Tuesday 17 March 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein.
My first Elizabeth Wein book was Code Name Verity which totally blindsided me and then utterly destroyed me with feelings. So going in for this companion, I already expected this to wreck me again ... and it did, just not in the way I thought I had prepared myself for. I admired the bravery and friendship in Verity, which was very much about individual resistance and personal acts of fighting and I don’t know what else to say ... if you haven’t read Verity, I am urging you to do so. And after you’ve recovered, come back for Rose.
This book perfectly highlights the desperate fight for hope and survival and showcases the little victories among so much fear and loss on the bigger scale of prisoner groups within the organised industrial mass murder. It shows the brutality and efficiency of Nazi prisoner warfare from the very limited but still gruesome point of view of a prisoner who fared comparatively well, all things considered. And still it made my heart ache how humans could do this to other humans ... and possibly still can, who knows what’s going on behind certain front lines, it makes me sick and (like Rose) so mad that people can become so inhuman. With just a very few carefully selected words Elizabeth Wein manages to make the characters in her books come to live in all their devastating, seemingly hopeless beauty and devastating cruelty alike. I sobbed for a character I had known for only a few paragraphs when it became clear that she wouldn’t survive, not just because I liked her, but also because it illustrates the unfairness and randomness of these deaths.
This year, there are a lot of ceremonies and memorial events for the liberation of the concentration camps and the end of World War II in general and while I don’t feel responsible for a war and crimes a generation older than my grandparents caused, I still think that it is important to remember and to bear witness. I think Rose or Verity would be a amazing school reads (or just important literature anyway, considering how school reading lists are selected), but sadly enough no German publisher has picked them up ... possibly for fear of there being too much aviation talk and condemnation of Germans in it, even if neither is the case.
I was lucky to be able to visit a reading by an Auschwitz survivor and to experience this amazing person still alive. Because the reality is that these people are dying of old age, but books like this can help to ensure that what they had to endure will never be forgotten. And hopefully also help that something like this will never happen again.
What are you reading this week? 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!
Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein.
 |
| Rose Under Fire – Disney Hyperion |
It is just incredible that you can notice something like this when your face is so cold you can’t feel it any more, and you know perfectly well you are surrounded by death and the only way to stay alive is to endure the howling wind and stay on course. And still the sky is beautiful.
— Part 1, Chapter 3
I have scars that show and scars that don’t.
— Part 3, Chapter 2.2
My first Elizabeth Wein book was Code Name Verity which totally blindsided me and then utterly destroyed me with feelings. So going in for this companion, I already expected this to wreck me again ... and it did, just not in the way I thought I had prepared myself for. I admired the bravery and friendship in Verity, which was very much about individual resistance and personal acts of fighting and I don’t know what else to say ... if you haven’t read Verity, I am urging you to do so. And after you’ve recovered, come back for Rose.
This book perfectly highlights the desperate fight for hope and survival and showcases the little victories among so much fear and loss on the bigger scale of prisoner groups within the organised industrial mass murder. It shows the brutality and efficiency of Nazi prisoner warfare from the very limited but still gruesome point of view of a prisoner who fared comparatively well, all things considered. And still it made my heart ache how humans could do this to other humans ... and possibly still can, who knows what’s going on behind certain front lines, it makes me sick and (like Rose) so mad that people can become so inhuman. With just a very few carefully selected words Elizabeth Wein manages to make the characters in her books come to live in all their devastating, seemingly hopeless beauty and devastating cruelty alike. I sobbed for a character I had known for only a few paragraphs when it became clear that she wouldn’t survive, not just because I liked her, but also because it illustrates the unfairness and randomness of these deaths.
This year, there are a lot of ceremonies and memorial events for the liberation of the concentration camps and the end of World War II in general and while I don’t feel responsible for a war and crimes a generation older than my grandparents caused, I still think that it is important to remember and to bear witness. I think Rose or Verity would be a amazing school reads (or just important literature anyway, considering how school reading lists are selected), but sadly enough no German publisher has picked them up ... possibly for fear of there being too much aviation talk and condemnation of Germans in it, even if neither is the case.
I was lucky to be able to visit a reading by an Auschwitz survivor and to experience this amazing person still alive. Because the reality is that these people are dying of old age, but books like this can help to ensure that what they had to endure will never be forgotten. And hopefully also help that something like this will never happen again.
What are you reading this week? Let’s hear from you in the comments.
Tuesday 10 March 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.
Life isn’t about reaching the end in pristine condition with nary a scratch. Or so they say. If that is the case, I’d like to argue that neither is reading. You shouldn’t expect to reach the end of a book without having accepted some emotional punches in one way or another. This book is an especially adventurous reading rollercoaster. When you think you have figured out the motives of everyone they’ll more than likely blow up in your face. Anyone can betray anyone, as it says in the book ... and true to their word, they will. Even those who you think are a safe bet. A brilliant story with maybe one too many twist for me at the very end, but I’m more than excited to find out more in the next book.
Which book made you doubt your character understanding skills? Would you recommend it or rather say that it was causing you too much whiplash? Share your experiences 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!
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.
 |
| Red Queen – HarperTeen |
One day he’ll realize I'm his enemy, and all this will be a far-gone memory. But not yet.
— Chapter 14
I can’t believe I didn’t see him for what he was from the beginning: a wolf in sheep’s clothing. And now I’m the sheep pretending to be a wolf.
— Chapter 24
Life isn’t about reaching the end in pristine condition with nary a scratch. Or so they say. If that is the case, I’d like to argue that neither is reading. You shouldn’t expect to reach the end of a book without having accepted some emotional punches in one way or another. This book is an especially adventurous reading rollercoaster. When you think you have figured out the motives of everyone they’ll more than likely blow up in your face. Anyone can betray anyone, as it says in the book ... and true to their word, they will. Even those who you think are a safe bet. A brilliant story with maybe one too many twist for me at the very end, but I’m more than excited to find out more in the next book.
Which book made you doubt your character understanding skills? Would you recommend it or rather say that it was causing you too much whiplash? Share your experiences and teasers in the comments.
Tuesday 3 March 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:
The Faerie Queen by Kiki Hamilton.
Onwards with conquering the Mount TBR! I have tackled a series of which I enjoyed the first book and then somehow didn’t get around to the sequels ... but now tackled is exactly the right description as I read all three back to back. Many series don’t hold up to such a reading marathon as they (often necessarily) need to be a bit repetitive to remind the reader of important background information an so on. In this series these repetitive elements are there if you know to look for them, but otherwise they are quite cleverly hidden in the text.
I love all things London, even the smoke-stained coal and poverty historical settings, at least to read about them ... possibly not so much in reality. And even if the setting more and more shifts from the city in the progression of the series, the overall feeling of the place still remains in the nature and behaviour of the characters. This series is for you if you like duckling to swan stories with some historical touches and don’t mind folktale faerie (not cute-sy Tinkerbell) magic backgrounds.
Do you have any finished series slumbering in your reading pile? Share them along with your teasers (and maybe tell me how you plan on reading them – all at once or in-between other books?).
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 Faerie Queen by Kiki Hamilton.
 |
| The Faerie Queen – Fair Wind Books |
Destiny is simply the intersection of hard work and opportunity – nothing more, nothing less. If you put your mind to something with the intent of pursuing the goal at all cost – you create your own destiny.
— Chapter 15
Wasn’t it you who said “better alive in Faerie than dead forever?” The boy won’t last much longer.
— Chapter 17
Onwards with conquering the Mount TBR! I have tackled a series of which I enjoyed the first book and then somehow didn’t get around to the sequels ... but now tackled is exactly the right description as I read all three back to back. Many series don’t hold up to such a reading marathon as they (often necessarily) need to be a bit repetitive to remind the reader of important background information an so on. In this series these repetitive elements are there if you know to look for them, but otherwise they are quite cleverly hidden in the text.
I love all things London, even the smoke-stained coal and poverty historical settings, at least to read about them ... possibly not so much in reality. And even if the setting more and more shifts from the city in the progression of the series, the overall feeling of the place still remains in the nature and behaviour of the characters. This series is for you if you like duckling to swan stories with some historical touches and don’t mind folktale faerie (not cute-sy Tinkerbell) magic backgrounds.
Do you have any finished series slumbering in your reading pile? Share them along with your teasers (and maybe tell me how you plan on reading them – all at once or in-between other books?).
Tuesday 24 February 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:
Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan.
Even the longest of train journeys can be somewhat improved by good stories, but I probably shouldn’t jinx it – my track record with trains is epically bad. I’ve missed the Shadowhunter world quite a bit so I suppose you could have given me a Nephilim phone book and I would have enjoyed reading it ... but this was so much better! I hadn’t realised that a certain warlock had so much snark in her. I especially loved that discovery. There were many moments when I must have made sounds of amusement, because my seat neighbour at one point first tried to read over my shoulder and then asked me what the funny book was. I must admit that I was a bit stumped because how do you explain a between books e-short set in a thoroughly established book universe without alienating said neighbour? I think I did a fairly good job, because in the end she asked me to write down the title of the first book. I would have had her sold on Untold as well, but alas that one is not available in German, which is horrific, if you asked me ...
Have you ever been asked by a stranger what you were reading? Or have you asked a stranger about their books? That would be an interesting sort of “week’s assignment” ... hmm ... would anyone like to try that? 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!
Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan.
 |
| Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy – Margaret K. McElderry Books |
People said things like that, without thinking of potential nightmare scenarios or horrific conditions, the whole world changing and love slipping away. None of them ever dreamed love would be tested, and fail.
— 4 %
“Moreover, in the interest of thoroughness I must tell you there is a problem with the food supplies.”
Catarina raised an ivory eyebrow.
“What’s the problem with the food supplies?”
“There aren’t any food supplies.”
“That is a problem.”
— 24 %
Even the longest of train journeys can be somewhat improved by good stories, but I probably shouldn’t jinx it – my track record with trains is epically bad. I’ve missed the Shadowhunter world quite a bit so I suppose you could have given me a Nephilim phone book and I would have enjoyed reading it ... but this was so much better! I hadn’t realised that a certain warlock had so much snark in her. I especially loved that discovery. There were many moments when I must have made sounds of amusement, because my seat neighbour at one point first tried to read over my shoulder and then asked me what the funny book was. I must admit that I was a bit stumped because how do you explain a between books e-short set in a thoroughly established book universe without alienating said neighbour? I think I did a fairly good job, because in the end she asked me to write down the title of the first book. I would have had her sold on Untold as well, but alas that one is not available in German, which is horrific, if you asked me ...
Have you ever been asked by a stranger what you were reading? Or have you asked a stranger about their books? That would be an interesting sort of “week’s assignment” ... hmm ... would anyone like to try that? Let’s hear from you in the comments!
Tuesday 17 February 2015
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.
To play along just do the following:
If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch.
Usually, I’m the person recommending books (and then occasionally pestering, if the book has been read yet). This book was recommended to me by no one other than my mother. In the very subtle way of mothers that I don’t have to read this, but I’d probably miss something if I didn’t. And I don’t know about your mothers, but mine is quite often right about things. Books especially. This story will probably haunt me for a while, in an absolutely positive way, because while the topic is certainly quite dark, the writing is the very opposite. Beautifully told and with such a force that once you get used to the language you will have a heard time to put this down before you know how it all fits together and if it turns out okay. I know that I’ll be spreading the recommendation of this book for quite a while. But be warned that the content is not light at all. I’m not a fan of warning labels on books and I think that the cover in this case will serve to deter the reader looking for a light and fun read, because they won’t find it in this hauntingly dark beauty of a story.
What is your latest book that was recommended to you and that you will now in turn keep recommending to others? 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!
If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch.
 |
| If You Find Me – St. Martin’s Griffin |
I take my hand back, like a leaf letting go. It hurts too much to hang on. So why does it hurt so much to let go?
— Chapter 11
My life’s a tangle of past and present, like two separate puzzles with their pieces tumbled together. Nothing fits.
— Chapter 12
Usually, I’m the person recommending books (and then occasionally pestering, if the book has been read yet). This book was recommended to me by no one other than my mother. In the very subtle way of mothers that I don’t have to read this, but I’d probably miss something if I didn’t. And I don’t know about your mothers, but mine is quite often right about things. Books especially. This story will probably haunt me for a while, in an absolutely positive way, because while the topic is certainly quite dark, the writing is the very opposite. Beautifully told and with such a force that once you get used to the language you will have a heard time to put this down before you know how it all fits together and if it turns out okay. I know that I’ll be spreading the recommendation of this book for quite a while. But be warned that the content is not light at all. I’m not a fan of warning labels on books and I think that the cover in this case will serve to deter the reader looking for a light and fun read, because they won’t find it in this hauntingly dark beauty of a story.
What is your latest book that was recommended to you and that you will now in turn keep recommending to others? Share them and your teasers in the comments.
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