Tuesday, October 29, 2013

First Paragraph, Tuesday Teaser Plus a Book Giveaway

Giveaway
I'm thrilled to offer a book giveaway this week too. Mike Dixon, author of Wolf Wood, has generously
offered to send out a hard copy to either a North American or UK reader, along with an ecopy. Dixon's book is set in Medieval England and France. It includes a great attention to detail and some intriguing characters that you'll cheer for while rooting against those Medieval bad guys. See my full review here.
Leave a comment and make sure I know how to reach you if you want to be registered. I'll draw a winner next Wednesday, Nov. 6.



Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading
This is one of those weeks that I wish I had more time to spend curled up in a chair on the front porch with a book.
I have more time, since three of my classes finished, but a new one is starting and I have a list of things to do that I've put off.
But here's a book that I have snuck a bit of so far. Someone online recommended it to me, but I can't remember where or when.
The House of the Wind by Titania Hardie is about a woman who is heartbroken after her fiance dies, so her grandfather sned her to Tuscany to heal. Who couldn't heal in Tuscany? The story is interwoven with one from 1347 in the same area of Tuscany.
Here's the intro from the first chapter:
In the calendar of seasons and times, January is Janus-headed: the patron month of gateways and doors, of looking forward and backward. Back over what has been, what brings us to this point; ahead to what may be, anticipating the dreams of future days.
Perhaps today, laughing and circling the date on her calendar with a bright pen, Madeline Moretti had given some thought to this, at least unconsciously. She'd certainly been revising in her mind Christopher's favorite foods -- his preference for salads and seafood, his enjoyment of full-bodied red wines more than champagne, his very British love of crumpets (accompanied with quince jelly!) instead of croissants, his funny thing for rose Turkish delight and dates dipped in dark melted chocolate -- so that when she opened the cupboard tomorrow on his first morning in San Francisco she would be able to supply his most eccentric wish effortlessly, with dainties that had been shipped in anywhere from Maine to the Napa Valley, from London to Provence, "from silken Samarcand to cedar'd Lebanon."
Also this week is Teaser Tuesdays. Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Open to a random page of your current read  and share a teaser sentence from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.
Here's my teaser from page 101:
The captain raced on in his speech. "We thought the girl had been killed, crushed by the fallen masonry, along with her parents and the guards. But," he said, breathing in deeply, "after the weather let up we began to clear away much of the rubble, and while all other bodies have been recovered, she appears to have vanished. There is no trace of her. It is witchcraft!"

13 comments:

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

Wonderful excerpts! Now I want to know more....thanks for sharing.

And thanks for visiting my blog.

Unknown said...

Ooh, definitely intriguing :)

http://carabosseslibrary.blogspot.com/2013/10/teaser-tuesdays_29.html

Anonymous said...

Wait, so where did the body go? Great teaser, it definitely makes me want to find out what happened next.

I'm not interested in the giveaway (I have way too many books to read at the moment) but thank you for visiting my blog!

~ pdbkwm

Lizzy said...

I love the cover of The House of the Wind. It's making me miss summer, and it sounds like a book I would enjoy!

Here's my teaser

Anonymous said...

Italy is not France, but i'm not against it, lol, and this sounds good! glad to see you help promote another France Book Tours author with the giveaway!

Sandra Nachlinger said...

Seems like almost anything that couldn't be explained was considered "witchcraft" in some cultures. I wonder what happened to the girl!
My Teaser today is from THE FUNERAL DRESS.

Unknown said...

I love your excerpt and teaser. Here is my WP post and Blogger Post

Vicki said...

The House of the Wind sounds interesting!

Catherine @ Book Club Librarian said...

Nice atmospheric introduction that totally drew me in. I'd keep reading!

Here's my Tuesday post: http://www.bookclublibrarian.com/2013/10/first-chapter-first-paragraph-37.html

Anonymous said...

Keep reading - with that intro it sounds like it could qualify for the Foodies Reading Challenge!

Katie Cohen said...

Pretty cover! Great teaser, thanks for sharing!

Katie @ The Quiet Girl Talks

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Hmmm....I'd be reading more. I am curious. enjoy

kayerj said...

sounds like a book to take time with and savor. enjoy. kelley—the road goes ever ever on

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