Teaser Tuesdays!

Good morning! It's Tuesday, so it's time for another little tease from a book I'm currently reading. You know the rules: Open your current read and choose two teaser sentences. No spoilers, please, and don't forget to tell us about the book!

This teaser comes from I Shudder: and Other Reactions to Life, Death and New Jersey by Paul Rudnick. Rudnick is one of those Hollywood types you never heard of, but he wrote screenplays for movies like Sister Act, The Addams Family, and In & Out. So, kind of a funny guy. Really liked the book (look for my review today over at When Falls the Coliseum or later this week here on the blog) and I liked this quote because it's so seasonal:

Santa's appearance is a cruel prank: red velvet on a fat man, with a wide black patent leather belt to provide some stab at a waistline? the beard and the boots? Over the centuries, Santa has begun to dress like an effeminate, drunken lumberjack...

Okay, maybe my idea of a fun, seasonal quote is a little off the norm but admit it - it made you laugh. I know it did.

What's teasing YOU this week?

Teaser Tuesdays!

Happy Tuesday! It's time for another wek of Teaser Tuesdays, hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. You know the drill: Take your current book, pick a page and pick two (just two!) teaser sentences to share with us. No spoilers, please, and be sure to tell us the name of the book so we can rush out and add it to our Wish List!

This week, I'm finishing up Nibble & Kuhn, an odd little book about romance and intrigue at a law firm. So far, there's not much romance (although Maria, the lady love interest is really starting to annoy me), and we're really just getting started on the intrigue. I'm hoping the pace picks up a bit soon because it really has potential. This passage should give you an idea why Maria is getting on my nerves. She says to fellow lawyer and would-be lover, Derek:

"That way you can do my work and I can go home, and then you can do your own work later."

"I'm not sure how anyone could pass up an offer like that," I said.

See?!? Don't you want to smack her? What's teasing you this week?

Teaser Tuesdays!

Welome back to Teaser Tuesdays, hosted by the lovely Miz B at ShouldBeReading. Now, you know the rules: open your book to a random page and choose 2 teaser sentences that will get us hooked on the story (without spoiling it).

I just posted my review of Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, so I thought I would use a quote from that before I get involved in a new book. You remember how much Lady Catherine liked Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice? Well, she likes her even less in this book:

"The sight of you sickens me, so yes, I will go, but you have not seen the last of me," Lady Catherine said. "You will threaten us all if you pursue this course."

Come on, Catherine! Tell us how you really feel!

What's teasing YOU this week?

Teaser Tuesdays!

Welcome to another edition of Teaser Tuesdays! This is by far the biggest meme I'm signed up for and has added more books to my TBR list than I can count! It's hosted by MizB over at shouldbereading, and by now you know the rules:

1. Open your current book to a random page (although I bet we all cheat on that one);
2. Choose 2 teaser sentences at random (okay, we cheat on that one, too)
3. NO SPOILERS! (I don't think anyone cheats on that one.)
4. And be sure to give us the details on the book, so we can run out and buy it!

My Teaser today is from a book I received for the Green Books Challenge. It's sponsored by EcoLibris: They will be rounding up 111 book blogs to review books provided by publishers with a commitment to going green. I will be posting my review on November 10th, so be sure to check back for it.

My book is Going Fast by Elaine McCluskey. It's focused on the world of boxing in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is full of some of the most fascinating characters ever. I am not quite finished, but this quote really stood out - I think you'll understand why:

"He remembered it all like a slide show: one bright, disconnected moment after the other: being hoisted from his chair, feet losing contact. Scott had no idea how he had landed with enough force to drive the desk spike through his wrist, or how an innocuous office implement stacked with memos could have entered his flesh and surfaced like an armour-piercing bullet."

Okay, anyone else have the urge to cradle their wrists to their chests? OUCH. But remember to stop back on November 10th for my full review! You can check out some of the other books and the participating blogs here. The colors make it very hard to read, but you'll get the idea - it's going to be a great day for reviews!

Teaser Tuesday!

Okay, I'm getting a late start this week, but I think you'll enjoy this one. I'm reading a tiny little book called A Sportscaster's Guide to Watching Foorball by Mark Oristano. I certainly don't need the game explained to me, but it's the season and the book is fun so far. I had to scroll through and read the "Cool Things to Say During the Game" and thought I would share one with you:

"Cool Thing to Say During Game #14:

When the punter does launch the ball too high and too far, and you see the punt returner threading his way through huge holes for a nice return, click your tongue and announce, "He outkicked his coverage."

Now that will help you sound knowledgable at your next football brunch! Unfortunately, I haven't found anything in the book so far to explain the Cleveland Browns this season, but you never know.

(Pssst! While you're here, check out my new giveaway! I've got 2 sets of books from The Vampire's Assistant, plus some cool stuff for your locker. Check it out here!)

Teaser Tuesdays!

Good morning! It's Tuesday and time for another Teaser!

This week, my teaser comes from Green Eyes in the Amazon by P.J. Fischer. It's a dystopian future where the world is governed by religion, science is outlawed, and one biologist may hold the key to the future of the human race -- if he can just keep her alive long enough. Sounds exciting! I'm just getting started, so we'll see where it goes. I loved this particular passage, because I can just imagine this smile...

"Of course, I usually don't have to be so direct. though sometimes, we have to show them how it is going to be, just to make the point," she said, smiling with all the sweet sadness of the guillotine."

Sounds ominous, doesn't it? What's teasing YOU this week?

Teaser Tuesdays!

Good morning and happy Tuesday! You know how this works - take your current read, open it to a random page and give us a couple of teaser sentences. No spoilers, please, and be sure to tell us what book, so we can run out and buy it.

This week, I am still slogging through 800 pages of Stone's Fall - interesting, but it hasn't really lent itself to teasers. But coming home from the latest leg of my trip, I found a pile of books waiting for me! I had to give them a once-over, didn't I? And I found this, from I Shudder...and other reactions to Life, Death and New Jersey by Paul Rudnick:

"I was, of course, thrilled beyond belief by John's tattoo, because I somehow imagined that it mad me tougher, as if I were now a Helll's Angel or an especially unrepentant serial killer on death row. I loved John even more because he never expected me to return the favor; he was being permanently inked with the name of a real wuss."

This one looks funny. And I could use a quick, funny read right now. Hmmm....

What's teasing YOU this week?

Psst: If you look at the post just before this one, you'll find a great book giveaway! Check it out!

Teaser Tuesdays!

Okay, you know how this works. Grab your current read, open to a random page and choose 2 teaser sentences. No spoilers, but they should intrigue us.

This week, I'm choosing 2 sentences from a book I haven't started yet. I hope to finish it up this coming week, while I'm on the road again (back to LA, if you're trying to keep track). The book is Ghost in the Machine by Patrick Carman. This is the follow-up to Skeleton Creek, which I reviewed this past spring. (You can read my review here.) It's a great blend of media - part of the story is told in print, in Ryan's Journal; part of the story is told in video form, on Sarah's website. I really enjoyed the first book and I am looking forward to Ghost in the Machine, which finishes the story. So...a little something creepy for a Tuesday morning:

"I woke up and it was pitch black in my room and I decided right then and there that falling asleep was just the beginning of my problems.

The real problem was what woke me up."

Oh, I know what woke woke him up and I would be scared, too! Come back next week for the review!

Teaser Tuesdays!

Good morning and happy Tuesday! I am back on the East Coast (at least this week), so I am hoping to get a few things caught up here around the blog. I had a day off yesterday (and boy, did I need it!), so I'm starting the blogging week off right with my Teaser.

This teaser comes from The Lost City of Z by David Gann. It's about the search for El Dorado in the Amazon jungle. I love adventure stories like this, whether they are exploring the jungle or the polar ice caps or the some other wilderness. I don't have the make-up for that sort of adventure, myself, but I love reading about it. One of the reasons you will never find me clambering through the rain forest is in this quote:

"In 1853, [Richard Francis] Burton, disguised as a Muslim pilgrim, had managed to sneak into Mecca. Four years later, in the race to find the source of the Nile, John Speke had gone nearly blind from an infection and almost deaf from stabbing a beetle that was boring into his ear canal."

Now, that is not my idea of good first aid treatment! Still, I am perfectly willing to read about this sort of adventure - from the safety of my own living room.

What's teasing YOU this week?

Teaser Tuesdays!

It's Tuesday and time for another episode of Tuesday Teasers!

You know the rules: take your current read, let it fall open to a random page and choose 2 "teaser" sentences to entice us into wanting to read it. No spoilers, please!

First, for those of you who were kind enough to comment on last week's teaser from God Says No, please check back this afternoon for the full review.

Today, I've got 2 teasers from the 2 books I just finished. The first is from The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel, historical fiction about Yoshiko Kawashima, also known as Eastern Jewel. She was a Chinese princess, raised by a distant Japanese relative, who eventually spied for Japan and betrayed the Chinese emporer. It is a fascinating story and I expect to post the review next week.

"However my father chose to justify my banishment, it had always been the case that whatever my behavior, I would be given to Kawashima merely because he requested it. Of my nineteen sisters and ten brothers, I was the only one to be given away."

The second book is waaaaay at the other end of the spectrum, in terms of material. It's Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse, a collection of short stories about life after the end of the world. If you stop by here regularly, you know that I have a particular fondness for the genre and there are some fabulous examples in this anthology. This teaser comes from a story by Paolo Bacigalupi called "The People of Sand and Slag." The introduction says it features "characters barely recognizable as human," and this quote will make you understand why:

"After dinner we sat around and sharpened Lisa's skin, implanting blades along her limbs so that she was like a razor from all directions. She'd considered monomol blades, but it was too easy to take a limb off accidentally, and we lost enough body parts as it was without adding to the mayhem."

Come on - you can't tell me those don't get your attention! I hope you'll stop back and read the reviews. Now tell me: what's teasing YOU this week?

Teaser Tuesdays!

Okay, I am back from the West Coast and ready for an episode of Tuesday Teasers! This week's teaser is from a book I just finished - the review should be posted next week - called God Says No. It's the story of a deeply religious man coming to terms with his homosexuality. There is pain and humor and a whole lot of struggle wrapped up his story and it has a lot of great quotes. I was tempted by the funny ones, but this is one that made me think:

"How can George say that God thinks homosexuality doesn't exist? That's like saying God thinks dust don't exist and then spending your whole life vacuuming the rug."

What teased YOU this week?

Teaser Tuesdays!

Welcome to another edition of Teaser Tuesdays! You know how this works: grab your current book and share with us 2 teaser sentences. (No spoilers please.)

This week, I just finished up Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman. This is a great bit of historical fiction about the Scottsboro Boys (if you don't know about this case, you really should). This passage, a quote from one of the boys, Andy Wright, 19 years after he was falsely accused of rape, shows a whole lot more forgiveness than I think I would muster in his place. It's a very good book and you'll see the review here later this week.

"I'm not mad because the girl lied about me. If she's still living, I feel sorry for her because I don't guess she sleeps much at night."

What's teasing you this week?

Tuesday Teasers!

I am on the road again for work, so I am reading a bit of fluffy chick lit, The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns. This looks like it is going to be very quick and very fun. Lucy is Satan's executive assistant, and what a job that must be! The first few pages will really suck you in, and I mused over several different quotes to use here. The winner:

"So, on my usual re-birthday, He called for my wish. I asked for Johnny Depp to install my cable - not the 1980's Brat Pack Johnny Depp with the Flock of Seagulls bangs and the Viper Room scowl, but the recently oh-so-French, pirate Johnny Depp with the long silky hair and smart glasses that say 'I vote even though I'm married to a supermodel."

And what are YOU reading this week?

Teaser Tuesday!

Welcome to another edition of Teaser Tuesdays! I am posting and scheduling this ahead of time - I am still on the West Coast and trying to keep a whole lot of balls in the air - so that at least I will have something on my blog. With luck, I can get over to Should Be Reading and post a link.

Today's Teaser comes from an interesting book called Population: 485. The author, Michael Perry, went off to school, got his nursing degree, became an EMT and moved back to his hometown and joined the volunteer fire department. It's all about life in a small town and what it's like to work with - and sometimes on - your neighbors. I'm also using it for Wondrous Words tomorrow, so look for some very interesting and varied new terms!

A volunteer fire department has to take the volunteers they get and that leads to some funny circumstances, like the one described in my Teaser:

"We head out into the country, find the fire, put it out. Afterward, we joke with the chief about how he got stuck on a command consisting of one firefighter with one eye, one firefighter with one arm, and one firefighter who became the first volunteer in village history to miss the monthly meeting because of a poetry reading."

So what are YOU reading this week?

Teaser Tuesday

Good morning, folks! It's time for another Tuesday Teaser! (I always feel a bit like an old-time radio announcer doing this intro.) You know how this works: take your current book and select a couple of interesting sentences - something that will tease us into wanting to read it.

This week's Teaser comes from a book I just finished a book for my online book club, The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh. I don't believe I've read anything else by Waugh, but this was a quick read, lots of very dark humor, and I can't wait for the discussion to get underway. It also provided a lot of interesting new words related to the mortuary business, but more on that tomorrow. For today, I'll bend the rules a bit because I love this exchange between Aimee Thanatogenos and Dennis Barlow:

"But, my dear girl, you seem to have forgotten that we're engaged to be married. My theological studies are prospering. The day when I shall claim you is at hand."

"I'd rather die."

"Yes, I confess I overlooked that alternative."

So tell me, what are you reading this week?

Teaser Tuesday

Good Morning and Happy Tuesday! I've got a short week this week, due to the holiday and some vacation, so every morning has been a good morning.

You know the drill: grab your current read and choose 2 sentences that will entice and intrigue us. (No spoilers, thank you very much.) This week, I'm reading As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann. It's a little slow going so far, but a friend with excellent taste in books recommended it, so I am betting it gets better. Here's a little snippet about the youngest brother in the story, Zebedee, which made me chuckle. Very well-put, I think.

"I have seen women, even women of quality, look at him as if they lacked only bread to make a meal of him there and then - and Zeb, not one whit abashed, return the look. I lack his charm."

What has been teasing YOU this week?

Tuesday Teasers!

Welcome to Teaser Tuesdays! Every Tuesday, we grab our current book, pick a couple of interesting sentences to try and entice you to read it. (Beware of spoilers!)

Yesterday evening was nice - the weather finally feels like summer - and I took advantage of that to sit out on my stoop with a bottle of Red Stripe and a new book. I needed to find just the right book for that moment, and I settled on The Colorado Kid by Stephen King. It's a tiny little book in an old dime-novel style and it was perfect for an evening on the stoop. Today's teaser is a little bit of truth about men and women:

"Johnny told me that night at the Breakers that he never could have done what she wanted if she hadn't been right there watchin him and countin on him to do it, and you know, I believe that's so. For a woman a man will do many things that he'd turn his back on in an instant when alone; things he'd back away from, nine times out of ten, even when drunk with a bunch of his friends egging him on."

I certainly think that's the truth. I'm enjoying the downhome style of the two main storytellers, Vince Teague and Dave Bowie. And the best part is, I should be able to finish the book (and another bottle of Red Stripe) this evening.

What's teasing you this week?

Teaser Tuesdays!

Happy Tuesday! It's time for another Teaser!

You know the rules: grab your current read and choose two teaser sentences to catch our attention. No spoilers, please.

Today's teaser comes from a book I am not really enjoying, Don't Call Me a Crook! It has a few bright moments, however, including this - a few sentences on what the author thinks about being married:

"When the street cars come in they are run over a pit and you have to get down in this pit and screw the underneath parts off them so as to do an overhaul.

It is an awfully dirty job and not one for a man of my training, but this is what you are driven to once you let yourself be made a married man."

Tuesday Teasers

Okay, I know it's just barely still Tuesday, but travel days are hectic. Still, I wanted to share a little of my current book, Fool, by Christopher Moore. It's the story of King Lear, told by his vulgar, conniving and (most of all) horny court jester. The book had me giggling like a maniac on the plane.

Now, you know how this works: grab your current read and share two sentences that are going to tempt me to read it. (No spoilers, please.) And since I'm so late getting this posted, I will give you a couple of great two-sentence bits from the story. This is a fun one - look for the review in the next week or so.

"Advice then, young yeoman: When referring to the king's middle daughter, state that she is fair, speculate that she is pious, but unless you'd like to spend your watch looking for the box where your head is kept, resist the urge to wax ignorant on her naughty bits."

"Ah, Goneril, Goneril, Goneril -- like a distant love chant is her name. Not that it doesn't summon memories of burning urination and putrid dischargem but what romance worth the memory is devoid of the bittersweet?"

Since my first quote used only one sentence, this one will use three:

"My, my, Fi, bit of a tart, aren't we?"
"Druish, love. My people burn a virgin every autumn - one can't be too careful."

And if that doesn't give you a feel for the story, well, read at your own risk. You still have to worry about your comrades thinking you've gone mad, giggling over your book this way.

Teaser Tuesday!

Good morning and happy Tuesday! It's time for another Tuesday Teaser! You know the rules: grab your current read, choose some sentences at random, and tempt me into picking up your book when I'm done with mine.

My sentences this week are from Tattoo Machine: Tall Tales, True Stories and My Life In Ink by Jeff Johnson. It's all about his life in the tattoo industry, as you might have guessed, and these sentences convinced me that working in a tattoo parlor is nothing like working in my office:

"The skinhead roared and swept the screen aside to find himself staring down the twin barrels of a sawed-off shotgun. The artist holding it had a very no-nonsense expression."

There is, of course, a great story behind this...if you want to read it, check out the comments!

What is teasing YOU this week?