Category: Teaser Tuesdays

It’s Teaser Tuesday!

Last week, I posted five teasers from books I was planning to read soon. In that time, I have only finished two of them, and in the meantime a new Alexander McCall Smith book came to the library, so that immediately went to the top of the pile.

I was happy that last week lots of people posted teasers of their own on my Facebook page. You can use the blog comments, too. Teaser Tuesday is hosted by the blog Should Be Reading, and here’s what you do:

Take a book you’re currently reading, turn to a random page, and post two teaser sentences from that page (no spoilers allowed). Alternatively, you can use the page where your bookmark is lying (which is what I’m doing today). Then tell the title and author of the book.

Here’s my contribution for this week:

La’s childhood was spent in the shadow of Death. He was an uninvited guest at their table, sitting patiently, watching La’s mother, his target, bemused, perhaps, that such courage and determination could keep an illness at bay for so long.

— La’s Orchestra Saves the World, by Alexander McCall Smith

It’s already Teaser Tuesday again!

On Teaser Tuesday, hosted by Should Be Reading, you take a book you’re currently reading, turn to a random page, and post two teaser sentences from that page (no spoilers allowed).

Last week, I had so much fun choosing my next book by looking at teasers, this week I’m really going to get carried away. First off, I will say I limited myself to books in the pile by my bed of books I hope to read very soon. And this is only part of the pile. I am not telling how many more piles there are.

I will post the titles and authors after the teasers. I will begin with the books I will probably read first.

Teaser Number One: “Well, you mustn’t be caught by them!” the king said to Minli. “Then they would find out all about my little adventures and then where will I be?”

Teaser Number Two: The dresses and the food didn’t matter, but the laughing did, and you didn’t wear the bells out by ringing them. Did happiness wear out?

Teaser Number Three: This doesn’t have anything to do with anything, but it would seem weird if I didn’t mention that the Hallsteds’ green Cadillac might not actually be green. I am a deuteranope.

Teaser Number Four: There wouldn’t be a chance to get coats. In the falling snow, she could hold the baby against her, using the blanket to shield him.

Teaser Number Five: On the way to lunch on Tuesday, they pause at the front end of the car, united by a common sympathy for ruined metal. Duncan can’t help thinking that given a woman’s bruised face or a bad dent, he knows which one he’d wince at first.

See what I mean I’m having too much fun with this? And that’s only some of the books on my first pile. Let’s see. Remember how in December I was planning to catch up on the 30 books I’ve read and want to review? Well, now there are 39 on my list! You can see that I’ve only written one “official” review in December, but have done plenty of reading.

I’m going to have to chalk it up, again, to headaches. I’m getting these very low-level, very persistent headaches. I can still read, but it’s harder to be creative and write reviews. So — I’m adding more books to my list to be reviewed, and then not reviewing them. This was made all the worse the last few weeks, as the neurologist prescribed a migraine preventative to try — and it turned out to be exactly the medicine I should not take. I think it was responsible for several migraines during that time. All I know is that today the side effects of that medication are done; I feel worlds better — but I still have the very persistent, very low-level headache that I went to see the neurologist about in the first place. In fact, this is the 27th day. Urgh.

Anyway, my reaction to the medication put things in perspective — this low-level headache is really not so bad! By contrast, I almost feel good!

But I suppose I probably won’t get five books read in the next week. Still, I can try. Here are the candidates for my next books to read:

Candidate Number One: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin. This is a children’s novel mentioned on the Heavy Medal blog and nominated for the Capitol Choices list. Looks good. Quite light, with fairy tale overtones. Might be a little too much like the fabulous Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman, which I finished last night.

Candidate Number Two: A Christmas Promise, by Anne Perry. So far, in my light holiday reading in past years, books by Anne Perry have definitely been my favorites. I started this after my MRI last week, so tonight might be a good time to polish it off.

Candidate Number Three: A Young Adult novel with a great cover is How to Steal a Car, by Pete Hautman. Great author, too. I will definitely read this one soon, but am not quite sure when I will get to it.

Candidate Number Four: The Spy Who Came for Christmas, by David Morell. Holiday thriller reading is usually fun, too. If this one involves a baby in danger, I might have second thoughts.

Candidate Number Five: New World Monkeys, by Nancy Mauro. Gotta love that title! This is a novel for adults that looks quirky and funny. Looks like there’s a lot of realistic, and funny, tension between a married couple, too. If that doesn’t get too dark, could add to the fun.

So, I’ve certainly spent enough time on that. Now I’m going to review last week’s teaser, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery.

It’s Teaser Tuesday!

Teaser Tuesday is a blog Meme hosted by Should Be Reading. You go to a random page from a book you’re reading and post two teaser sentences from that page.

I think it’s especially fun today, because I wasn’t quite sure what book I wanted to pick up tonight. Bedtime’s still a couple hours away, so let’s see if I get any responses. And I will see what teasers I come up with. Here are the two books I am considering.

Candidate one I started at the doctor’s office last week. It comes highly recommended, has an intriguing premise and has a long wait list at the library, so I need to turn my copy in. The only trouble is that it didn’t quite grab me. But I wanted to give it one more chance. Let’s see what teaser I come up with.

Hmm. Now that I”m doing this, I don’t think I will post the titles and authors until after I have come up with the teasers. Okay, Teaser number one:

What if literature were a television we gaze into in order to activate our mirror neurons and give ourselves some action-packed cheap thrills? And even worse: what if literature were a television showing us all the things we have missed?

Candidate Number Two is a fluffy holiday book. I get this silly hankering for them this time of year. You can kind of tell that’s what it is with Teaser number two:

Megan noticed he was wearing the sneakers with the sutures again. He didn’t have any money, she guessed.

Hmm. I’m still not sure which book I’ll read tonight, though I’m afraid the fluffy one is losing appeal by how hard it was to find a page that had any interesting sentences at all.

The titles of the books are Candidate Number One: The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery, and Candidate Number Two: Thanksgiving, by Janet Evanovich.

Which do you think I should tackle tonight? Please vote in the comments! And leave a teaser of your own!

Teaser Tuesday is a blog meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

I love it! If I can swing it, I plan to make a weekly habit of participating in this my first blog meme. Tuesday is the night I work late at the library, but if possible, I’m going to make a post. Here’s how Teaser Tuesdays work:

Grab a book you’re currently reading.

Open to a random page.
**Note: I’m going to modify this to open to a page where my bookmark is unless it gives away too much.

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!!!

Of course share the title and author, too.

Oh, I’ve got a fantastic one to share today, and it’s perfect because it’s from a volume of three stories and the first page of the first story can’t possibly be spoilers, can they?

I’d love for my readers to share theirs in my comments, but you can also do it on your own blogs, and of course on Should Be Reading. That’s how these things spread! Isn’t it fun?! That’s called community! 🙂

Okay, here are my teasers from Lips Touch: Three Times, by Laini Taylor, page 145:

She went to sleep with brown eyes, and when she woke at dawn to the howling of wolves, her left eye was blue. . . . Her eye flashed at her in the mirror, pale as the wink of a ghost, and she forgot all about the wolves and just stared at herself.