Hemingway's Suitcase

 Visit Rose City Reader to see the opening lines of books and post yours! Mine is from Hemingway's Suitcase by MacDonald Harris.

"1: The Trouble With People

There was a crowd at the Rotonde but they found a table inside looking out through the windows at the terasse and the boulevard. It was five o'clock and already dark."

This book combines fact and fiction to weave a tale about  a lost suitcase containing all of Hemingway's writing at the age of 22. The opening pages appear to be the author's imagining of one of the stories from the suitcase.

From there? I must read on!

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Turning to page 56 to share at Freda's Voice, we find:

"As you got older, you were no doubt stricken with all sorts of thoughts that you were never again going to do this or that or the other thing again."

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Would you read on?

Tapestry of Fortunes

 This is the first sentence of Tapestry of Fortunes by Elizabeth Berg:

"When I was growing up, my mother's best friend was a woman named Cosmina Mandruleanu. I liked her for a lot of reasons: her name, of course; her ash-blond hair and throaty voice and black nylons and the way she was generous with the Juicy Fruit gum she always kept in her purse."

Does this beginning invite you into the story? Admittedly, I would not choose to read the book based solely on this opening, but so far/so good as I read. You can read about more book beginnings at Rose City Reader.




Turning to page 56 to share on Freda's Voice, we find:

"Listen. Whatever you think of me or what I'm doing, I don't want or need or expect any longer to hear. You managed to raise a spineless son..., but I've got a long line of vertebrae running down my back and I'm going to tell you what I should have said a long time ago: Back off and butt out."

This story of interwoven lives and the influence of the past upon the future is not well represented by these lines. I am on page 49 and will continue reading this book. Would you?

A Cold and Lonely Place

A Cold and Lonely Place by Sara J. Henry

first paragraph, first chapter

"We could feel the reverberation of the ice cutting machine through the frozen lake beneath our feet. Matt Boudoin was telling me this would be the best ice palace ever, and I was nodding because of course every year the palace seems better than the one the year before. He stopped talking and I stopped nodding because the machine had halted and the crew of men was staring down at the ice. Then in unison, like marionettes, with their strings being pulled they turned their heads to look at Matt. Their faces were blank, but we knew something was wrong, very wrong."

A Cold and Lonely Place is a riveting story of the life and death of a young man frozen under the ice in a lake near Lake Placid. Each character is singular and identifiable, advancing the plot. These strong characters and the palpable sense of place are powerful features of this excellent writing. I felt the cold and the empathy and the desperation in this cold and lonely place.

"Some people you love while they're there, and some people you love forever, whether they're there or not."

So, what do YOU think? Would you continue reading?

Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen

This is the first chapter from Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen. I must admit that it alone would not enamor me of this book. However, I hope the wit is enough to catch your interest beyond  the metaphor of the final sentence. :)

It is my opinion that there is no place on earth more uncomfortable than London during a heat wave. I should probably qualify this by confessing that I have that I have never gone up the Congo River into the heart of darkness with Conrad, nor have I crossed the Sahara by camel. But at least people venturing to those parts are prepared to be uncomfortable. London is so seldom even vaguely warm that we are always caught completely unprepared. The tube turns into a good imitation of the Black Hole of Calcutta, and smell of unwashed armpits, strap-hanging inches from one's face, is overwhelming.

What are you reading?

Garment of Shadows

http://www.rosecityreader.com/2013/04/book-beginnings-journal-of-my-broken.html

 "Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name."
These are the opening lines from the Preface of Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King:

The big man had the brains of a tortoise, but even he was beginning to look alarmed.

Sherlock Holmes drew a calming breath. Then another.

It had seemed such a simple arrangement: If Mary Russell chose to submit to the whimsy of Fflytte Films as it finished its current moving picture,that was fine and good, but there was no cause for her husband to be tied down by her eccentricities-not with an entirely new country at his feet.

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The Friday 56 is a bookish meme sponsored by Freda's Voice. It is easy to participate. Just grab a book and turn to page 56. Find a sentence that grabs you and post it.
Here's a sentence from page 56 of Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King:

The man's face gave a little twist of chagrin, that he had been distracted into a premature revelation of the tale's denouement, but Holmes did not give him the chance to regain the floor.

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This book is one in the series about Sherlock Holmes and his wife, Mary Russell.

Miss Zukas

Turn to page 56 of your current read. Blog a sentence or two from that page. Share your blog post at http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com .

"Would it kill you to give out just a teensy bit of information, like is the guy dead or alive?" She stopped when she saw Helma. "So how is he?"

Hmmmm, I wonder? How is he any way? I know I'll read on! Would you?

Murder on the Cote d'Azur

  

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader

 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.

*Post it on your blog.
*Add the URL of your post it at http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com/

From Murder on the Cote d'Azur by Susan Kiernan-Lewis:

Over the garden wall, she could see the Mediterranean Sea, just a patch of it but enough to fill her with delight. The air was fragrant with the scent of lemons and roses.

Does this description engage your senses? 

Becoming Queen by Kate Williams

"Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. 

Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name."

From Becoming Queen by Kate Williams, 

"The Prince of Wales was drunk. It was his wedding day, he was disgusted by his bride, 

and he was the most inebriated he had ever been outside of a brothel."

Beginning in the 18th century, this is the historical fiction version of how Victoria came to be Queen of England. A sketchy beginning to the story!

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader

 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

From Becoming Queen by Kate Williams, page 56: "As her grandfather was incapacitated and her father constantly assailed by bouts of serious ill-health, it was not entirely unlikely that she would become Queen in two or three years' time. She was woefully unprepared to govern Britain, the most powerful country in Europe, if not the world."

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What are you reading? 

Seeing Things by Patti Hill

Rose City Reader, "Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name."

from Seeing Things by Patti Hill:

"You're talking to the queen of skepticism right here.
I roll my eyes over newspaper stories where teary-eyed folks report they've seen Jesus in a potato chip. That sort of hogwash sends me straight to the comics for a dose of reality." 

Though I read this with some trepidation, my concerns about launching into a book with a little too much cutesy and folksy were allayed by the the humor, wit, and charm of the unfolding story. Birdie, who is recuperating with a broken leg at the home of her son and family, is forced away from her mountain life in Ouray, Colorado, and into their very busy, shallow life in Denver. Despite macular degeneration, she is able discern much more than is apparent to the eyes of her son and wife as their neglected son struggles through his stormy teen years. Birdie befriends the maid, Lupe, who faces challenges with plain spoken realism. With interwoven stories lines keeping my interest, I am anticipating the denouement of the challenges the characters face at their assorted stages of life.

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Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your e-reader

 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Add your URL post here.  It's that simple.

" 'Can you Talk? Are things going well with your son and daughter-in-law?'... 'There's no easy answer to that question.' "

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Do leave a comment and tell me what you'll be reading this weekend!

:)