Tag Archives: First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday

First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday – Lookaway, Lookaway by Wilton Barnhardt

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with , ,

Lookaway_Lookaway-wilton-barnhardt

First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea – it’s a weekly meme where you share the first paragraph (or two) from a book you are considering reading.

This week I’ve picked Lookaway, Lookaway by Wilton Barnhardt. I chose it based on the cover alone – shallow but honest! When I opened the first page, titled ‘Book 1 – Scandal Averted 2003‘ I thought it sounded promising.

It begins –

“There were only two white dresses that ever would matter, her mother said. The first of these was the Debutante Dress that Jerilyn would wear when she would take her father’s arm and march across the stage in Raleigh, into the single spotlight, radiant, along with all the other debs in North Carolina.”

Is it perhaps Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood meets Franzen?!

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday – One True Thing by Anna Quindlen

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with , ,

one-true-thing-anna-quindlen

First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea – it’s a weekly meme where you share the first paragraph (or two) from a book you are considering reading.

Last year I mentioned my slightly OCD need to round-out my list of book reviews alphabetically. To date I’ve filled in the pesky X, Y and Z spots on my list and now only two spaces remain – Q and U. The letter U will be filled by some John Updike. In the meantime, I’m considering One True Thing by Anna Quindlen for the letter Q. It begins with this – Continue reading →

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday – ‘Doppler’ by Erlend Loe

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with , , , ,

doppler-erlend-loe

First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea – it’s is a weekly meme where you share the first paragraph (or two) from a book you are considering reading.

I picked up Doppler by Erland Loe because I loved the cover, I loved its compact size (this is a book you want to slip reassuringly into your dressing-gown pocket), and because I haven’t read anything Norwegian yet for the Translation reading challenge.

It begins – Continue reading →

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday – ‘Mermaids in the Basement’ by Michael Lee West

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with , ,

mermaids-in-the-basement-michael-lee-west-1

First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea – it’s is a weekly meme where you share the first paragraph (or two) from a book you are considering reading.

My pick this week is Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West.

I had a Michael Lee West binge fifteen years ago and exhausted all that she’d written – my memories were of stories set in the Deep South focused around female relationships – think Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and more recently, The Help. I was unpacking some old boxes a few months ago and came across a couple of Lee West novels and was reminded of how much I had enjoyed them. It prompted me to seek out a few more, including Mermaids in the Basement and Consuming Passions that I’ve earmarked for the Foodies Reading Challenge. Mermaids begins with this –

“If I had not read the cover story in the March 2, 2000, National Enquirer, it’s doubtful that I would have gone to Alabama and ruined my daddy’s engagement party, much less sent the bride-to-be into a coma. Just for the record, I don’t go around hitting other women, even if they are all wrong for my daddy; I don’t read tabloids, and I certainly would never steal one, yet that’s exactly what happened.”

Intrigued?

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday – ‘Perfect’ by Rachel Joyce

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with , ,

perfect-rachel-joyce

First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea – it’s is a weekly meme where you share the first paragraph (or two) from a book you are considering reading.

At the beginning of the year I made a resolution to every so often buy a book that I’ve never heard of before encountering it in the bookstore. Even though I’m currently on a self-imposed book-buying-ban, I did receive a book voucher for my birthday so yay, off I went to the bookshop. And I bought Perfect by Rachel Joyce. Continue reading →

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday – ‘Flora’ by Gail Goodwin

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with

flora-gail-goodwin

Publicists must love my kind because I get totally sucked in by another author’s testimonial on the front of a book. There’s a lot to be said for a testimonial, particularly when the author giving the testimonial is John Irving. If you haven’t picked up on it, Irving is without question my favourite contemporary author. So when I saw what he had to say about Flora by Gail Goodwin, I wasted no time downloading a sample (last week I would have simply bought it but my book-buying-ban is in place… *admiring my own strength*) – Continue reading →

First Chapter, First Paragraph – ‘Love Monkey’ by Kyle Smith

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with , , ,

love-monkey-kyle-smith

First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea – it’s is a weekly meme where you share the first paragraph (or two) from a book you are considering reading.

I love lad-lit. I’m fairly sure the genre is yet to be sullied by stuff that’s churned out to keep up with demand but then again, maybe I’ve just managed to hit on the best of what’s on offer. Love Monkey by Kyle Smith shows great lad-lit promise – humour, an over-analysis of relationships and a comparison to High Fidelity. Yay! Continue reading →

First Chapter, First Paragraph – ‘How to be a Good Wife’ by Emma Chapman

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with , , , ,

how-to-be-a-good-wife-emma-chapman

First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea – it’s is a weekly meme where you share the first paragraph (or two) from a book you are considering reading.

I have no shortage of books on my Australian Women Writers reading challenge list but can’t help seeking more. These first few paragraphs are from How to Be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman are enough to hook me.

“Today, somehow, I am a smoker.

I did not know this about myself. As far as I remember, I have never smoked before.

It feels unnatural, ill-fitting, for a woman of my age: a wife, a mother with a grown-up son, to sit in the middle of the day with a cigarette between her fingers. Hector hates smoking. He always coughs sharply when we walk behind someone smoking on the street, and I imagine his vocal cords rubbing together, moist and pink like chicken flesh.”

I like unreliable narrators and apparently the main character in this story, Marta, is as wobbly as they come. So, buy it or bin it?

First Chapter, First Paragraph – ‘The Colour of Milk’ by Nell Leyshon

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with , , ,

The_Colour_of_Milk_Nell_Leyshon

First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea – it’s is a weekly meme where you share the first paragraph (or two) from a book you are considering reading.

I picked out The Colour of Milk by Nell Leyshon on the basis of the creative writing (and reading this great review). Continue reading →

First Chapter, First Paragraph – ‘Accelerated’ by Bronwen Hruska

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with ,

accelerated-bronwen-hruska

First Chapter, First Paragraph Tuesday is hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea – it’s is a weekly meme where you share the first paragraph (or two) from a book you are considering reading.

The themes of Bronwen Hruska’s novel, Accelerated, sound intriguing – kids geared for high academic achievement, competitive parents in NYC and medicating children that aren’t ‘behaving’. Continue reading →