Tuesday 22 April 2014
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge.
Usually, fairy tales are a Christmas thing, but why not Beauty and the Beast for Easter? The cover alone is all sorts of clever and interesting. Yes, it’s a rose, but what resonates inside the book are the stairs and the red dress ... well and the thorny and deceiving qualities of the flower.
Stopping short of letting this become an image analysis (really not my area of expertise) this story has some fun dialogue between a not-so-pure-at-heart Beauty and her not-quite-so-beastly Beast. Very clever to mark the Beast primarily by his character and not to much his appearance. And of course the influences of Greek and Roman mythology and several nods to T.S. Elliot had me smiling several times (and guessing in the slightly wrong direction in the beginning). The end was a bit too quick and clean for me compared to the more fleshed out beginning.
Nevertheless, this is a fun field day for hunters of intertextual connections as well as it is an entertaining read if you are looking for an innocent and pretty love story with some bumps along the way.
How did you spend the Easter Weekend? I consumed way too many chocolate eggs and quite a few pages. Let’s hear from you in 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!
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge.
 |
| Cruel Beauty – Balzer + Bray |
“Well, I’m already hoping there could be a dinner where you don’t try to stab me with your fork,” he said.
“You might need to make your peace with disappointment.”
— Chapter 5
Then I let go and forced a smile. “I wasn’t born to be saved.”
— Chapter 10
Usually, fairy tales are a Christmas thing, but why not Beauty and the Beast for Easter? The cover alone is all sorts of clever and interesting. Yes, it’s a rose, but what resonates inside the book are the stairs and the red dress ... well and the thorny and deceiving qualities of the flower.
Stopping short of letting this become an image analysis (really not my area of expertise) this story has some fun dialogue between a not-so-pure-at-heart Beauty and her not-quite-so-beastly Beast. Very clever to mark the Beast primarily by his character and not to much his appearance. And of course the influences of Greek and Roman mythology and several nods to T.S. Elliot had me smiling several times (and guessing in the slightly wrong direction in the beginning). The end was a bit too quick and clean for me compared to the more fleshed out beginning.
Nevertheless, this is a fun field day for hunters of intertextual connections as well as it is an entertaining read if you are looking for an innocent and pretty love story with some bumps along the way.
How did you spend the Easter Weekend? I consumed way too many chocolate eggs and quite a few pages. Let’s hear from you in comments.
Tuesday 15 April 2014
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:
The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas.
Teasers from the same chapter and the first at that. I could be ashamed ... but seeing that the current alternative is either something that won’t be published until 2015 or from a Children’s Primary School Lexicon (which is astonishingly comprehensive and detailed but doesn’t make for an entertaining read) it is the book I started between coming home and food.
And I must say, after those 20 or something pages I’m already quite hooked. I don’t understand everything yet, but that seems intentional. (Also: there are end notes ... this is becoming a habit) I only know already that I want one of those flying horse-dragon-things.
Now that I have alienated enough people with weird ramblings about this book please excuse me, I’ll have to get back to the possibly smitten cauldron. As I said, it is still a bit strange. But a good strange, I think.
Let me wish you a happy Easter in advance if you celebrate ... maybe the Bunny will bring some reading material other than the chocolate wrappings. Tell me what you’re reading 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 Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas.
 |
| The Burning Sky – Balzer + Bray |
She chewed on the inside of her cheek for a minute. Then she pulled on a pair of thick gloves and grabbed the cauldron.
What did she have to lose?
— Chapter 1
“Smite that cauldron, will you? I haven’t got all day!”
— Chapter 1
Teasers from the same chapter and the first at that. I could be ashamed ... but seeing that the current alternative is either something that won’t be published until 2015 or from a Children’s Primary School Lexicon (which is astonishingly comprehensive and detailed but doesn’t make for an entertaining read) it is the book I started between coming home and food.
And I must say, after those 20 or something pages I’m already quite hooked. I don’t understand everything yet, but that seems intentional. (Also: there are end notes ... this is becoming a habit) I only know already that I want one of those flying horse-dragon-things.
Now that I have alienated enough people with weird ramblings about this book please excuse me, I’ll have to get back to the possibly smitten cauldron. As I said, it is still a bit strange. But a good strange, I think.
Let me wish you a happy Easter in advance if you celebrate ... maybe the Bunny will bring some reading material other than the chocolate wrappings. Tell me what you’re reading in the comments.
Tuesday 8 April 2014
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:
The Winners’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski.
It’s been a while since I had a (one-sided) discussion with a book about ending right where it does ... it went something like this:
Julika nears the end of the book, the remaining pages get fewer and fewer but the characters are not in a position Julika would want to leave them in. Last page, Julika: “No. Nonononono. Not there not now.” Book ends. “There must be pages missing. Right? Somewhere?” No further pages turn up. Julika has a mild whinge tantrum.
Thankfully, there will be more books because this is so not over! It could be and it would be heart-breaking, but if I had to, I could maybe at some point accept it. I so very much enjoyed the world Marie Rutkoski has developed and the people she placed in it. I could also have chosen to tease you with the several mentions of different kinds of smiles, which I thought were very cool and so cleverly scattered throughout the story, which adds another layer of depth and perception. Maybe it’s the former literature student talking, but these details make me appreciate a book so much more when I notice these things that speak of a carefully planned writing and thought-process.
Anyway, I so so cannot wait for the next part of this. Go and read the (sort of) prequel story, Bridge of Snow, fall in love with the writing, and then go read this book!
Do you keep an eye out for plot-devices? Do you have a book where such a thing made you appreciate the story more? Share them in comments, along with your teaser.
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 Winners’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski.
 |
| The Winner’s Curse – Farrar Straus Giroux |
He knew the law of such things: people in brightly lit places cannot see into the dark.
— Chapter 8
“It turns out that I am a coward.”
Arin shook his head. “It’s harder to live.”
Yes. It was. Kestrel had known there would be no escape tonight, and probably not for some time to come.
— Chapter 29
It’s been a while since I had a (one-sided) discussion with a book about ending right where it does ... it went something like this:
Julika nears the end of the book, the remaining pages get fewer and fewer but the characters are not in a position Julika would want to leave them in. Last page, Julika: “No. Nonononono. Not there not now.” Book ends. “There must be pages missing. Right? Somewhere?” No further pages turn up. Julika has a mild whinge tantrum.
Thankfully, there will be more books because this is so not over! It could be and it would be heart-breaking, but if I had to, I could maybe at some point accept it. I so very much enjoyed the world Marie Rutkoski has developed and the people she placed in it. I could also have chosen to tease you with the several mentions of different kinds of smiles, which I thought were very cool and so cleverly scattered throughout the story, which adds another layer of depth and perception. Maybe it’s the former literature student talking, but these details make me appreciate a book so much more when I notice these things that speak of a carefully planned writing and thought-process.
Anyway, I so so cannot wait for the next part of this. Go and read the (sort of) prequel story, Bridge of Snow, fall in love with the writing, and then go read this book!
Do you keep an eye out for plot-devices? Do you have a book where such a thing made you appreciate the story more? Share them in comments, along with your teaser.
Tuesday 1 April 2014
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray.
After I was finished with university, I promised myself something along the lines of “No more books with footnotes!” But some promises are made to be broken, because otherwise I’d have to miss out on quite a few books.
Parts of this are so absurd that they’re actually too real and at the same time hilariously funny. In a holding up a mirror and laugh before you run screaming sort of way. It’s great humour and I’m enjoying this a lot. But I’ll have to say that I first tried reading the book on my reader and on there, footnotes are a pain. That’s a problem to be solved. Until then: real books. Or the desktop app solution in this case.
Footnotes can be a topic of strong feelings – do you have any thoughts? Love them, like them, hate them? Let’s hear from you in the comments. And no, none of this is an April Fool’s ... happy April, everyone.
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!
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray.
 |
| Beauty Queens – Scholastic Press |
And so our tale begins with a sudden fall from blue skies, with screams and prayers and a camera crew bravely recording every bit of the turbulence and drama: What a lucky break for their show!
— Prologue
“I am team captain. And I say we’re doing our pageant prep first, according to plan. Priorities.”
“Shouldn’t our priorities be food, shelter, and rescue?”
— Chapter 6
After I was finished with university, I promised myself something along the lines of “No more books with footnotes!” But some promises are made to be broken, because otherwise I’d have to miss out on quite a few books.
Parts of this are so absurd that they’re actually too real and at the same time hilariously funny. In a holding up a mirror and laugh before you run screaming sort of way. It’s great humour and I’m enjoying this a lot. But I’ll have to say that I first tried reading the book on my reader and on there, footnotes are a pain. That’s a problem to be solved. Until then: real books. Or the desktop app solution in this case.
Footnotes can be a topic of strong feelings – do you have any thoughts? Love them, like them, hate them? Let’s hear from you in the comments. And no, none of this is an April Fool’s ... happy April, everyone.
Tuesday 25 March 2014
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:
Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi.
When I read the first book, Through the Ever Night, that was a week or so before the announcement of Google Glass, which weirdly sounded like a prototype of the SmartEye technology used in this series ... oddly disturbing. But luckily for us, Google doesn’t seem to work too quickly on perfecting this thing. At least not to a point of dystopian proportions. Nevertheless, I’m halfway through this and I already know that I’ll miss these characters. Fingers crossed that I’ll get to miss them in a good way and not that-other-sad-way. What I really like about this series is that the people in it deal (or don’t deal) with feelings and problems instead of those plopping up as plot devices and then vanishing when it’s convenient. It’s not a centre-stage story arc but still a prominent theme and I think it’s depicted extremely well.
Did any of your books ever follow you into real life like the Google Glass announcement? Share your stories 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!
Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi.
 |
| Into the Still Blue – Harper |
Then I remember this is all we have. Real is all that’s left.
— Chapter 9
“What you should worry about is the fact that they’re forcing a workhorse to be a racehorse.”
“I liked it better when I didn’t understand him,” Roar said.
— Chapter 27
When I read the first book, Through the Ever Night, that was a week or so before the announcement of Google Glass, which weirdly sounded like a prototype of the SmartEye technology used in this series ... oddly disturbing. But luckily for us, Google doesn’t seem to work too quickly on perfecting this thing. At least not to a point of dystopian proportions. Nevertheless, I’m halfway through this and I already know that I’ll miss these characters. Fingers crossed that I’ll get to miss them in a good way and not that-other-sad-way. What I really like about this series is that the people in it deal (or don’t deal) with feelings and problems instead of those plopping up as plot devices and then vanishing when it’s convenient. It’s not a centre-stage story arc but still a prominent theme and I think it’s depicted extremely well.
Did any of your books ever follow you into real life like the Google Glass announcement? Share your stories and teasers in the comments.
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