Happy [Memorial Day/Bank Holiday] Weekend!!
Hope you all have some lovely plans. I’ll be heading to my family’s place at the river, and I’ll be bringing books by two of my favorite authors with me. I always over-estimate the amount of time I’ll have free for reading, but hopefully I can squeeze in some time with The King’s General and My Brother Michael.
Keep scrolling for this week’s Book Beginnings and The Friday 56…
Book Beginnings is a bookish meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you’re reading, along with your initial thoughts/impressions.
Book Beginnings:
Nothing ever happens to me.
I wrote the words slowly, looked at them for a moment with a little sigh, then put my ballpoint pen down on the café table and rummaged in my handbag for a cigarette.
As I breathed the smoke in I looked about me. It occurred to me, thinking of that last depressed sentence in my letter to Elizabeth, that enough was happening at the moment to satisfy all but the adventure-hungry. That is the impression that Athens gives you. Everyone is moving, talking, gesticulating- but particularly talking.
–My Brother Michael, Mary Stewart
I have a feeling our as-yet-unnamed heroine won’t have to worry about nothing happening to her for very long. Mary Stewart is the queen of romantic suspense after all. I’m excited to escape to Greece for a bit, and look forward to seeing where this story goes.
The Friday 56 is a bookish meme hosted by Freda’s Voice that asks you to: Grab a book, any book, and turn to page 56 and find a sentence that grabs you.
The Friday 56:
How much I thought of him, and yearned for him, during those intervening years does not matter to this story. I was weakest during the long watches of the night, when my body pained me. During the day I drilled my feelings to obedience, and what with my progress in my studies – I was by way of becoming a fair Greek scholar – and my interest in the lives of my brothers and sisters, the days and the seasons passed with some fair measure of content.
–The King’s General, Daphne du Maurier
I think The King’s General is going to be a bittersweet love story with a blend of tragedy, adventure, and suspense. I’m a little over 50 pages into it, and I’m really enjoying Honor’s narration. She is a formidable and interesting character, and I look forward to seeing how her story unfolds from here. The English Civl War setting should also be interesting, but I’m hoping the book won’t focus too heavily on the military elements.
Have you read either of these? What are you planning to read this weekend?
Enjoy your weekend! I’ve read neither of these so look forward to your thoughts! You can never go wrong with a book from Daphne!
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Very true! This definitely won’t be my favorite du Maurier novel, but I’m enjoying it so far.
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Interesting excerpt, and I think the narrator will discover more than she bargained for. Thanks for sharing, and here’s mine: “LYING IN WAIT”
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She definitely does!
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I am planning to read as much as possible….. 😉
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Hope you got tons of reading in over the long weekend!
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I’m slogging my way through Fanny Burney’s Camilla, an eighteenth-century novel that is (a) long, (b) likeable, (c) annoying, and (d) long. It is, of course, about marriage. Will they? Won’t they? Should they? Of course they should, but other people and endless misunderstandings and convenient authorial interference keep them apart. I’m enjoying it enough that I keep reading but I want to send Fanny an email and tell her to get on with it, it’s way over the minimum length for a novel so she doesn’t have to keep stretching it out this way.
What she does do along the way is explore marriage and society and women’s role. Not the way we would today, but they way she did and could at the time. It’s an interesting and annoying read.
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Eeek, my library says Camilla is 900+ pages. You are a brave soul! It sounds interesting, but in my mind that is 2+ regular-sized novels I could read. I’ll be interested to read the final verdict. Carry on!
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Yay, Fanny Burney! I’ve read and loved Evelina and enjoyed the massive Cecilia. I think Camilla is over 1,000 pages like the latter, so I completely understand your feelings about it. Cecilia was fun but SO LONG and a bit repetitive. Fanny certainly could’ve cut out a lot. I hope Camilla ends on a high note for you, and that you’ll feel the slog was well worth it!
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I’ve never read anything by Mary Stewart but now I want to. I am always reading the latest and greatest and forget to reach back for some of the favorite authors of long-standing. My Friday Quotes
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I hope you’ll enjoy Mary Stewart if you pick one of her books up, Anne! I agree that it’s always challenging to strike a balance between new releases and back list and/or classics.
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The both sound really good! Happy weekend!
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I’m really enjoying both so far. Hope you had a lovely weekend!
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I was just thinking of Mary Stewart’s Merlin series the other day.
“Nothing ever happens to me” is a great hook. Hope you enjoy it.
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Thanks, Roberta! I actually haven’t read her Merlin series, but I am interested in it. And it is quite the hook isn’t it?!!
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I loved The King’s General, although it’s not one of my absolute favourites by du Maurier. My Brother Michael is one of the few Mary Stewart novels I haven’t read yet, so I hope it’s good! Have a great weekend.
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Glad to hear you loved The King’s General, Helen! I’m really enjoying it, but agree that it won’t be one of my favorite du Maurier novels. The same goes for My Brother Michael as well.
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I don’t have either of these on my shelves, but I do have some unread du Maurier and a couple Mary Stewart’s. I need to dig into them soon! I, of course, adore du Maurier and have heard only wonderful things about Stewart.
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I think it’s always a good idea to have an unread du Maurier novel or two waiting in the wings. Hope you’ll adore Mary Stewart too!
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Thanks, Jessie!
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I don’t have either but given my love for both DuMaurier and Stewart I expect that I’ll be looking into them eventually! Enjoy!
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I’m enjoying both, although neither will end up being one of my favorite du Maurier or Stewart novels.
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Good to know.
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I really enjoy Du Maurier, but haven’t read this one yet
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I’m enjoying it, but it definitely isn’t going to be one of my favorite du Maurier novels. Hope you’ll enjoy it too if you pick it up!
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