On My Wishlist (#1)

I haven't done this meme before and I'm not entirely sure why. I think that it might have had something to do with not wanting to tempt myself to buy more books that would just take up space on my TBR shelf, which is already way out of hand.

Interestingly, this week my wishlist books are both young adult books. I never used to read so much young adult fiction, but with the advent of book blogs I find myself becoming increasingly interested in them. There is a third book which is also surprising to me, but I really do want to read it!

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

From Goodreads:

"What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all—looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12th should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it’s her last. The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. In fact, she re-lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she had ever imagined."

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 

From Goodreads:

"Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with every one out to make sure you don't live to see the morning?

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love."

Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

From Goodreads:

"Sookie Stackhouse has finally settled into a relationship with the Viking vampire Eric, and her errant brother Jason seems to have his life in order, too. But all the other people in Sookie’s life – Eric himself, her former lover Bill, her friend and boss Sam – are having family problems. Eric’s maker shows up with Eric’s ‘brother’ in tow, the ailing Bill can only be healed by a blood sibling, and Sam’s brother’s marriage is about to take place... or will it? The furor raised by the coming out of the two-natured has yet to settle; some people are just not ready to sit down to dinner with a man who turns into a dog. And Sookie herself is still recovering from her last ordeal. She’s definitely improving, physically and mentally, but she’s always going to have some dark moments now. The werewolves tell her that there have been strange and ominous passers-by in the Stackhouse woods; now Sookie is about to come face-to-face with one of her more distant relatives..."
 

Teaser Tuesday (5): Living Dead in Dallas

From Living Dead in Dallas, page 109.

Bill left the room in a flash. Stan's face grew even whiter, and his eyes blazed. I looked anywhere but directly at him. I didn't want to be the sight filling his eyes while he digested the fact that someone had planted a bug in his audience chamber. He had indeed been  betrayed, just not in the fashion he'd expected.

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!

Teaser Tuesday (4): The Host

From The Host by Stephenie Meyer, page 37:

"'And eat something, please. I don't want your stomach to give us away.' He grins, and his eyes crinkle up, fanning lines out of the corners. My heart gives one hard thump, and I know I will wait here if it takes him all night."

 I have to confess that I am not particularly enjoying this book so far.I thought that I would, especially after reading Juju's review of the book. She was spot on in saying that this book is entirely different than Twilight -- the problem that I'm facing is that so far I don't feel that it has any of the good qualities of the author's previous books, leaving me a bit befuddled and agitated by the wordiness.

I'm getting into it, but the process is slow. Regardless of how I'm feeling, I will definitely be finishing, hopefully on a better note than I started. I've read so many good reviews I'd hate to be the first negative, especially as a Twilight fan!

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!

Teaser Tuesday (3): A Respectable Trade

From A Respectable Trade by Philippa Gregory, page 127:

"'I do hate niggers,' Honoria said quietly to Frances as the men talked across the table. 'I wonder how you can bear to teach them. I won't have them near me.'"

 From A Respectable Trade by Philippa Gregory, page 151:

"'I could just beat them, ma'am.' John offered. 'That's what we always did in Jamaica. Beat them till they were quiet.'"

There are so many great lines in this book, but none of them in isolation will really give you a feel for this novel. While I'd been looking forward to reading it, I didn't expect the overwhelming sense of sadness that reading this book gives me. I've watched movies about the slave trade and have been touched, but there is nothing to compare with the ability to use your own sense of indignation and imagination to pull together from the pages of a book. I weep nearly constantly reading this one and it's exhausting, but very much worth it.

I'd like to take this opportunity to let you know that I'm going to be going out of town from tomorrow until, I imagine, next Tuesday. I may be able to make posts, but it's unlikely that I will have time to do a lot of commenting during this upcoming week. Please don't be offended if I'm not around much, or miss me. I'll be back!

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!

Book Beginnings On Friday: Shutter Island

"I haven't laid eyes on the island in several years."

Page 1, Sentence 1 of Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane.

Because I don't want to leave you there, I'd rather supply you with the entire first paragraph, which was certainly enough to get my attention and make me interested in reading more of the book. While not the strongest first paragraph of a book I've ever read, the imagery is quite nice.

"I haven't laid eyes on the island in several years. The last time was from a friend's boat that ventured into the outer harbor, and I could see it off in the distance, past the inner ring, shrouded in the summer haze a careless smudge of paint against the sky."

The first paragraph (of the prologue) gives you a definite feeling for the tone of the book, and the entire prologue really made me want to continue reading. A fairly good start, all in all.

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by Becky at Page Turners. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading. If you like, share with everyone why you do, or do not, like the sentence.

Teaser Tuesday: Fried Green Tomatoes (4/27/2010)

From Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg, page 61:

"She knew she couldn't go through any more days waiting for test results, and decided that she really did not want to know if anything was wrong, and preferred to drop dead in her tracks, never knowing."

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!

Book Beginnings Friday: Revolutionary Road

"The final dying sounds of their dress rehearsal left the Laurel players with nothing to do but stand there, silent and helpless, blinking out over the footlights of an empty auditorium." 

Page 1, Sentence 1 of Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. 

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by Becky at Page Turners. Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading. If you like, share with everyone why you do, or do not, like the sentence.

Teaser Tuesday: Revolutionary Road

From Revolutionary Road, by Richard Yates, page 33:

"'I said yes. All right, Frank! Could you please just stop talking now, before you drive me crazy?'"

(Sorry, I know that was three sentences, but part of the meaning is lost with only two of them!)

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!