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?

 


 

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Teaser Tuesday: All the Light We Cannot See

Having finished most of my Netflix queue, I’ve also polished off my at-home TBR.

Taken together, the wheel of time has turned 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 All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr.

1. It’s on my TBR

2. It’s a one-week loan from the library

3. It’s longer than 500 pages

Book Bingo Card 1The Truly Random Number Generator sends us to page 97.

She smells smoke and knows. Fire. The glass has
shattered her bedroom window, and what she hears
is the sound of something burning beyond the 
shutters. Something huge. The neighborhood. 
The entire town. 

All the Light We Cannot See cover

In Retrospect

I gave Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton 4 stars.

The book was well-written and engaging; however, I deducted points for three things:

Mrs. Clinton persists in calling the United States a democracy.

It is not – it is a democracy in a republic.

Mrs. Clinton acknowledges her faults only twice.

Everything other failing is a vast conspiracy to undermine her or her goals.

Mrs. Clinton presents progress for progress’ sake as a desirable ideal.

It was like reading a defense of Dolores Umbridge by Dolores Umbridge.

In summary, I would probably get along with Mrs. Clinton so long as politics never became a topic of discussion.

Bingo square: a biography of someone you dislike.

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: 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.

Teaser Tuesday: 1916: The Easter Rising (3.0)

Yesterday I cut down the brush encroaching my house.

Last night a piece aluminum siding broke free, blowing in the wind.

This morning I fixed it, and

I had actual, honest-to-goodness wired internet installed.

That’s right:

No more relying on my phone as a hot spot.

No more mooching off my in-laws to download/upload large files.

But let’s be honest, I’ll still spend quite a bit of time there.

Family

Good Food

On the Water

No more using the work WiFi to blog.

Unless I want to, of course.

Disclaimer: I didn’t use it during work hours;

I come in early and stay late.

They don’t mind.

And so, thanks to the packet-switching that drives the internet, SuddenLink Communications, and the wheel of time, it is my pleasure to bring you my first post via my own cabled internet:

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 two 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 1916: The Easter Rising by Tim Pat Coogan.

Actually, this marks the third time I’ve tried to read it. This should not be a reflection on Mr. Coogan, time and life simply stalled out the other attempts. Thus far, it’s quite readable and enjoyable.

I used the Truly Random Number Generator to pick the page number; it chose page 35.

I must admit, it isn’t the most riveting of passages, but that’s what you get when you leave things to fate/chance.

The British system was based on:

 (a) The grasp of human weakness and vanity.

 (b) A correct appreciation of the value and use 
       of duplicity and Pecksniffianism.

 (c) A clear conception of the truth that success in 
       governing depends on well-contrived 
       antagonisms in the economic and social 
       structure of the state. 

1916 The Easter Rising Tim Pat Coogan Cover

In Retrospect

I finished two books since the last Teaser Tuesday:

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré socred 4/5 stars. It was a fairly decent mystery story, but the pace may be a little slow for those accustomed to modern thrillers. After reading, I also understand why people complained the movie was incredibly slow [I haven’t seen it; I wonder if it’s on Netflix?]. However, I loved the story for the story’s sake – even if I did figure out whodunnit about a quarter of the way through – and am thankful my library has more of le Carré’s works.

A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie scored 2/5 stars. I found the plot slightly less than intriguing, the characters flat, and the resolution bordering on Deus ex machina. I also new whodunnit by the time Miss Marple made her appearance – it wasn’t that hard to figure it out. On the plus side, my edition didn’t yet exist on Goodreads, so I got to add it to the list!

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.

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