Tuesday, February 23, 2021

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - The Stationery Shop. Marjan Kamali


Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, now hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book ReviewsEach week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book they are reading or that they plan to read soon. 

                                                       The Stationery Shop, Marjan Kamali

                                                          Simon and Schuster Audio - 2019

Chapter One

2013

The Center

"I made an appointment to see him."

She said it as if she were seeing the dentist or a therapist or the pushy refrigerator salesman who had promised her and Walter a lifetime guarantee of cold milk and crisp vegetables and unspoiled cheese if only they would buy this brand-new model.

Walter dried the dishes, his gaze on the kitchen towel and its print of a yellow chick holding an umbrella. . He didn't argue. Walter Archer's penchant for logic, his ability to let reason trump all, was a testament to Roya's own good judgment. For hadn't she married a man who was reasonable and, my goodness, unbelievably understanding?  Hadn't she, in the end not married that boy, the one she had met so many decades ago in a small stationery shop in Tehran, but lassoed her life instead to this Massachusetts-born pillar of stability? This Walter. Who ate a hard-boiled egg for breakfast almost every single day, who said as he dried the dishes, "If you want to see him, the you should. You've been a bit of a wreck, I'm afraid."

What do you think, read more or pass?  I came across this one while searching library audio downloads.  So far so good and a nice narration as well.

31 comments:

  1. Ooh, yes! I'm curious. I'd read more.

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  2. I like the setting and the premise. I'd read on

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    1. A nice story and liked that I got a flavor of the culture as well.

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  3. I wouldn't read on. I thought the intro was too confusing.

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  4. The snippet draws us into the characters and their quirks, their habits. I want to read more!

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    1. I finished this today and it was nice even though at tad sad at times.

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  5. I've had this on my Kindle for a while now. I'm interested in seeing what you think about it.

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    1. Very good story, a tad sad at times but, I liked it It was interesting to learn about different cultures and foods etc.

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  6. I like the descriptiveness of the opening paragraphs--it's enough of a tease to entice me into further reading. I know I have a copy of this novel around here somewhere.

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  7. Ohhh I absolutely loved this book! I hope you'll enjoy it. :)

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  8. Not sure on this one. I'm curious about who she is going to see and I can see how the kind of lyrical style would be wonderful in audio but also might get a bit convoluted.

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    1. The audio had me a tad confused in a couple of parts but the narrator was very good.

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  9. I have to add this to my wishlist. It sounds like a good one.

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    1. The narrator is good on the audio and, a nice story overall.

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  10. I read this one and enjoyed it quite well. I hope you will read on.

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  11. No doubt about it...keep reading. I like the writing style, and this bit makes me curious to learn what's going on.

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    1. The writing style was very pleasing Sam. Although the story has a few sad parts, I just enjoyed it - different from what I've read lately.

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  12. If I had it, I'd keep reading, but if I didn't have it, I don't know if I'd look for a copy without knowing more.

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    1. Oh well maybe you will come across it in the future, nice story overall.

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  13. I get the impression, from your replies to comments, that you enjoyed it, but didn't love it. How many stars would you give it? I do like the cover art. Very pretty!

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    1. I finished it today and hope to review it tomorrow. 4/5 stars, a really nice (sometimes sad) story, very good audio narrator but, their was an instance or two I felt a bit confused and maybe if I had the print edition instead it would not have happened.

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  14. Yes I enjoyed the audio of this novel. It is worth it! Good story.

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