Teaser Tuesday #11 - The Hobbit

It's been quite some time since I did a Teaser Tuesday post, but here you go, internet!  Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading.  Just take whichever book you are currently reading and post a teaser sentence or two (but careful not to use any spoilers!).  Be sure to include the title and the author's name, as well as the number of the page from which your teaser comes! 

I have started (re)reading J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit; I know the movie isn't coming out until December, but I really wanted to read it again now anyway!  It's been a very long time since I read it.  I'm sure many of you are no stranger to this book either, but it's always fun to revisit the great ones. =]

"What did you do with the goblin and the Warg?" asked Bilbo suddenly.   

"Come and see!" said Beorn, and they followed round the house.  A goblin's head was stuck outside the gate and a warg-skin was nailed to a tree just beyond.  Beorn was a fierce enemy. (p.116)

Leave a link to your own teaser in the comments, or if you haven't got a blog, feel free to leave a comment with your teaser instead! 

Teaser Tuesday #10 - Girl, Interrupted

Has it been a week already?  Things are so hectic right now - it's the last week of classes, then next week is finals week!  So this is going up late - but it's still Tuesday, haha.  Anyway, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  To join in, just post a couple teaser sentences from whatever book you're currently reading - but careful not to include any spoilers!

Right now I'm re-reading Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen.  It's been quite some time since I've read this one, but I enjoyed it the first time and I enjoy the movie.  So here's a little tease for you:

"After Lisa Cody got her diagnosis, the Lisas started making more trouble.  'Acting out,' the nurses said.

We knew what it was.  The real Lisa was proving that Lisa Cody wasn't a sociopath.

Lisa tongued her sleeping meds for a week, took them all at once, and stayed zonked out for a day and a night.  Lisa Cody managed to save only four of hers, and when she took them, she puked.  Lisa put a cigarette out on her arm at six-thirty in the morning while the nurses were changing shifts.  That afternoon Lisa Cody burned a tiny welt on her wrist and spent the next twenty minutes running cold water on it." (p. 59)

Okay, I know that was more than one or two sentences.  lol.  I can't help it!  What are you reading?  Leave a link to your Teaser Tuesday in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday #9 - Tempest

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading.  To play along, just post a couple of teaser phrases from whatever book you're currently reading!  Just be careful not to include any spoilers - we don't want to ruin the fun of reading the book for ourselves!  Right now, I'm reading an ARC of Tempest by Julie Cross:

"Hours later, I was right back in my spot by the tree, writing down everything I could manage.  It was a desperate attempt to stay connected, grounded to reality.  Plus, this way there'd be a written explanation of my recent adventures for Adam or the future Adam, if someone found me lying dead somewhere." (p. 36)

It was harder than I thought, to find a quote for this book that wouldn't have too much of a spoiler in it!  Tempest is set to release in January of 2012.

Teaser Tuesday #8 - The Memory of Earth

Time for another Teaser Tuesday, hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading!  To play along, just post a few sentences from the book you're currently reading - but be careful to not include spoilers!  Right now, I'm reading The Memory of Earth by Orson Scott Card.  It started off a bit slow, but it's beginning to pick up now, so I hope it ends up really good!  So far, my favourite character is Luet, a seer.  So while this is not the most exciting thing in the book so far, it made me smile when I read it, and I hope there will be a lot more of her to come!

" He was alone with Luet.

 'I shouldn't have spoken to you before,' she said.  

'And you shouldn't speak to me again, either,' suggested Nafai.  

'Some people hear a lie when they're told the truth.  You're so proud of your status as the son of Rasa and Wetchik, but obviously whatever genes you got from your parents, they weren't the right ones.'   

'While I'm sure -you- got the finest your parents had to offer.'  

She looked at him with obvious contempt, and then she was gone."   (p. 43)

Post a link to your teaser in the comments!  And on another note, I've created a Formspring account for the blog; there's a link under the Connect sidebar widget.  If you have any questions about the blog, books, or about me in general, feel free ask me there if you'd like!

Teaser Tuesday #7 - Embers

Welcome to another Teaser Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading!  It's easy to play along, just post a few sentences from whatever book you're currently reading - but be careful not to include any spoilers!  I just started a new book last night,  Embers by Laura Bickle:

"The basement spirit was stronger than she'd thought.  She imagined the owner of the house facing this thing alone, and bristled at its arrogance.  Power like that could have crippled or killed the old woman.  As for what it had done to the pickles...blasphemy." (p. 10)

Yep, anyone who knows someone Polish/of Polish descent knows we love a good a pickle!  I'm only up to chapter three in this book, but I had to tear myself away from it to make sure I at least tried to get some sleep last night.  That is to say, I'm really enjoying it so far!  It's an added bonus that this book is set in Detroit, and the main character, Anya, lives in Hamtramck - my father's mother was from Hamtramck, so even just reading the background and description is fun for me.

What are you reading right now?  Link to your teaser in the comments!

Teaser Tuesday #6 - Jane Austen for Dummies

I haven't been bloggity-blogging too much lately, since I am at the point in the semester where I have a lot of papers and projects going on, but I can't pass up another Teaser Tuesday!  It's a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading, and it's easy to participate:  just grab your current read and post a couple teaser sentences - be careful not to include any spoilers, though!

I know mine is going up later than I normally would have liked, but it's still Tuesday, so here it is:

 "Introduced to England from Germany in 1812, the waltz had a catchy rhythm, but it required the partners to be in close physical proximity, with the male partner's arm around the female's waist.  Four years after its introduction, the scandalous waltz was approved by England's great dancing arbiter, Thomas Wilson.  Even then, the waltz was only approved for married couples who were dancing together!" (p. 107)

Just one of many fun facts about Georgian England! So if you ever wondered why, in the books or films you never see the characters doing anything but a country dance or a reel, here is your answer! Other dances were likely too risqué.  Can't imagine what people from the Regency would think if they saw how people dance now!

Teaser Tuesday #5 - Jane Austen for Dummies

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  Just pick up whatever book you're currently reading and post a couple sentences as a teaser - be careful not to use any spoilers, though!

Right now I'm reading Jane Austen for Dummies by Dr. Joan Klingel Ray.  This book will be the main feature of my upcoming giveaway, so I wanted to read it all the way through and get a review up for those of you who may be interested in entering.  Here's a little snippet in case you aren't sure this book would be interesting:

"These letters reveal an Austen who could be cynical, nasty, cruel, and sarcastic.  Here are some examples:  'Mrs. Hall, of Sherborne, was brought to bed yesterday of a dead child, some weeks before she expected, owing to a fright.  I suppose she happened unawares to look at her husband.' (October 27, 1798)"

Very harsh! This was written when Jane was 22, and of course, infant mortality rates and likely also risk of something like a miscarriage were MUCH higher back then, so it would have been more of an everyday occurrence.  Still sad, but probably easier to treat as a commonplace event (especially if it's not someone you're terribly close to).  I wonder who this Mrs. Hall of Sherborne was, and why Jane would say something like this about her or her husband - maybe she's mentioned again later in the book... 

For the record, I'm not into dead baby jokes, but I thought this was a good teaser, because a lot of people tend to shy away from novels and authors from before the 20th century, because they perhaps feel the books will be boring and dry.  But obviously, people back then were not always so polite and boring as one might feel inclined to think!  And with Austen, this cynicism and sarcastic wit is transferred to a great many of her novels' characters.

Teaser Tuesday #4 - Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

Yes, it is Tuesday yet again - who's ready for a bit of a tease? I'm still reading Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters, so you get another little sneak into this one. Hope you like it!

"Glancing up in her shock, she was confronted with the strangest sight of all: Miss Steele was lacing up her whale-bone corset and there, on the small of her back, was etched a tattoo in scarlet ink; it was the cryptic five-pointed pattern, exactly as had appeared to Elinor so many times, in such darkly portentous fashion, since her arrival on Pestilent Isle."

So it turns out there is a little more than just a simple, absurd rewrite in this book! I'm intrigued; are you? Feel free to leave a link to your teaser in the comments! If you haven't played before, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Just open the book you're currently reading and post a couple of sentences as a teaser - careful not to include any spoilers, though!

Teaser Tuesday #3 - Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

It's Teaser Tuesday! Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Just pick up whatever book you're currently reading, open to a random page, and post a teaser quote from that page. Be careful not to post any spoilers, though! Generally, you should try to post at least two sentences, but I know many of us post a little more than that to get a really good teaser quote.

Mine today is from Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters. I just started reading this yesterday, and so far it's pretty hilarious. I know there seem to be two camps when it comes to these quirky adaptations of classic novels - you either love them or you hate them - but I'm finding it hysterical, and I know it's meant to be funny and not a serious rewrite, so I'm leaning more towards loving them.

"The ship, its mainsail flapping uselessly, yawed heavily to port. The Dashwoods clutched each other in fear as a vast mouth appeared at the waterline, opening wide to display two jagged rows of razor-sharp fangs, which rose from the water and chomped down effortlessly on the bosun's mate."

Feel free to link to your own Teaser in the comments, or if you don't have a blog, post your teaser below instead!

Teaser Tuesday #2 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

It's another Teaser Tuesday here in the blogosphere! For those who may not know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading. Just grab the book you're currently reading, flip to a random page, and post a teaser quote from that page - careful not to use any spoilers, though!

I'm currently re-reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K.Rowling. It's probably kind of pointless to post a teaser of this (or even to post a review, as I will likely be doing this evening, since I've only a couple chapters left). But! I know there are SOME people out there who have not read any of these books, and maybe they will stumble across this and give it a go. And maybe I'll tease some of you into re-reading. :P Anyway, here goes:

" 'Good luck, Harry Potter,' said Firenze. 'The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times.'

He turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest, leaving Harry shivering behind him. "

Top Ten Tuesday and Teaser Tuesday - The Prestige

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish - every week, a new top 10 list is posted, and as with Follow My Book Blog Friday, it seems an excellent way to both find new blogs and get to know your fellow bloggers a little better. This week's list is:

Top 10 Books I Want To Re-read

And here's mine...

01. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

02. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

03. Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry/Ridley Pearson

04. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

05. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

06. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

07. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

08. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (I still haven't read the rest of the series)

09. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

10. Watership Down by Richard Adams

What's your top ten? Mine's not really in any particular order.

Teaser Tuesdays is another weekly meme, this one hosted by Should Be Reading. What you do is just get whatever book you're currently reading, turn to a random page, and post a teaser sentence from that page (careful not to use any spoilers, though!). Be sure to say what the title and author of the book are, so anyone who might be interested can find it!

From The Prestige by Christopher Priest:

"In semi-darkness, half inverted in the chair, tied hand and foot, and entirely submerged in cold water, I began to drown-"

Please visit Should Be Reading, and feel free to also link to your own Teaser Tuesday (or Top 10) in the comments!