Teaser Tuesdays

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My husband and I decided to skip town last week so I’m back this week with a Teaser. Hope you had a wonderful 4th, if you’re in the U.S. that is. Now, on with the teasing.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. The idea is to give everyone a look inside the book you’re reading.

Play along: Grab your current read; Open to a random page; Share two teaser sentences from that page; Share the title and author so that other participants know what you’re reading.

This week, I’m reading The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn. I’m half way but I found the first sentence amusing which is what I’m sharing this morning.

“’I am afraid we must settle the problem of what to do with Theodora,’ my brother-in-law said with a weary sigh. He looked past me to where my sister sat stitching placidly on a tiny gown.” (1)

What are you teasing us with this week?

My Favorite Reads – The Hound of the Baskervilles

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Alyce from At Home With Books features one of her favorite reads each Thursday and this week my pick is…

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

From the back cover: The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of master mystery writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most accomplished stories. Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson confront one of their most difficult cases ever: is there truly a curse on the old Baskerville estate? Is there truly a ghostly beast lurking on the dark, eerie moors? A masterful concoction of plot and mood, this story is guaranteed to give you the shivers.

Since that doesn’t give you much, and in case you want more, this wikipedia page should give you what you need.

My thoughts: I don’t read many mysteries, so I wonder sometimes why I like books and short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes so much. A few years ago, I remember going on a binge and reading pretty much everything I had in the house that the Holmes characters was even vaguely mentioned in. In the last few months, I’ve gone out of my way to read several mysteries hoping to find something I like. I can’t say that I’ve found anything yet but I’m hopeful.

The reason I like this book so much — there’s more than a mystery here. It’s the suspense, the mood, the darkness, the setting on the moors, murder, a ghostly pack of hounds hunting individuals at night, and the possibility of death while investigating. Other mysteries have these things but somehow the parts don’t add up the same. There’s something about the way all the elements come together here that make this a perfect read. Out of all the Sherlock Holmes books on my shelf, this one always sticks out in my mind as a wonderfully chilly read that makes you want to turn on the lights while sleeping.

Library Loot – Giving Up on Holds and Browsing the Stacks

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Usually, I make liberal use of the holds system at my library. Lately, it hasn’t been working to my advantage. This week, I had some extra time and several books to return, so I thought, why not just browse. With a list of authors and books I’d like in hand, I set off for the stacks. I limited myself to three books since I also did a quick peruse of the at home shelves and picked out a few forgotten books that are longing to be read.

Here’s what I came home with.

The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn. I came across this one a few weeks ago and was thrilled to see it on the shelf. I’ve not read any of Raybourn’s books and I’ve read a few reviews that said this wasn’t as good as her other books but since I haven’t read them, I’m not worried. Ignorance can sometimes be a good thing when it comes to a new author. This one is about a woman named Theodora who abandons her life and heads to Rumania where rumors of vampires still run rampant. There are castles and counts and brooding noblemen and I’m guessing from the cover pic, some romance and heavy breathing as well. Not sure how I feel about that yet but we’ll see.

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti. I’ve been wanting to read this one for so long but never got around to adding it to the hold pile. I thought I’d take a shot and see if it might be available and, poof, there is was. It’s supposed to be gothic and spooky and richly imagined — OK, so that’s what the cover says and, yes, I fell for it. Abandoned as a small child, twelve year old Ren is missing his left hand, has no idea how he lost it, and has no idea who his family is. When a man appears at the orphanage claiming to be his brother, he convinces the monks to let him go with the man in the hopes that he will solve the mystery that is his life.

The Rosetta Key by William Dietrich. I was hoping for Napoleon’s Pyramids but this was all they had of Dietrich’s books so off the shelf it came. Thieves, sea voyages, armies, mysterious medallions, Egyptian scrolls…not sure what more can be added here but it sounds like a good summer read on a hot day by a lake.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Teaser Tuesdays

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. The idea is to give everyone a look inside the book you’re reading.

Play along: Grab your current read; Open to a random page; Share two teaser sentences from that page; Share the title and author so that other participants know what you’re reading.

This week, I’m reading Deliver Us From Evil by David Baldacci.

“The ninety-six year old man sat in his comfy armchair enjoying a book on Joseph Stalin. No mainstream publisher would touch the delusion-filled manuscript since the author had been unfailingly complimentary about the sadistic Soviet leader.” (1)

What are you teasing us with this week?

Deliver Us From Evil

The Conquest

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The Conquest

The Conquest

By Elizabeth Chadwick

St. Martin’s Press

ISBN: 0-312-15497-6

3.75 stars

In 1066, England finds itself overrun with Normans. Ailith, a young Saxon woman and the wife of a blacksmith, is living a content life even while her home country is invaded — until she loses both her husband and infant son on the same day. Her life comes to a halt and she sees no way to move on. In a few short hours, she goes from being the mistress of her own home to wet nurse to a Norman friend and living almost as a servant in their home.

Ailith’s life becomes even more complicated and unhappy by a wedding proposal from a man she despises. When a womanizing Norman named Rolf makes her mistress of his household of his newly acquired lands, she jumps at the chance at a new life. Ailith and Rolf soon fall in love and a daughter, Julitta, is born. When circumstances change quickly, Ailith is forced to make the difficult decision to leave Rolf and her life behind.

Elizabeth Chadwick is a writer I like a lot. I tend to fall in love with her characters and their intricate relationships. In this book, I liked Ailith. She was strong and proud but is also deeply scarred and vulnerable. She gets moody and dark but has every right to feel the way she does after all she lost. Rolf, on the other hand, while likable, seems to think more of his horses than anything or anyone else. He spent too much time brooding and fantasizing about other woman for me to really like him.

The story is told in two parts. Ailith’s life and then her daughter Julitta’s. However, the story shifts abruptly and characters feel like they just disappear. Rolf, for instance, while he was still mentioned, only shows up to marry off Julitta, unsuitably I might add, and is gone again. The two stories, while connected, didn’t feel integrated and I felt like I was reading the same story with a few new characters thrown in.

But, all the above being mentioned, I still found myself liking the story. There’s romance — which I found I didn’t always get into even when large parts of the story hinge on two people finding happiness or at least of few hours of pleasure — and a lot of horses in this one. Although, I think maybe I had my fill of hands running down flanks for awhile. I don’t mind the romance part, I think it was just too much for me this time around. Chadwick is great at the historical details though and she does draw you in. You want to yell at her characters and cheer them on at the same time. While I don’t think this will rank up near the top as one of my favorite books of her’s, I don’t plan to stop reading her novels.

The Sunday Salon – Libraries

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This week was a blog bust for me. I was busy all week and my regular blog schedule got interrupted, and by the time the craziness calmed, the week was over and all the stuff I had ready to go never went. I’m hoping to get back to a regular schedule this week now that things seems to be getting back to normal, or at least some semblance of normal around here. (My husband and I always joke that we don’t lead normal lives but we also sort of like it this way. We don’t get bored. :-))

I wanted to take a quick moment to talk about libraries. Many, probably most of us, are regular patrons and we love our local libraries that supply us with all the books we want to read. Libraries are places of wonder, education, and entertainment. And, unfortunately, many, if not all, are experiencing some sort of funding shortage. The American Library Association, which is holding its Annual Convention in Washington, DC this weekend will be hosting a rally on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, June 29th to bring needed attention to the problems libraries across the U.S. are facing. I won’t be able to attend the rally but I did want to mention it here. I will also probably be writing to my representative to remind her just how important it is to support local libraries. It’s not just about books, although I could probably make the argument on that alone, but libraries offer many free services and classes that help individuals in our communities get back on their feet and they provide children and adults with places to learn, escape, and be creative. I know for many people libraries are probably on the bottom of their lists, but we should all take a minute to make sure they don’t become extinct.

Last week, I had the opportunity to meet up with Carol Fitzgerald of The Book Reporter. I do reviews for The Book Reporter, which you’ve heard me talk about before, and since she was in town for the American Library Association Convention, we had the chance to meet up for dinner and talk about books and pretty much everything else. It was a great dinner and I’m glad the scheduling worked out for both of us. The reason I mention this is because Carol wrote a great piece on saving libraries on The Huffington Post that you should read. The full article is here.

Library lecture now over, thanks for listening. 🙂

So, to wrap this one up, I read:

The Divine Sacrifice by Tony Hays. I’m not a mystery person but I’m trying to read more of them. I liked it but I think my problem with mysteries is that I spend the whole time trying to figure out who did it that I forget to sometimes enjoy the trip.

Fire by Kristin Cashore. I didn’t enjoy it as much as Graceling but still very good. Cashore has an amazing ability to create brand new worlds that really do enchant.

This week I plan to post reviews of The Conquest by Elizabeth Chadwick and Benighted by Kit Whitfield and maybe one more if I find the time to write. I’ll be starting Deliver Us From Evil by David Baldacci today. A co-worker loaned it to me and while it’s not my normal reading, I’m looking forward to the change of pace.

Happy Sunday!

My Favorite Reads – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

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Alyce from At Home With Books features one of her favorite reads each Thursday and this week my pick is…

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling.

The inside cover: Harry Potter has never been the star of the Quidditch team, scoring points while riding a broom far above the ground. He knows no spells, has never helped hatch a dragon, and has never worn a cloak of invisibility.

All he knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley — a great big swollen spoiled bully. Harry’s room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn’t had a birthday party in eleven years.

But all of that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to an incredible place that Harry — and anyone who reads about him — will find unforgettable.

For it’s there that he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic in everything from classes to meals, but a great destiny that’s been waiting for him…if Harry can only survive the encounter.

My thoughts: Oh, Harry, how I do love your world. I’ve marveled at your wonder, laughed at your funny moments, and felt sad at your misfortune.

Harry, it’s been a while since we started at the beginning and I think the time has come to start again.

By the time I got around to reading the Harry Potter books, the fourth book was about to be released. This was way back when I was working for the publishing industry defending the books against first amendment challenges. One day, while browsing a bookstore for a few books to read on a plane trip, I decided that it was time I read them to see what all the fuss was about. As luck would have it, books one, two, and three were all half off since book four was about to be released. I bought all of them, packed them in my bag, and finished them before I knew what I even read. It was instant love and my affair with the Potter boy began in earnest.

I confessed my love to a friend who told me of her own Harry love affair and outed a third friend of her quiet endearing love as well. We made a pact, and with each successive book, dutifully stood in line for our books at midnight, returning home with our precious cargo to crack the covers and see what mischief and heartache lay ahead. We would re-group a few days later and re-live the whole story.

I’ve re-read every one of the books in the series at least, well, let’s go with several times. The most recent releases have been read more often because of the movies. I thought it would be nice to go back to the beginning and start the journey again. With this post, I’m starting my summer of Harry Potter Re-Read. I know there is a Harry Potter Challenge going on out there but I think it’s coming to an end (I’ve also seen a lot of others re-reading which made me want to get out my books too.) so I’m doing my own thing and relishing the story and wonderful world all over again.

The Crystal Cave

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The Crystal Cave

The Crystal Cave

By Mary Stewart

William Morrow and Company, Inc.

ISBN:0060548258

4.5 stars

I have a soft spot for any book that features King Arthur as a character or even, as in the case of The Crystal Cave, as a future character. This story here is all about Merlin, the sorcerer, prophet, and friend of the future High King of Britain.

We meet Merlin as a child. And, while he may be young, he understands enough about the world around him to know that survival skills will be necessary for him. He’s small and fighting doesn’t suite him, but being a bastard child with a family that would be ready to call his life forfeit at any time, he finds ways to garner information, and knowledge, that will keep him safe. His mother, a daughter of a local lord, has steadfastly refused to tell anyone the name of Merlin’s father. It’s caused her constant grief but she has remained true to the story of Merlin’s conception and birth that she has always told — he is the child of the Dark Prince, a spirit neither human nor ghost that roams freely in the world. It is this story that keeps him alive as a child and as an adult.

Growing up, Merlin does his best to take in every ounce of knowledge he can find, devouring books, and learning secrets from a close friend who lives outside of regular society. This friend and teacher shows Merlin things he never thought possible and opens a new world to him that includes magic. When the small village he lives is in attacked, Merlin makes his escape and finds himself in Less Britain at the feet of a man he never thought he would meet — his father. Ambrosuis, the man planning to conquer and rule the British has known of his existence but for his own sake has left Merlin be. With the help of his father, Merlin rises to great heights and becomes known throughout the country as the greatest magician and prophet known to man.

This was a nice change of pace in my Arthurian legend reading. Usually the stories are focused solely on Arthur but to be taken in to the world in Merlin is fantastic. He is a character that changes so easily with each story — in some he is all magic, in others more human. This one tended toward the more human, rational, and knowledge based Merlin. There is some magic, or the talk of magic, but even Merlin finds he has trouble believing what is said about him and his works.

Stewart is a wonderful writer. I was taken in right from the beginning and found moments where I had to pry myself away from the book. I don’t want to say this book isn’t full of action because in many ways it is, but it’s a different action. Following the life of one person instead of everyone in it, makes for a more intriguing story. While the action takes places around Merlin, he stays fixed and for some reason that made his story more compelling for me.

This book was originally published in the 70s and there is an entire series that I now get to work my way through. It’s a complex tale, and even though it’s one I’m familiar with, I’m looking forward to this series. Her first book was so rich in detail and the story telling wonderful that I plan to track down the rest of the series. It may be a while before I get to these books though. I’ve read a lot of Arthurian books this year and I think it might be time for a break so I don’t tire of the story. This one is a good book to end on for a few months.