Mailbox Monday: Life Expectancy: Poetry by Kirsten Rian

On this last day of National Poetry Month, I'm so happy for my friend (and former college roommate!) Kirsten Rian, whose new book of poetry just came out this month, to much acclaim.

-- Life Expectancy: Poetry by Kirsten Rian, from Redbat Books.

What new books came into your house last week?

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday, a weekly "show & tell" blog event where participants share the books they acquired the week before. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught our Eye.

Mailbox Monday is graciously hosted by Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Vicki of I'd Rather Be at the Beach.

Book Beginning: Ghost Writer: A Story About Telling a Holocaust Story

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

THURSDAY? SORRY! I JUMPED THE GUN THIS WEEK! OPERATOR ERROR!

MY BOOK BEGINNING

In the fall of 2008, my colleague, Peter, asked me if I might be interested in working with the Holocaust survivor, Joe Koenig, and his family to tell his story.

-- Ghost Writer: A Story About Telling a Holocaust Story by Beth Benedix. After Benedix ghost wrote a memoir for a holocaust survivor, at his urging, she wrote this book about her own experience of searching through his past and telling his story.

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.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

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

TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING

Teaser Tuesday: Canada by Richard Ford

But for my parents, who drove away on Thursday morning completely innocent, with only a trivial debt owed to a small group of ineffectual Indians – something they could’ve ironed out successfully any number of ways – this kind of thinking didn’t occur. Although most certainly it did occur to them, even as soon as they were driving home to Great Falls the next day – as felons; any thoughts of getting away with what they’d done rising away from them into the flat summer sky.

-- Canada by Richard Ford. This is a great story!

Richard Ford is a favorite of mine, and it’s still taken me six years to get around to reading this one.

Any other Richard Ford fans? What’s your favorite? I like all the Frank Bascombe books, particularly the second one, Independence Day.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by The Purple Booker, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday: The River by Starlight

What books came into your house last week? I got a new, historical novel that looks terrific!



The River by Starlight by Ellen Notbohm. This debut novel is based on a true story about a homesteading couple in Montana in the early 1900s. Their initial fiery romance and financial success is threatened by world events, natural disaster, and Annie's mysterious illness.

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday, a weekly "show & tell" blog event where participants share the books they acquired the week before. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught our Eye.

Mailbox Monday is graciously hosted by Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Vicki of I'd Rather Be at the Beach.

Book Beginning: Shores Beyond Shores: From Holocaust to Hope, My True Story by Irene Butter

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

MY BOOK BEGINNING

When I got off the ship that brought me to the United States in 1945, the American relatives who took me in urged me to forget everything that had happened to my family -- and to me -- in the Holocaust.

-- Shores Beyond Shores: From Holocaust to Hope, My True Story by Irene Butter. Butter was Anne Frank's neighbor in Amsterdam before her family was taken to a concentration camp.

It was decades before she told her story outside a close circle of family and friends, as she recently wrote about in The New York Times.

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.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

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

TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING

Storyline Serendipity: Dame Julian of Norwich

MEDIEVAL MYSTIC SERENDIPITY

IN TWO RECENTLY READ NOVELS

 

Dame Julian of Norwich came up in Larry's Party by Carol Shields and Scandalous Risks by Susan Howatch, two books I was reading at the same time this month.

Julian of Norwich (1342 - 1416) was a Christian mystic and theologian, known for her book Revelations of Divine Love, which is considered to be the first book written in English by a woman.

In Larry's Party, Larry's second wife is a woman's studies professor specializing in the lives of female saints. She breezily mentions one day that she is off to St. Julian's Church in Norwich to study Dame Julian. 

Scandalous Risks is part of Howatch's Starbridge Series of novels about the Church of England in the 20th Century, set in the fictional diocese of Starbridge. Dame Julian's name is dropped during pre-dinner cocktail banter among the cloister set.

WHAT IS STORYLINE SERENDIPITY?

A ONCE-IN-A-WHILE BLOG EVENT

Have you had the experience of something coming up in a book -- an event, place, idea, historical character, or even an unusual word -- and then shortly after, the same thing comes up in a different book completely by coincidence? I call this Storyline Serendipity.

I don't mean like when you take a class in Russian history and read two books about the Tsar. Or when you read two mysteries and there are dead bodies in each.

I mean random coincidence between two books. I like it when this happens because it makes me slow down and pay more attention to how the event or idea, place or character was treated in each book. I get a little more out of each book than I would have if the universe hadn't paired them on my reading list.

If you experience Storyline Serendipity, feel free to grab the button and play along. If you want to, please leave the link to your post in a comment. Or leave the link to your post on the Rose City Reader facebook page. If you want to participate but don't have a blog or don't feel like posting, please share your serendipity in a comment.

This is a once-in-a-while blog event that I'll post as I come across Storyline Serendipity. If you want to participate, post whenever you want and leave a comment back here on my latest Storyline Serendipity post. If it ever catches on, we can make it a monthly event.

Teaser Tuesday: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

It had crossed my mind that I ought to ready myself physically for a potential meeting with the musician by making a few improvements. Should I make myself over from the inside out, or work from the outside in?

-- Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I enjoy how this story unfolds bit by bit, as told by Eleanor, a most unreliable narrator. 

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by The Purple Booker, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday: Homing Instincts by Dionisia Morales

The snappy cover on this new book of essays by Dionisia Morales makes me want to dive right in!



Homing Instincts by Dionisia Morales, a collection of essays on how the idea of home plays out in daily life.

What books came into your house last week?

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday, a weekly "show & tell" blog event where participants share the books they acquired the week before. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught our Eye.

Mailbox Monday is graciously hosted by Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Vicki of I'd Rather Be at the Beach.

Book Beginning: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

MY BOOK BEGINNING

When people ask me what I do – taxi drivers, hairdressers – I tell them I work in an office. In almost nine years, no one’s ever asked what kind of office, or what sort of job I do there.

-- Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. This is hugely popular, but I had missed it until one of my book buddies recommended it to me a couple of months ago.  Since then, I've been seeing it everywhere, of course. It finally made it to the top of my hold list for the audio download at my library.

Who's read it? What did you think?

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.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

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

TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING

Mailbox Monday: Two New Books About Holocaust Survivors and How to Tell Their Stories

What books came into your house last week? I got two books about Holocaust survivors that look fascinating.



Shores Beyond Shores: From Holocaust to Hope, My True Story by Irene Butter. Butter was Anne Frank's neighbor in Amsterdam before her family was shipped to a concentration camp. It was decades before she told her story outside a close circle of family and friends.



Ghost Writer: A Story About Telling a Holocaust Story by Beth Benedix. After Benedix ghost wrote a memoir for a holocaust survivor, he urged her to write her own story about what it was like to confront the challenge of telling someone else's history when it "swelled beyond its own boundaries."

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday, a weekly "show & tell" blog event where participants share the books they acquired the week before. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught our Eye.

Mailbox Monday is graciously hosted by Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Vicki of I'd Rather Be at the Beach.

Book Beginning: The Lesser Bohemians

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

MY BOOK BEGINNING

I move. Cars move.

-- Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride, author of A Girl is a Half Formed Thing, which won the Baileys Women's Prize in 2013. Lesser Bohemians won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 2016.

This isn't my favorite type of beginning, short and choppy. The first chapter starts with a stream of conscience scene of the protagonist, an 18-year-old Irish girl in London for drama school, at an audition.

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.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

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

TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING

Teaser Tuesday: Larry's Party by Carol Shields

He hums his thoughts out on the air like music; they’ve got a disco beat: My name is Larry Weller. I’m a floral designer, twenty-six years old, and I’m walking down Notre Dame Avenue, in the city of Winnipeg, in the country of Canada, in the month of April, in the year 1977, and I’m thinking hard.

-- Larry's Party by Carol Shields. Larry’s Party won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 1998, now called the Baileys Women’s Prize. The story follows Larry from his mid-20s to late 40s, through two marriages, fatherhood, and a successful career making garden mazes. Yes, garden mazes.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by The Purple Booker, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday: The Spirit Level by Seamus Heaney

In 1996, Seamus Heaney's The Spirit Level won the Costa Book of the Year Award (fka the Whitbread Award). I'm working my way through the winners, particularly slowly the poetry winners, so finally ordered a copy.



What new books came into your house last week?

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday, a weekly "show & tell" blog event where participants share the books they acquired the week before. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught our Eye.

Mailbox Monday is graciously hosted by Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Vicki of I'd Rather Be at the Beach.

Happy Easter!