Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Teaser Tuesday - Firstborn, by Brandon Sanderson

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* 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 and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

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The last few weeks I've been reading a lot of short stories and novellas.  This week I've just begun to read Firstborn, by Brandon Sanderson.  In this early scene, Dennison and his father are having a discussion about Dennison's unsuitability for military command.


The Tease:
"Dennison was taken aback by his father's lack of formality, and some of the passers by stopped to regard the strange sight of a High Duke acting with such passion.  Dennison stood within his father's stiff grasp, reading the man's eyes...One genius son isn't enough.  For you, one success and one failure simply cancel each other out."
 -Firstborn, by Brandon Sanderson

What's your Tease?

Monday, May 20, 2013

Teaser Tuesday - And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* 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 and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

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...Six little soldier boys playing with a hive;
A bumble bee stung one and then there were Five...
Frank Green, 1869


The Tease:
"There was little pretense now - no formal veneer of conversation.  They were five enemies linked together by a mutual instinct of self-preservation."
 -And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie

What's your Tease?

Friday, May 17, 2013

Book Review - Notorious Nineteen, by Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum Novels, by Janet Evanovich
1. One for the Money    10/18/2007
2. Two for the Dough    11/19/2007
3. Three to get Ready    11/24/2007
4. Four to Score           11/25/2007
5. High Five                 11/26/2007
6. Hot Six                    12/6/2007
7. Seven Up                3/10/2008
8. Hard Eight                3/11/2008
9. To the Nines            3/16/2008
10. Visions of Sugar Plums    3/14/2008
11. Ten Big Ones          3/17/2008
12. Eleven on Top         5/2/2008
13. Twelve Sharp          5/12/2008
14. Lean Mean Thirteen        5/13/2008
15. Plum Lovin’                5/14/2008
16. Plum Lucky                5/15/2008
17. Fearles Fourteen        8/18/2008
18. Plum Spooky                TBR
19. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen    9/25/2009
20. Sizzling Sixteen             11/4/2011                   (My Review)
21. Smokin' Seventeen        11/11/2011  * * *      (My Review
22. Explosive Eighteen         2/1/2012     * * * *   (My Review)
23. Notorious Nineteen        4/5/2013    * * * *

From Goodreads:
"#1 bestselling author Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels are: “irresistible” (Houston Chronicle), “stunning” (Booklist), “outrageous” (Publishers Weekly), “brilliantly evocative” (The Denver Post), and “making trouble and winning hearts” (USA Today).

New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is certain of three truths: People don’t just vanish into thin air. Never anger old people. And don’t do what Tiki tells you to do.

After a slow summer of chasing low-level skips for her cousin Vinnie’s bail bonds agency, Stephanie Plum finally lands an assignment that could put her checkbook back in the black. Geoffrey Cubbin, facing trial for embezzling millions from Trenton’s premier assisted-living facility, has mysteriously vanished from the hospital after an emergency appendectomy. Now it’s on Stephanie to track down the con man. Unfortunately, Cubbin has disappeared without a trace, a witness, or his money-hungry wife. Rumors are stirring that he must have had help with the daring escape . . . or that maybe he never made it out of his room alive. Since the hospital staff’s lips seem to be tighter than the security, and it’s hard for Stephanie to blend in to assisted living, Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur goes in undercover. But when a second felon goes missing from the same hospital, Stephanie is forced into working side by side with Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, in order to crack the case.

The real problem is, no Cubbin also means no way to pay the rent. Desperate for money—or maybe just desperate—Stephanie accepts a secondary job guarding her secretive and mouthwatering mentor Ranger from a deadly Special Forces adversary. While Stephanie is notorious for finding trouble, she may have found a little more than she bargained for this time around. Then again—a little food poisoning, some threatening notes, and a bridesmaid’s dress with an excess of taffeta never killed anyone . . . or did they? If Stephanie Plum wants to bring in a paycheck, she’ll have to remember: No guts, no glory. . . ."


My Thoughts:
Wow - Number Nineteen!  Who would have thought that this series could go on for so long?

No really, who thought that?  Well, while certain things about the series may be getting a bit long in the tooth, I have to admit that Notorious Nineteen was quite a bit better and definitely more enjoyable than the last two books in the series.  All the expected elements are there where they should be, like comfortable slippers beside the bed - Grandma Mazur is crazy yet oddly helpful, chicken gets eaten, Joe is hot, Ranger is hotter, etc.

But somehow - and I totally can't put my finger on why, exactly - Notorious Nineteen ends up being funnier and much more entertaining than the previous few novels.  Evanovich may have found a new enjoyment and life in her characters, perhaps, but whatever it is, I liked it. 

Overall I continue to enjoy this series, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys light-hearted mystery romps with a touch of romantic comedy.  I still hope the series tops out at 20, but if not, I at least hope that Evanovich continues having a little more fun with the series.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Teaser Tuesday - The Emperor's Soul, by Brandon Sanderson

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* 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 and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

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I finished "Hunger" last week, and decided to try one of Brandon Sanderson's shorter works, and "The Emperor's Soul" seemed like a good place to start.  Shai is a "Forger" who can work a type of magic where she can create almost flawless imitations of items.  When she is caught trying to steal from the Emperor's Palace, she finds herself in a most precarious position - either accept a commission of an unheard of and nearly impossible Forgery, or face the executioner for her crimes.  She accepts the commission, of course, but whether she succeeds or fails, her fate might be the same either way.


The Tease:
"But he did not give her the plates back.  She hadn't expected him to, not now.  Not until their agreement was done - an agreement she was certain she would not live to see the end of, unless she escaped."
 -The Emperor's Soul, by Brandon Sanderson

What's your Tease?

Monday, May 6, 2013

Teaser Tuesday - Hunger, by Michael Grant

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just:
* 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 and author, too, so that other Teaser Tuesday participants can add the book to their To Be Read (TBR) Lists if they like your teasers!

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"Hunger" is the second book in a series of Teen Fiction novels written by Michael Grant, centered around the idea that in a single moment everyone over the age of fifteen disappears.  The time that the children have spent alone and trapped have been difficult, and over the months since the barrier appeared the food supplies have rapidly dwindled.


The Tease:
"Bug drew a Ziploc bag out of the pocket of his hoodie.  Inside was white, crumbly, smashed-up fish.  Orsay lunged for it, tore the packet open with trembling fingers, and ate it like an animal, sticking her mouth into the bag."
 -Hunger, by Michael Grant

What's your Tease?