First Chapter - First Paragaph(s) - Tuesday Intros; Teaser Tuesdays (May 26)

This is my choice for this week:

First published 1928

We are at rest five miles behind the front.  Yesterday we were relieved, and now our bellies are full of beef and haricot beans.  We are satisfied and at peace.  Each man has another mess-tin full for the evening; and, what is more, there is a double ration of sausage and bread.  That put a man in fine trim.  We have not had such luck as this for a long time.  The cook with his carroty head is begging us to eat; he beckons with his ladle to every one that passes, and spoons him out a great dollop.  He does not see how he can empty his stew-pot in time for coffee.  Tjaden and Müller have produced two washbasins and had them filled up to the brim as a reserve.  In Tjaden this is voracity, Müller it is foresight.  Where Tjaden puts it all is a mystery, for he is and always will be as thin as a rake. - pg. 1& 2

Would you continue reading?

First Chapter - First Paragaph(s) - Tuesday Intros; Teaser Tuesdays

Here is my choice for this week:

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

Originally published April, 2013

On a warm night in early July of that long-evaporated year, the Interestings gathered for the very first time.  They were only fifteen, sixteen, and they began to call themselves the name with tentative irony.  Julie Jacobson, an outsider and possibly even a freak had been invited in for obscure reasons, and now she sat in a corner on the unswept floor and attempted to position herself so she would appear unobtrusive yet not pathetic, which was a difficult balance.

What do you think?  Would you continue?

First Chapter - First Paragaph(s) - Tuesday Intros; Teaser Tuesdays

                                

Here is my choice for this week:

Labor Day by Joyce Maynard

Originally published 2009

It was just the two of us, my mother and me, after my father left.  He said I should count the new baby he had with his new wife, Marjorie, as part of my family too, plus Richard, Marjorie's son, who was six months younger than me though he was good at all the sports I messed up in.  But our family was my mother, Adele, and me, period.  I would have counted the hamster, Joe, before including that baby, Chloe.

What did you think?  Do you think you would keep reading?

Teaser Tuesdays (Mar. 12)

Teaser Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  Anybody can 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!

At the beginning of July, during a spell of exceptionally hot weather, towards evening, a certain young man came down on to the street from the little room he rented from some tenants in S--- Lane and slowly, almost hesitantly, set off  towards K-----n bridge.

~ p. 5, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Teaser Tuesdays (Nov. 13)

Teaser Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  Anybody can 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!

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.  Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

~p. 3, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Teaser Tuesdays (Nov. 6)

Teaser Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  Anybody can 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!

On May 18,1860, the day when the Republican Party would nominate its candidate for president, Abraham Lincoln was up early.  As he climbed the stairs to his plainly furnished law office on the south side of the public square in Springfield, Illinois, breakfast was being served at the 130-room Chenery House on Fourth Street.  Fresh butter, flour, lard, and eggs were being put out for sale at the City Grocery Store on North Sixth Street.  And in the morning newspaper, the proprietors at Smith, Wickersham & Company had announced the arrival of a large spring stock of silks, calicos, ginghams, and linens, along with a new supply of the latest styles of hosiery and gloves.

~ p. 5, Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Teaser Tuesdays (Oct. 30)

Teaser Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  Anybody can 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!

There were very few passengers, yet Frank dutifully sat in the last seat, trying to shrink his six-foot-three-inch body and holding the sandwich bag close.  From the windows, through the fur of snow, the landscape became more melancholy when the sun successfully brightened the quiet trees, unable to speak without their leaves.

~ p. 19, Home by Toni Morrison

Teaser Tuesdays (July 3)

Teaser Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  Anybody can 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!

Light, fast, Zalman's heels rapped the fround as he ran, naked, down the center aisle of the House of Prayer.  His hand reache toward the Torah scroll raised above the alter, but the embroidered mantle slid up and out of sight.  


~ pg. 3, I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits

Teaser Tuesdays (May 15)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can 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 sun is shining, mynah birds are chattering, palm trees are swaying, so what.  I'm in the hospital and I'm healthy.


~ The Descendants, Kaui Hart Hemmings

Teaser Tuesdays (May 1)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can 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!

 It happened every year, was almost a ritual.  And this was his eighty-second birthday.  When, as usual, the flower was delivered, he took off the wrapping paper and then picked up the telephone to call Detective Superintendent Morell who, when he retired, had moved to Lake Siljan in Dlarna.  They were not only the same age, they had been born on the same day-which was something of an irony under the circumstances.  The old policeman was sitting with his coffee, waiting, expecting the call.


~ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson

Teaser Tuesdays (Mar. 27)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can 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!

For eight years I dreamed of fire.  Trees ignited as I passed them; oceans burned.  The sugary smoke settled in my hair as I slept, the scent like a clould left on my pillow as I rose.  Even so, the moment my mattress started to burn, I bolted awake.  The sharp, chemical smell was nothing like the hazy syrup of my dreams; the two were as different as Carolina and Indian jasmine, separation and attachment.  They could not be confused.


~ The Language of Flowers, Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Teaser Tuesdays (Mar. 6)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can 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!

 "Which one's ours?" Jed asked. 
It was August 2008, and Jed and I were in Rhode Island.  For reasons mysterious to everyone, including myself, I had insisted that we get a second dog, and we were at the same breeder's where we'd gotten Coco.


~ (page unknown), Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

Teaser Tuesdays (Feb. 28)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can 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 girl fell upon the food that was placed in front of her, cramming it into her mouth with slurping noises her mother would have detested.  It was heaven.  It seemed she had never tasted such savory, delicious soup.  Such fresh, soft bread.  Creamy, rich Brie cheese.  Succulent, velvety peaches.  Rachel ate more slowly.  Glancing across at her, the girl saw that Rachel was pale.  Her hands were trembling, her eyes feverish.

~p. 117, Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rossay

Teaser Tuesdays (Jan. 17)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can 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!

 By the next Monday, the leaves on that mimosa tree have turned black like it burned instead of froze.  I come in the kitchen ready to tell her how many days we have left, but Miss Celia's staring at that tree, hating it with her eyes the same way she hates the stove.  She's pale, won't eat anything I put in front of her.


~ p.157, The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Teaser Tuesdays (Jan. 3)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can 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!

 Without further expostulation or delay, Hester Prynne drained the cup, and at the motion of the man of skill, seated herself on the bed where the child was sleeping; while he drew the only chair with the room afforded, and took his own seat beside her.  She could not but tremble at these preparations, for she felt that-having now done all that humanity, or principle, or, if so it were, a refined cruelty, impelled him to do, for the relief of physical suffering-he was next to treat with her as the man whom she had most deeply and irreparably injured.


~p. 70, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Teaser Tuesdays (Dec. 27)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can 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 hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of Privet Drive.  Cars that were usually gleaming stood dusty in their drives and lawns that were once emerald green lay parched and yellowing - for the use of hosepipes hand been banned due to drought.


~ p. 7, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Teaser Tuesdays (Dec. 20)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can 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!

Claire Donogue, Gaby's eldest daughter, had just finished her mother's video, and, well, wow. Go, Gaby! 

~ p. 13, The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

Teaser Tuesdays (Dec. 13)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can 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 were to stroll down the candy-can façade of a suburban housing estate early on Christmas morning, you couldn't help but observe how the houses in all their tinselled glory are akin to the wrapped parcels that lie beneath the Christmas trees within.  For each holds their secrets inside.

~ p. 1, The Gift by Cecelia Ahern

Teaser Tuesdays (Dec.6)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can 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!

 It felt good to feel truly grateful.  I had learned a great truth: Joy isn't the natural response to blessings---joy is what comes from acknowledging them.


~p. 205, Lost December: A Novel by Richard Paul Evans

Teaser Tuesdays (Nov. 22)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can 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!

 Karkaroff beckoned forwards one of his students.  As the boy passed, Harry caught a glimpse of a prominent, curved nose and thick black eyebrows.  He didn't need the punch on the arm Ron gave him, or the hiss in his ear, to recognise that profile.
'Harry - it's Krum!'


~ p. 218, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling