Where Is Your Bookmark? (Road Trip Anyone? / Reading Now & Then / Meme Addict)

A weekly meme where readers share the first sentence of the book they are reading and say what they think. Hosted by the amazing Gillion Dumas of Rose City Reader.

"An ill wind moves through Chicago," Lulu said, sniffing the air.

"It's not an ill wind," I said. But I stared down at the malformed lump of sickly gray dough currently spreading across the sheet pan and admitted to myself I didn't have much room to argue. [opening of Shadowed Steel]

While the opening lines are not very revealing, I thought it a good jumping off place--something domestic and normal--before all hell breaks lose. Which it will. It always does in books like this. 

A weekly meme in which readers share a random sentence or two from page 56 or 56% of the book they are reading. Hosted by the wonderful Freda of Freda's Voice.

I stopped when we got to the vehicle, rested my head against the closed door.

Connor stopped, looked back at the dull thump. "That's not how you get in."

I  grunted.

"Are you practicing a new vampire power, or taking a moment?"

I swiveled my head to look at him. "I got fired." [excerpt from 30% of Shadowed Steel]

This time around I did not jump ahead to 56% in the novel like I usually do even when I have not yet reached that point. I decided to go with where I am in the book at the moment. Like the opening, there's a bit of humor mixed in with the serious. It hints at the building crisis, although I don't feel it fully captures the intensity of it.

Chloe Neill's Shadowed Steel is the third book in the Heirs of Chicagoland series. Because the synopsis gives away an important element of the second book, let me try to sum this one up without spoilers. The Assembly of American Masters (AAM), the ruling body of vampires, accuses our heroine, Elisa Sullivan, of committing a crime. She disagrees. When one of the AAM vampires is murdered, the obvious suspect is Elisa, and she won't stand down until she finds out who is behind not only the murder but who is also targeting her. Fortunately, she is not on her own. Her werewolf boyfriend, non-practicing witch best friend and other loyal friends have her back. I enjoyed the first two books of this action-packed series, Wild Hunger and Wicked Hour, and have high hopes for Shadowed Steel. 

Have you read any of the Heirs to the Chicagoland books? What are you reading right now? 

Originally a feature called Last Year I Was Reading created by Maria from ReadingMaria. 

I liked it enough to continue on my own, but have tweaked it

 to feature Five Years Ago I Was Reading. 

(I would have gone back ten, but I read so little in 2011)

Five years ago this week, I read Nadia Hashimi's When the Moon is Low, about a mother and her children escaping Afghanistan and making their way to England as refugees. This was actually one of my favorite reads that year. The writing, the characters, the heartbreak and the hope--I loved everything about it. Nadia Hashimi paints a very realistic picture of the hardships and conditions refugees face--from the backlash, the lack of resources and support, including lack of medical care, the cruelty of the system and certain individuals, as well as the helpfulness and kindness of others. 

Have you read When the Moon is Low? If so, what did you think? What were you reading five years ago? 

Connect Five Friday is a weekly meme where readers share a list of five books,

read or unread, or bookish things, that share a common theme. 

Hosted by the  Kathryn of of Book Date.

Who doesn't love a good road trip novel?  Instantly, I thought of books I have read and enjoyed that fall into the road trip category. Books like Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire, L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Or perhaps novels a bit less dramatic (or not) like these five which are on my to read list: 

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow promises to be a "wild and dangerous road trip" with a pop music loving alien and a book loving girl who are supposed to be enemies as they set out to save humanity. What kind of world makes music, art and books illegal?! I hope they succeed in their mission! 

The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary will be published toward the end of spring. What better way to spend this time than with two sisters on a road trip to a friend's wedding in Scotland? Then add in an ex boyfriend and his friend who are going to the wedding too. I mean, it's only fair since their car was totaled when it hit the back of the sisters' car. Sounds like it will be a tense road trip with these four! Perhaps a little romance will find its way into the car too . . .

The Summer Seekers by Sarah Morgan, due out in mid-May, is another road trip novel I will not be able to resist. Facing a move into a residential home, an eighty year old woman wants one last adventure. What better way than to go on a road trip! Her overworked and stressed out daughter places an ad seeking a driver and riding companion for her mother. Down on life and without many prospects, a young woman takes them up on the offer. It is a road trip none of them will forget. 

I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman finds a mother and a daughter on a bus touring colleges together, looking ahead and back and every which way as they re-discover who they are, and having some fun (and maybe some mishaps) along the way. 

He Started It by Samantha Downing had me at a killer among them and a body in the trunk. This thriller is about a family having to go on a cross-country road trip together to fulfill the final wish of their newly deceased wealthy grandfather. They all want their inheritance, after all. Revenge, a missing person, a mysterious person following them . . . This sounds like it ill be one intense road trip! 

Have you read any of these or plan to? What are some of your favorite road trip novels? 

Every Friday Billy from Coffee Addicted Writer poses a question which participants respond on their own blogs within the week (Friday through Thursday). They then share their links at the main site and visit other participants blogs.

How many different weekly memes do you participate in besides the Book Blogger Hop? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

 

Too many when you add them all up! Seriously though, memes are my saving grace these days, helping me stay connected and blogging given how busy my life offline can be. There are some memes I only take part in periodically and others I more faithfully post. A few can be easily combined with others or  flow into one another. I like to change things up now and then and have participated in different memes throughout my blog's life. These days, I participate in the following: 

I have taken part in The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz since the early days of my blog. It's morphed into various forms over the years, but I love that I can make it into anything I want it to be. When the original blog hosting TSS switched the meme to FB, I switched to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer. Now that Deb has taken over and expanded TSS, I link to it again as well. It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date is a new addition to my line-up, but it fits in easily since I was already sharing what I had been, was and would be reading on my weekend posts. I post all three under the umbrella of Weekly Mews. This year I am trying out various themes depending on the weekend (a Poetry Corner every 3rd weekend and if I am up for it, Mouse's Corner, where I discuss what my daughter is reading, every 4th weekend). It's a work in progress. 

The first Saturday of every month, I include My TBR List, hosted by Michelle at Because Reading, which is a poll asking all my blog visitors to vote for the next book I will read that month. It's one of my favorite memes. I love seeing which books my blog visitors will select for me! Sometimes I even try to guess which will win. I announce the winner the following weekend. 

The first weekend of every month, I also post about any new book purchases or gifts, linking to  Stacking the Shelves hosted by Team Tynga's Reviews and Marlene of Reading Reality. I also use the first weekend of the month to do my Monthly Wrap-Up Post, an event hosted by Nicole of Feed Your Addiction.

Wednesdays are my "easy" meme days. I participate in Can't-Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa of Wishful Endings and Books from the Backlog hosted by Carole of Carole's Random Life in Books (actually a Thursday meme I post a day early). I think of them as "easy" because I can prep and have them ready to publish weeks and often a month or two in advance. It's a great opportunity for me to drool over upcoming releases I cannot wait to read and also give a little attention to books I already have on my TBR shelves that I haven't gotten around to reading yet. 

Over the years the format and memes have changed, but Fridays have long been my main meme day--just for the fun of it. When I started participating in Book Beginnings hosted by Gillion Dumas of Rose City Reader and Friday 56 hosted by Freda of Freda's Voice, I thought they fit well under my Where Is Your Bookmark? umbrella, a label I have used for years--only the day has changed. On Fridays, I also take part in Book Blogger Hop hosted by Billy from Coffee Addicted Writer and more recently Connect Five Friday hosted by the Kathryn of of Book Date. I love making lists and as much as I would love to jump back into Ten on Tuesdays, it is not a good fit for my schedule at this time. Connect Five Friday has been a great alternative. 

Although not an active meme any longer, I tweaked Last Year I Was Reading which had been hosted by Maria from ReadingMaria to Five Years Ago I Was Reading. I include that in my Friday posts as well. 

I told my husband as I was preparing my list of memes in response to this week's question that I am probably the queen of memes. I do way too many, but I enjoy taking part in them and I have met so many wonderful people through them. 

What about you?

 I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Be sure and tell me what you are reading and are up to!

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