First Chapter~First Paragraph~Tuesday Intros

I'm feeling a little better since my fever broke, and with my head a little clearer, I was thinking how I often wish I had something to blog about on Tuesdays. It's one of those days when I stare at the blank screen and usually come up empty.

Well, yesterday afternoon (home sick from work and reading), I started a new book, with a fabulous opening paragraph, and a light bulb went off. Why don't I share this fabulous opening paragraph with all my blogging buddies.

So in hoping to make this a weekly happening, every Tuesday, I'll drop what I'm doing and share with you the opening paragraph of my current read, which I suspect in some cases might be a yawner. ( I hope no one is doing this already on another day...if so, mea culpa...please forgive me).

So without further ado, this week's : First Chapter~First Paragraph~Tuesday Intro is from,

(1976 - Picador/St Martin's Press)

The Easter Parade

"Neither of the Grimes sisters would have a happy life, and looking back it always seemed that the trouble began with their parents divorce. That happened in 1930, when Sarah was nine years old and Emily was five. Their mother, who encouraged both girls to call her "Pookie," took them out of New York to a rented house in Tenafly, New Jersey, where she thought the schools would be better and where she hoped to launch a career in suburban real estate.  It didn't work out--very few of her plans for independence ever did--and they left Tenafly after two years, but it was a memorable time for the girls."

(Feel free to grab the image if you wish to join in)

and the Winner of the April Giveaway is.......

 

DCMetroReader

Congrats to the winner and thanks to the (43) others who took the time to enter.

Mailbox Monday ~ April 18th

Hosted in April at Passages To The Past

• Secret Daughter; Gowda (Harper Collins)
• When You Were Mine; Elizabeth Noble (Touchstone)
• Warm Bodies; I. Marion (Atria)
• Come and Find Me; Hallie Ephron (William Morrow)
• Dead By Midnight; Carolyn Hart
• A Father's Love; David Goldman (Viking)
• Three Stages of Amazement; Edgarian (paperbackswap)
• (6) paperback novels of suspense from (Harper Collins)

 

(I'm feeling sick today: chills, fever, stomach woes etc., and I just didn't have the energy to list the rest of my book loot with links - sorry)

Enjoy your new books.

Love You More; Lisa Gardner

  

Title: Love You More (book #5 of a series)

Author: Lisa Gardner

Publication Year: 2011

Publisher: Random House Audio

Edition: audiobook

Readers: Kirsten Potter and Katie MacNichol

Source: Library

Date Completed: 4/15/2011 

Setting: Boston, MA area

Rating: 4/5

Recommend:Yes

I don't read a lot of thrillers, but Lisa Gardner is one author that I really always seem to enjoy. Her latest release (2011) is the 5th book in the Boston Sergeant Detective D.D. Warren Series.  However, in my opinion, it isn't necessary to read the series in order. The series follows this order, in case you were curious:

1. Alone (2005)
2. Hide (2007)
3. The Neighbor (my favorite) (2009)
4. Live to Tell (2010)
5. Love You More (2011)

In Love You More One, Boston Sergeant Detective D.D. Warren, and her partner Detective Bobby Dodge are called to the home of Tessa Leoni, a Massachusetts State Trooper.  Inside they find Brian Darby, Tessa's husband,  dead on the kitchen floor with three bullet wounds to the chest. Tessa claims to have shot him in self-defense, and the bloody lip, swollen eye and other marks on her body, seem to go along with her story.  When the detectives learn that Tessa's six year old daughter Sophie Leoni is missing, but Tessa is not talking, the detectives begin to suspect that their might be more to this case than what they originally thought. A dead stepfather, a missing child,  a mother who seems to be hiding something, and is not anxious to aid in the investigation to find her child. Was Sophie kidnapped, could she have been abused, is she still alive, what really happened the night Brian Darby was shot dead.

The story is told in alternating chapters from the POV of Tessa Leoni and Sergeant D.D. Warren.  The reader gets a glimpse into the background of Tessa growing up. An incident that occurred when she was a teenager makes the reader wonder what is really going on in Leoni's mind, and why isn't she talking or cooperating with the investigation, or trying to find her daughter?

The audio book was read by Kirsten Potter and  Katie MacNichol who both did a great job. The story held my interest all the way though, as I was anxious to find out what really happened to Brian Darby and Tessa's daughter.  If you enjoy good thriller's with believable characters, I think you'll like this book as well as others by Lisa Gardner.

Saturday Snapshot ~ April 16th

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books.  If you are interested in participating, just post a photo (new or old), but make sure it's not one that you found online. Add your link to Alyce's Saturday post for all to enjoy.

Apparently I disturbed Freckles thought process here :)

The Lake; Banana Yoshimoto

Title: The Lake

Author: Banana Yoshimoto

Publication Year: 2011

Publisher: Melville House

Edition: ARC

Source: Amazon Vine

Date Completed: 4/13/2011 

Setting: Tokyo, Japan

Rating: 4/5

Recommend: Yes

 

I've read some excellent reviews for books written by Banana Yoshimoto, so I wanted to experience this author for myself. It was a different experience, but not an unpleasant one.

Chihiro is a 30-something Japanese woman whose mother had recently died. Chihiro's father was a Tokyo businessman, and son of rich, prominent parents. The kind of parents who would not have approved of a marriage between the two. Chihiro sees her mothers death in some ways as a blessing, but then she has not had time to deal with what the loss really means. Now that her mother has passed on, she sees herself as free. She is anxious to leave the small town she grew up in and see what the big city has to offer.

In Tokyo, her graphic artist background lands her a job painting a mural on an elementary school that was to be torn down. In her free time, she finds herself staring out of the window of her second floor apartment. In the building across the way, also on the second floor, a young man about her age is staring back at her. On a daily basis an unspoken friendship among two strangers begins until the two finally meet. The young man is, Nakajima, and before long the two begin a somewhat unusual relationship; he too has lost a mother. Nakajima is smart, studying genetics, yet he is emotionally cold, distant and definitely a bit odd. At first Chihiro thought he might even be gay, when in fact his painful past has affected his present self. As Chihiro learns more about the mysterious Nakajimi, she finds her art begins to reflect what she has learned about her new romantic interest. As the couple begins to find a comfortable rhythm together, the secrets of the past are brought to the forefront, disturbing the couple's new found peace.

This book was translated from the Japanese, so for me I had a little trouble with the flow. For most part, it was not a huge problem. Although the story held my interest, in that I wanted to find out the terrible thing that Nakajima had experienced in childhood, I was only able to read about 40 pages at a time of this less than 200 page novel. When all is finally revealed, and the final page had been turned, I was satisfied with what I had read. The Lake, is definitely different, a style that is not for everyone, but one you might enjoy, especially if you are a fan of author Haruki Murakami.

Square Cat; Elizabeth Schoonmaker

Title: Square Cat
Author and Illustrator: Elizabeth Schoonmaker
Publication Year: 2011
Publisher: Aladdin / Simon and Schuster
Edition: hardcover
Source: Library
Date Completed: 4/12/2011
Setting: n/a
Rating: 5/5 stars
Recommend: Yes

Eula is a "square cat" living in a world where everything seems to be round. She just does not seem to fit in, and this makes her sad. So sad that she even lost her purr.

Mouse holes seems impossible for a square cat, stripes didn't seem to suit her, and she seemed invisible around all the square buildings in her city.

Her friends Patsy and Maude were big, round cats. Like any good friend would do, they tried to cheer Eula up.  They gave her big round hoop earrings, a beehive hat, and they even slipped into square boxes to make themselves look square too.

This is a charming book about being different, self-esteem, and friendship. The illustrations were simple yet colorful. I liked everything about this book --especially the message. Highly recommended.