I began Greer Macallister's The Magician's Lie just yesterday and am enjoying it so far. The novel is about a notorious illusionist who has been accused of her husband's murder. She has one night to convince the troubled policeman who has apprehended her to let her go . . .
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.
Tonight, I will do the impossible.
The impossible is nothing new to me. As I do every night, I will make people believe things that aren't true. I will show them worlds that never existed, events that never happened. I will weave a web of beautiful illusion to snare them, a glittering trap that drags them willingly with me into the magical, false, spellbinding world.
Teaser from page 31% of The Magician's Lie:
"Because I know what monsters are," she says. "And I can't be in that company."
"So tell me what you are then, if not a monster."
"A fool," she says.
What do you think? Would you keep reading?
I feel the opening paragraphs set the scene for not only the show Arden is about to perform, but also for the novel. It certainly makes you wonder if you can trust Arden, doesn't it?
I have not yet reached the teaser yet, but it caught my attention when I was searching for a teaser to share.
I have not yet reached the teaser yet, but it caught my attention when I was searching for a teaser to share.
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies at Broke and Bookish.
This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is made up of my Top Four Favorite Books I Have Read So Far This Year. It seems a fitting time to pull this list together, six months into the year. Soon we will be carving pumpkins, eating turkey and singing carols. Well, hopefully not that soon. Without further ado, here is my list in no particular order (each book cover linked to my review, except for two whose reviews are pending. Those two covers are linked to Goodreads):
Runners-Up:
What is/are your favorite book(s) so far this year that you have read?
1. The Night Parade by Kathryn Tanquary
2. When the Moon Is Low by Nadia Hashimi
3. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
4. The Hummingbird by Stephen P. Kiernan
Runners-Up:
1. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald
2. Redshirts: A Novel With Three Codas by John Scalzi, narrated by Wil Wheaton
3. June by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
What is/are your favorite book(s) so far this year that you have read?
© 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.
Ooh nearly half way through the year already and the topic of best books is already looming - I really enjoyed The Readers of Broken Hill Recommend too - perhaps more so than I realised at the time if that makes sense?
ReplyDeleteCleo - It's fun to look back at this point and see where my reading has taken me. Hopefully it will be a good second half too. :-)
DeleteIt does make sense. I find that with some books too--that time makes me appreciate a book more. Sometimes less too, depending on the book.
The Readers of The Broken Wheel Recommend has captured my attention! :-)
ReplyDeleteChrissi - It was such a fun read. Not completely realistic, but so good.
DeleteI've not read a single book from your list! And I feel like I'm missing out. Some of them look fantastic. The Readers of the Broken Wheel Recommend seems interesting. And as someone who has read Jane Eyre I'm not concerned about spoilers :P
ReplyDeleteKate - The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend was such a good read. Hopefully Jane Eyre is well known to most people who might read it--and if they don't, they may not mind the spoilers. I hope not, anyway. :-)
DeleteThe Night Parade looks very interesting and so do some of those others. As for my favorite read so far that's a tough one- maybe Clouds in my Coffee which is a fun cozy. I enjoyed that one a lot. :)
ReplyDeleteGreg - I just love The Night Parade. I hope my daughter will be interested in it when she's older. I definitely plan to re-read it at some point.
DeleteI still need to read Mulhern's books. I keep hearing good things about Clouds in my Coffee.
The magician's life sounds fantastic! I'm looking forward to your review :D
ReplyDeleteAnd... I still haven't gotten my hands on The Night Parade, but hopefully I will before the year is over!
Eustacia - I am still not too far into it, I'm afraid, but what I've read I'm enjoying. I hope to spend some quality time with The Magician's Lie this weekend.
DeleteI hope you are able to get your hands on The Night Parade! It's worth it.
Thanks for the peek into The Magician's Lie, it sounds really good. Adding to my TBR list. My TTT
ReplyDeleteSue - So far it is! I have a feeling I'm really going to like it. :-)
DeleteEven though there were issues with geometric love interests (read:love triangles) and a painfully indecisive heroine, I loved Burning Glass by Katheryn Purdie.
ReplyDeleteSierra & Ellen - I love that term, "geometric love interests". Besides, it's not always a love triangle, is it? Sometimes there are squares and rectangles too.
DeleteThank you for visiting!
Oh yes! And don't forget...... the LOVE RHOMBUS!!
DeleteI can't wait to get to When the Moon is Low!
ReplyDeleteKathy - I hope you love When The Moon Is Low as much as I did.
DeleteI liked The Magician's Lie and The Night Parade is on my list! Choosing a favorite book...that is SO difficult. :)
ReplyDeleteJenclair - I'm glad to hear you liked The Magician's Lie. I hope you get a chance to read The Night Parade. I do not read much in the way of middle grade fiction, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.
DeleteI like what you shared from The Magician's Lie. Your impressions are encouraging, so I'll have to root around in my stacks to find my copy. Also have a copy of June from the library and hope to get to it before too many renewals.
ReplyDeleteCatherine - Hopefully we will both end up liking The Magician's Lie. So far so good for me! I hope you are able to get to June and enjoy it when you do.
DeleteI have a copy of June to read and you just reminded me I want to see if my library has The Magician's Lie. The cover to the Night Parade is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing your list.
ReplyDeleteBarb - I hope you like June! It was hard not to get swept up into the novel and the lives of the characters. I'm hoping I can spend more time on The Magician's Lie soon. I have only been able to read it here and there so far this week. Thanks for visiting!
DeleteI just placed The Magician's Lie on hold at my library and hope to pick it up Friday.
DeleteI haven't read any of those so it is always great to see selections to check out.
ReplyDeleteMarce - Hopefully you're tempted to try at least one of them. :-)
DeleteThe only book on your list I have read is Neverwhere and I really enjoyed it, too!
ReplyDeleteKelly - You can't go wrong with Neil Gaiman. At least, I haven't yet. :-)
DeleteThe first paragraph, for me, was just okay. It's the teaser that really got me. I haven't read one book on your list. I'm afraid I'm missing out.
ReplyDeleteMargot - I really like that teaser too. :-)
DeleteI'd like to think we aren't missing out so much as just haven't gotten around to all the books we might want to read. ;-) Goodness knows there are a lot of them, aren't there?
The Magician's Lie sounds really good. I hope you enjoy it. My teaser this week comes from a soon-to-be-released fantasy - Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet by Charlie N. Holmberg. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteKathy - I've been hearing good things about Holmberg's book. I hope you are enjoying it!
DeleteOoh, sounds good! I am definitely curious.
ReplyDeleteOf your Top Ten, I read and loved June. Hope you do, too.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Laurel-Rain - I think so too! It's already gone in a direction I wasn't quite expecting. I'm enjoying it so far.
DeleteJune was wonderful, wasn't it? I'm glad you liked it too.
I would keep reading this one. I'm intrigued. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteHeather - I hope you enjoy it! It's definitely got my attention.
DeleteI am intrigued by such an eclectic array of titles in this post-- love that! I now want to pick up The Magician's Lie and When the Moon is Low, and while I'm not sure about The Night Parade and Neverwhere for myself, I think my elder daughter and granddaughter would enjoy these.
ReplyDeleteI was in the minority who didn't enjoy The Readers of Broken Wheel that much, it was okay for me, but that's what makes the book community so much fun. Reading all the different opinions out there :)
Rita - I've had a good reading year so far this year. Hopefully it will only get better from here on out. :-)
DeleteYou aren't alone in your opinion of The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. I think it came along for me at the right time. It wasn't a five star book for me, but it hit the right spot for what I needed at the time, you know?
I would keep reading!
ReplyDeleteCharlie - You won't regret it if you do. :-)
DeleteI'm in love with the cover for The Magician's Lie. It's just so beautiful. I really liked Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, but I think I'll always be partial to his novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
ReplyDeleteAlicia - Isn't that a great cover? Oh, I love The Ocean at the End of the Lane! Such a good book.
DeleteThanks for visiting!
The Night Parade and The Readers of a Broken Wheel both look fantastic and I'm going to pick up something by Neil Gaiman this year if it I'm reading it at midnight on New Year's Eve! I'd definitely keep reading. This one is on my TBR and it looks really good!
ReplyDeleteKatherine - Haha! I hope you do get a chance to try something by Neil Gaiman this year. :-)
DeleteI love the description in this intro. Hope you enjoy it Wendy.
ReplyDeleteDiane - It's good so far!
DeleteOoh, glad to see that Gaiman is on your top reads list! I have been trying to decide which Gaiman book I want to read this year so maybe I should try Neverwhere.
ReplyDeleteAthira - He's such an awesome writer. If you do decide on Neverwhere, I hope you enjoy it!
DeleteI enjoyed reading The Magician's Lie! I can't wait to hear what you'll think of it. Your TTT list looks good too so I'll be checking them out.
ReplyDeleteMelody - I like The Magician's Lie so far. If you liked it, chances are I will too. :-)
DeleteOh no, I'm not familiar with any of your top reads. I'll definitely look into them!
ReplyDeleteChristy - I hope you find something you like!
DeleteOther than "Neverwhere" (which I recently added to my TBR) I haven't heard of any of your top 4! But the covers are all so intriguing, especially "The Night Parade."
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy "The Magician's Lie" -- the summary sounds good!
Lindsay - I love that cover too. :-)
DeleteSo far I am really liking The Magician's Lie. It's gotten off to a good start.
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteHi! I'm here for Teaser Tuesday. =)
I find the teaser interesting because I'm currently reading a lot of political books (both fiction and non-fiction), and those few lines would fit in them as someone's explanation of why he never wanted to get involved when he might have been obligated to.
Enbrethiliel - I can see that! I like how you interpreted the teaser based on your own reading. Thank you for visiting!
DeleteLoving the cover of The Night Parade.
ReplyDeleteThe Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend seems very popular and especially with reading groups. I know both my reading group at home and the Arkansas Book Club of which as you know I'm an honoury member are reading it soon.
Tracy - I really like that cover too. :-)
DeleteI hope you enjoy The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend. It's not a book that should be taken too seriously.
I would definitely keep reading this - right up my street!
ReplyDeleteEmma - I think you'd like it. :-)
DeleteI've got June on the stacks. Always want to read a Gaiman book.
ReplyDeleteNise' - I hope you enjoy June!
DeleteI'm really looking forward to The Night Parade and Redshirts! Great list!
ReplyDeleteLauren - Both are great reads! I hope you enjoy them when you get to them.
DeleteI'm not sure I've even read 4 books I've loved this years and you have extras! I thought The Magician's Lie was good. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteStacy - I am not sure I would call them extras--just a way to make my list longer. LOL The three additions didn't rate quite as high as my top four.
DeleteI am glad to hear you enjoyed The Magician's Lie. I am enjoying it so far!
The Magician's Lie sounds good and pretty cover too. I saw The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend somewhere, I think NetGalley and it definitely caught my eye. When the Moon Is Low sounds good as well. I think my favs so far this year are Carrie and The Notebook. Talk about being on different sides of the spectrum lol. Nothing has blown me away yet though, I'm still waiting for a book this year to dazzle me.
ReplyDeleteNaida - I like the cover of The Magician's Lie too. :-) I really liked The Notebook when I read it too. I haven't yet read Carrie, although I've seen a couple movie versions. Yes, your two favorites so far this year definitely are on completely different sides of the spectrum. :-) I hope you find a dazzling book to read soon.
DeleteI may just have to give Gaiman another shot and Neverwhere is so well liked by so many people it seems like the place to start.
ReplyDeleteLisa - I hope you do give Neverwhere a try. And like it if you do!
Delete