Tuesday 9 February 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
The Year We Fell Apart by Emily Martin.
Isn’t that cover beautiful? I could totally see these cut outs as little pretty postcards decoratively standing around. Or maybe in frames on the wall ... Enough with the cover love, but I needed to get that off my chest first before continuing on to the content: It’s an entertaining and well-written contemporary YA romance with teen angst, family issues, friend and image problems, and second chances. Depending on my mood there is maybe a little bit too much of miscommunication and a little too slow development for the main character. Or something like that, because overall the writing itself is very on point and I enjoyed reading about Harper and especially Declan.
I would have wished for the story arc of the family thrown into a tailspin by the mother’s diagnosis. And maybe not so much dwelling on the past and mistakes made without moving on or trying to learn from or rectify them. If you’re old enough to drive and think you’re old enough to drink, then you’re certainly old enough to have an adult conversation without taking away the other person’s right to make an informed decision. And possibly that’s also one of the big take aways from this story ... apart from the obvious that sometimes second chances are well worth taking.
Now excuse me, I need to hop to the next art supply store and get some coloured construction paper ... and maybe acquire some drawing skills. Share cover beauties 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!
The Year We Fell Apart by Emily Martin.
 |
| The Year We Fell Apart – Simon Pulse |
Every time a solution was offered, his dad came up with another justification. He was just trying to find a shortcut to the end of the grief. I guess we’ve all been guilty of that at some point.
— Chapter 6
As perfect as that night turned out, that second kiss was still the worst, most desperate one we ever had. Up until the kiss I stole at the bonfire last week.
— Chapter 10
Isn’t that cover beautiful? I could totally see these cut outs as little pretty postcards decoratively standing around. Or maybe in frames on the wall ... Enough with the cover love, but I needed to get that off my chest first before continuing on to the content: It’s an entertaining and well-written contemporary YA romance with teen angst, family issues, friend and image problems, and second chances. Depending on my mood there is maybe a little bit too much of miscommunication and a little too slow development for the main character. Or something like that, because overall the writing itself is very on point and I enjoyed reading about Harper and especially Declan.
I would have wished for the story arc of the family thrown into a tailspin by the mother’s diagnosis. And maybe not so much dwelling on the past and mistakes made without moving on or trying to learn from or rectify them. If you’re old enough to drive and think you’re old enough to drink, then you’re certainly old enough to have an adult conversation without taking away the other person’s right to make an informed decision. And possibly that’s also one of the big take aways from this story ... apart from the obvious that sometimes second chances are well worth taking.
Now excuse me, I need to hop to the next art supply store and get some coloured construction paper ... and maybe acquire some drawing skills. Share cover beauties and teasers in the comments.
Tuesday 2 February 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
The Truth About Peacock Blue by Rosanne Hawke.
I didn’t go easy on myself this week regarding my book choice and in the end out of two possibly controversial books I chose the political cultural one rather than the social cultural one. Because I think it’s easier to talk about? Which in itself is quite a double meaning as that is exactly the core problem the main character faces in this book in a way: the freedom of speech, but more so the freedom of religion. This book deeply moved me and made me think and made me angry and made feel powerless. All those who should read this book and feel the same way are never going to read it and those who read it and feel like I did will most likely not have any possibility to initiate any real change.
The place of our birth and our upbringing is such a random lottery and if you’re reading this, chances are that you are lucky to live in a place where you don’t have to fear that speaking your mind will land you in prison or that not being a member of the dominant religion could secure you a place on death row. Double that if you’re female.
The case presented in this book is fictional, but it is written so well that at times I forgot. And when I remembered I had no difficulty imagining that this does happen in real life. Maybe not exactly like this but also not completely different. And in those moments I am so grateful for my fate, which was handed to me through no doing of my own, just by being born in a certain place at a certain time with a certain set of chromosomes. Yes, it is not all peachy rosy happy here either, but it can be so terribly and unfairly worse due to no other cause than a combination of geographical and genetic factors.
It’s not often that I read issue books of any kind mostly because I want my reading to be firmly settled in a comfortable fictional space and I don’t want the real world to invade that. Perhaps that’s escapist and a little cowardly of me, but when I read such a title I keep them with me quite a while and maybe that makes up for it a little. Let me know your thoughts and preferences if you like 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!
The Truth About Peacock Blue by Rosanne Hawke.
 |
| The Truth About Peacock Blue – Allen and Unwin |
It had taken only that morning almost a year before to shift the way I viewed the world, to see the danger we lived with daily. I was not yet thirteen and still thought life consisted of cricket and songs.
— Chapter 2
It lifted my spirits above the crowd of angry men shouting for my death to learn of a girl fighting for girls everywhere to have an education and to be treated justly. I imagined she was also meaning me.
— Chapter 25
I didn’t go easy on myself this week regarding my book choice and in the end out of two possibly controversial books I chose the political cultural one rather than the social cultural one. Because I think it’s easier to talk about? Which in itself is quite a double meaning as that is exactly the core problem the main character faces in this book in a way: the freedom of speech, but more so the freedom of religion. This book deeply moved me and made me think and made me angry and made feel powerless. All those who should read this book and feel the same way are never going to read it and those who read it and feel like I did will most likely not have any possibility to initiate any real change.
The place of our birth and our upbringing is such a random lottery and if you’re reading this, chances are that you are lucky to live in a place where you don’t have to fear that speaking your mind will land you in prison or that not being a member of the dominant religion could secure you a place on death row. Double that if you’re female.
The case presented in this book is fictional, but it is written so well that at times I forgot. And when I remembered I had no difficulty imagining that this does happen in real life. Maybe not exactly like this but also not completely different. And in those moments I am so grateful for my fate, which was handed to me through no doing of my own, just by being born in a certain place at a certain time with a certain set of chromosomes. Yes, it is not all peachy rosy happy here either, but it can be so terribly and unfairly worse due to no other cause than a combination of geographical and genetic factors.
It’s not often that I read issue books of any kind mostly because I want my reading to be firmly settled in a comfortable fictional space and I don’t want the real world to invade that. Perhaps that’s escapist and a little cowardly of me, but when I read such a title I keep them with me quite a while and maybe that makes up for it a little. Let me know your thoughts and preferences if you like along with your teasers in the comments.
Tuesday 26 January 2016
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.
To play along just do the following:
See How They Run by Ally Carter.
None of us are entirely free of our past and in some way or another it will always catch up to us. Your past might even come back to haunt you and that is fine ... to some extent. But when it comes back to hunt you there is definitely something very very wrong.
Second book in this series and I couldn’t be more invested if I put all of my (imaginary) trust fund in it. I admire Ally Carter for her ability to write these completely inscrutable characters whom you don’t quite trust. Even or especially when they are your narrator. Add to that political intrigue and some crime investigation or other and you can be sure that I won’t come up for air unless absolutely necessary. Well, that and other pesky things called grown-up responsibilities (really, whoever invented those).
Have you ever considered playing hooky with a book (or have you?)? And if so, which one? 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!
See How They Run by Ally Carter.
 |
| See How They Run – Scholastic Press |
And, most of all, these women remembered what their mothers and grandmothers had learned from the Romans, the Byzantines, the Turks, and the Mongols: that history almost always repeats itself. And it is almost always written by men.
— Chapter 1
“You should not be concerned about me,” he says.
“But you get to worry about me? That doesn’t quite sound fair.”
— Chapter 28
None of us are entirely free of our past and in some way or another it will always catch up to us. Your past might even come back to haunt you and that is fine ... to some extent. But when it comes back to hunt you there is definitely something very very wrong.
Second book in this series and I couldn’t be more invested if I put all of my (imaginary) trust fund in it. I admire Ally Carter for her ability to write these completely inscrutable characters whom you don’t quite trust. Even or especially when they are your narrator. Add to that political intrigue and some crime investigation or other and you can be sure that I won’t come up for air unless absolutely necessary. Well, that and other pesky things called grown-up responsibilities (really, whoever invented those).
Have you ever considered playing hooky with a book (or have you?)? And if so, which one? Share your thoughts and teasers in the comments.
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