Teaser Tuesdays: The Mockingbird Next Door

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Miz B at Should be Reading:  http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/2014/08/19/teaser-tuesdays-aug-19/.  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 Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

From:  The Mockingbird Next Door  Life With Harper Lee by Marja Mills

"Predicaments make for the best stories.  One wrong turn was all it took for Nelle to drive into trouble years ago near the tiny town of Tunnel Springs."   

~Page 154, 1st two sentences of the chapter. 

The Mockingbird Next Door:  Life With Harper Lee is a memoir written by journalist Marja Mills about Nelle Harper Lee, the writer of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Teaser Tuesday: The Gift of Thanks

Again I am referring to The End of Your Life Book Club.  Yes, I am still reading it.  (See last week's Teaser Tuesday)  This is a book I am savouring.  There are so many quotes one could take from it that are uplifting and make you want to take a moment to think about your own life.  If it were the end of your life, what would you be doing?  Will's mother is an incredible woman in whom I find an example of charity, love, and gratitude.  I am enjoying learning from her through the words of her son Will.  

With Thanksgiving just passed here in Canada and coming soon in the United States, we have much to be thankful for.  Freedom, health care, education, our very lives, to name a few.  

On page 211, Will shares with his readers his take on gratitude.

"What I suddenly understood was that a thank-you note isn't the price you pay for receiving a gift, as so many children think it is, a kind of minimum tribute or toll, but an opportunity to count your blessings.  And gratitude isn't what you give in exchange for something:  it's what you feel when you are blessed -- blessed to have family and friends who care about you, and who want to see you happy.  Hence the joy from thanking."

On Sunday, November 11,  we honoured our veterans and those currently serving in the military with Remembrance Day ceremonies across the country.  How can we not be thankful for their sacrifice on our behalf, on our country's behalf?  To don a poppy, listen to a recital of In Flanders Fields, attend a ceremony; it's not too much to show our gratitude.  To them we pay a tribute, lest we forget the lives they gave for us and generations to come. 

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading.

Teaser Tuesday - The End of Your LIfe Book Club by Will Shwalbe

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!

“When I was finished, I looked around at Mom and Dad's bedroom - and at Mom, resting relatively peacefully, but with that rasping breath that means there isn't much time left. She was surrounded by books - a wall of bookshelves, books on her night table, a book beside her. Here were...and the Bible. They were Mom's companions and teachers. They had shown her the way. And she was able to look at them as she readied herself for the life everlasting that she knew awaited her. What comfort could be gained from staring at my lifeless e-reader?  I also noted a special pile of books. They were to be the next ones for our book club. There were in their own small stack, separate from the others.”

Ok, this quote is more than two sentences but the sentence I wanted to use about the e-reader makes most sense in context with the paragraph.  

So far, I am really enjoying this memoir.  If you love books, and I know you all do, this is a great one to pick up for the literal exploration of books as mother and son share their love of books, reading and discussing various novels and non-fiction while the mother received treatment for cancer.  Just be sure to have a few tissues ready.

In My Mailbox (Just Received) September 27, 2011 & Teaser Tuesdays

In My Mailbox is hosted every week by Kristi at The Story Siren.  It is a reveal of the new and exciting books and related items that have arrived or we have borrowed in the past week.  In My Mailbox (IMM) helps us as book bloggers keep track of new releases and inevitably add to our must read lists.

Today's edition is a compilation of the previous two weeks as the mailbox has been surprisingly empty, which is actually ok since I began working at a book store (say it, you're jealous :}) and I have thousands of new titles to explore all at my fingertips!  Loving it!  

Here's what's new:

Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks

by John Curran

I ordered this through Amazon with a gift certificate I won from Bev over at My Readers Block (thank you Bev).  The note on the cover says this book includes two UNPUBLISHED POIROT Stories!  Fifty years of mysteries in the making.  I was hoping this book would arrive prior to Agatha Christie's birthday, September 15 for a special post I planned to do, but since it came all the way from Britain, I am just happy to see it in my mailbox today!

My Sweet Saga

by Brett Sills

I received the ARC (mine has no cover and looks like the actual manuscript, yippee!) today as well.  My Sweet Saga is Admiral J Press' first release as a new publisher.  I am honoured to have the opportunity to review this book for them.  This will not influence my review, however.  Always honest and unbiased.

Also received today:

This Dark Endeavour

by Kenneth Oppel

http://kennethoppel.blogspot.com/

This is the much touted new release coming from Harper Collins.  Movie rights have already been sold to the producers of TWILIGHT!!  How's that for excitement?!!  Thank you so much to Cory from Harper Collins for sending me this book!  I am revved up to read it!!!

Also thanks to Cory from Harper Collins:

Dead Man's Grip

by Peter James

One Mistake

Two Murders

No Remorse

This is a new release for the fall.  I love a good mystery and Peter James is one of the all time best British crime writers.  Should be a good one!!  By the way, Cory sent me this copy and it is signed by the author!! Woot!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

This is our book club read for the month of October.  I bought this book after hearing rave reviews of one of our new members.  This promises to be a source of great discussion!

Last Week:

Brainrush (a thriller)

by Richard Bard

Brainrush is author Richard Bard's debut thriller.  Thanks to the author and Bostick Communications for sending me this copy.  Here's an interesting note the author included with his book:

"If you're a Crosby, Stills & Nash fan, you'll get a kick out of this:  I'm a big fan -- always have been -- so imagine my elation a few weeks ago when I received an email from David Crosby telling me that he absolutely loved the story.  And he wasn't kidding; he even gave a shout-out at the MUSE benefit concert at the Shoreline Pavilion in SF on August 7th, with the likes of Jackson Brown, Bonnie Raitt, John Hall, Jason Mraz and a bunch of others on the scene.  Now that's a brain-rush!"

What's in your mailbox, readers?  I hope you will share in the comments or leave a link to your IMM post.  I love to hear from all of you!!!  :)

------------------------------

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Miz B Should Be Reading.
 TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

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!

Please avoid spoilers!

Irma Voth by Miriam Toews

I am reading this for a TLC book tour, the review for which is scheduled for September 29th, 2011.

"I'm Fiorella, she's Button and you're Ham Hock, said Aggie.  We were walking to our gate.  We'd only be in Acapulco for two hours and forty-five minutes before we had to catch another flight to Mexico City, heaven and hell, according to Diego, but his world was defined by extremes."  ~ page 148, Irma Voth by Miriam Toews

In this scene, Irma and her sister Aggie, both mennonites living in Mexico, are running away from home and feelings of oppression and an abusive father.  They have, in tow, their new baby sister, and I do mean new.  At their mother's request, the baby accompanies them on this journey to what they hope will be a new and happy life.  Where they will live and how, is still unknown....

Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

There is rumour that this book will be such a hit, comparable to Harry Potter and Twilight in sales and popularity!!

"Don't you want to know my name?" the boy asks.

"Names are not of nearly as much import as people like to suppose," the man in the grey suit says.  "A label assigned to identify you either by this institution or your departed parents is neither of interest nor value to me.  If you find you are in need of a name at any point, you may choose one for yourself.  For now it will not be necessary." ~ page 23, Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 

This excerpt takes place in London, January 1874 in a grey nondescript building.  A man in a grey suit introduces himself to the headmistress who brings him three children to interview.  He does so privately, seeking for the one who will stand out...the one who will be his protege.  When the man decides upon a boy and he is ready, the two depart the building and do not return.  This excerpt leaves more questions than answers but to provide more is to reveal secrets crucial to the underlying story.  I am on the fourth chapter and I can feel that this is one of those books you feel as well as read and that's a good thing.

What are you teasing us with this week?  Please comment below so I can repay the visit.  Teaser Tuesdays are so much fun!!

Teaser Tuesday 9/6/2011

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading.  Here book bloggers share a tease of a couple sentences from their current read(s), promoting the book(s).  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!

Little Princes

by Conor Grennan


"I imagined my mom at the airport, saying good-bye to me each time I returned to Prague after spending Christmas in America.  She would cry into my shoulder, sobbing like I was right now.  I had always wondered where that sadness came from; leaving had never seemed like a big deal to me.  And now here it was, that same desperate sadness, filling this very room." ~ page 54, Little Princes by Conor Grennan.

Since seeing the interview with the author, Conor Grennan, on the Nate Berkus show, amidst such praise as "I stayed up all night to read this book" (paraphrasing Nate Berkus as he raved of Little Princes), I have wanted desperately to read this book.  Now I have barely begun and I am hooked!  The moment I quoted from the book is the point in time that Conor Grennan knows he must leave the children of the orphanage in Nepal, after being there for three months.  He must be vague with them about a possible return, as most volunteers don't return, but as he prepares to go, he knows he cannot bear to make this goodbye forever.  He knows he will return...soon.  And that is the rest of the story.  54 pages in and I am taken with this biography of a young man, who initially goes to Nepal not selflessly, and emerges an entirely different person.  I can't wait to read more of this book!

The First Gardener

by Denise Hildreth Jones

"If I had a way to know what this day gon' hold, I woulda buried my face in the dirt and not come up 'til God done changed his mind.  I woulda torn my clothes like them ol' prophets in the Good Book, not eat one bite a food all day and just keep begin' the Lord to change his mind.

I would done anything -- but don't know if it woulda worked.  I'm thinking' God got his mind set.  And I don't know why.  Just don't know why.  Alls I know is...it is.  And it was.  And it gon' be.  And we still here.  And we all wishing' we aint." ~ page 112, The First Gardener by Denise Hildreth Jones.

This quote is from the perspective of the gardener, Jeremiah, of the governor's mansion in Nashville, Tennessee.  It directly precedes the chapter of change...dramatic change...for the family currently living in the mansion.  A family bound by so much love and happiness...all about to be torn asunder.  I couldn't believe it when I read of it.  My heart aches for them as if they were real people and the author certainly does make them seem genuine.  I am loving this book!

Starcrossed
by Josephine Angelini

"They both hated that part of the ferry, but Helen was particularly sensitive about it; it reminded her of this creepy guy that had followed her around one summer, until the day he just disappeared off the ferry.  Instead of feeling relieved when she realized he wasn't coming back, Helen felt that she had done something wrong.  She had never brought it up to Claire, but there had been a bright flash and a horrible smell of burnt hair."  ~ page 8, Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

I am only on page 14, (today, September 3) as I started this book on my lunch break Friday, and I can't wait to read more!  Wouldn't a paragraph like this entice you?



I look forward to reading your teasers!  Please share a link in the comments so I can get a tease of what's currently holding  your attention, in the book category, of course! Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesdays 9/08/11

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by 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!

"According to Stephanie Aaron, Tom was okay, but he didn't look it.  He looked pale, shaken, fragile.  Alice had imagined that a negative result for any of them would be a relief, clean and simple. But they were a family, yoked by history and DNA and love." ~ page 109, Still Alice by Lisa Genova

"Hey wait!  'Fore we.." but before Scott could finish his sentence, their lips touched.  A floating sensation washed over both of them. Surprised at her own forwardness, Hannah relished the moment.  Her first kiss.  She couldn't imagine any better setting." ~ page 119, Huber Hill and the Dead Man's Treasure by B.K. Bostick

"It was one of the rare occasions when Miss Potts left the office before me, and I was just locking the top drawer of my desk before going home, when I heard the footsteps running up the stairs.  It could only be one man.

I looked up, and the man I'd hoped never to see again was standing in the doorway, pent-up fury blazing in his eyes." 

~ page 159, Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer.

Have you entered the contest to win a copy of this book?  If not, click here to enter!

Now that your appetite is whetted, and your mind teased by these three novels, I hope you will share in your comments a link to your Teasers so I can return the visit.  Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesdays 26/07/2011

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 

It's been a month, I think, since I participated last.  I feel bad about that so I will make up for it with teases from a couple of the books I am currently reading.

"Emotional independence means that you are in charge of your own mood.  Just as your spouse cannot make you angry, your spouse is not there to make you happy.  Only you can do that." 

 ~ page 46, Shut Up and Stay Married - The Secret to Marriage Success by Yisroel Roll

"For she never lost her faith in true love, and she knew, somewhere deep inside, that he was still alive.  She would know if he wasn't.  The world would stop if he was no longer part of it, 

she was certain of that." 

~ page 146, The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry

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

Teaser Tuesdays 21/06/2011

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B 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!

"Rio de Janeiro...glamorous, exotic, exciting.  Little did I know HOW exciting.....

Five minutes from the  airport as I gazed out the window, I could see a car racing toward us, and my immediate impression was that this car was going to run us off the road.  It did."  ~ page 259, Reflections of a Successful Wallflower by Andrea Michaels

"Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh--took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even--but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry." -Hagrid

 ~ page 55,  Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Come on, Tease Me!  What are you reading this week?

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted byMiz B 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!

I am currently reading three novels thus I am sharing a teaser from all three:

It is one of my faults, that though my tongue is sometimes prompt enough at an answer, there are times when it sadly fails me in framing an excuse; and always the lapse occurs at some crisis, when a facile word or plausible pretext is specifically wanted to get me out of painful embarrassment. ~ page 251, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

*If only she hadn't followed Mr. Rochester......

The truck and trailer were gone.  Our home was gone.  All my belongings, except what I had in my car, were gone.  Panic. ~ page 203, A Girl's Guide to Homelessness by Brianna Karp

"What is this mysterious voice telling you now?" Tsehye casually asked Tadesse.  When Tadesse didn't reply, Tsehye offered, "Is it telling you, 'Don't move or speak, because if you do, the snake will attack you?" ~ page 188, A Time To...A Baby Boomer's Spiritual Adventures

What do you think?  Have any of the three here sparked an interest in the novel?  If so, which one?
 Please leave a link to your "teaser" with a comment.  I love a good sneak peak!