Teaser Tuesdays -- The Sherlockian by Graham Moore

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading. To participate, all you have to do is the following:

• Grab your current/upcoming read
• Open to a random page
• Share 2-3 "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers!

Image by justjason via Flickr

As the battles dragged on, Undershaw languished in disrepair.  Penelope lived close by and was one of the most vocal preservationists in the cause.  She kept an extensive collection of photographs, plans, and other records of Undershaw's history.

~page 298 The Sherlockian by Graham Moore

This has been a fun book to read.  Set at the turn of both the 20th and the 21st century, The Sherlockian is based on many historical events, though of course Moore has added much to his novel about Arthur Conan Doyle's missing journal, the reason Conan Doyle resurrected Sherlock Holmes after sending him to his death at the Reichenbach Falls, and the Sherlock Holmes societies around the world.

Teaser Tuesdays -- Easy to Kill by Agatha Christie

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's very easy to kill, so long as no one suspects you.  And you see, the person in question is just the last person anyone would suspect."

~p. 7-8, Easy to Kill by Agatha Christie

The speaker here is Miss Fullerton, speaking to Luke Fitzwilliam, her fellow passenger on a train to London, near the opening of this book.  Fitzwilliam is returning from a long stint as a police officer in Asia and is mildly amused by Miss Fullerton's story of the murders she "knows" are taking place in her small village of Wychwood under Ashe.  His amusement fades, however, when he reads, a few days later,  Miss Fullerton's newspaper obituary.  His concern increases when he learns that the very person she was worried about on the train has died as well.  He arranges to go to Wychwood under Ashe to reassure himself that there is nothing to Miss Fullerton's story.  Unfortunately, of course, there is.

I found a study hall/library pass from 1992 in this book.  :) It's interesting to think about reading it at two such very different times in my life.

Teaser Tuesdays -- November 23, 2010 -- Marriage is the first step toward divorce

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! 

 "Love is the foundation upon which marriages are formed and families are created.  Strange as it is, marriage is also the first step toward divorce." 
~p. 103, Healing the Hurt, Restoring the Hope by Suzy Yehl Marta

Teaser Tuesdays -- Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

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! 

In her yard they waded through the muddy dogs and he put his hand on the wall beside her door for balance as she felt under the mat for her keys.  Inside, she clicked on the light and a room appeared and he made his way to the sofa while she went to get more beers.
page 230 of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

Teaser Tuesdays -- October 19, 2010 -- The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller

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!

Marta's laugh sounded life-threatening.  "I'm fine.  I just don't sleep much anymore."

~ p. 268 The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller

 It's been a slow couple of days for me, reading-wise.  (Lots of stuff I'm trying to figure out right now.)  I'm vacillating on what I think of this one.  Have any of you read this?  

Teaser Tuesdays -- October 12, 2010 -- The Danger Box by Blue Balliett

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! 

In one short day, I'd found out an amazing amount.  I knew that ~Darwin kept lots of notebooks, ~exploring nature was a big deal in those days, ~Darwin had been on the Beagle when the notebook I was holding was written.

~page 174, The Danger Box by Blue Balliett

This is my current read with my six-year-old daughter.  It took me quite a while to really start enjoying the story but I'm feeling better about it at this point. I'm enjoying the relationships between Zoomy and his grandparents and Zoomy's relationship with his new friend Lorrol as well.  The dad is so creepy it's just sort of sad.  I'll be interested to see how his whole situation pans out.  Balliett says the object that the book centers around is real -- and really missing -- and I find that intriguing.


One more quote that I wanted to share (Zoomy is the speaker):

Maybe everyone's life is a big, hoped-for plan with missing pieces, pieces that you only glimpse now and then.  Kind of like the way my eyes work; you only get to see what's right around you.  And you never stop hoping and praying that you'll run across what fits.  (p. 204)

Teaser Tuesdays -- Tuesday September 28, 2010 -- Zoo Story by Thomas French

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! 

Cover via Amazon

That October, Virginia Edmonds and the other manatee keepers were still working around the clock to save Loo, the abandoned calf found in the Caloosahatchee River.  He'd been having trouble adjusting to the formula.

~page 93, Zoo Story:  Life in the Garden of Captives by Thomas French

Teaser Tuesdays -- The Gendarme by Mark T. Mustian

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 smells of early-morning Aleppo rise, odors made sharper by my numbed, shaken state.  I slip past a flock of beating sheep, past men on camels who look like they've ridden all night, past corpses facedown in the street. 

~ p. 147, The Gendarme, by Mark Mustian

I had this in the library bag to go back without reading it, but took it back out after hearing that others have really liked it.  At this point, I'm still ambivalent about it.

Teaser Tuesday -- World Made by Hand & The Witch of Hebron by James Howard Kunstler

I first heard James Howard Kunstler's name when someone sent me a link to his TED video several years ago.  World by Hand & The Witch of Hebron are the first two novels in what may end up being a four book series and the first books I've read by Kunstler. 


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!

From World Made by Hand:

"You hear the one about the farmer was milking and a fly went in one of the cow's ear 'n out th' udder?"  was a typical Minorism, as the other men called his constant banter.  Joseph and Elam carried rifles, and Seth wore a sword, a saber, some kind of museum piece he had come across in their journeys.   (p.124)

From The Witch of Hebron:

The doctor knocked back what was left in his glass and gave the dog a long look.  "My boy loved that dog very much and I did, too." (p. 22)

Click here for what I thought was an interesting interview with the author.

Teaser Tuesdays -- Tuesday, September 7, 2010 -- Mockingjay

 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading and asks you to :
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3 . Share 2 "teaser" sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser".
4. Please avoid spoilers!

Finnick.  Five others I don't know.   


~p. 250, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Cover via Amazon

How's that for avoiding spoilers?  :)

Teaser Tuesdays -- August 31, 2010 -- Wilkie Collins Mini-Challenge Wrap-Up

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading and asks you to :
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3 . Share 2 "teaser" sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser".
4. Please avoid spoilers!

 It is exceedingly difficult to get enough walking exercise; and it is next to impossible (where secrecy is an object) to make love without being found out. Reverting for the moment to the latter difficulty only, life within the narrow and populous limits of a vessel may be defined as essentially life in public. 

Image via Wikipedia

Miss or Mrs? by Wilkie Collins, p. 19

This is actually a collection of three of Wilkie Collins' novellas -- Miss or Mrs?, The Haunted Hotel, and The Guilty River.  With this collection, I'll have finished the Wilkie Collins Mini-Challenge.  My daughter and I listened to the audio-book of The Woman in White, my husband and I watched the movie of The Moonstone (I'd read both of those already) and now I'm reading these three novellas.

I do enjoy Wilkie Collins -- I love his vibrant characters and dry wit and I love the glimpse into a nation, society, and time I have not experienced.  If you haven't read any of his work, give him a try sometime.   The audiobook my daughter and I listened to was excellently performed, if you'd like to go that route.

Oh, and I wanted to add that many people consider Collins to be the first to write mystery novels -- with Edgar Allan Poe being the first to write short stories in that genre.  As I continue to read these three novellas, I see parallels to Poe that I haven't noticed as much in Collins' longer works.  Interesting stuff.

Teaser Tuesdays -- The Workings of the Plan

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

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!

 

As winter faded into March, Jacob began to discern, in almost imperceptible outline, the workings of the plan.  Nearly all of the funds were being directed toward Maryland and northern Virginia -- most of them toward small plantations and farms, though some went to other establishments too, like a tavern or a boarding house or a doctor's home. 

~p. 281, All Other Nights by Dara Horn

Teaser Tuesdays -- Someone to Kill and Eat

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

* Grab your current read.

* Let the book fall open to a random page.

* Share with us any two (2) "teaser" sentences from that page.

* You also need to share the title of the book that you're getting your "teaser" from... that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given!

In 2003, Armin Meiwes, a 42-year-old computer expert, went online looking for someone to kill and eat.  After several interviews, he chose Bernd Brandes.

~p 25, How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like by Paul Bloom

This book was interesting but not rave-worthy for me. 

Teaser Tuesdays -- Getting the boat in shape

The rules come from MizB of Should Be Reading.

• 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!

He didn't know how long it would take to get the boat in shape, but it was something to do.  And she was right, it would remind him of who he used to be.

~from The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry, page 271  

Just finished this one up.  Fairly soon into the story I felt all smug because I was pretty sure I'd figured out the "twist" -- and I had -- but only one of them, and the second one took me by surprise.  There were several story lines -- past, present, real-life and fictional -- and I have a feeling I didn't catch all the parallels in the story this first go-round.  I recommended it to my mother-in-law (who works at a retirement community and has aging parents)  because the main character's father has Parkinson's.

Teaser Tuesdays -- Finding Magic for Crow

The rules come from MizB of Should Be Reading.

• 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!

Don't you feel it?  I just know we'll find your magic today!

~p. 103, Magic in the Alley by Mary Calhoun

My daughter and I were gifted this book by a fellow participant in the 48 hour reading challenge.  Thanks, Wendy!

Teaser Tuesdays -- Boo to weaknesses in the food safety system!

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

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! 

Post a link to your teaser here so others can discover new books!

 

"The idea that irradiation would even be needed points out weaknesses in the food safety system.  Meat should be free of harmful bacteria to begin with."   ~p.158, What to Eat by Marion Nestle

Teaser Tuesdays -- Five things you are thankful for

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!
  

To remind myself of this, as soon as I wake up each day, I write down five things for which I am grateful.  I have found that rather than just think about what I'm appreciative of, if I write them down, it sets a tone of gratitude for my entire day.  
~p. 167, A Complaint Free World by Will Bowen

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Teaser Tuesdays -- Mrs. Teller's husband

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!
  
  

  "What can you tell us about Mrs. Teller's husband?" he asked.

  "Only that he never came back from the war."
   ~p.144, The Red Door by Charles Todd

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 ‘teasers’ in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Teaser Tuesdays -- Non-Politic Questions

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!

page 228

"Tell me -- why did you ever come to this town anyway?"  He knew immediately that the question had not been a politic one and he was disappointed with himself.

From The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers.   This is a book (much like Gilead) that I feel like I'm supposed to be all impressed by and in love with -- but it's just not happening for me folks.

Teaser Tuesdays -- England's Health Care System After WWII

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 the teeth and the glasses.  

  That was the reason so many coloured people were coming to this country, according to my next-door neighbor Mr. Todd.

  
  

  ~p. 93, Small Island by Andrea Levy