Tuesday, 12 January 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
Never, Always, Sometimes by Adi Alsaid.
Almost everyone has a To-Do list ... not necessarily a written one, but maybe a mental one (and then you forget the baking soda and are totally screwed). Then there are rules, and those can also be written down or agreed upon (and can be equally bad if you break them). Wishes, also written or just in your head. Humans love lists, but the question is if they have more power if they are solidified in ink on paper? For this book this seems true as the two protagonists follow their rules to high school quite religiously and while they make for an interesting experience they also function as a kind of cage. And maybe some rules are meant to be broken
I enjoyed quite a few aspects of this story as they are realistic and comprehensible. No one would set out to have a mediocre or unmemorable high school experience I think and by giving it this twist of actually having followed an agreed upon set of ideals for most of the time and then deliberately breaking them makes for a unique perspective. This wouldn’t have worked if the two weren’t so extremely co-dependent and sort of exploiting each other or I’d rather say existed in a symbiosis as they don’t wilfully harm each other.
What sort of lists do you have either physical or mental ones ... apart from you TBR? Share them 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!
Never, Always, Sometimes by Adi Alsaid.
 |
| Never, Always, Sometimes – Harlequin Teen |
You can’t have smart people lingering around for too long in horror movies. Otherwise they come up with solutions and not enough people die.
— Chapter 12
Julia knew that there were moments in your life that meant something but passed by unnoticed, and she knew that this was not one of them.
— Chapter 21
Almost everyone has a To-Do list ... not necessarily a written one, but maybe a mental one (and then you forget the baking soda and are totally screwed). Then there are rules, and those can also be written down or agreed upon (and can be equally bad if you break them). Wishes, also written or just in your head. Humans love lists, but the question is if they have more power if they are solidified in ink on paper? For this book this seems true as the two protagonists follow their rules to high school quite religiously and while they make for an interesting experience they also function as a kind of cage. And maybe some rules are meant to be broken
I enjoyed quite a few aspects of this story as they are realistic and comprehensible. No one would set out to have a mediocre or unmemorable high school experience I think and by giving it this twist of actually having followed an agreed upon set of ideals for most of the time and then deliberately breaking them makes for a unique perspective. This wouldn’t have worked if the two weren’t so extremely co-dependent and sort of exploiting each other or I’d rather say existed in a symbiosis as they don’t wilfully harm each other.
What sort of lists do you have either physical or mental ones ... apart from you TBR? Share them and teasers in the comments!
Tuesday, 5 January 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken.
Happy 2016, everyone! I hope you had a good start of the year and I wish upon all of you some brilliant books this year. Please excuse my unplanned disappearance last week I was a little blindsided by non-book life (I know, the impertinence!). But now back to the pleasant things and I already don’t know how to put it into different words for this book apart from that I am absolutely and completely in LOVE with it! It is a hyped book and in this case it is so very much deserved. I want this book to succeed and to get all the attention it can because it is so utterly wonderful inside and out. I could constantly look at the cover to admire the not-mirrored mirror image ... and yes the writing is detailed and extensive, but that is also what invokes this lush, deep, and textured feeling.
There are some parts of the time travel technicalities that I didn’t completely understand, but that is the very nature of this premise I’d think ... at least it makes a lot more sense than many other time travel books I read before. Especially the rule that you can’t exist in the same moment twice and would therefore not be able to go back to re-write last week’s history.
In short: This book has all the things I wanted from history to adventure to scientific logic (to a certain degree), and yes, also a very compelling love story. And now I must find out how I can travel to 2017 to get my hands on the sequel. Damn you, cliffhanger authors, why must I love you so much?
Do you have any resolutions for this year? Mine is to avoid a certain online retailer as much as possible and order my books through other channels. Even if that means waiting longer for them to arrive. I was more or less unconsciously doing so already but now I want to find out how long I can actually manage without ordering there at all. Let me know your resolution and challenges along with 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!
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken.
 |
| Passenger – Disney Hyperion |
Don’t mind him. He’s allowed one day of good nature a year and he’s already spent it.
— Chapter 3
“A bad idea is better than no idea,” Etta said.
“I’m glad you feel that way, because this is an exquisitely bad one.”
— Chapter 11
Happy 2016, everyone! I hope you had a good start of the year and I wish upon all of you some brilliant books this year. Please excuse my unplanned disappearance last week I was a little blindsided by non-book life (I know, the impertinence!). But now back to the pleasant things and I already don’t know how to put it into different words for this book apart from that I am absolutely and completely in LOVE with it! It is a hyped book and in this case it is so very much deserved. I want this book to succeed and to get all the attention it can because it is so utterly wonderful inside and out. I could constantly look at the cover to admire the not-mirrored mirror image ... and yes the writing is detailed and extensive, but that is also what invokes this lush, deep, and textured feeling.
There are some parts of the time travel technicalities that I didn’t completely understand, but that is the very nature of this premise I’d think ... at least it makes a lot more sense than many other time travel books I read before. Especially the rule that you can’t exist in the same moment twice and would therefore not be able to go back to re-write last week’s history.
In short: This book has all the things I wanted from history to adventure to scientific logic (to a certain degree), and yes, also a very compelling love story. And now I must find out how I can travel to 2017 to get my hands on the sequel. Damn you, cliffhanger authors, why must I love you so much?
Do you have any resolutions for this year? Mine is to avoid a certain online retailer as much as possible and order my books through other channels. Even if that means waiting longer for them to arrive. I was more or less unconsciously doing so already but now I want to find out how long I can actually manage without ordering there at all. Let me know your resolution and challenges along with your teasers in the comments!
Tuesday, 22 December 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir.
On the off chance that you haven’t encountered this brilliant book on any of your forays into a bookstore let me warmly recommend this to you. I could have sworn that I already talked about it when it was first published, but my records say otherwise. This is the book for you if you enjoy fabulously crafted story universes with a rich background and multiple layered characters woven into a complex plot of intrigue, betrayal, deadly trials, and questions of trust and what it means to remain human in the face of the inhumane. The dual perspective allows for a very interesting view on the proceedings with sometimes overlapping parts that simultaneously manage to clear things up and confuse them in the best possible way. I especially liked that the author took her time for the two protagonists not only to meet but to actually talk and then trust each other. There is an instant interest, but it still remains wary as the other must prove to be trustworthy first.
The best books for me at least are those that make you feel and this doesn’t mean that that make me cry. I raced through parts of this and didn’t feel that I was reading fast enough because I absolutely had to know what happens next. I haven’t felt so anxious, angry, afraid or agonisingly panicked while reading with many books ... and I think that is a quality only the best writers exhibit. You can’t imagine how happy I am that there will be a second book.
Fantasy with a dystopian feeling is not really a Christmas setting, but then again the story of expecting parents who have to take shelter in a stable because there wouldn’t fit anywhere else and then have to flee that place as well because they are prosecuted isn’t in itself a happy one. Whether or not you’re celebrating Christmas this week I wish you a peaceful and tranquil couple of days with joy and happiness wherever possible. And as always please share 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!
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir.
 |
| An Ember in the Ashes – Razorbill |
I don’t need to believe in the supernatural. Not when there’s worse that roams the night.
— Chapter 11
The words are out before I can stop them, but I don’t feel particularly regretful. Multiple attempts on my life have taken a toll on my manners.
— Chapter 30
On the off chance that you haven’t encountered this brilliant book on any of your forays into a bookstore let me warmly recommend this to you. I could have sworn that I already talked about it when it was first published, but my records say otherwise. This is the book for you if you enjoy fabulously crafted story universes with a rich background and multiple layered characters woven into a complex plot of intrigue, betrayal, deadly trials, and questions of trust and what it means to remain human in the face of the inhumane. The dual perspective allows for a very interesting view on the proceedings with sometimes overlapping parts that simultaneously manage to clear things up and confuse them in the best possible way. I especially liked that the author took her time for the two protagonists not only to meet but to actually talk and then trust each other. There is an instant interest, but it still remains wary as the other must prove to be trustworthy first.
The best books for me at least are those that make you feel and this doesn’t mean that that make me cry. I raced through parts of this and didn’t feel that I was reading fast enough because I absolutely had to know what happens next. I haven’t felt so anxious, angry, afraid or agonisingly panicked while reading with many books ... and I think that is a quality only the best writers exhibit. You can’t imagine how happy I am that there will be a second book.
Fantasy with a dystopian feeling is not really a Christmas setting, but then again the story of expecting parents who have to take shelter in a stable because there wouldn’t fit anywhere else and then have to flee that place as well because they are prosecuted isn’t in itself a happy one. Whether or not you’re celebrating Christmas this week I wish you a peaceful and tranquil couple of days with joy and happiness wherever possible. And as always please share your teasers in the comments.
Tuesday, 15 December 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen.
Readers, this book made me crave pizza. And not in a fleeting way but in the sense of I can almost feel the cheesy goodness and I want it now! And after I’ve said this I can safely say that this is shaping up to be my favourite Sarah Dessen book yet. Even though I don’t have a delinquent older brother and didn’t go to an entitled high school it is so easy to understand Sydney and empathise with her. Parents in YA literature often disappear or do crappy at their job, but here you can tell that they are just as overwhelmed by the situation and trying to hold on and hold everything together as best as they can ... even though the ship has already met the iceberg.
I also like that the first focus is not on a romance aspect but rather on a friendship. Layla is basically the perfect friend a girl could wish for and I’m just so curious to read what her brother is up to ... and if that feeling about the creepy guy is valid. Rule of thumb: If your gut reaction tells you that a guy is fishy, chances are that your gut is right. The human race would not have survived this long if our instincts weren’t somehow reliable ... given that you’re not an anxious person who suspects the trees might be plotting against them.
We’re entering the run up to the end of the year (cue mild panic), how are your goals and challenges tallying up? Despite the fact that I thought I wouldn’t be able to read as many recordable books this year that one is looking nicely. Share statistics (if you like) 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!
Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen.
 |
| Saint Anything – Viking |
As I spoke, I realized I’d held these words in for so long and so tightly that I felt the space they left empty once released. It was vast enough that I could think of nothing to follow them.
— Chapter 5
“Not everything. Just candy, French fries, and love.” She smiled at me. “All the important stuff.”
— Chapter 6
Readers, this book made me crave pizza. And not in a fleeting way but in the sense of I can almost feel the cheesy goodness and I want it now! And after I’ve said this I can safely say that this is shaping up to be my favourite Sarah Dessen book yet. Even though I don’t have a delinquent older brother and didn’t go to an entitled high school it is so easy to understand Sydney and empathise with her. Parents in YA literature often disappear or do crappy at their job, but here you can tell that they are just as overwhelmed by the situation and trying to hold on and hold everything together as best as they can ... even though the ship has already met the iceberg.
I also like that the first focus is not on a romance aspect but rather on a friendship. Layla is basically the perfect friend a girl could wish for and I’m just so curious to read what her brother is up to ... and if that feeling about the creepy guy is valid. Rule of thumb: If your gut reaction tells you that a guy is fishy, chances are that your gut is right. The human race would not have survived this long if our instincts weren’t somehow reliable ... given that you’re not an anxious person who suspects the trees might be plotting against them.
We’re entering the run up to the end of the year (cue mild panic), how are your goals and challenges tallying up? Despite the fact that I thought I wouldn’t be able to read as many recordable books this year that one is looking nicely. Share statistics (if you like) and teasers in the comments!
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
Spinning Starlight by R. C. Lewis.
Off the top of the head how many fairy tales can you name? Now subtract all that have been adapted into a Disney movie of some sort. The good news: Disney and Co. won’t run out of material any time soon. This book is adapted from a tale most people won’t have named, because it’s one of the lesser known ones. But even then you won’t necessarily find the wild swans in the story unless you look for them very hard. At its heart, this is a sci-fi coming of age story with a hint of romantic love but mostly family and what one is willing to do and endure for them. This book is only for readers who like to get very close to the main character as almost all of the book is inner monologue and observations since the heroine cannot speak. Or should I say mustn’t? Anyway, she eventually finds means of communication but let me tell you how much I am now an advocate to keep writing by hand a vital part of our culture. Typing is nice and easy but how soon will be completely rely on voice commands? And boy are we in trouble if that suddenly doesn’t work anymore.
I had a few issues with the story, mostly because of missed connections and failed communication ... or lacking trust. But if we can’t trust our neighbour to be a reasonable human, how should the main character trust complete strangers (from different species) to behave in an honourable way?
Do you read sci-fi? At which point is it too out there for you? I personally don’t appreciate being bombarded with technical details and being expected to remember how a certain thing worked some fifty odd pages later. 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!
Spinning Starlight by R. C. Lewis.
 |
| Spinning Starlight – Disney Hyperion |
One wrong move during a delicate experiment. One mistake. One accident.
One is such a deceptively small number.
— Chapter 2
Great. These two can’t talk to each other, and I can’t talk at all. This should be fun.
— Chapter 18
Off the top of the head how many fairy tales can you name? Now subtract all that have been adapted into a Disney movie of some sort. The good news: Disney and Co. won’t run out of material any time soon. This book is adapted from a tale most people won’t have named, because it’s one of the lesser known ones. But even then you won’t necessarily find the wild swans in the story unless you look for them very hard. At its heart, this is a sci-fi coming of age story with a hint of romantic love but mostly family and what one is willing to do and endure for them. This book is only for readers who like to get very close to the main character as almost all of the book is inner monologue and observations since the heroine cannot speak. Or should I say mustn’t? Anyway, she eventually finds means of communication but let me tell you how much I am now an advocate to keep writing by hand a vital part of our culture. Typing is nice and easy but how soon will be completely rely on voice commands? And boy are we in trouble if that suddenly doesn’t work anymore.
I had a few issues with the story, mostly because of missed connections and failed communication ... or lacking trust. But if we can’t trust our neighbour to be a reasonable human, how should the main character trust complete strangers (from different species) to behave in an honourable way?
Do you read sci-fi? At which point is it too out there for you? I personally don’t appreciate being bombarded with technical details and being expected to remember how a certain thing worked some fifty odd pages later. Let’s hear from you in the comments!
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