Teaser Tuesdays: Happy Ever After

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

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
1. Grab your current read.
2. Let the book fall open to a random page.
3. Share with us two (2) "teaser" sentences from that page.
4. 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.
5. Spoilers not allowed! XD

My last Teaser Tuesday for 2010! This book used to be in my Waiting for Wednesday list. When I saw a copy in Borders, I immediately bought it. I don't have any regrets. Here's a teaser.

"She's happy, and she's confused. A lot of things  make Parker happy. Spreadsheets, for instance, and for mysterious reasons. But very little confuses her."

p. 198, Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts

What's your last teaser for the year? For more Teaser Tuesdays, please visit: Should Be Reading.

Musing Mondays (September 27)

 Musing Mondays is hosted by Miz B in Should be Reading.

The musing this week asks about book suggestions.

If your book group asked you to bring two (2) suggestions for group reads to your next meeting, what two books would you suggest? Why?

I don't have a book group as of the moment (and I would love to belong in one) but if I were to suggest two books it will be the following:

1. The Gift of Acabar - Og Mandino (with Buddy Kaye)

This is a bittersweet story by the late Og Mandino on family, loss and letting go. It'd be nice to know if others would tear up like I did while reading the book. There's a Credenda in the book that's one of my favorite poems, if I may call it as such. It's kind of like Desiderata in format. Touches my heart everytime I read it.

2. Juliet - Anne Fortier

I'm still currently in page 88 so far. I saw a lot of blog posts on this book thus I decided to buy it. I'm not disappointed so far. The mystery is keeping me on my toes and yet I can't seem to breeze through the book. Time is my enemy! I would want to know if other readers will have the same reaction like I did that's why I chose this one. The book cover is also gorgeous by the way.

 

If you want to see other book suggestions, please visit our host's blog!

Thursday 13: 13 Best First Lines from Novels

American Book Review featured "100 Best First Lines from Novels" and among the hundred I chose 13 for this week's Thursday 13.

1. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. — Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice(1813)
2. Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. — Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955)
3. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. — Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1877; trans. Constance Garnett)
4. It was a pleasure to burn. — Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
5. It was love at first sight. — Joseph Heller, Catch-22 (1961)

6. Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person. — Anne Tyler, Back When We Were Grownups (2001)

7. "When your mama was the geek, my dreamlets," Papa would say, "she made the nipping off of noggins such a crystal mystery that the hens themselves yearned toward her, waltzing around her, hypnotized with longing." — Katherine Dunn, Geek Love (1983)

8. Of all the things that drive men to sea, the most common disaster, I've come to learn, is women. — Charles Johnson, Middle Passage (1990)

9. Psychics can see the color of time it's blue. — Ronald Sukenick, Blown Away(1986)
10. In the town, there were two mutes and they were always together. — Carson McCullers, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940)
11. Time is not a line but a dimension, like the dimensions of space. — Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye (1988)

12. In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. — F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925)

13. You better not never tell nobody but God. — Alice Walker, The Color Purple(1982)

What's your list for this week?

Teaser Tuesdays: Juliet

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

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
1. Grab your current read.
2. Let the book fall open to a random page.
3. Share with us two (2) "teaser" sentences from that page.
4. 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.
5. Spoilers not allowed! XD

The book I've been waiting for finally arrived and I'm diving into it immediately. Here's a teaser:

"In the eyes of the crowd she was no less beautiful now than she had been before, but it was evident to the painter - who had not seen her since the night before the fatal Palio - that hers had become the stony beauty of Athena, rather than the smiling charms of Aprhodite."

p. 247, Juliet by Anne Fortier

What's your teaser this Tuesday? For more Teaser Tuesdays, please visit: Should Be Reading

BTT: Day and Night

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted here: http://btt2.wordpress.com/.

This week's question:

Do you divide your books into day and night reads? How do you decide?

Before, I would read anything be it day time or night time. Time was not an issue. When I started reading Kathy Reichs' first book, Deja Dead, I realized that I don't have the stomach to read it during the night. Her descriptions of decapitated bodies and maggots had me imagining the worst  at 2 in the morning. I decided then that I will only read my bible and books that are light reads during night time. The morbid and gruesome books are reserved to be read with the sun on.

Note: By the way, I'm still not yet finished reading Deja Dead. Yes, it played tricks in my mind. Everytime I reach for it, I remember her description of the maggots squirming on the floor. Ugh! Disgusting. I wonder if I'll ever finish it.

For more BTT, please visit http://btt2.wordpress.com/.

WWW Wednesdays

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

* What are you currently reading?

* What did you recently finish reading?

* What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading? 

 

Blurb from Amazon:

Winning the Battle in your Mind. There's a War Going On And Your Mind Is The Battlefield. If you're one of millions who suffer from worry, doubt, confusion, depression, anger or condemnation, you are experiencing an attack in your mind. Overcoming negative thoughts that come against your mind brings freedom and peace. Find out how to recognize damaging thought patterns and stop them from influencing your life. In this powerful book, best-selling author and conference host, Joyce Meyer, guides you through an honest self-appraisal by sharing the trials, tragedies and ultimate victories of her own marriage, family and ministry- including the truth she learned about what she was thinking and feeling every step of the way. You'll gain insight into how Joyce won the battle in her own mind- and how you can as well. You'll also discover how to: -Find peace and stop brain-storm of mental activity. -See the truth by thinking correctly. -Use spiritual weapons effectively.

What did you recently finish reading? 

 

Blurb from Amazon:

Near strangers Honor Witherspoon and hunky computer genius Bram Bennett are temporarily forced into marriage by Honor's millionaire father. The justifications for this preposterous act are murky at best, but the result is crystal clear: instant attraction. Despite the sexuality that simmers between the pair, they hold back for much of the story. Bram is still grieving the death of his young wife, Alicia, tragically murdered eight years earlier, and the innately gregarious Honor is still suffering post-traumatic stress from a terrifying kidnapping. Even after they succumb to temptation, both resist giving their hearts to each other.

What do you think you'll read next? (Hoping that my order will arrive…)

 

Blurb from Amazon:

Fortier bobs and weaves between Shakespearean tragedy and popular romance for a high-flying debut in which American Julie Jacobs travels to Siena in search of her Italian heritage--and possibly an inheritance--only to discover she is descended from 14th-century Giulietta Tomei, whose love for Romeo defied their feuding families and inspired Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Julie's hunt leads her to the families' descendants, still living in Siena, still feuding, and still struggling under the curse of the friar who wished a plague on both their houses. Julie's unraveling of the past is assisted by a Felliniesque contessa and the contessa's handsome nephew, and complicated by mobsters, police, and a mysterious motorcyclist. To understand what happened centuries ago, in the previous generation, and all around her, Julie relies on relics: a painting, a journal, a dagger, a ring. Readers enjoy the additional benefit of antique texts alternating with contemporary narratives, written in the language of modern romance and enlivened by brisk storytelling. Fortier navigates around false clues and twists, resulting in a dense, heavily plotted love story that reads like a Da Vinci Code for the smart modern woman. 

Teaser Tuesdays: Battlefield of the Mind

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

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

1. Grab your current read.

2. Let the book fall open to a random page.

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

4. 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.

5. Spoilers not allowed! XD

Taking a break from fiction this week and reading a non-fiction by Joyce Meyer. Below is a teaser from the book, Battlefield of the Mind:

"A passive person thinks he is doing nothing wrong because he is doing nothing. Confronted with his error , he will say, "I didn't do anything!" His analysis is correct, but his behavior is not. The problem arose precisely because he did nothing."

- Chapter 14, p.75

Teaser Tuesdays: Then Comes Marriage

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

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.
• 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
• Spoilers not allowed! XD

I'm on a Christie Ridgway marathon so most of my teasers in the succeeding weeks will come from her books. I'm on my 4th Christie Ridgway book this week. Most of her books are light reads but a couple of books made me teary eyed. I can't wait to catch up until the latest book she released. I'm currently reading "Then Comes Marriage" and below is a teaser:

"My father's money," she corrected. "Occupational hazard of the poor little rich girls of the world." She said the words before he could.

Then Comes Marriage, Christie Ridgway

Teaser Tuesdays: Wish You Were Here

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

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.

• 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.

• Spoilers not allowed! XD

I'm playing catch up with my Teaser Tuesday. It's already Wednesday my timezone. Should I call it Teaser Wednesday? =)  I'm reading 2 books at the same time. Since Deja Dead gets me psyched out when I read it at night, I'm reading it during daytime. To have something to read before bed time, I grabbed a light read with none of those description of decapitated bodies. I already did a teaser of Deja Dead last Thursday, so this time I'll share a teaser of the second book I'm currently reading.

"She's speechless," Lyssa murmured as she brushed by him, sly humor in her voice. "Remarkable."

Yeager smiled again. "Do you want me to come back?"

Wish You Were Here, Christie Ridgway

I added Christie Ridgway's books in my TBR list. It was suggested by one of the blogs I'm following but I forgot which blog, but thanks for the suggestion. I'm quite finicky in following the order of the books, so I got the very first longish book she released. Currently enjoying it so far. =)

Feel free to share your teasers!

Musing Mondays (August 23)

Musing Mondays is hosted by Miz B in Should be Reading.

For this week, Miz B's musing is inspired by her step-brother who is a firefighter.

"If your house was burning down –and you could SAFELY grab a book on your way outside to safety– what book would you make sure you ‘rescued’? Why? "

My answer would be like Miz B, no question. It's my black, hard bound NIV Bible. It might not be as expensive (it's only about 7.00 USD) like most of the books I own but the return is eternal, everlasting.

Happy Monday everybody!

Weekend Introspection #1

On Books: 

My TBR list is getting longer and I'm still stuck reading Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs. It's not that the book is boring or uninteresting, but man oh man, Kathy Reichs is so explicit with her descriptions that reading the novel at 2am just gives me the creeps. To quote 2 lines from the book: 

"Margaret Adkins had been ripped open from her breastbone to her pubis. A jagged fissure ran downward from her sternum, exposing along its course the colors and textures of her mutilated entrails. At its deepest points, where the organs had been displaced, I could see the glistening sheath surrounding her vertebral column."

It was already around 2am, Sunday morning when I read the part mentioned above. I just had to put it down or else "Hello over active imagination." I fell asleep praying and asking God, "Guard my thoughts and guide my heart." Note to self: Read the book during daytime, with people around, and not before bed time.

On Music:

I currently have Ingrid Michaelson on repeat mode that she must be hoarse from singing over and over again. Not familiar with her? 

"I love the way you call me baby and you take me the way I am..."

Her genres are Indie Pop and Indie Folk. Most of her songs have been used in Grey's Anatomy. To learn more about her, click here.

On Movies:

I still have a hangover on Inception. When I start discussing the different interpretations of the movie to my friends, I either get the silent treatment or be told "Let it go." Seriously my friends, intellectual stimulation! Anyone willing to strike a discussion with me on Inception, my twitter is on the right side bar or PM me. My Skype and YM are also online most of the time. Anne... LET it GO! =)

On TV Series:

Anyone watching So You Think You Can Dance Season 7? It should have been called "So You Think You Can Get Injured" with the numerous injuries the contestants sustained. Two contestants (Alex Wong and Ashley Galvan) had to leave because of serious injuries. Billy Bell, Jose Ruiz and Lauren Froderman were also injured. Despite the ravings of the judges on Alex Wong, I'm pro-Billy Bell! When he was eliminated, I was then rooting for Kent Boyd. He did not win also. Tsk.

Favorite Group Routine: "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic", Choreographed by Mia Michaels.

Favorite Duo Routine: "Mad World", Performed by Billy Bell and Ade Obayomi, Choreographed by Stacey Tookey

Best Performance in Season 7: "That's Life", from the Broadway Show Come Fly Away, Performed by Keith Roberts and Karine Plantadit

        --> They were the guest performers during the Week 1 Results Show and trumped all the performances combined.

There were also notable performances like Ashley and Ade's Dee Caspary routine and Travis Wall's routine dedicated to his mother. There was a change in the format of the show. They only selected 11 people and the contestants were partnered with a contestant from previous seasons, thus Ade. I'm hoping in the next season, one of the choreographers will create a dance (3 dancers in one routine) about adultery and how destructive it can be. Then partner it with Damien Rice's 9 Crimes song... I can just imagine it. Chills... Calling Mia Michaels, Dee Caspary, Travis Wall or Stacey Tookey...

One question: Why is it that Cat Deeley can effortlessly pull off the tousled-look but on me I end up looking like a hag? Another tsk. XD

On Blogging:

I just learned about this Follow Friday meme from one of the blogs I follow. I participated last Friday and two authors started following me! How cool is that! Thanks E.J. Stevens and Emma Michaels! And, of course, also to my new followers! =)

My favorite shot of the week:

I took a shot of our neighbor's dog, Chubby. He's posed for me, mind you. He's cute but I'm not really a pet lover. I'll just stick to "Oh, cute dog..." statements and not "I want to own one".

Goodbye weekend... Hello Monday and work...