Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
To play along just do the following:
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner.
This book (and subsequent sequels) is hands down the perfect mixture of everything that shouldn’t work thrown together and because of that turning out to be utterly perfect. Sci-Fi, space travel, survival, snark, star-crossed lovers, swooning, spying ... and now there is no s-word for conspiracy, dang it all. (Edited to add: Scheming, as suggested by Meagan Spooner herself). I’m sort of congratulating myself for only reading this now without the wait between books because I hope that I’ll catch more subtle hints and references than I would have otherwise. I’m a good portion into the second of the three books already and the third is right there waiting for me to finish. So far, I liked the first book a little better than the second, but that might be due to my preferences regarding the male lead. And I have already caught a glimpse of the one of the main characters of the third book, and I’m very certain that I’ll like her a lot.
The writing is absolutely wonderful and almost seamless. If the cover didn’t name two authors you’d never guess it. And while I usually like a little world-building in my books I didn’t actually miss it here that much, because the story itself captured me in a way that I only realised at the end that I still don’t quite understand, how all of this works. But maybe that’s part of it, because none of the characters do as well or they know only parts and are just now beginning to piece it all together.
And now I’ll have another guy I like who is a) taken, b) way beyond reach, and c) ... err ... fictional. Tarver is secretly a poet at heart and how can anyone resist that? And let’s not forget Lilac who is everything you expect of a spoilt rich brat, but then turns out to be the exact opposite and you can’t help but admire her. Books, they ruin your standards and prejudices, but what else is new?
Let me know if you have a word that means conspiracy that starts with S. I was close to heartbroken about having to give up the alliteration. Tell me if you’ve read this wonderful trilogy and 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!
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner.
 |
| These Broken Stars – Disney Hyperion |
Somehow, unimaginably, we’ve landed. Right now I couldn’t give a damn where. I’m alive.
Or else I’m dead, and I’ve ended up in hell after all, and it’s an escape pod with Lilac LaRoux.
— Chapter 5
“Who cares about after? You could die tomorrow, you don’t think you should kiss her today?”
Perhaps I shouldn’t kiss her today because I could die tomorrow.
“Boring. Also, illogical.”
I’m delirious and hallucinating, now you want logic?
— Chapter 25
This book (and subsequent sequels) is hands down the perfect mixture of everything that shouldn’t work thrown together and because of that turning out to be utterly perfect. Sci-Fi, space travel, survival, snark, star-crossed lovers, swooning, spying ... and now there is no s-word for conspiracy, dang it all. (Edited to add: Scheming, as suggested by Meagan Spooner herself). I’m sort of congratulating myself for only reading this now without the wait between books because I hope that I’ll catch more subtle hints and references than I would have otherwise. I’m a good portion into the second of the three books already and the third is right there waiting for me to finish. So far, I liked the first book a little better than the second, but that might be due to my preferences regarding the male lead. And I have already caught a glimpse of the one of the main characters of the third book, and I’m very certain that I’ll like her a lot.
The writing is absolutely wonderful and almost seamless. If the cover didn’t name two authors you’d never guess it. And while I usually like a little world-building in my books I didn’t actually miss it here that much, because the story itself captured me in a way that I only realised at the end that I still don’t quite understand, how all of this works. But maybe that’s part of it, because none of the characters do as well or they know only parts and are just now beginning to piece it all together.
And now I’ll have another guy I like who is a) taken, b) way beyond reach, and c) ... err ... fictional. Tarver is secretly a poet at heart and how can anyone resist that? And let’s not forget Lilac who is everything you expect of a spoilt rich brat, but then turns out to be the exact opposite and you can’t help but admire her. Books, they ruin your standards and prejudices, but what else is new?
Let me know if you have a word that means conspiracy that starts with S. I was close to heartbroken about having to give up the alliteration. Tell me if you’ve read this wonderful trilogy and share your teasers in the comments!
Tuesday, 5 July 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
To play along just do the following:
Summer Days and Summer Nights edited by Stephanie Perkins.
More summer reads! Anyone else suspecting a theme here? Stephanie Perkins has again assembled an impressive collection of authors, some of my very favourites and some new to me in what I’d like to describe as delicious, lovely reading morsels. I’m very used to hearing that anthologies are difficult and no one here want to read them and therefore no one is eager to publish them (where I live anyway). And I get it. Sort of. The short story reader is different from the novel reader, but who says that you can’t be both? I love it when my authors write long, elaborate stories ... but at the same time it is a pretty amazing quality to paint a quick sketch of a story and infuse it with and evoke just as much emotion as in a novel. That’s real talent.
As with almost every compilation there will be those parts that you like more than others. And that’s okay, I don’t like all songs on every album of my favourite bands, but I’m still very happy to have them. And who knows maybe in this selection of authors you’ll find one you didn’t know before, enjoy their story, and want to read more from them. I know I’ll be looking into a few, just like I did with the winter companion of this.
How is you summer (reading) shaping up so far? The weather is sort of improving (and now I totally jinxed it, didn’t I?) and my reading is currently very pleasing (one of them is not summery at all, but I can’t tell you about that one yet ... will have to wait until Autumn for that one). Share your summer impressions 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!
Summer Days and Summer Nights edited by Stephanie Perkins.
 |
| Summer Days and Summer Nights – St. Martin’s Press |
“I didn’t want to break up with you.”
“But … but you did.”
His shoulders drooped miserably. “I know.”
“Oh.” It was a whisper..
— In Ninety Minutes, Turn North by Stephanie Perkins
My smile fell away. Some habits of friendship were like muscle memory, rising up even when everything else had changed. I knew our jokes, our rhythms, the choreography of our friendship. But that didn’t take away what we were now.
— Inertia by Veronica Roth
More summer reads! Anyone else suspecting a theme here? Stephanie Perkins has again assembled an impressive collection of authors, some of my very favourites and some new to me in what I’d like to describe as delicious, lovely reading morsels. I’m very used to hearing that anthologies are difficult and no one here want to read them and therefore no one is eager to publish them (where I live anyway). And I get it. Sort of. The short story reader is different from the novel reader, but who says that you can’t be both? I love it when my authors write long, elaborate stories ... but at the same time it is a pretty amazing quality to paint a quick sketch of a story and infuse it with and evoke just as much emotion as in a novel. That’s real talent.
As with almost every compilation there will be those parts that you like more than others. And that’s okay, I don’t like all songs on every album of my favourite bands, but I’m still very happy to have them. And who knows maybe in this selection of authors you’ll find one you didn’t know before, enjoy their story, and want to read more from them. I know I’ll be looking into a few, just like I did with the winter companion of this.
How is you summer (reading) shaping up so far? The weather is sort of improving (and now I totally jinxed it, didn’t I?) and my reading is currently very pleasing (one of them is not summery at all, but I can’t tell you about that one yet ... will have to wait until Autumn for that one). Share your summer impressions and teasers in the comments!
Tuesday, 28 June 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
To play along just do the following:
Two Summers by Aimee Friedman.
While I’ll be lucky if there will be one summer here, this book and lovely story will offer you two along with some French flair and US summer specials. I thoroughly enjoyed this love story with a more than clever twist, because depending on one decision the protagonist experiences two very different summers either at home or in France. In both she will grow into her own and make some life-altering discoveries. I especially liked every moment Summer thinks that had she decided differently she would be happier and only the reader knows that the alternative would have its fair share of turbulence as well. In this case the journey is not necessarily the destination, but even if many roads lead to Rome you should enjoy the scenery on the one you travel.
Big recommendation for this sweet summer read with surprising depth. If you like the movie/book Sliding Doors or the books by Huntley Fitzpatrick, you should definitely give this a try.
I find the idea fascinating that every time we make a decision reality actually divides into separate possibilities ... even if I also find the idea of multiple universes hard to wrap my head around. I would like to see some of the alternate paths caused by some of my decisions. Not because I regret them, but because I’d like to see what might have been. Would that be something you’d be interested in? 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!
Two Summers by Aimee Friedman.
 |
| Two Summers – Point |
I know it’s silly, my belief in signs and harbingers. But superstition can be helpful for indecisive people; it lets us off the hook. Takes the choice out of our hands.
— Prologue
“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” she replies. “And why should you care what people think?”
— Part Four
While I’ll be lucky if there will be one summer here, this book and lovely story will offer you two along with some French flair and US summer specials. I thoroughly enjoyed this love story with a more than clever twist, because depending on one decision the protagonist experiences two very different summers either at home or in France. In both she will grow into her own and make some life-altering discoveries. I especially liked every moment Summer thinks that had she decided differently she would be happier and only the reader knows that the alternative would have its fair share of turbulence as well. In this case the journey is not necessarily the destination, but even if many roads lead to Rome you should enjoy the scenery on the one you travel.
Big recommendation for this sweet summer read with surprising depth. If you like the movie/book Sliding Doors or the books by Huntley Fitzpatrick, you should definitely give this a try.
I find the idea fascinating that every time we make a decision reality actually divides into separate possibilities ... even if I also find the idea of multiple universes hard to wrap my head around. I would like to see some of the alternate paths caused by some of my decisions. Not because I regret them, but because I’d like to see what might have been. Would that be something you’d be interested in? Let’s hear from you in the comments.
Tuesday, 21 June 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
To play along just do the following:
White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
Some supernatural YA romance from one of my go to feel good authors. And when I say romance I mean cool, snarky, hot, and possibly forbidden. The holy four-fold if you ask me. And the plot is not something to be scoffed at either. I’m incredibly glad that this series is already available in its entirety, because if the previous series are any indication, there are going to be major cliffhangers and emotional turmoil ahead.
It’s not the new, mould-breaking story to end all others, but if you liked the author’s previous books you’ll also like this series, I dare say.
You possibly have a favourite fantasy species and I bet that gargoyles are not necessarily on the top of the list. I can’t say that they are going to be after this book, but demons might move up a few spots. Who is on your list? 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!
White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
 |
| White Hot Kiss – Harlequin Teen |
“Hey look, Bambi likes you.”
I pried one eye open. “And if she didn’t?”
“Oh, you’d know, ’cause she would’ve eaten you by now.”
— Chapter 17
“No elevator?” I asked
“None that you’d want to get on.” At the look on my face, he smiled. “The elevators here only go down.”
— Chapter 17
Some supernatural YA romance from one of my go to feel good authors. And when I say romance I mean cool, snarky, hot, and possibly forbidden. The holy four-fold if you ask me. And the plot is not something to be scoffed at either. I’m incredibly glad that this series is already available in its entirety, because if the previous series are any indication, there are going to be major cliffhangers and emotional turmoil ahead.
It’s not the new, mould-breaking story to end all others, but if you liked the author’s previous books you’ll also like this series, I dare say.
You possibly have a favourite fantasy species and I bet that gargoyles are not necessarily on the top of the list. I can’t say that they are going to be after this book, but demons might move up a few spots. Who is on your list? Let’s hear from you in the comments.
Tuesday, 14 June 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
To play along just do the following:
Circle of Jinn by Lori Goldstein.
I don’t know how summer is coming along for you but at my end it’s leaving a lot to be desired. I can fully empathise with the Jinn of this book who light a fire in September in New England, because it’s too darn cold. Apart from that sympathy, this book feels like a slightly typical second book in a trilogy but then again not completely as it is the final book in a dulogy and thus clearly pushes the overall plot along without being too messy in its internal plot. I can’t really say much more without giving anything away. But if you’ve read the first book and where left with a lot of questions, quite a few of them get answered ... and then you get a set of brand new ones.
One aspect I really enjoy about this Jinn universe is that the wisher is kept unaware and that the Jinn has to fulfil the honest to goodness deepest wish a person has instead of three wishes that might be made for personal gain, but don’t actually help.
The prognosis for summer here is mixed at best, which would have a nice reading touch to it, but I actually enjoy sitting in the sun to read so maybe someone can wish for that. Do you have an outside reading spot? 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!
Circle of Jinn by Lori Goldstein.
 |
| Circle of Jinn – Feiwel and Friends |
I guess logic and reason are no match for desire. Wanting something to be true can make it so. At least in one’s own mind.
— Chapter 16
“You tried harder than anyone else would have.”
“But I’m not anyone else. I’m your best friend. And best friends don’t give up.”
— Chapter 22
I don’t know how summer is coming along for you but at my end it’s leaving a lot to be desired. I can fully empathise with the Jinn of this book who light a fire in September in New England, because it’s too darn cold. Apart from that sympathy, this book feels like a slightly typical second book in a trilogy but then again not completely as it is the final book in a dulogy and thus clearly pushes the overall plot along without being too messy in its internal plot. I can’t really say much more without giving anything away. But if you’ve read the first book and where left with a lot of questions, quite a few of them get answered ... and then you get a set of brand new ones.
One aspect I really enjoy about this Jinn universe is that the wisher is kept unaware and that the Jinn has to fulfil the honest to goodness deepest wish a person has instead of three wishes that might be made for personal gain, but don’t actually help.
The prognosis for summer here is mixed at best, which would have a nice reading touch to it, but I actually enjoy sitting in the sun to read so maybe someone can wish for that. Do you have an outside reading spot? Let’s hear from you in the comments.
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