Where Is Your Bookmark? (05/31/2016)

It was a weekend for reading! We spent a good part of it on the road, traveling to and from my in-laws. I finished Jesmym Ward's Salvage the Bones this evening after we arrived home, and thought I would share a bit with you. Set in Mississippi, this novel is about a teenage girl named Esch and her family. Her alcoholic father is preparing for a hurricane, her brother Skeetah is trying to keep his pit bulls pups alive, and another of her brothers is hoping to get a scholarship to a basketball camp for the summer. Esch, at 15, is pregnant.

Every Tuesday Diane from Bibliophile By the Sea First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where participants share the first paragraph (or a few) of a book they are reading or thinking about reading soon. It is also where I share my first impressions about the book I am sharing.

China's turned on herself. If I didn't know, I would think she was trying to eat her paws. I would think that she was crazy. Which she is, in a way. Won't let nobody touch her but Skeet. When she was a big-headed pit bull puppy, she stole all the shoes in the house, all our black tennis shoes Mama bought because they hide dirt and hold up until they're beaten soft. Only Mama's forgotten sandals, thin-heeled and tinted pink with so much red mud seeped into them, looked different. China hid them all under furniture, behind the toilet, stacked them in piles and slept on them. When the dog was old enough to run and trip down the steps on her own, she took the shoes outside, out them in shallow ditches under the house. She'd stand rigid as a pine when we tried to take them away from her. Now China is giving like she once took away, bestowing where she once stole. She is birthing puppies.

Every Tuesday, Jenn from Books And A Beat hosts Teaser Tuesdays at which time participants grab their current read, open to a random page, and share two (2) "teaser" sentences from that page while avoiding any spoilers.

Teaser from page 88 of Salvage the Bones:

They cannot tell, but it is there. Perhaps Skeetah saw when I walked from the water and put on my clothes. I do not know, but I will not give him the chance to see again now. I will not let him see until none of us have any choices about what can be seen, what can be avoided, what is blind, and what will turn to stone.

What do you think? Would you keep reading?  

The opening paragraph brought back the memory of my dog Riley who liked to play with my husband's shoes. He wasn't so much trying to nest with them as entice us to play with them. I finished Salvage the Bone Monday evening and hope to get my review written and up on my blog at some point. 

What are you reading at the moment?  Is it anything you would recommend?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies at Broke and Bookish.

This week's  Top Ten Tuesday Beach Reads Week --which is a difficult theme for me to take on. I could list books I think fall under the category of Beach Reads, but the truth is I don't really read at the beach. And my reading during the summer months--when people are likely to be at the beach-- doesn't really change in terms of the type of books I read. So, instead. I thought I would go with the Top Ten Books you should read if you are stuck at home alone on a stormy summer night (although I'm not sure "stuck" would be the appropriate word to use--because any reading time should be embraced, right?).

1. Storm Front by Jim Butcher and any of the other books in the Dresden Files series that follow. This is a fast-paced urban fantasy novel about a modern day wizard with his own Chicago-based agency. It's got its dark side, but it's also funny in spots.

2. Rachel Caine's Weather Warden Series is perfect if you are into urban fantasy and paranormal romance. You'll never think of a storm or tornado the same way again.

3. The Woman in White  by Wilkie Collins is the perfect choice if you prefer to settle in with something thicker with a Gothic feel. Don't be afraid to pick up this classic and read it. It's perfect reading for a stormy night.

4. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters is a modern Gothic classic that will have you reading long into the night.

5. If horror is more your style, I highly recommend Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box.

6. Mind of Winter by Laura Kasischke offers a more subtle thrill, and is set in the middle of a snow storm.

7. For a quiet ghost story that will be much less likely to leave you checking under your bed, you might want to give The Uninvited by Cat Winters a try.

8. Perhaps you are more of a romantic at heart and would do best with Karen Marie Moning's Beyond the Highland Mist. 

9. This might be a good time to finally give George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones a try. You know you've been wanting to. Winter is coming, after all.

10. If you are looking for sweet dreams, perhaps you'd be better off sticking with Fredrik Backman's A Man Called Ove.

What books would you recommend for a stormy summer night?

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© 2016, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.