GIVEAWAY WINNER & Book Beginning: What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies

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.

GIVEAWAY:  Big thanks to everyone who participated in this week's giveaway for
Cleans Up Nicely by Linda Dahl, a new novel about the 1970s art scene in New York City.  The two lucky winners are Laurel-Rain Snow at Rainy Days & Mondays and Story Corner, and Tammi at Picture Perfect Cooking.

EARLY BIRDS: I am experimenting with getting this post up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. We'll try it this way for a couple of months to see if people like the option of early posting. If you have feelings one way or the other, please comment.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I am trying to follow all Book Beginning participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

MR. LINKY: Please leave a link to your post below. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.



MY BOOK BEGINNING



"The book must be dropped."

-- What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies.

This is the second book in his "Cornish Trilogy," following The Rebel Angels. The trilogy concludes with The Lyre of Orpheus. The three books are separate stories but all related to the life and influence of Francis Cornish, an eccentric Canadian art collector.

I have been slow to get to Robertson Davies, despite recommendations I would normally jump on. Several of his books have sat on my TBR shelf for years. The basis of my reluctance is insubstantial -- I was put off by the cover art of this book and others and by his author's picture. How could someone who looks like an Oregon Trail pioneer write a book that I would enjoy?

But I took the plunge with The Rebel Angels and enjoyed it -- loved it for the most part and was put off by a couple of atrocious set pieces that took time to recover from. My review is here. What's Bred in the Bone has me sucked in and I hope to devote much of the upcoming weekend to it.