Happy Sunday everyone! And I'll add in a happy anniversary to Cynda and Michael too!
Have you read any good 'first' lines lately? I've come across two this week that I think are great. They are as different as can be from one another. But both stood out to me. Aren't you glad that there so many different kinds of books out there? A book for each mood and season. I don't have just one flavor, just one 'favorite' sort of book. Not that I have a problem with folks that do. Folks that just read in a narrow category of books.
Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically. The cataclysm has happened, we are among the ruins, we start to build up new little habitats, to have new little hopes. It is rather hard work: there is now no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles. We've got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen.
and
So, there I was, tied to an altar made from outdated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of Evil Librarians. As you might imagine, that sort of situation can be quite disturbing. It does funny things to the brain to be in such danger -- in fact, it often makes a person pause and reflect upon his life. If you've never faced such a situation, then you'll simply have to take my word. If, on the other hand, you have faced such a situation, then you are probably dead aren't likely to be reading this.
If you have stumbled across a great book, do let me know! I love to hear from you. It makes my day quite honestly to hear what you're reading.
What I read in a previous week, but reviewed this week:
The Genie Scheme by Kimberly K. Jones. 2009. Simon & Schuster. 179 pages. (Middle Grade)
The Book of Time by Guillaume Prevost. 2006. Scholastic. 224 pages. (Middle Grade)
The Secret Holocaust Diaries by Nonna Bannister. 2009. Tyndale. 300 pages. (Older Teens/Adult)
What I read this past week and reviewed:
Crocodaddy by Kim Norman. 2009. Sterling. (Young Readers)
A Small Surprise by Louise Yates. 2009. Knopf (Young Readers)
Being A Pig Is Nice by Sally Lloyd Jones. 2009. Random House. (Young Readers)
The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Lardsen. 2009. Kids Can Press. (Young Readers)
Stanley's Beauty Contest by Linda Bailey. 2009. Kids Can Press. (Young Readers)
My Uncle Emily by Jane Yolen. 2009. Penguin. (Older Younger Readers; Grade 2 and up)
Edward and the Eureka Lucky Wish Company. Barbara Todd. 2009. Kids Can Press. (Young Readers)
Mommy's Having a Watermelon by Danny and Kim Adlerman. 2009. The Kids At Our House. (Young Readers)
The Princess Plot by Kirsten Boie. 2009. Scholastic. 378 pages. (Middle Grade/ Young Adult)
What I read this past week and haven't reviewed yet:
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. 2009. Random House. 208 pages. (Middle Grade)
Dragon Spear by Jessica Day George. 2009. Bloomsbury. 248 pages. (Middle Grade/ Young Adult)
Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman. 2009. HarperCollins. 274 pages (Middle Grade/ Young Adult)
Morbito Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi. 1996/2008. Translated into English by Cathy Hirano. Scholastic Books. 248 pages. (Middle Grade/ Young Adult)
The Silenced. James DeVita. HarperCollins. 2007. 504 pages. (Young Adult)
Frederica. Georgette Heyer. 1965/2009. Sourcebooks. 437 pages. (Adult)
What I've read and really really need to review:
Starfinder by John Marco. 2009. Daw Books. 326 pages. (Middle Grade)
The Convenient Marriage. Georgette Heyer. 1934/2009. Sourcebooks. 307 pages. (Adult)
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. 2008. Random House. 514 pages. (Adult)
What I'm currently reading:
Mind-Rain: Your Favorite Authors On Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Series. Edited by Scott Westerfeld. (Young Adult)
Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson. (Middle Grade)
Leonardo's Shadow by Christopher Grey (Middle Grade)
Middlemarch by George Eliot (Adult)
Barchester Tower by Anthony Trollope (Adult)
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence (Adult)
What I'm just fooling around that I'm reading:
The House in Grosvenor Square by Linore Rose Burkard (Adult)
Circle of Friends Book #1: Lori by L. Diane Wolfe (Young Adult/ Adult)
What I've abandoned:
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
If you're reading this post on another site, or another feed, the content has been stolen.
8 comments:
I am currently reading Unwind which I've heard SO many good things about and am loving so far (despite being. . .three pages in).
I've just come across your blog and really liked the "first line" part!
I'd like to do a segment of favorite first lines in my blog, acknowledging that I got the idea from you. And perhaps try to go through the 100 books with the well loved first lines that they mention here:
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/02/04/news/doc43e3e6b004381080724526.txt
Anyway, I also wanted to share this first line that I'd loved through the years:
"He was born with the gift of laughter and the sense that the world was mad, and that was all his patrimony." - Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini
Thanks!
gaby317nyc AT gmail DOT com
I'll be interested to read your review of The 19th Wife. I read it last year and reviewed it here..
Coincidentally, I am also reading Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians this week (among other things)--yes, I loved that first line!
Ah, you've read Alcatraz. :) That line totally killed me. Incidentally, M just finished the sequel and liked it as much, if not more.
Becky, just got back from DC and saw this post... not sure how to interpret though...
L. Diane Wolfe
www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com
www.spunkonastick.net
www.thecircleoffriends.net
That category which I explained earlier in the year means it's by my bedside, the book has officially been started, but for whatever reason, the book spends more time on the floor than in my hands. This doesn't mean it's abandoned. It usually is more a reflection of how many books at a time I'm juggling.
Okay! Well, you certainly have a large list of books to be read!
L. Diane Wolfe
www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com
www.spunkonastick.net
www.thecircleoffriends.net
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