deny.
— Chapter 14
Some authors, who are enormously successful on the adult side of publishing, sometimes get it into their heads, maybe egged on by their publicist, to try their hand on writing for a younger audience. In most cases the result reads like a mix of what they seem to remember liking when they were young and what they think a book for this age group should sound like. And if it’s not patronising, you’re in luck.
However, Sophie Kinsella managed this transition with an elegance that is admirable. Her voice is neither bland nor does the story seem shallow. I think she has found a very relevant topic and put it into a story that speaks to readers off all age groups ... possibly mostly the female percentage, but you can’t expect a tiger to change its stripes altogether. And why not address the audience you have anyway and organically expand it downwards? That’s certainly healthier than forcing out a book that should have never seen the light of day.
Audrey is in her own way a very relatable character. Maybe not every girl feels the need to hide from the outside world behind large sunglasses, but everyone has experienced situations where they would have rather run away than stay just a second longer. I like the characterisation of our lizard brain and I also like that the problem isn’t magically resolved completely, but that the reader gets to see steps of improvement as well as setbacks.
Do you know of other adult authors who have published books for a younger audience that you can recommend? Share them and your teasers in the comments.
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
Paper Towns by John Green.
Here is how I found myself re-reading John Green, an exercise in two steps. One: In preparation for seeing the movie (which I haven’t yet, because it only opens here this week) I re-watched the trailers and found myself wondering about a few of my favourite quotes. Time to verify! Two: My weekend is mostly gone and I have re-read and highlighted four books. I find that I now liked different aspects and passages than the first time I read them (I’d still always highlight the first-read bits, but I now have even more). I suppose that it is true that quote we like and share in the end tell more about us than about the person who said or wrote them.
I’m very much looking forward to seeing the movie and comparing it to the book. I don’t think that movies have to be a one to one adaption of a book, because they can’t be; but they have to be truthful to the character if they want to call themselves book to movie adaptions. Otherwise they’re just movies. And a good one, I think, can expand the book’s universe because both media can show and do things that the other can’t.
What are your thoughts on book to movie adaptions? Share movies that were you liked – or didn’t in the comments along with your teasers. And let me know if you’ve been to the cinema or plan to go to see Paper Towns.
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!
Paper Towns by John Green.
 |
| Paper Towns – Speak |
The first shall be last; the last shall be first; the meek shall do some earth-inheriting. But before we can radically reshape the world, we need to shop.
— Part 1 / Chapter 2
We don’t suffer from a shortage of metaphors, is what I mean. But you have to be careful which metaphor you choose, because it matters.
— Part 3 / Chapter 22
Here is how I found myself re-reading John Green, an exercise in two steps. One: In preparation for seeing the movie (which I haven’t yet, because it only opens here this week) I re-watched the trailers and found myself wondering about a few of my favourite quotes. Time to verify! Two: My weekend is mostly gone and I have re-read and highlighted four books. I find that I now liked different aspects and passages than the first time I read them (I’d still always highlight the first-read bits, but I now have even more). I suppose that it is true that quote we like and share in the end tell more about us than about the person who said or wrote them.
I’m very much looking forward to seeing the movie and comparing it to the book. I don’t think that movies have to be a one to one adaption of a book, because they can’t be; but they have to be truthful to the character if they want to call themselves book to movie adaptions. Otherwise they’re just movies. And a good one, I think, can expand the book’s universe because both media can show and do things that the other can’t.
What are your thoughts on book to movie adaptions? Share movies that were you liked – or didn’t in the comments along with your teasers. And let me know if you’ve been to the cinema or plan to go to see Paper Towns.
Tuesday, 21 July 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard.
If anyone asked me which Teams I am on, I’d possibly say Human, Vampire, Werewolf, Good, Unicorn ... or something like that, depending on mood and book. You would probably never hear Zombie. I’m not a Zombie reader and the undead are one of the few things to freak me out (and spiders, but that’s another kettle of fish). So a plot with zombie hunters and possible voodoo has a hard time to make it onto my radar. This is most likely why I haven’t read this series yet, but I’m very much in the process of rectifying that omission. Because creepy zombies aside, this historical setting is decidedly fascinating and don’t get me started on mysterious shenanigans. Add to that an exasperatingly stubborn and crafty main character and this promises to be an entertaining read.
Which aspect would make you hesitant to pick up a book? Share team affiliations 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!
Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard.
 |
| Something Strange and Deadly – HarperTeen |
“Miss Fitt, you know curiosity gets men killed.”
I grinned. “Then I daresay it’s good I’m a woman.”
— Chapter 7
“If you interfere in my affairs again, I’ll personally feed you to the Dead.”
I scoffed. And if you ever get in my way, I’ll personally feed you to my mother.
— Chapter 10
If anyone asked me which Teams I am on, I’d possibly say Human, Vampire, Werewolf, Good, Unicorn ... or something like that, depending on mood and book. You would probably never hear Zombie. I’m not a Zombie reader and the undead are one of the few things to freak me out (and spiders, but that’s another kettle of fish). So a plot with zombie hunters and possible voodoo has a hard time to make it onto my radar. This is most likely why I haven’t read this series yet, but I’m very much in the process of rectifying that omission. Because creepy zombies aside, this historical setting is decidedly fascinating and don’t get me started on mysterious shenanigans. Add to that an exasperatingly stubborn and crafty main character and this promises to be an entertaining read.
Which aspect would make you hesitant to pick up a book? Share team affiliations and teasers in the comments!
Tuesday, 14 July 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
Rogue by Julie Kagawa.
The positive effect of starting a series late is that often you get to read two books in a row, maybe more if you were really holding back. I enjoyed this second instalment well enough, but I think that it’s good that we’ll now spend some time apart. Otherwise I might consider having words with a stubborn dragon girl about several things and I don’t think that I’m fireproof. I also have a serious problem with that Riley/Cobalt character as I can only understand part of his motives and I don’t think that he is actually fit to be a companion for anyone. And let’s not even talk about the two organisations at play. Something is very rotten ... and not in the state of Denmark.
In summary: Can everyone please get their act together until 2016 for book three? No? ... That’s what I thought since this will be a five book thing. Thanks for that. Until then I’ll invest in some sort of fire proof gear in case that I have to have words with several potentially fire-breathing creatures about how to handle things ... like poor, breakable human hearts. Poor human(s).
Do you binge-read series or authors? If you, after how many books do you feel that you might need a break or change of flavour? Let’s hear from you 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!
Rogue by Julie Kagawa.
 |
| Rogue – Harlequin Teen |
“Yes, well, for future reference,” I said, thumping the spade-tip of my tail against the ground, “when someone decides to save your life, for whatever reason, the proper response is thank you. Guilt and groveling optional but highly encouraged.”
— Part II / 4
“No dragons in the kitchen. The neighbors would have a fit.”
— Part II / 4
The positive effect of starting a series late is that often you get to read two books in a row, maybe more if you were really holding back. I enjoyed this second instalment well enough, but I think that it’s good that we’ll now spend some time apart. Otherwise I might consider having words with a stubborn dragon girl about several things and I don’t think that I’m fireproof. I also have a serious problem with that Riley/Cobalt character as I can only understand part of his motives and I don’t think that he is actually fit to be a companion for anyone. And let’s not even talk about the two organisations at play. Something is very rotten ... and not in the state of Denmark.
In summary: Can everyone please get their act together until 2016 for book three? No? ... That’s what I thought since this will be a five book thing. Thanks for that. Until then I’ll invest in some sort of fire proof gear in case that I have to have words with several potentially fire-breathing creatures about how to handle things ... like poor, breakable human hearts. Poor human(s).
Do you binge-read series or authors? If you, after how many books do you feel that you might need a break or change of flavour? Let’s hear from you in the comments!
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