Book Beginnings: Dark Houses

Dark Houses, by Helen H. Durrant (Joffe Books, April 2016). Second book in the D.I. Greco mystery series. These are the first lines from the book's Prologue:

Murder.
It was a skill. It was addictive. It was his life.

Initial Thoughts:

Creepy. I like creepy, but I get a little freaked out by murder mysteries told from the point of view of the murderer. So if that's what we have here, I'm not sure how far I'll get with this one.

What do you think? Would that opening make you want to go on reading?

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays. As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading, along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way of adding new books to your must-read list, and a chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.

Teaser Tuesday: Far From True

This week my teaser lines come from the latest Linwood Barclay thriller, Far From True (NAL, March 2016). It's the second book in a planned trilogy about the fictional town of Promise Falls. This snippet comes from page 391, or Location 4175 of the Kindle edition:

She raised the bloodied bag of coins.
"Could I hit him one more time with this?"
I sighed.
"What the hell," I said. "Go ahead."

Ouch!

I had a little trouble getting into this one, but ended up loving it. Hope to get a review up later in the week. Can't wait for Promise Falls #3!

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Jenn at Books and a Beat. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Book Beginnings: The Murder of Mary Russell

The Murder of Mary Russell, by Laurie R. King (Bantam, April 2016).  Number 14 in King's Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series of suspense/adventure novels. This is the book's opening passage:

Irony comes in many flavours, sweet to bitter. The harshest irony I ever tasted was this: when I was interrupted that spring morning, I felt only relief.
But then, tyres on wet gravel sound nothing like the crack of doom.

Initial Thoughts:

Wow, just three sentences into the story and already we've got doom on the horizon! I like it.

I haven't really started this one yet, although it's probably next up. That opening is definitely interesting and enough to keep me reading at least a bit more. And I'm thinking if the narrator is Mary Russell herself, maybe the rumors of her demise are much exaggerated. Hmmm? Guess I'll find out soon enough what's going on. 

I've read one other book in this series, and wasn't extremely impressed. But the books are so enormously popular, I thought I should give them another chance.

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays. As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading, along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way of adding new books to your must-read list, and a chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Well, we're more than half-way through April, if you can believe that. I'm afraid this year is flashing by even faster than the last one flashed. Generally I get quite a lot of reading done during the late winter/early spring months, but for some reason this year I just haven't been able to get into my normal rhythm.

Since my last reading update back in January (so what happened to February and March?), I've only finished eight books, and two of those were children's books. The list:

• A Christmas Escape, by Anne Perry
• The Children's Home, by Charles Lambert
• The People in the Photo, by by Hélène Gestern
• Dreaming Spies (Mary Russell #13), by Laurie R. King
• My Name Is Lucy Barton, by Elizabeth Strout
• Daisy Miller, by Henry James
• Flora & Ulysses, by Kate DiCamillo
• Beanie and Tough Enough, by Ruth and Latrobe Carroll

At the moment, I'm finishing up Linwood Barclay's new thriller, Far From True (just published, back in March), the second book in his Promise Falls series:

And I'm still making my way through Inkheart (by Cornelia Funke), for the Once Upon a Time challenge, but hope to finish it this week.

After that, I have several possibilities -- most likely it will be one of the ARCs I really should have finished by now. Probably either The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, by Dominic Smith:

or Burying the Honeysuckle Girls, by Emily Carpenter -- a book I admit I picked up mainly because of the cover:

So. Lots of reading to do. Gotta get back on track.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. If you want to let the world know what you're going to be reading this week, head on over to her blog and leave your link. It's also a great way to discover new books and new blogs.

Book Beginnings: From Russia With Love

From Russia With Love, by Ian Fleming. Number 5 in Fleming's original James Bond series, first published in 1957. This is the book's first sentence:

The naked man who lay splayed out on his face beside the swimming pool might have been dead.

Initial Thoughts:

I'm a huge fan of the James Bond movies, but I've never read any of the novels they're based on. So this will be my introduction to the series -- once again, I'm jumping into the middle, even though I do have a copy of the first book, Casino Royale. That first sentence just hooked me.

Over the years, all the books have been issued in many different editions, worldwide. The Signet paperback pictured above is the one I remember from back in the 1960s, and one of the more boring ones, I think. Some of the later covers definitely have a bit more spice...

Personally, I think I prefer the covers with links to the films, such as...

Or maybe it's just the link to Sean Connery I like!

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays. As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading, along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way of adding new books to your must-read list, and a chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.

Teaser Tuesday: Miller's Valley

This week my teaser lines come from Anna Quindlen's new novel, Miller's Valley (Random House, April 2016). This snippet comes from the Prologue (page 5, or Location 76 of the Kindle edition):

...Donald's grandfather held his file in front of him like a shield and said, "Miriam, I don't think you understand the situation."  But that wasn't true. My mother always understood the situation. Any situation. 

"I figure by my breathing I'll be gone by Sunday," she said years later when she was dying, and she was right on schedule.

This will be my introduction to Anna Quindlen -- I've never read anything by her before. So I don't know exactly what to expect, but I'm looking forward to getting acquainted. I sort of wish it had a more interesting cover, but since I'm actually reading it on my Kindle, I guess that doesn't really matter so much.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Jenn at Books and a Beat. If you'd like to read more teasers, or take part yourself, just head on over to her blog.

And please feel free to leave me a link to your Teaser Tuesday post in your comment here.

Book Beginnings: Enter Second Murderer

Enter Second Murderer, by Alanna Knight (1988). The first book in her series of Inspector Faro mystery novels, set in Victorian Edinburgh. These are the first sentences of the book:

Patrick Hymes was tried and convicted at the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh for the murders of Sarah Gibson (or Hymes) and Lily Goldie. He made his exit from the world on 11 May 1870, a day that promised to be bright and cheerful for everyone but him.

Initial Thoughts:

Poor Patrick. But I do like that beginning. I've heard a lot about this series, and I need to read something for the Read Scotland Challenge -- so this might be my next book. I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately. Will this one get me back on track?

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays. As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading, along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way to add new books to your must-read list, and a chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.

Booking Through Thursday: List

Wow, it's been QUITE a while since I checked in on Booking Through Thursday. I actually thought it had been discontinued, but for some reason it just wasn't showing up in my list of blogs to read. One of those instances of Blogger moving in mysterious ways, I guess.

Anyhoo.... Today's question is definitely a good one:

Do you keep a list of the books you’ve read? Books you want to read?

I was immediately intrigued -- mainly because that's actually the whole reason I got into book blogging in the first place, lo these many years ago. I thought of the blog as a sort of online book list and hoped it would help me keep track of the books I read -- and also help me remember what I thought about them. And to some extent, it's done that. (I suppose it would function a little more efficiently if I actually remembered to post reviews now and then. Hmmm?)

But I've always been an enthusiastic list-maker. So even before the internet and book blogging entered my life, I kept lists of books-read and books-to-read. I think I probably made my first book list right after I learned to write.

At the moment, I have several public lists -- the main ones at GoodReads and LibraryThing -- and a bunch of private lists filling up notebooks and private web pages. Yes, I know all that list-making steals time away from actual reading. But I'm too old to change my ways now.

Most recently, I've been struggling to come up with some way of keeping an efficient list of all the ARCs I need to read -- I keep losing track of publication dates and the order in which books should be read. So far, I haven't really found a satisfactory method of keeping track -- I'd appreciate any good suggestions.

Love this question, and I'll be interested to see how others respond to it.