Tuesday, 25 April 2017
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter.
Did I spend my Easter vacation binge-reading the wonderful Gallagher Girls series? I’m not saying anything that could incriminate me. I will, however, say that if these books have not been on your radar, you’re missing out on a great, enjoyable and entertaining series. The humour hits all the right notes and had me in a constant good mood. I especially love the character development over the course of the series. What never changes is the level of girl power and friendship. Sure, there is the boy topic (since things would have taken a very different turn if ... well, isn’t that always the case?), but it never detracts from the overall awesomeness that is the group of girls around Cammie Morgan.
In many stories it would have been an major development arc of the girls discovering that they are capable of becoming world class spies, but that is not this book. On the contrary, that is never called into question because all of them have their special talents and abilities. It starts out harmlessly enough with Cammie being noticed by a boy while out on a school assignment. The problem? Cammie is the perfect chameleon, which means that she doesn’t get noticed unless she wants to be. And while this attention itself isn’t dangerous it does something to Cammie and her friends, who might be able to hack into high security networks, but are terribly sheltered when it comes to boys. Fun and hilarity ensue ... among other things.
The series has published its tenth anniversary edition (I love the new covers and will have to do something about all that bonus material in the new publications), but it all began with the plead skirts which adorn my bookshelf. I don’t want to call the series a classic my age can’t take that hit right now, but if I’m honest if a book is still in print after a decade that title is well deserved. Maybe let’s call it a modern classic? Ally Carter is unquestionably one of the defining authors of the YA category and I for one am very glad that she writes for this audience.
I moved part of my library this weekend (part because I don’t have enough shelf space yet) and the hardest part was deciding which books absolutely had to come and which will have to wait in storage for a while longer. Which books do you have to have on display or your place doesn’t feel like home? Share treasures 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!
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter.
 |
| I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You – Disney Hyperion |
Times like this are when it's no fun being the headmistress's daughter, because A) it's totally annoying when people think I'm in a loop I'm not in, and B) people always assume I'm in partnership with the staff, which really I'm not – Sure, I have private dinners with my mom on Sunday nights, and sometimes she leaves me alone in her office for five seconds, but that's it. Whenever school is in session, I'm just another Gallagher Girl (except for being the girl to whom the aforementioned A and B apply).
— Chapter 1
Crouched on the roof between Bex and Liz, I wasn't a girl who had just broken up with her boyfriend; I looked at my watch and checked my gear instead of crying. I had a mission objective and not a broken heart.
— Chapter 27
Did I spend my Easter vacation binge-reading the wonderful Gallagher Girls series? I’m not saying anything that could incriminate me. I will, however, say that if these books have not been on your radar, you’re missing out on a great, enjoyable and entertaining series. The humour hits all the right notes and had me in a constant good mood. I especially love the character development over the course of the series. What never changes is the level of girl power and friendship. Sure, there is the boy topic (since things would have taken a very different turn if ... well, isn’t that always the case?), but it never detracts from the overall awesomeness that is the group of girls around Cammie Morgan.
In many stories it would have been an major development arc of the girls discovering that they are capable of becoming world class spies, but that is not this book. On the contrary, that is never called into question because all of them have their special talents and abilities. It starts out harmlessly enough with Cammie being noticed by a boy while out on a school assignment. The problem? Cammie is the perfect chameleon, which means that she doesn’t get noticed unless she wants to be. And while this attention itself isn’t dangerous it does something to Cammie and her friends, who might be able to hack into high security networks, but are terribly sheltered when it comes to boys. Fun and hilarity ensue ... among other things.
The series has published its tenth anniversary edition (I love the new covers and will have to do something about all that bonus material in the new publications), but it all began with the plead skirts which adorn my bookshelf. I don’t want to call the series a classic my age can’t take that hit right now, but if I’m honest if a book is still in print after a decade that title is well deserved. Maybe let’s call it a modern classic? Ally Carter is unquestionably one of the defining authors of the YA category and I for one am very glad that she writes for this audience.
I moved part of my library this weekend (part because I don’t have enough shelf space yet) and the hardest part was deciding which books absolutely had to come and which will have to wait in storage for a while longer. Which books do you have to have on display or your place doesn’t feel like home? Share treasures and teasers in the comments!
Tuesday, 18 April 2017
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
United by Melissa Landers.
Despite the dreamy idea that publishing is a benevolent place (which is true most of the time) the industry is also a business that at the heart of the matter needs (and let’s be honest also wants) to make money. So when a book or series doesn’t match the expectations chances are that the publisher won’t commission a third book if they initially bought two. Second books are always hard, but they become a totally different beast when the author is asked to wrap up the story earlier than they originally planned and I somewhat suspected this in the second Alienated book when the end was anything but a conclusion. And seeing that this third book is self-published/published with a different publisher than the initial books ... well let’s just say it’s nice when instincts appear to be on point. (By the way, it also works the other way around that publishers sometimes ask a writer to expand a series beyond the initial books when they are performing better than expected. Both scenarios are not always beneficial to the story, but that’s a matter of opinion.)
Not-So-Short publishing excursus aside this is the end to the series as intended by the author and I’m glad that Melissa Landers was able to conclude her story in a way of her choosing. The loos ends from the second book are wrapped up and Cara and Aelyx are released into a future that will hopefully not include another attempt on their lives or their entire species. It may be a little over the top cheesy in some aspects but overall I’d say that the series is complete with this third book and better for it.
Do you have a series that you suspect or know has been cut short? I’m a little on the fence about let’s call them rogue sequel publications, but in some cases I’m happy to be positively surprised. 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!
United by Melissa Landers.
 |
| United – EverAfter |
“It’s a new record,” Aelyx said. “Less than an hour on this planet, and already someone’s trying to kill me.”
— Chapter 5
“It’s all right. None of us died in the cold void of space. I call that a win.”
— Chapter 8
Despite the dreamy idea that publishing is a benevolent place (which is true most of the time) the industry is also a business that at the heart of the matter needs (and let’s be honest also wants) to make money. So when a book or series doesn’t match the expectations chances are that the publisher won’t commission a third book if they initially bought two. Second books are always hard, but they become a totally different beast when the author is asked to wrap up the story earlier than they originally planned and I somewhat suspected this in the second Alienated book when the end was anything but a conclusion. And seeing that this third book is self-published/published with a different publisher than the initial books ... well let’s just say it’s nice when instincts appear to be on point. (By the way, it also works the other way around that publishers sometimes ask a writer to expand a series beyond the initial books when they are performing better than expected. Both scenarios are not always beneficial to the story, but that’s a matter of opinion.)
Not-So-Short publishing excursus aside this is the end to the series as intended by the author and I’m glad that Melissa Landers was able to conclude her story in a way of her choosing. The loos ends from the second book are wrapped up and Cara and Aelyx are released into a future that will hopefully not include another attempt on their lives or their entire species. It may be a little over the top cheesy in some aspects but overall I’d say that the series is complete with this third book and better for it.
Do you have a series that you suspect or know has been cut short? I’m a little on the fence about let’s call them rogue sequel publications, but in some cases I’m happy to be positively surprised. Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments.
Tuesday, 4 April 2017
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
Windwitch by Susan Dennard.
Second title in this truly wonderful series of (again) four books. When did I pick up the habit of starting series that will keep me busy for so many years? Must be a childhood disease I never quite overcame ...
I loved the first book for plunging me into this rich, confusing, almost incomprehensible and yet clearly outlined and lovingly detailed world (and yes, the number of adjectives is necessary and I haven’t recently fallen into a Thesaurus/Lexicon). And this second book expands this world not by adding more places but by adding more levels and making it more understandable. It felt a little like learning new nuances of an acquired language. Instead of just grasping the bare bones of a conversation you suddenly also pick up on messages between the lines. Not yet at native speaker level, to stay in the metaphor, but possibly getting there.
I miss (really, really miss) the shared pages of Safi and Iseult as their inspiring friendship was one of my primary reasons to love the first book yet their separation and subsequent other page companions are an almost adequate compensation. As are the additional perspectives of other characters. After all just because you’re geographically apart and making new friends doesn’t mean that you’re no longer connected. (But can we please work on getting people back to other people? (Vague-McVagueness))
Speaking of bookish childhood infections: What is the first series where you remember waiting for the following book to publish? For me it is (I think) a toss up between the third His Dark Materials and the second Abhorsen book – both great choices because they definitely didn’t publish in an annual rhythm. My poor bookseller must have been near madness when I kept coming back every month asking where the next book was. (An impatient child? Me? What makes you think so?) Share your experiences and teasers in the comments!
ETA 04/11: I’m on holiday this week and won’t be adding a new entry. Happy Easter if you’re celebrating and have a wonderful week in any case.
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!
Windwitch by Susan Dennard.
 |
| Windwitch – Tor Teen |
No more tiptoeing around a room because women oughtn’t to run. To shout. To rule.
And above all: no more blighted regrets.
— Chapter 4
For although the holiest might fall—and Merik had fallen far, indeed—they could also claw their way back up again.
— Chapter 6
Second title in this truly wonderful series of (again) four books. When did I pick up the habit of starting series that will keep me busy for so many years? Must be a childhood disease I never quite overcame ...
I loved the first book for plunging me into this rich, confusing, almost incomprehensible and yet clearly outlined and lovingly detailed world (and yes, the number of adjectives is necessary and I haven’t recently fallen into a Thesaurus/Lexicon). And this second book expands this world not by adding more places but by adding more levels and making it more understandable. It felt a little like learning new nuances of an acquired language. Instead of just grasping the bare bones of a conversation you suddenly also pick up on messages between the lines. Not yet at native speaker level, to stay in the metaphor, but possibly getting there.
I miss (really, really miss) the shared pages of Safi and Iseult as their inspiring friendship was one of my primary reasons to love the first book yet their separation and subsequent other page companions are an almost adequate compensation. As are the additional perspectives of other characters. After all just because you’re geographically apart and making new friends doesn’t mean that you’re no longer connected. (But can we please work on getting people back to other people? (Vague-McVagueness))
Speaking of bookish childhood infections: What is the first series where you remember waiting for the following book to publish? For me it is (I think) a toss up between the third His Dark Materials and the second Abhorsen book – both great choices because they definitely didn’t publish in an annual rhythm. My poor bookseller must have been near madness when I kept coming back every month asking where the next book was. (An impatient child? Me? What makes you think so?) Share your experiences and teasers in the comments!
ETA 04/11: I’m on holiday this week and won’t be adding a new entry. Happy Easter if you’re celebrating and have a wonderful week in any case.
Tuesday, 28 March 2017
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness.
Warning: If irony and sarcasm are foreign to you or just not your cup of tea, you will more than likely not enjoy this book. But if you like an appreciative chuckle at the expense of popular fantasy tropes (even if you love those as well), then you should definitely have a look at this.
Patrick Ness is a wonderful storyteller who can craft a narrative that will suck you right in. But in this case not to take you on an epic adventure to save the world from an apocalypse and humanity from certain extinction. This also is not the story of the trusty side-kick/best friend/family of the hero. No, this is the story of those far in the background, who usually appear in the end credits as “Boy #2” or “Girl in Hallway” and whose only objective is to finish their final year of high school (and maybe get a prom date, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves). Sometimes the most mundane seeming thing can harbour the biggest challenge of all: Finding meaning in your own ordinarily extraordinary life.
Do you have a favourite fantasy trope that you maybe want to see turned on its head? Share ideas 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!
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness.
 |
| The Rest of Us Just Live Here – Walker Books |
In my lifetime, we’ve had 1) the undead, 2) those soul-eating ghosts, 3) the vampire cycle of romance and death, and 4) whatever might be happening now with the body of Finn and the terrified deer, if they’re even connected (they’re probably connected). When Jared’s grandad was a teenager, they had Gods.
— Chapter 6
It’s not a bomb this time, even it it might as well be.
My dad shows up.
— Chapter 15
Warning: If irony and sarcasm are foreign to you or just not your cup of tea, you will more than likely not enjoy this book. But if you like an appreciative chuckle at the expense of popular fantasy tropes (even if you love those as well), then you should definitely have a look at this.
Patrick Ness is a wonderful storyteller who can craft a narrative that will suck you right in. But in this case not to take you on an epic adventure to save the world from an apocalypse and humanity from certain extinction. This also is not the story of the trusty side-kick/best friend/family of the hero. No, this is the story of those far in the background, who usually appear in the end credits as “Boy #2” or “Girl in Hallway” and whose only objective is to finish their final year of high school (and maybe get a prom date, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves). Sometimes the most mundane seeming thing can harbour the biggest challenge of all: Finding meaning in your own ordinarily extraordinary life.
Do you have a favourite fantasy trope that you maybe want to see turned on its head? Share ideas and your teasers in the comments!
Tuesday, 21 March 2017
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:
King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard.
This is not actually the final book in a trilogy but rather the setup for the ultimate finale. And the stakes are ... staggering to say the least. Mare is held captive by her very worst nightmare and used as a propaganda puppet yet the girl still has the capability to wander off on dangerous tangents of misguided trust. And then we get other points of view. I predictably especially enjoyed staying with Cameron inside the resistance forces. I really enjoyed her voice and her if not unbiased then in other ways biased perspective.
I have the very distinct feeling that I won’t like where this is headed, but seeing that there is a whole book yet waiting after this it is to be expected that things have to go downhill before anything can be resolved. I just hope that the dear lightning girl finally comes to her senses regarding whom to trust.
Trilogies are nice and well, but four books offer a completely different opportunity for betrayal. I don’t know if the series was planned as a quadrilogy from the beginning. At the moment it seems that the story arc is well-balanced to carry across four books and I hope this holds true. What are your thoughts on longer series? Share your 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!
King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard.
 |
| King’s Cage – HarperTeen |
But even isolation has not broken my pride. Not yet.
— Chapter 2
Clearly a ruse, definitely another plot. And it was headed straight for us.
— Chapter 15
This is not actually the final book in a trilogy but rather the setup for the ultimate finale. And the stakes are ... staggering to say the least. Mare is held captive by her very worst nightmare and used as a propaganda puppet yet the girl still has the capability to wander off on dangerous tangents of misguided trust. And then we get other points of view. I predictably especially enjoyed staying with Cameron inside the resistance forces. I really enjoyed her voice and her if not unbiased then in other ways biased perspective.
I have the very distinct feeling that I won’t like where this is headed, but seeing that there is a whole book yet waiting after this it is to be expected that things have to go downhill before anything can be resolved. I just hope that the dear lightning girl finally comes to her senses regarding whom to trust.
Trilogies are nice and well, but four books offer a completely different opportunity for betrayal. I don’t know if the series was planned as a quadrilogy from the beginning. At the moment it seems that the story arc is well-balanced to carry across four books and I hope this holds true. What are your thoughts on longer series? Share your opinions and teasers in the comments!
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