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Teaser Tuesdays ~ May 5

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read
Open the book to a random page
Share with us 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!

Here’s a teaser from Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr:

Though they were withered things — looking like the mere husks of women — the hags were eerily strong, able to rend the limbs from even the eldest mountain trolls. They terrified Donia as they cackled like mad hens and paraded around the yard — as if they dared Keenan’s waiting guards to come closer.

~Page 50

Seven Up ~ Review

Title: Seven Up
Author: Janet Evanovich
Genre: Crime Novel
Published: June 19, 2001

Semi-retired mob guy, Eddie DeChooch, is caught trafficking contraband cigarettes through Trenton, New Jersey. When DeChooch fails to show for a court appearance, bond enforcement agent Stephanie Plum is assigned the task of finding him and dragging his decrepit ass back to jail. Not such an easy job, it turns out, since DeChooch has learned a lot of tricks over the years and isn’t afraid to use his gun. He’s already shot Loretta Ricci and left her for worm food in his shed. He wouldn’t mind shooting Stephanie next.
Likeable losers (and former high school classmates) Walter “MoonMan” Dunphy and Dougie “The Dealer” Kruper have inadvertently become involved with DeChooch.They’ve gotten sucked into an operation which is much more than simple cigarette smuggling and holds risks far greater than anyone could have imagined. When Dougie disappears, Steph goes into search mode. When Mooner disappears, she calls in the heavy artillery and asks master bounty hunter Ranger for help. Ranger’s price for the job? One night with Stephanie, dusk to dawn. Not information she’d want to share with her some-time live in roommate, vice cop Joe Morelli. A typical dilemma in the world of Plum.
And on the homefront, Stephanie’s “perfect” sister Valerie has decided to move back to Trenton, bringing her two kids from hell. Grandma Mazur is asking questions about being a lesbian, and Bob, the bulimic dog, is eating everything in sight-including the furniture. Mud wrestling, motorcycles, fast cars, fast food, and fast men. It’s absolutely Janet Evanovich at her very best.

What can I say about Seven Up without sounding redundant? I know, I know. I do this to myself. It’s my fault for reading these books so close together. But they are immensely entertaining regardless of how similar they all are to each other.

This one was no different. I felt like I was reading the exact same book seven times over, only with slightly different criminals, and a different car that gets destroyed somehow. But what can I say? I still love these books. I have heard through the grapevine that Ms. Evanovich’s writing matures around the 9th book, so I am looking forward to that, and slightly nervous at the same time.

I’m still saying the same thing: if you haven’t read at least one book from this series, do it soon! They are delightful little books.

Here is my favorite scene from this book:

“DeChooch stumbled forward and the gun discharged and shot a hole in a four-foot crucifixion painting hanging on the far wall.

Our mouths dropped open. And we all made the sign of the cross.

“Holy crap,” Carolli said. “You shot Jesus. That’s gonna take a lot of Hail Marys.”

~Page 122

Musing Mondays ~ May 4

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about your tbr pile…

How many books (roughly) are in your tbr pile? Is this in increasing number or does it stay stable? Do you ever experience tbr anxiety in the face of this pile? (question courtesy of Wendy)

I think most readers can relate when I say that my TBR list is something that I don’t like to think about too often. It stresses me out a little to think of the ever-growing list that resides on my GoodReads account. A couple months ago, my TBR list was only consisted of about 10 or so books, and that was very manageable. Now my TBR list consists of 67 books at the moment, and it’s growing ever so slightly every week. Thankfully I’m reading enough to keep it going out of control, but it is to the point where I feel guilty every time I but another book on my TBR list.

As far as anxiety goes, I think that’s pretty much non-existent for me. When I put a book on my list, I don’t feel like I have to read it eventually, and I don’t feel guilty if I decide not to read it. Something that interests me now may not in a few months, and that’s okay with me. Ask me this question again in a year when my TBR list is close to 200 books, and I may have a different answer! But for now, that’s where I stand.

What about you? How do you feel about your TBR pile?

The Friday 56 ~ May 1

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You get people like this in every investigation, people who end up wasting huge amounts of time with their compulsion to say whatever they think you want to hear.”

Friday Finds ~ May 1

Friday Finds is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

Share with us your recent “finds”! What books did you come across this week that you thought sounded really good?

Here are the books that were added to my TBR list this week:

Title: Wicked Lovely
Author: Melissa Marr
Publication Date: May 31st 2007

Rule #3: Don’t stare at invisible faeries.
Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty-especially if they learn of her Sight-and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.

Rule #2: Don’t speak to invisible faeries.
Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.

Rule #1: Don’t ever attract their attention.
But it’s too late. Keenan is the Summer King, who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. His is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost-regardless of her plans or desires.

Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; everything.
Faery intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr’s stunning twenty-first-century faery tale.

Title: Romeo Romeo
Author: Robin Kaye
Publication Date: November 1st 2008

A self-made millionaire, gorgeous and sexy, who also loves to cook and clean? Is this every woman’s fantasy or what?

Rosalie Ronaldi, high-powered corporate turnaround expert, doesn’t have a domestic bone in her body. Surviving on take-out and dirty martinis, she keeps her shoes under the dining room table, her bras on the towel rack in the bathroom, and her clothes on the couch.

Macho Nick Romeo loves an independent woman because it means no commitment. Until he meets Rosalie and discovers that all he wants to do is take care of her… Before too long, he’s moved in, cleaned up her apartment, stocked her refrigerator, and adopted her dog.

But things turn complicated when her job puts her in charge of a dealership Nick has been secretly trying to take over for years, and telling him the truth would blow her whole career, and blow up their relationship too …

Title: Saving Faith
Author: David Baldacci
Publication Date: September 1st 2000

It sounds like a movie pitch: “The story is like Tom Clancy crossed with John Grisham set in the Washington D.C. political world.” But David Baldacci’s Saving Faith successfully fuses elements from both of these chart-busters in this political thriller spiced with techno-wizardry.The villain is a classic spy caricature: cold-war CIA super-patriot Robert Thornhill wants to reclaim the glory days of the Central Intelligence Agency–when money flowed like the Mississippi during a flood, and the FBI watched helplessly from the sidelines. Working from his secret underground bunker, he blackmails Danny Buchanan, one of the great Washington lobbyists, to front an enormous bribery scheme that will force Congress to bend to the CIA’s whims. But Thornhill’s plan springs a leak: Buchanan’s assistant Faith Lockhart discovers her boss’s dirty dealings, and she intends to expose the whole mess to Thornhill’s nemesis, the FBI. Thornhill’s associates attempt to assassinate Faith, but their bullet kills her FBI escort instead. Faith finds herself on the run with Lee Adams, a fit-and-trim PI who had been shadowing her at the behest of Buchanan.

If all this sounds a bit confusing, it is at times. Baldacci works hard to keep the tension steadily rising, but it is sometimes difficult to remember why Faith and Lee can’t just stop running and go for help. Nevertheless, they are very likable heroes, and Baldacci’s depiction of the world of lobbyists and the internecine warfare of the FBI and CIA (complete with state-of-the-art spy gadgets and transmission-proof chambers) elevates the novel with details that can come only from careful research. –Patrick O’Kelley

Title: Grand Avenue
Author: Joy Fielding
Publication Date: October 2, 2001

For four women, the bonds of friendship had sustained them for twenty years — through marriage, motherhood, and murder….

Looking back, it seemed like paradise: lives filled with the blessings of friendship, marriage, children, and career. For twenty years, four friends — Chris, Barbara, Susan, and Vicki — shared everything through good times and bad, and faced the challenges of life and love head-on.

Now, one sits alone to ponder the strange twists and turns of fate and circumstance.

Now, she must sift through each of their pasts to discover exactly what went wrong, how dreams turned to nightmares as friendships faded and lives were destroyed.

Chris lived a contented life in her modest house with her growing family. It was her husband who never seemed satisfied — and who expected her to sacrifice her happiness to cater to his whims.

Barbara prided herself on staying beautiful for her handsome professor husband. But it wasn’t enough to keep him from dallying with his nubile young students.

Susan finished college after motherhood and became a successful magazine editor. But a casual flirtation threatened to shatter the harmonious life she had worked so hard to build.

Vicki’s achievements as a stellar and sought-after trial lawyer came at a huge personal price: a marriage and family that always took second place.

Going deep inside the minds and hearts of her utterly believable characters, Joy Fielding unlocks the secrets hidden within even the closest relationships. This powerful and mesmerizing novel explores the bonds women forge, the nature of friendship, and the meaning of unconditional love.

Title: The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Author: Carrie Ryan
Publication Date: March 10th 2009

In Mary’s world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

Title: The Traitor’s Wife
Author: Susan Higginbotham
Publication Date: April 1st 2009

In fourteenth-century England, young Eleanor de Clare, favorite niece of King Edward II, is delighted with her marriage to Hugh le Despenser and her appointment to Queen Isabella’s household as a lady-in-waiting. It soon becomes apparent, however, that Eleanor’s beloved uncle is not the king the nobles of the land—or his queen—expected.

Hugh’s unbridled ambition and his intimate relationship with Edward arouse widespread resentment, even as Eleanor remains fiercely loyal to her husband and to her king. But loyalty has its price…

Moving from royal palaces to prison cells, from the battlefield to the bedroom, between hope and despair, treachery and fidelity, hatred and abiding love, The Traitor’s Wife is a tale of an extraordinary woman living in extraordinary times.

A noblewoman pays the price for her loyalty to an unpopular king and her unfaithful husband…conveys emotions and relationships quite poignantly…ultimately, entertaining historical fiction.

Title: The Luxe
Author: Anna Godbersen
Publication Date: November 20th 2007

A big, sumptuous tale of catty girls, dark secrets and windswept romance unfurls in this compulsively readable novel of late-19th-century New York City socialites. Godbersen weaves a tenuous web of deceit, backstabbing and pretense that follows four teens: Elizabeth Holland, a prim and proper lady of old-money society, is betrothed to one man, though furtively loves another; Henry Schoonmaker, a debauched playboy who must marry Elizabeth or be disinherited; Diana Holland, Elizabeth’s younger sister who is in love with her fiancé; and Penelope Hayes, a member of the nouveau riche who will stop at nothing to win Henry’s affections. As Elizabeth and Henry’s wedding approaches, the spectacle unfolds in a wondrously grandiose scene, making for a fun, though not entirely unexpected dénouement. A delicious new twist along the Gossip Girl vein, readers will clamor for this sharp, smart drama of friends, lovers, lies and betrayal.

April Wrap-Up ~ 2009

April started out as a great reading month for me! For a while I was really dedicated and had a lot of time available. Towards the middle of the month, though, I started a new job. This, obviously, took away a lot of that extra time that I was enjoying so much. This happened right around the time I was finishing up Hot Six by Janet Evanovich. Things didn’t pick up after that, and they still haven’t. I’m moving pretty slowly, for my standards, on In The Woods by Tana French. I’m starting to get used to my schedule, thankfully, but finals are coming up the third week of May… So we’ll see how May goes!

Here are the books that I read in April:

1. High Five by Janet Evanovich
2. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins*
3. School’s Out Forever by James Patterson
4. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
5. 6th Target by James Patterson
6. Hot Six by Janet Evanovich
7. Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon
8. Seven Up by Janet Evanovich

Eight, for me, is about average. I’m not too disappointed in my reading this month, just frustrated that I don’t have enough time to read these days!
* My favorite book of the month!

Here are the memes I participated in this month:

Musing Mondays: 1
Teaser Tuesdays: 4
Cover Attraction: 5
Booking Through Thursday: 3
Friday Finds: 1
The Friday 56: 1
Library Loot: 1
Sunday Salon: 1

Here are the books that I’m planning on reading/finishing in May:

1. In The Woods by Tana French
2. Still Life by Louise Penny
3. Saving Faith by David Baldacci
4. BoneMan’s Daughter’s by Ted Dekker
5. Afraid by Jack Kilborn
6. The Lucky One by Nicolas Sparks
7. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
8. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

And, if I have time:

9. Uglies by Scott Westerfield
10. Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

Worse?

Which is worse?

Finding a book you love and then hating everything else you try by that author, or

Reading a completely disappointing book by an author that you love?

I agree that both things are pretty annoying. I’ve also had a lot of experience with both things.

For me, I think reading a completely disappointing book by an author I love is the worst out of the two. This has happened a couple times with me. This situation makes me start to lose faith in the author, which is never a good thing. It makes me hesitate the next time I’m interested in one of their books, whereas I would normally be jumping on the opportunity to pick it up and read it.

The most recent disappointment I’ve had is my experience reading Along Came A Spider by James Patterson. Patterson is one of my favorite authors, and he is the author that introduced me to the love of reading. You can read my review here for a more detailed description of my disappointment. I have just recently decided to try the next book in the series, but I’m not holding my breath.

That being said, I definitely dislike the other option. But in that case, at least for me, it’s more understandable since I have not had the time to build up faith or loyalty to the author. It’s simply expected that the second book an author writes may not live up to the first.

What about you? Which one do you think is worse?

Cover Attraction ~ April 29

Cover Attraction is a weekly meme hosted my Marcia at the Printed Page. This is what she says:

I’m a very visual person and love beautiful, or interesting, cover art. It entices, and invites, me to stop and take a peek instead of walking right on by.

I couldn’t agree more! Here’s my Cover Attraction for the week:

Title: Grand Avenue
Author: Joy Fielding
Published: October 2, 2001

For four women, the bonds of friendship had sustained them for twenty years — through marriage, motherhood, and murder….

Looking back, it seemed like paradise: lives filled with the blessings of friendship, marriage, children, and career. For twenty years, four friends — Chris, Barbara, Susan, and Vicki — shared everything through good times and bad, and faced the challenges of life and love head-on.

Now, one sits alone to ponder the strange twists and turns of fate and circumstance.

Now, she must sift through each of their pasts to discover exactly what went wrong, how dreams turned to nightmares as friendships faded and lives were destroyed.

Chris lived a contented life in her modest house with her growing family. It was her husband who never seemed satisfied — and who expected her to sacrifice her happiness to cater to his whims.

Barbara prided herself on staying beautiful for her handsome professor husband. But it wasn’t enough to keep him from dallying with his nubile young students.

Susan finished college after motherhood and became a successful magazine editor. But a casual flirtation threatened to shatter the harmonious life she had worked so hard to build.

Vicki’s achievements as a stellar and sought-after trial lawyer came at a huge personal price: a marriage and family that always took second place.

Going deep inside the minds and hearts of her utterly believable characters, Joy Fielding unlocks the secrets hidden within even the closest relationships. This powerful and mesmerizing novel explores the bonds women forge, the nature of friendship, and the meaning of unconditional love.

The first thing that drew me to this cover was the light pastel colors. I’m a sucker for that kind of thing! The more I looked at it, I realized that it was beautifully laid out, and it’s very aesthetically pleasing. The flower is bent in a way that brings the eye to the title, and then the pedals lead you back up to the frame. It’s very well done!

After reading the synopsis, I will definite have to read this book! It looks like a fascinating story. Though I won’t get around to it for a while.

What about you? What covers have caught your eye this week?

Teaser Tuesdays ~ April 28

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!

Here’s a teaser from In The Woods by Tana French:

“I used to float messages in cream-soda bottles down the stream that ran through the school grounds: “To Peter and Jamie, Please come back please, Love Adam.” I knew, you see, that I had been sent away because they had disappeared; and I knew that if they were to run back out of the wood some evening, grubby and nettle-stung and demanding their tea, I would be allowed to come home.”

~Page 116