Book Beginnings and The Friday 56 - April 21, 2017

I'm linking up with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for Page 56. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Pick the closest book on your book stack and join the fun.

The Beginning:

Prologue "The male mockingbird teeters on the edge of a whitewashed brick wall and flexes his wings in a motion designed to flush unwary insects from the ground below."

Chapter One: "My swearing-in ceremony was held on a hot and humid Monday afternoon in Colleton County's oldest courtroom, a big cavernous space paneled in dark oak and weighty with the stone-footed majesty of nineteenth century law."

Page 56: 

"Number sixteen on the add-on calendar, Your Honor. Lydia Marie Duncan, three counts of issuing worthless checks."

From Southern Discomfort by Margaret Maron.  

This is the second book in the Deborah Knott Mystery series copyrighted 1993. I started this series with book three and have skipped around. I am down to two more titles in the middle of the 15 book series and Southern Discomfort the second in the series. If you like interesting mysteries with a lot of background and character development give this series a try.

Book Beginnings and The Friday 56 - April 14, 2017

I'm linking up with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for Page 56. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Pick the closest book on your book stack and join the fun.

The Beginning:

"Hail, Get up. The voice cut through the nausea, sounding too much like my father."

Page 56:

"She and her descendants held on to that spot and what amounted to control of the colony all the way up to the break with Earth, and after the dust from that ruckus settled, the empire was born: an empire ruled by women, my ancestor at the head, backed by the women of the other original families.

From Behind the Throne by K.B. Wagers. I checked this one out from the library and haven't started it yet. As the second quote suggest this is Science Fiction.

Book Beginnings and The Friday 56 - April 7, 2017

I'm linking up with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for Page 56. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Pick the closest book on your book stack and join the fun.

The Beginning:

"Was she dead? She felt like a ghost, untethered and insubstantial. Was she floating?"

Page 56:

"I stick to the kitchen mostly." He covered the pan with a cloth. "And you know everyone who worked the event? Every server, every cook, every valet?"

From Echoes in Death by J.D. Robb. I just got this from the library where I started as #21 on the reserve list. Have not had time to read yet but since this is one of my must read series I expect to enjoy it.

Book Beginnings and The Friday 56 - March 31, 2017

I'm linking up with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for Page 56. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Pick the closest book on your book stack and join the fun.

The Beginning:

Prolog: 1943 - "She first notices him because he always sits at a table off to the side of the USO club and he usually sits alone."

Chapter 1 - "I almost forgot," my brother Will said. ....Got another present for you."

Page 56:

"She leads them over to the fire and wraps the second blanket around them once they have shed their drenched outer garments, then forages for more wood until the flames leap up."

From Long Upon the Land by Margaret Maron. This is the 15th and final book in the Judge Deborah Knotts mystery series. I finished it yesterday and it does ends in a very good and slightly funny way. I love this series. I have not read in order and still have several books in the middle of the series left to read I am still feeling down about the series being over. I loved all of the Knott family, the fictional North Carolina county where they live, and all the relationships that made the stories come alive.

I wonder if any of you have the same reaction as a favorite series ends.

Book Beginnings and The Friday 56 - March 24, 2017

I'm linking up with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for Page 56. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Pick the closest book on your book stack and join the fun.

The Beginning:

"As the cruise ship rocked and rolled in open water, Roger McGeary stood in front of the mirror and tried for the fourteenth time to tie his damned bow tie." From the Prolog

"On the Tuesday morning after Labor Day, Ali Reynolds pulled into her reservedparking spot outside High Noon Enterprises in Cottonwood, Arizona, just as a dust-covered aging Dodge Ram pickup came to a stop in on of the two designated visitor slots." From Chapter One

Page 56:

"When Harold got home that night, and Irene asked him what Dr. Richards said, Harold made no mention of his real diagnosis."

Man Overboard by J.A.Jance. This is the latest Ali Reynolds novel. I got it from the library today and have not started yet. I do expect to enjoy it as this is one of the mystery series I follow.

Book Beginnings and The Friday 56 - March 17, 2017

I'm linking up with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for Page 56. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Pick the closest book on your book stack and join the fun.

The Beginning:

"As Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent, stared at the young woman who had just barged her way into his London Residence, it occurred to him that he might have tried to abduct the wrong heiress last week at Stony Cross Park."

Page 56:

"Thank you." St. Vincent kept his arm around Evie as they walked our of the inn and headed to the blacksmith's cottage next door."

From Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas. I used Devil in Spring two weeks ago. That feared Sebastian and Evie's son and after reading it I wanted to go back and visit the first story so I went to the library and checked it out. I enjoyed the re-read almost as much as I did the first time. One thing I did notice. The cover of Devil in Winter was a dud.

Book Beginnings and The Friday 56 - March 10, 2017

I'm linking up with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for Page 56. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Pick the closest book on your book stack and join the fun.

The Beginning:

"As she woke up in the pod, she remembered three things. First, she was traveling through open space. Second, she was about to start a new job, one she could not screw up. Third, she had bribed a government official into giving her a new identity file."

Page 56:

"A tool clattered to the ground. Kizzy's hands clenched into fists as the music swelled to a stormy crescendo She danced atop the shuddering ladder, her head still in the ceiling."

From The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. I have read several good reviews on this so checked it out at the library on my last trip.

Book Beginnings and The Friday 56 -March 3, 2017

I'm linking up with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for Page 56. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Pick the closest book on your book stack and join the fun.

The Beginning:

Lady Pandora Ravenel was bored.

Bored stiff.

Bored of being bored.

Page 56:

"Why are you encouraging this? Shouldn't you be a bit more discriminating when it comes to the potential mother of your grandchildren?"

From the latest book by Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Spring. I finished this one a few days ago and really enjoyed it. Kleypas writes great dialog that leaves the reading laughing while trying to continue reading.

Book Beginnings and The Friday 56 - February 24, 2017

I'm linking up with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for Page 56. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Pick the closest book on your book stack and join the fun.

The Beginning:

"A grandfather and his granddaughter walked under the leaf-bare trees of late autumn:
"Tell me again about Grandma Greta, Grandpa?'

Page 56:

COL. SMITH: Shut up. It was decided by this team that in order to expedite the voluntary recruitment of the candidate we should subject Rita Douglas to a motivational scenario. Frightening but basically harmless."

From Empire Games by Charles Stross, A New Tale of the Merchant Princes Multiverse. This is a universe Stross left years ago. I followed the series through all six of the books. It was a surprise to see that he has set a new book there. It is listed as book on in the Empire Games series. When I saw this at the library I could not pass it up.

Book Beginnings and The Friday 56 - February 17, 2017

I'm linking up with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for Page 56. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Pick the closest book on your book stack and join the fun.

The Beginning:

"Many hundreds of light-years from the solar system you call home, inside a spindly crystal structure floating at the edge of a great nebula shaped like an eye, a yellow light began to blink."

Page 56:

"Paolo unzipped the duffle bag and tossed a pressuresuit at Phoebe. "Get dressed." He threw two more suits to Liam and Shawn."

From Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson. I am part of a blog tour for the book today so visit my other post for more information about the book and the author.

Book Beginnings and The Friday 56 - February 17, 2017

I'm linking up with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for Page 56. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Pick the closest book on your book stack and join the fun.

The Beginning:

"I looked at the profusion of mourning jewelry spread across my dressing table and sighed. "

Page 56:

"Whenever I catch my first glimpse of the Parthenon, I know the Greeks were superior to the Romans, but I will never admit this in any other circumstance."

From A Terrible Beauty, A Lady Emily Mystery by Tasha Alexander. I have followed this series from the beginning. According to the blurb, this latest one has a twist I never saw coming. I got it at the library yesterday and it is on top of my TBR pile.

Book Beginnings and The Friday 56 - February 10, 2017

I'm linking up with Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings and Freda's Voice for Page 56. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Pick the closest book on your book stack and join the fun.



The Beginning:

"Josie Dawson loved the smell of feed stores and the taste of red lollipops."

Page 56:

"Josie wondered what kind of chemistry they might create in the cozy little cabin. She only hoped things wouldn't blow up in her face."

From Wicked Cowboy Charm by Carolyn Brown.