First Chapter~First Paragraph(s)~Tuesday Intros (4)

This is a weekly feature being hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea. We are to share the opening paragraph (maybe two) of our current read.  Which begs the question...would this be a book you would want to read, based on the opening paragraphs? 


This week:

The Reindeer Keeper 
Barbara Briggs Ward

Abbey read obits as if they were short stories.  To Abbey, they were.  This queer obsession began years earlier when she'd sit at her father's desk in the funeral home and clip obituaries from the local newspaper.  There'd be a copy for his files and copies for the family.  The ones for the family were always clipped a little more neatly.


Abbey knew some paid her father what they could; not in money but rather in gifts of food or labor.  The most amazing gift came from a most unlikely source.  Abbey remembered the name when a lawyer phoned one February afternoon.  She recalled the old man had been buried without fanfare.  From his obit she learned he had no children or siblings.  He'd been a recluse living somewhere off County Route 12.  On a single sheet of lined paper, notarized and witnessed and in perfect penmanship, this stranger bequeathed all his worldly possessions to Abbey's father.  This included a turn-of-the-century farmhouse, more than one hundred and twenty acres of woodland and meadows, and a cluster of outbuildings, including a barn set off by itself in a backfield.


My review of this book will be up later today at my Christmas blog.  Be sure to stop by and check it out. =O)

FIRST CHAPTER~FIRST PARAGRAPH(S)~TUESDAY INTROS (3)

This is a new weekly feature being hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea. We are to share the opening paragraph (maybe two) of our current read.  Which begs the question...would this be a book you would want to read, based on the opening paragraphs?
This week:

First the colors.
     Then the humans.
     That's usually how I see things.
     Or at least, how I try.

***HERE IS A SMALL FACT***
         You are going to die.


I am in all truthfulness attempting to be cheerful about this whole topic, though most people find themselves hindered in believing me, no matter my protestations.  Please, trust me.  I most definitely can be cheerful.  I can be amiable.  Agreeable.  Affable.  And that's only the A's.  Just don't ask me to be nice.  Nice has nothing to do with me.

***REACTION TO THE***
AFOREMENTIONED FACT
     Does this worry you?
  I urge you--dont' be afraid.
     I'm nothing if not fair.


Join us for Tuesday Intros HERE.

FIRST CHAPTER~FIRST PARAGRAPH(S)~TUESDAY INTROS (2)

This is a new weekly feature being hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea. We are to share the opening paragraph (maybe two) of our current read.  Which begs the question...would this be a book you would want to read, based on the opening paragraphs?


This week:   

The Greek Maiden and the English Lord by Patty Apostolides

Caen, France
September 1831


Lily exited the dark chamber of the bookseller's store clutching a small book in her grubby hands, content with her purchase.  Her voice was hoarse from selling trinkets all day and she was tired and hungry, yet her victory was not in the number of coins in her pocket, but the leather book in her hand.


A sigh escaped her lips when she spied the crescent glow of the setting sun peaking behind the crown of the stone building she faced.  She was late.

Join us for Tuesday Intros HERE

FIRST CHAPTER~FIRST PARAGRAPH(S)~TUESDAY INTROS (1)

This is a new weekly feature being hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea. We are to share the opening paragraph (maybe two) of our current read.  Which begs the question...would this be a book you would want to read, based on the opening paragraphs?


This week:  The Crimson Petal and the White

Watch your step.  Keep your wits about you; you will need them.  This city I am bringing you to is vast and intricate, and you have not been here before.  You may imagine, from other stories you've read, that you know it well, but those stories flattered you, welcoming you as a friend, treating you as if you belonged.  The truth is that you are an alien from another time and place altogether.


When I first caught your eye and you decided to come with me, you were probably thinking you would simply arrive and make yourself at home.  Now that you're actually here, the air is bitterly cold, and you find yourself being led along in complete darkness, stumbling on uneven ground, recognising nothing.  Looking left and right, blinking against an icy wind, you realise you have entered an unknown street of unlit houses full of unknown people.


Intrigued?