Where Is Your Bookmark? (06/07/2016)

Today I am featuring the book I hope to begin reading shortly, The Hummingbird by Stephen P. Kiernan. I enjoyed the author's book The Curiosity, which had been a bit outside my comfort zone. This one is more up my alley, and one I have been looking forward to reading for awhile now.

Summary from Goodreads: 

Deborah Birch is a seasoned hospice nurse whose daily work requires courage and compassion. But her skills and experience are tested in new and dramatic ways when her easygoing husband, Michael, returns from his third deployment to Iraq haunted by nightmares, anxiety, and rage. She is determined to help him heal, and to restore the tender, loving marriage they once had.  

At the same time, Deborah's primary patient is Barclay Reed, a retired history professor and expert in the Pacific Theater of World War II whose career ended in academic scandal. Alone in the world, the embittered professor is dying. As Barclay begrudgingly comes to trust Deborah, he tells her stories from that long-ago war, which help her find a way to help her husband battle his demons.  

Told with piercing empathy and heartbreaking realism, The Hummingbird is a masterful story of loving commitment, service to country, and absolution through wisdom and forgiveness.

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.

All I knew at the beginning was that the first two nurses assigned to the professor had no lasted twelve days, and now it was my turn.

When I drove to Central Office that morning to collect his medical records and case-management plan, I also checked the staffing file to see who had bailed on the old guy so quickly. Or maybe had had bailed on them.

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.

Random Teaser from The Hummingbird :

I have seen people tell patients to keep fighting—typically sons speaking to fathers—when clearly all the exhausted patriarch wants to do is rest. I bide my time, then point out how hard the patient has fought already, and ask them to consider giving him permission to go. Sometimes the people listen, and the patient dies at peace. Sometimes they don’t listen, and the patient dies anyway. Nature will have her way.

What do you think? Would you keep reading?  

From the opening paragraphs, I get the distinct impression that the elderly gentleman in the novel is difficult to work with. 

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 is Ten Reasons I Love X -- could be a certain book, character, author, your indie bookstore, a fandom, a tv show, reading, a hobby, a genre. I decided to list the Top Five Reasons I Love Reading Mysteries and Fantasy Novels, two of my very favorite genres. Great characters, good writing, and an entertaining story are just a part of the draw.

Reasons I love Mysteries:

Mysteries come in all shapes and sizes and I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite sub-genre. It's a genre I can turn to when I need a laugh, something thought provoking, want something dark and gritty, romantic and suspenseful, or just want something on the light side.

1. Mysteries are my best friend when I need distraction from my over-worked mind. I find it easy to get caught up in the characters lives and carried away by the story. So much so, I forget my own troubles or worries for awhile.

2. Solving a puzzle. I love puzzles and my mind just naturally begins to work out the puzzles a mystery offers as I read--even without my trying. I often guess the whodunit and sometimes the why of the crime before the end, but there's something to be said for being right--or proven wrong.

3. The psychology of it - understanding human behavior, motive, and experiencing how someone else copes, struggles with, and hopefully overcomes adversity. Whether the villain or the hero, I like  to see complexity and depth in the characters whose lives I become a part of for a short while. Sometimes it also offers a chance for self-reflection, makes me question my own beliefs and ideas. Who says mysteries cannot be thought provoking?

4. It's a thrill ride! Who doesn't like an adrenaline rush now and then? Whether it is the thrill of the chase or the thrill of putting all the pieces of the puzzle together.

5. Seeing justice served. Often, as a reader, I find myself on the side of the good guy, wanting to see right overcome wrong. There's something very satisfying in seeing the villains get what's coming to them.

Reasons I love Fantasy:

Like with mysteries, I like a variety of fantasy novels, although I probably favor urban fantasy. I also enjoy fairy tales and high fantasy, epic fantasy, dark fantasy, steampunk, sword and sorcery fantasy, must to name a few. 

1. The imagination is such a wonderful thing. Fantasy pushes the boundaries by taking us outside of the reality we know. Anything can happen--and often does.

2. The adventure of it. Diving into the pages of a fantasy novel, I often get to travel through unknown lands and meet a myriad of characters--both human and non-human. Flying on a dragon or casting a spell. Dancing with faeries or cuddling up with a gargoyle.

3. Magic - My husband is always quick to remind me that fantasy doesn't have to include magic. There are many fantasy novels that don't involve any at all. But frankly, magic is a must for me--well, maybe just strongly preferred. Wizards and witches. Supernatural beings. Paranormal abilities. There's just something about magic that intrigues me and sparks my imagination.

4. Escape. I am always amazed at how fully and completely I can become engrossed in a fantasy novel, blocking out everything going on around me other than what is happening in the book. Even when away from the book, I often feel the spell of fantasy novel lingering around me.

5. Fantasy is a playground for exploring morality. Whether it is good versus evil or shades of gray. Sometimes fantasy, as out there as it may seem, is a closer reflection of life than might appear on the surface. I like the reality of it as well as the fantastical elements.

Do you have a favorite genre? What about that genre draws you to it?

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