Where Is Your Bookmark? (04/11/2017)

I just finished reading reading Etched on Me by Jenn Crowell, and thought I would share a few teasers with you today.

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.

Have you ever wanted something so much, it's not a desire so much as a beacon? Have you ever prayed for it so hard, your fingernails curl into your palms and your eyes squinch shut and your whole body just hums?

My daughter is that simple, shining thing. Taken away from me under bright lights in a white room, my stitches still raw. I fought so much they put me in hard restraints. I screamed so loudly they shot me up with sedative.  

Every Tuesday, Ambrosia from The Purple Booker hosts Teaser Teaser at which participants grab their current read, open to a random page, and share two or more sentences from that page while avoiding any spoilers.

Teaser from page 48-49 of Etched on Me:

Dizzy now, I crawled to the stall door and pulled myself by its latch. Staggered out to the sinks, my gait wobbly. I couldn't look in the mirror. Couldn't look down at the dribbly trail I knew I was leaving. All i could do was yank paper towels from the dispenser on the wall. Stupid of me, I know--I mean, if thick work wasn't stopping anything, rough little paper scraps were hardly going to save the day. But still I pulled and pulled, dabbed and dabbed, until my knees buckled under me and I fell to the floor.

and from page 53:

"Waste of drugs." His face and his voice were one massive sneer. "She's obviously fine with pain." 

My chin jerked from the tray to the doctor to Miss as my mind stuttered. Oh my God oh my God oh my God, they really are going to hurt me--. 

What do you think? Would you keep reading?  

This book has taken me through a range of emotions. I think you can see why from the opening and teasers shared.

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.

Author Emily St. John Mandel wrote an interesting article back in October called "The Gone Girl With the Dragon Tattoo on the Train", in which she discusses the trend of "girl" in book and movie titles. Not all books with "girl" in the title are mysteries or or thrillers, of course, but quite a few are. While not meant as an academic piece, it is an interesting read. Taking a look at Goodreads data, Mandel found

A number of patterns emerged in our analysis: The “girl” in the title is much more likely to be a woman than an actual girl, and the author of the book is more likely to be a woman. But if a book with “girl” in the title was written by a man, the girl is significantly more likely to end up dead. 

Publishers are always on the lookout for ways to market their books, and having the word "girl" in the title seems to be one of the most recent selling trends the last few years. I have certainly read a number of books with "girl" in the title over the last several years. 

I decided to go in my own direction for this week's Top Ten Tuesday, and make a list of all the books in my TBR collection (books I own but have not read) that have the word "girl" or "girls" in the title. There are a lot. More than ten. *hanging head in shame*

The Girl in the Flammable Skirt: Stories by Aimee Bender
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
The Burning Girl by Mark Billingham
Dead Girl Walking by Christopher Brookmyre
The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
The Lost Girls of Rome by Donato Carrisi
The Last Girl by Jane Casey
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow
The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor
Mercer Girls by Libbie Hawker

Gasa-Gasa Girl by Naomi Hirahara

When All The Girls Have Gone by Jayne Anne Krentz
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson
The Girls Guide to the Apocalypse by Daphne Lamb
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
The Tattooed Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker
Girl in the Dark by Marion Pauw
The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Amanda Quick
White Collar Girl by Renée Rosen
Radio Girls by Sarah-Jane Stratford
The Girl With the Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson


Now to read them all . . .

What other title trends have you picked up on over the years? 

---

© 2017, 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.