Friday 56, 6-February-2015

Welcome to the ‘too much snow’ edition of The Friday 56 hosted by Freda on Freda’s Voice. Head on over there and check out the other participating blogs.

The way this meme works is pretty simple. If you want to join in, head over to Freda’s blog and add your link.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book (I grab the one I’m currently reading)
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.

I haven’t cracked a new physical book this week and I’m so early in my eBook that I don’t want to look at 56% and have anything ruined, so I grabbed a book off my shelf. This week it’s Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. If you haven’t read this one, I recommend it, especially if you like historical fiction. Here’s page 56:

Catharina had little will to climb the stairs these days, but I wondered what Maria Thins, or Cornelia, or anyone would think if they saw us.

This is a great quote and comes during a turning point between Griet (the narrator) and her employer. There was always the undertone of a sexual relationship between the two but I think this quote shows that it’s all based in how Griet is afraid people will perceive them, not how they actually behave. Or maybe I’m not remembering right. Anyone who can correct me?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Friday 56, 30-January-2015

Welcome to the ‘last ditch attempt to finish a book day’ edition of The Friday 56 hosted by Freda on Freda’s Voice. Head on over there and check out the other participating blogs.

The way this meme works is pretty simple. If you want to join in, head over to Freda’s blog and add your link.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book (I grab the one I’m currently reading)
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.

I’ve gotten into a new book this week from my book club’s selection. It’s Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat and I’m really enjoying it so far. Here’s a great quote from page 56. Two of the characters are debating what to name their daughter and the mother has proposed the name Rose.

Whatever she’d proposed would have been okay with him, because he was convinced, just as the doctor was, that the child would not live even an hour, much less a day.

I didn’t expect to like this story so much but it’s impressed me very quickly. I’m a fan and I think it will be a good book discussion.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Friday 56, 23-January-2015

Welcome to the “get to see my niece tonight’ edition of The Friday 56 hosted by Freda on Freda’s Voice. Head on over there and check out the other participating blogs.

The way this meme works is pretty simple. If you want to join in, head over to Freda’s blog and add your link.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book (I grab the one I’m currently reading)
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.

I’ve given a quote from the books I’m reading now, so I took a look back on the shelf and found one I read before I started this meme. This quote is from Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. I really liked this book and recommend it as a great quick read.

Nollop said as much, even challenge the pert stenographer to come up with a sentence of her own measuring thirty-five letters or less and containing all of the letters of the alphabet. She tried. She failed.

This adorable little book focuses on the fictional island of Nollop where Nevin Nollop (the man who penned the pangram ‘The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”) is praised as a deity. This particular sentence comes from a letter written by the island’s high council explaining why the citizens should follow the divine will of Nollop and remove the letter ‘J’ completely from their vocabulary. This isn’t as much of a shock as you would think because ‘Z’ and ‘Q’ have already been removed.

It’s a great little book; I highly recommend it!

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Friday 56, 16-January-2015

Welcome to the three day weekend edition of The Friday 56 hosted by Freda on Freda’s Voice. Head on over there and check out the other participating blogs.

The way this meme works is pretty simple. If you want to join in, head over to Freda’s blog and add your link.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book (I grab the one I’m currently reading)
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.

I guess I read this book so fast it didn’t have a chance to be part of my Friday 56, so I’ll be featuring Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, which I reviewed yesterday. Go check that out if you think this one sounds good.

I know you devour the Sports section, so you’ve probably already read how the North High Vikings trounced the Southeast Bunnies Friday night. The only thing missing from our coverage was the way the Viking defense rallied when the band played “Whoomp! (There it is).”

Yay Rainbow Rowell. I love her lighthearted humor and the way the characters have sarcastic conversations that actually happen between people. It’s very refreshing. Anyway, this is a great little book, a very light and fun read that I think could appeal to all audiences.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Friday 56, 9-January-2015

Welcome to the below 0 degrees edition of The Friday 56 hosted by Freda on Freda’s Voice. Head on over there and check out the other participating blogs.

The way this meme works is pretty simple. If you want to join in, head over to Freda’s blog and add your link.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book (I grab the one I’m currently reading)
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.

I’ve finally gotten my ebook back! So now I want to share a quote from that selection, The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis.

Kivrin looked at Lady Yvolde’s priedieu longingly, thinking of the plastic kneeling pads that hung on the backs of the chairs in St. Mary’s.

I choose this passage because it helps highlight how out of her element Kivrin is after having traveled back in time almost 1000 years. She thought she’d studied enough and had practiced ‘going without’ modern conveniences, but she still misses the comforts of home. I can’t wait to see where her journey takes her.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Friday 56, 2-January-2015

Welcome to the first 2015 edition of The Friday 56 hosted by Freda on Freda’s Voice. Head on over there and check out the other participating blogs.

The way this meme works is pretty simple. If you want to join in, head over to Freda’s blog and add your link.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book (I grab the one I’m currently reading)
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.

I just started a new physical book and it’s in Spanish! (I’ll provide a translation, no worries.) It’s slow going, so I hope this quote doesn’t ruin the plot for me but I’ll give you a taste of La Sombra del Viento (The Shadow of the Wind) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón Here’s a quote from page 56:

A Clara le encantaba sentarse a escuchar los murmullos de la gente en el claustro y adivinar el eco de los pasos en los callejones de piedra. (Clara liked to sit and listen to the whispers of the people in the cloister and guess the echo of the steps in the stone alley.)

I haven’t met Clara yet, so I’m not really sure what to expect of her from this passage. I like the description of her as a quiet person and I can picture her sitting quietly, listening to footsteps and trying to guess who it is. It’s a silly little game, but it could take up hours of a person’s life. I’ve been told the descriptions in this book are amazing and I hope my terrible translation helped to illustrate them.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Friday 56, 26-December-2014

Welcome to the I’m in Ohio edition of The Friday 56 hosted by Freda on Freda’s Voice. Head on over there and check out the other participating blogs.

The way this meme works is pretty simple. If you want to join in, head over to Freda’s blog and add your link.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book (I grab the one I’m currently reading)
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.

My recent physical book is one for my book club that I’m not really enjoying, but am determined to get through. It’s called The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. Here’s a quote from page 56:

He had never walked so far in a day but he had covered eight and a half miles and he was hungry for more.

The premise is that Harold is walking the length of England, covering about 8 miles a day. This quote is from the beginning of his journey, when it’s all going well. I’ll let you read to see how it starts to go later on.

Shameless plug: If you’re interested in joining an on-line book club, my Read Along With Me #3 is starting soon and I’d love to have some more readers. We’re going to be reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera and will start in January. Send me and email if you’re interested!

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Friday 56, 19-December-2014

Welcome to the Quiet Day at Work edition of The Friday 56 hosted by Freda on Freda’s Voice. Head on over there and check out the other participating blogs.

The way this meme works is pretty simple. If you want to join in, head over to Freda’s blog and add your link.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book (I grab the one I’m currently reading)
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.

I’ve got a new ebook I’m working my way though now, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. This is a really cool YA story and I’m really excited about grabbing it. Here’s a quote from page 56 (per my iPhone reader)

I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, so I decided to kill the remaining hours until dawn by brushing up on a few coin-op classics.

I don’t know too much about these characters yet, but I think this one summarizes Wade well. He’s completely obsessed with finding the hidden Easter Egg inside the game developed by an 80s obsessed genius. Playing retro video games may help him solve the puzzle so he’s ready to do it. I’m enjoying this book so far and keep thinking parts of it would make a good movie, but parts of it would be awful, haha.

While you’re here, are you interested in joining an on-line book club? Do you like reading books with your friends and talking about them? My third edition of ‘Read Along With Me’ will begin in January. We’re selecting our book now so vote and send me and email if you’re interested in participating.

 

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Friday 56, 12-December-2014

Welcome to the Last Day of Finals edition of The Friday 56 hosted by Freda on Freda’s Voice. Head on over there and check out the other participating blogs.

The way this meme works is pretty simple. If you want to join in, head over to Freda’s blog and add your link.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book (I grab the one I’m currently reading)
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.

I’m currently reading The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and I’m really enjoying it. It’s the right mix of creepy and scary and entertaining. Pretty much, it’s amazing. Here’s a quote from the 56th page:

Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.

Wow. I think this really speaks to the story. Offred and her contemporaries ignored the violence and oppression happening around them because it wasn’t happening to them. They knew about it, just choose not to worry about it. By the time it was happening to them, there was nothing they could do. They were being ignored. She was trying to ignore the things she knew were happening around her and it took an effort to continue on as if nothing was wrong. Wow. Yay Margaret Atwood.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Friday 56, 5-December-2014

Welcome to the post-Thanksgiving edition of The Friday 56 hosted by Freda on Freda’s Voice. I missed last week due to travels but I’m glad to be back. Head on over there and check out the other participating blogs.

The way this meme works is pretty simple. If you want to join in, head over to Freda’s blog and add your link.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book (I grab the one I’m currently reading)
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.

The book I’ve in the middle of now is These is my Words by Nancy E. Turner. It’s a story about a girl growing up in the Arizona Territories around 1880. I’ve enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Page 56 is only a few lines (end of a chapter) but this is from the bottom of page 55. It’s the narrator answering a question her brother asked her about how a man should court a woman.

Well, I don’t know those things but I tried to tell him to just wash his face and hands and comb his hair, be an honest man and a good sport and kind hearted to her feelings, and if she doesn’t like him he has got to go slow, and bring her some flowers and such and tip his hat.

I thought this was a great summary of how a woman wants to be treated whether it’s today or in the 1880s. It’s fun to read this now and see how women have been courted in the book since Sarah (the narrator) said this.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!