book beginnings on Friday: The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh

Posted on December 6, 2013 by pagesofjulia

Thanks to Rose City Reader for hosting this meme. To participate, share the first line or two of the book you are currently reading and, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line.

weight of blood

I have a delightfully chilling novel to share with you today, although I regret to also tell you it won’t be out til March. Set in a small Southern town unused to the meddling of outsiders, The Weight of Blood is a real treat. Here are the opening lines.

That Cheri Stoddard was found at all was the thing that set people on edge, even more so than the condition of her body. One Saturday in March, fog crept through the river valley and froze overnight.

Lots of atmosphere there, hm? Stay tuned! I should have an author interview to share with you soon.

This quotation comes from an uncorrected advance proof and is subject to change.

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book beginnings on Friday: Snowblind by Christopher Golden

Posted on November 29, 2013 by pagesofjulia

Thanks to Rose City Reader for hosting this meme. To participate, share the first line or two of the book you are currently reading and, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line.

snowblind

Snowblind is a thriller with a paranormal element, and I am finding it rather gripping. I’ll share the opening lines:

Ella Santos stood on the sidewalk with a cigarette in her hand, watching the snow fall and feeling more alone than she ever had in her life. The storm seemed to loom around her, holding its breath and waiting for her to go back inside.

Not ornate, but language is not the strength of this novel. The pacing and atmosphere will only ramp up from here.

This quotation comes from an uncorrected advance proof and is subject to change.

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book beginnings on Friday: The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

Posted on November 15, 2013 by pagesofjulia

Thanks to Rose City Reader for hosting this meme. To participate, share the first line or two of the book you are currently reading and, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line.

I already had this book on my list (already had it loaded on my player, in fact), but then Christine Byl recommended it and it raced to the top of the figurative stack.

orchardist

The Orchardist is a novel set in late-1800’s Washington state, and it begins with a description of the title character:

His face was as pitted as the moon. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and thick without being stocky, though one could see how he would pass into stockiness; he had already taken on the barrel-chested sturdiness of an old man.

I knew almost nothing about this book going in, except that I had heard good things; and I will tell you even less at this point about what’s inside the covers. I think this story is most enjoyable when you start it blind. So I’ll just say that so far, I’m mesmerized by the descriptions, the character-building, and the remarkable, quiet reflection of humanity. Do check it out. (I’m very much enjoying Mark Bramhall’s narration, too.) Happy Friday, friends.

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book beginnings on Friday: NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

Posted on November 1, 2013 by pagesofjulia

Thanks to Rose City Reader for hosting this meme. To participate, share the first line or two of the book you are currently reading and, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line.

nos4a2

Do we all know who Joe Hill is now? The secret is out, correct? I’m kidding; the secret’s been out for years. Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son. I’m a King fan, but it took this recent article to convince me to get some of Hill’s work. And I’m glad I did; this recent novel started out with a bang and had me excited right off the first page. It begins:

Nurse Thornton dropped into the long-term care ward a little before eight with a hot bag of blood for Charlie Manx.

She was coasting on autopilot, her thoughts not on her work.

Nothing crash-bang in those first two lines; but we do get our first reference to blood. And it only gets creepier from there, in the most delicious way.

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book beginnings on Friday: The Hunted Whale by James McGuane

Posted on October 4, 2013 by pagesofjulia

Thanks to Rose City Reader for hosting this meme. To participate, share the first line or two of the book you are currently reading and, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line.

huntedwhale

The title recalls a certain famous fictional white whale, or is that just me? This is a coffee-table style book, I expect (my copy is pre-publication), and filled with images. It begins:

The hunt is one of man’s most ancient endeavors. One can barely imagine an early time when man was free from the need to find nutritious food or eliminate a dangerous predator. It’s been posited that language itself grew out of the need for precise communication as men stalked and hunted prey.

No argument there, I don’t think. And I like that McGuane pulls language into his opening lines – this being a work of written artistry, after all. But The Hunted Whale promises to star the whale, as well as the hunt, so stay tuned.

These quotation comes from an uncorrected advance proof and is subject to change.

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book beginnings on Friday: Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin

Posted on September 27, 2013 by pagesofjulia

Thanks to Rose City Reader for hosting this meme. To participate, share the first line or two of the book you are currently reading and, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line.

go tell it

I had a heck of a time getting this electronic audiobook from my local public library onto my iPod, but I have succeeded and thus well earned this listen. I started off with James Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son, which I enjoyed; but it made me want to go back to the beginning of his work, and Go Tell It On the Mountain is his most famous novel, so here we are. It begins:

Everyone had always said that John would be a preacher when he grew up, just like his father. It had been said so often that John, without ever thinking about it, had come to believe it himself.

I think these are strong starting lines. They tell us who our protagonist is; they tell us his family background, and they both name an expected fate for John, and imply that this expectation will not be fulfilled. It also bears noting that on the first page, there is also reference to John’s father fondling one of his daughters, implying that this preacher is not as virtuous as we’d expect. It’s a very casual mention, downplaying the import of this fact. To me, this says that the family doesn’t think much about it; or maybe they don’t know yet. At any rate, it’s disconcerting to have molestation treated so lightly, and I think Baldwin makes a real impact by introducing such disturbing information so off-handedly.

Please note that I have only just begun this book, so I don’t know yet if my interpretations here are correct! Stay tuned…

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book beginnings on Friday: Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler

Posted on September 20, 2013 by pagesofjulia

Thanks to Rose City Reader for hosting. To participate, share the first line or two of the book you are currently reading and, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line.

I have been on quite a kick lately! Between the Hemingway-Fitzgerald-and-Faulkner class (final wrap-up here); The Other Typist; and The Great Gatsby movie (review to come), I am all wrapped up in the 1920’s these days.
z

Therefore, in the spirit of The Paris Wife and Loving Frank, and because I am a Fitzgerald fan as well as a fan (who isn’t?) of the flamboyant flappers’ era, of course I had to get my hands on this new “novel of Zelda Fitzgerald.” I had a tip that I should do it on audio, since Zelda’s South twang is so charmingly performed. So here we are. The book begins with a short letter from Zelda to Scott, which I would like to think is real but a few sources say isn’t. Ah well.

December 20, 1940

Dear Scott,

The Love of the Last Tycoon is a great title for your novel. What does Max say?

I’ve been thinking that maybe I’ll brave an airplane ride and come to see you for New Year’s. Wire me the money, if you can. Won’t we be quite the pair?– you with your bad heart, me with my bad head. Together, though, we might have something worthwhile. I’ll bring you some of those cheese biscuits you always loved, and you can read me what you’ve written so far. I know it’s going to be a wonderful novel, Scott, your best one yet.

This is short so I can send it before the post office closes today. Write me soon.

Devotedly,

Z~

I find the beginning enjoyable, although I already have a few concerns. For one thing, I note a suspiciously strong feeling of deja vu: is this Scarlett O’Hara I see here, only having won her Ashley Wilkes this time around? She even puts on a green dress for the purposes of charming her beaux, although it’s possible this is a confirmed historical fact. (Not worth my research at this point in time.) And while there are some charming turns of phrase, there is also the reference to “eyes as green and expressive as the Irish Sea” – which, ostensibly coming from a 17-year-old lifetime resident of Montgomery, Alabama, doesn’t feel like quite the right choice of words. For now, though, I will suspend these quibbles and lose myself in Zelda’s gushings.

And what are you reading this week?

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book beginnings on Friday: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle

Posted on August 30, 2013 by pagesofjulia

Thanks to Rose City Reader for hosting this meme. To participate, share the first line or two of the book you are currently reading and, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line.

wrinkle

I am just as pleased as can be to experience again a book I enjoyed in childhood, a book that won several awards including a Newberry. Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time begins:

It was a dark and stormy night.

In her attic bedroom Margaret Murry, wrapped in an old patchwork quilt, sat on the foot of her bed and watched the trees tossing in the frenzied lashing of the wind.

L’Engle is winking at us, I believe, when she uses this well-worn literary opening line; but it works beautifully, don’t you think? It’s atmospheric, and if it’s “pre-owned,” I find it still effective. It brings to mind the attic reading scene in The NeverEnding Story, which I also loved.

I’m just a few minutes into this audio recording, read by the author, but I’m glad to be back in L’Engle’s world. Happy weekend!

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book beginnings on Friday: Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

Posted on August 23, 2013 by pagesofjulia

Thanks to Rose City Reader for hosting this meme. To participate, share the first line or two of the book you are currently reading and, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line.

pilgrimattinkercreek

I have come across Annie Dillard’s name in enough nature writings I’ve enjoyed – fiction and non – that it’s definitely time to find her myself. I’ve started with her Pulitzer Prize-winner, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. I’m including the whole first paragraph here because I felt it necessary:

I used to have a cat, an old fighting tom, who would jump through the open window by my bed in the middle of the night and land on my chest. I’d half-awaken. He’d stick his skull under my nose and purr, stinking of urine and blood. Some nights he kneaded my bare chest with his front paws, powerfully, arching his back, as if sharpening his claws, or pummeling a mother for milk. And some mornings I’d wake in daylight to find my body covered with paw prints in blood; I looked as though I’d been painted with roses.

Evocative, isn’t it, the idea of this woman naked, painted in bloody cat prints like roses? Poetic, a little shocking. I like this as a beginning; it certainly gets one’s attention. This is, incidentally, the image referenced in my recent (new favorite) read, Dirt Work: Christine Byl called this a “lyric” defining “wild”. So that’s an auspicious start. Stay tuned.

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book beginnings on Friday: Weeds: A Farm Daughter’s Lament by Evelyn Funda

Posted on August 2, 2013 by pagesofjulia

Thanks to Rose City Reader for hosting this meme. To participate, share the first line or two of the book you are currently reading and, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line.

weeds

I’m taking the liberty of sharing two beginnings with you today. Preface:

In late 2001 my small family suffered what I think of as a triple tragedy. On October 1, 2001, my father, Lumir Funda, age seventy-nine, was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer that, by the time of the diagnosis, had metastasized to his brain, liver, spleen, spine, and bones.

(I’ll leave the other two tragedies for your own reading.)

And chapter 1:

Highway 16, the main route into my rural hometown of Emmett, Idaho, winds through a high desert country of sand and sagebrush before the road narrows and suddenly descends into the valley through a steep grade known as Freezeout Hill. Gouging straight through the terrain, the road drops more than five hundred feet in elevation within the span of a mile.

I think these set Funda’s tone, which is contemplative, quiet, and often melancholy; this seems to be in many ways a memoir of loss, so that’s not inappropriate. It’s early yet, but I’m enjoying it.

These quotation comes from an uncorrected advance proof and is subject to change.

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