Category: Books

Teaser Tuesday: The Casual Vacancy

The weatherman forecasts rain this week.

Just in time for the wheel of time to turn to:

Teaser TuesdayJust in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

This week I’m reading The Casual Vacancy by J.K Rowling.

Yes, that J.K. Rowling.

No, it’s not about Harry Potter.

The Truly Random Number Generator sends us to page 138.

A tourniquet of fear was released; relief gushed
through three of the watchers; Simon stopped 
pulling his Neanderthal face.

The Casual Vacancy coverI’ve read Rowling’s two mystery novels written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith and found them quite engaging; here’s hoping The Casual Vacancy passes muster.

In Retrospect

I gave All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 5 stars.

I found the subject and style of the book engaging; so engaging I finished the novel in under a day.

The book even made it onto my “Books To Buy Even Though I’ve Already Read Them” list.

In my opinion, it certainly lived up to the hype.

Bingo Square: set during a war or conflict

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman earned 3 stars.

The storyline was a tad obvious and the ending somewhat unsatisfactory.

Billed by some as a “sequel” to American Gods, Anansi Boys has little – if anything – to do with its predecessor.

Bingo Square: involves magic

John le Carré’s A Most Wanted Man scored 5 stars.

A well-written suspense/thriller novel that had me guessing.

Bingo Square: suspense/thriller

 

What have you been reading?

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

In This Sign

Thanks to Vanessa of Petal & Mortar for dropping a note in the prompt box!

Distressed Templar Cross
Photo Credit: John Patrick Victor Jokinen (Dec. 27, 2012)

IN HOC SIGNO VINCES

So said God to Constantine

So said the Pope to the Masters

So said the Masters to us

In this sign, conquer

Under this sign, defeat the Infidel

Under this sign, conquer the Holy Land for Christendom

Ascalon

Montgisard

Acre

Arsuf

NON NOBIS DOMINE, NON NOBIS, SED NOMINI TUO DA GLORAIM

In this sign, christen

Christened the Templars, for the Temple gave us

the Ark of the Covenant

the Black Books of Wisdom

the Head of John the Baptist

the Holy Grail

the Seed of Christ

the Secrets of geometry

the Treasures of Old Jerusalem

the Power

In this sign, command and control

Command princes and priests and popes and potentates and powers

Control the fighting and fields and finance and future of Europe

A Templar Knight is truly a fearless knight, and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armour of faith, just as his body is protected by the armour of steel. He is thus doubly armed, and need fear neither demons nor men.

Bernard de Clairvaux, c. 1135

De Laude Novae Militae [In Praise of the New Knighthood]

In this sign, capitulate

Capitulate to the conspiracy and conniving of kings

Capitulate to the threat and terror of torture

God is not pleased. We have enemies of the faith in the kingdom.

King Philip IV of France

In this sign, continue

God knows who is wrong and has sinned.
Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death.

Grand Master Jacques de Molay

Continue in legend and myth and lore and secret societies

Continue until the time is right once more

Templar Knight in Battle Dress angelfire7508

IN HOC SIGNO VINCES

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Teaser Tuesday: Living History

After long, hot days of shrubbing, I found some time to read.

Also, the heat wave broke, humidity reached 100%, and rain came down.

Oh, and the wheel of time has turned in its course to:

Teaser TuesdayJust in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

This week I’m reading Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Not my usual fare; I’m reading the book for several reasons:

1. The book was free.

2. The subject will challenge me to keep an open mind.

3. I’ll be able to mark a square off my Book Bingo card.

Book Bingo Card 1Which square will I use? A biography of someone you dislike.

The Truly Random Number Generator sends us to page 200.

There was nothing to hide, so why not?
The story would mushroom for a while and then die.

Which story could it be?

There are so many possibilities!

Living History book cover

In Retrospect

I finally finished The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova.

Bingo square: a book you started but never finished.

I gave it 3 stars for a slow start.

The ending, though . . . spectacular.

What have you been reading?

 

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Teaser Tuesday: The Swan Thieves

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you already know what I’m doing this week:

Roger the ShrubberWhile I labor with overgrowth and deadwood, the wheel of time has landed on:

Teaser TuesdayJust in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

This week I’m reading The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova. This will be my second attempt at reading this particular book; I can’t recall why I abandoned it the first time.

So far it is less intriguing than The Historian, but it’s picked up after page 50.

I use the Truly Random Number Generator to pick the page number for my Teaser Tuesday post; today we go to page 45.

[W]hat will we someday do, I always wonder, without the 
pleasures of turning through books and stumbling on 
things we never meant to find?
. . .
And how could anyone consent to give up that smell
of open books, old or new?

This line convinced me to keep reading rather than abandoning it a second time.
 
The Swan Thieves Cover

In Retrospect

I finished two books since the last Teaser Tuesday:

Atonement by Ian McEwan earned three stars for a somewhat predictable plot and a less-than-satisfactory ending.

BoneMan’s Daughters by Ted Dekker also earned three stars; the storyline was thrilling but the characters flat.

What have you been reading?

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

 

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

 

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

 

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Teaser Tuesday: Atonement

Where has the week gone? I spent most of the week since last Tuesday binge watching House of Cards, Parks and Recreation, and Supernatural on Netflix doing profitable things like housework and talking to my parents and cleaning up my home computer.

I also spent some time reading, so once again the wheel of time has landed on:

Teaser TuesdayJust in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

This week I’m reading Atonement by Ian McEwan. Although I’ve had this book for over a year, this is my first attempt at reading it. One motivator to finish my current at-home TBR is my personal vow to avoid the library until I’ve finished the books already taking up space.

I use the Truly Random Number Generator to pick the page number for my Teaser Tuesday post; today we go to page 186.

The men came a couple of steps closer and raised 
what was in their hands. Shotguns, surely. 

Turner released his safety catch. 
He heard Mace and Nettle do the same. 

"Easy," he murmured.

Atonement Cover

In Retrospect

I finished reading 1916: The Easter Rising by Tim Pat Coogan and gave it four stars. It would have been five, but the first 25 pages or so were so uncompelling that I almost gave it up. Once I made it to page 30 or so, things picked up and I finished it easily, especially the last fifty pages or so.

What have you been reading?

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

 

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

 

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

 

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Choose Your Own [Instagram] Adventure!

I delight in finding quotes and sharing them with others.

You already know this if you follow me on Instagram, where I routinely use the hashtags

Terry Pratchett Tuesday

and

Philosophy Friday

click to embiggen

However, that’s not enough.

There are five other days of the week.

I dabbled with Theology Thursday and Philosophy Thursday;

rolled them both into Philosophy Friday.

Here’s where you come in:

I need help filling up the week.

Give me your suggestions in the comments!

 

Emerson Book Quotation Quote

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

 

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

 

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

 

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

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