Aussie Readers discussion

Fantastic book Andrea :)

Carolyn wrote: "" as a Librarian she had one big advantage that nobody else had - not necromancers, Fae, dragons, ordinary humans or anyone. It was called the Language. Only Librarians could read it. Only Libraria..."

this sounds great! my library has the first three books: aaaarrgh, I feel another series coming on...

"He was dead. However, his nose throbbed painfully, which he thought odd in the circumstances"

a brilliant first line in a very fat book: Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

"Doreen's all right,' I said. 'She just knows how to have fun. I should think you'd need that, surrounded by wounded soldiers day in and day out.' 'She put her daughter in an orphanage, Meg, so she could fool around with Americans while her husbands are away in the Navy!' ......"


A Stranger in My Street by Deborah Burrows

'The problem with people who say monsters don't really exist is that they're almost never saying it to the monsters.'

Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire

Carolyn wrote: "" as a Librarian she had one big advantage that nobody else had - not necromancers, Fae, dragons, ordinary humans or anyone. It was called the Language. Only Librarians could read it. Only Libraria..."

Ooh, that sounds fascinating!

Leonie wrote: "'The problem with people who say monsters don't really exist is that they're almost never saying it to the monsters.'

Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire"

that sounds good too!

Carolyn wrote: "" as a Librarian she had one big advantage that nobody else had - not necromancers, Fae, dragons, ordinary humans or anyone. It was called the Language. Only Librarians could read it. Only Libraria..."

I have to read The Invisible Library Carolyn! It sounds fantastic.

"Carolyn wrote: "" as a Librarian she had one big advantage that nobody else had - not necromancers, Fae, dragons, ordinary humans or anyone. It was called the Language. Only Librarians could read i..."

It's really good Marianne, Leonie & Jenny!

Here's today's teaser from Into the Water by Paula Hawkins:

" Some of them went into the water willingly and some didn't, and if you asked Nickie - not that anyone would, because no one ever did - Nel Abbott went in fighting."

I haven't started this one yet, but here's the beginning :)

Alma Fisher held up the mirror and smiled at her reflection. She'd bought the lipstick and mirror two days ago at the Walmartin Millersburg. Since both are forbidden by the Ordnung, she'd tucked them under her mattress where her mamm wouldn't find them. She especially loved the lipstick - it was shiny and pink and, according to her best friend, Irene, made her look like she was from New York City. Gazing into the mirror now, she had to agree.

Only the Lucky by Linda Castillo

Our Kind of Love by Victoria Purman


"That was all Anna had to hear. She bolted out of her room, past....back of the surgery to the toilet and bathroom. Anna rapped her knuckles lightly on the door. 'Julia? You Okay? There was a groan,.....

“Gods, man, don't you start now,' I said softly. 'We're going to get a terrible reputation if we just keep travelling across the countryside crying all the time.”

Traitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell

Phrynne wrote: ""I tried to find a pulse in the purply pulp that had been his neck.."

Ewwww!

Ace wrote: "Phrynne wrote: ""I tried to find a pulse in the purply pulp that had been his neck.."

Ewwww!"

Paretsky is always a bit like that:)

Michael wrote: "'Empty that ashtray before you go. There's a good boy.' He picked up the ashtray and held it arm's length, like an uncertain sculpture, a cemetery of cigarettes, each dated with a different colour ..."

I just loved this book Michael. Eagerly looking forward to her next one :)

Jenny wrote: ""Doreen's all right,' I said. 'She just knows how to have fun. I should think you'd need that, surrounded by wounded soldiers day in and day out.' 'She put her daughter in an orphanage, Meg, so she..."

!!

Carolyn wrote: "Here's today's teaser from Into the Water by Paula Hawkins:

" Some of them went into the water willingly and some didn't, and i..."
Excellent!

Brenda wrote: ""Perhaps I will never leave you Mother," I said. "Perhaps no suitors will ever come for me, or perhaps I'll not receive any if they do. Perhaps Father will teach me the trade and I'll become the fi..."

Nice !

Is it only me or are any of you having difficulty not grabbing up all your mates books???

Seven-year-old Sheridan Pickett related her dream aloud to the stuffed bear that served as her confidant. Lucy, three and horrified, listened in. "The monster, Sheridan said, had come down from the mountains through the dark, steep canyon behind the house very late last night.... the monster had rattled the back gate before figuring out the latch and had then lurched clumsily (sort of like mummies in the old movies) across the yard to the back door. Its eyes and teeth glinted yellow, and for a second, Sheridan felt an electric bolt jolt through her as the monsters head swiviled around and seemed to look directly at her before it fled. The monster was hairy and shiny as if covered with liquid. Twigs and leaves were stuck to it. There was something white, a large sack or box, swinging from the monsters hand.

"Sheridan, stop talking about monsters", Joe called out. The dream disturbed him because the details were so precise.
"You're going to scare your little sister".
" I'm already scared", Lucy declared pulling her blanket to her mouth.

" Then the man walk slowly away across the yard through the gate toward the woodpile where he fell down into a big shadow. And he's still out there, Sheridan finished, widening her eyes toward her sister to deliver the complete effect.

" Hold it, Sheridan, Joe said abruptly, entering the room with a spatula in his hand. " You said 'man'. You didn't say 'monster'. You said 'man. '"
Sheridan looked up quizzically, her big eyes wide. "Maybe it was a man. Maybe it wasn't a dream after all."

Chapter One of Open Season by C.J. Box

Just started Tell Me Why by Sandi Wallace so this is from the prologue:

"Throat blistered with heat, smoke and yelling for her husband, she couldn't tell if she managed to make a sound or if the screams were only in her head.
Then, a hand clasped her shoulder and something struck her temple. She crumpled to the ground."

My Tuesday Teaser from Blood Moon by Garry Disher


"The detective inspector was propped up on one elbow, playing with his sergeant's hair,.....stray tendrils pasted to her damp neck, temples and breasts.....Ellen Destry was on her back, her slender limbs splayed, contentedly. Challis continued to fiddle at her hair with his free hand ...breasts."

How is it Tuesday again already??!!


Just started Beneath the Apple Leaves by Harmony Verna

Her brother-in-law's pants dripped heavily next to her and her sister's dresses. With a scowl, Lily pulled up the male undergarments from the soapy water and wrung them in her bare hands like a neck and sloppily hung them in a queue, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

this is from Prince Harry Boy to Man: A Novel by William Kuhn (which I'm very much enjoying and would recommend to anyone who's read Mrs. Queen Takes the Train) at the point where Harry's CO runs into Harry's former nanny on the plane on the way to Afghanistan:
He did not look persuaded. “I have been given the responsibility of getting Wales in and out of a warzone. And what I can’t do is to let him have any privileges. Like being accompanied to a war by his nanny.”

Setting: A parking garage somewhere in Australia.

'As the light grew dimmer and traffic noise from the street more distant, she picked up the pace, struggling for speed in her and Italian snakeskin pumps.
Somewhere on a lower level, a bang went off like a shot from a gun and she jumped, skittering awkwardly off an ankle, adrenaline tingling her fingers.
Just a car door closing, liv. Calm down.
Half a dozen echoing steps further into the murkiness and her feet slowed as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Something had moved.
Over there, by the column near her car.
Her eyes searched the shadows. No. Just her imagination running wild. She glanced warily back at the ramp. It seemed ludicrously well-lit now, making her feel as though she was marooned in blackness. An engine roared to life underneath her. There were layers of concrete between her but it felt like it was going to burst through the floor and swallow her up.
She took off fast, moving in short, flat-footed steps, trying not to lose a shoe or twist an ankle. Aiming the key at her car she heard high-pitched beep, saw tail lights flash and silently cheered with relief. She felt ridiculous running like a crazy woman but her legs had a will of their own and her brain was already imagining her high-speed exit from the parking lot.
Her arm was out and she rounded the bumper, her fingers reaching for the door handle and she saw her flexion in the driver's window -- and a brief movement behind her.
Then a hand slammed over her mouth.'

Page one
Scared Yet? by Aussie author Jaye Ford

It's set in our Charlestown Square shopping centre in Newcastle Owl :)

I knew you would know! I hadn't gotten that far. Thanks! I'm so happy to have finally gotten my talons on one. =o) x

From memory, it doesn't mention the shopping centre by name :)

Golly it's Tuesday again!!

"Or try to kill you."
"That's contact."
"And you'll have the Glock."
"I will." I said.
"You think they're still in Chicago?"
"It only takes one. Perps like to burrow in where they feel safe." More SERE insight.
"I wouldn't hang around."
"You wouldn't blow up a school."
"Sounds dangerous."
"Yeah, I like that part."

Two Nights by Kathy Reichs

"It was a man, with a bald head. A dead man hanging from one of the roof joists, his toes only inches from the ground. Beside him, on its side, was a big plastic bucket"

White Nights by Ann Cleeves

Nice!!!!

Before I dropped off the supermarket tabloid grid, people used to ask me what was the most incredible/amazing/unexpected thing I discovered after I joined civilization. As if their world was so much better than mine. Or that it was indeed civilized. I could easily make a case against the legitimate use of that word to describe the world I discovered at the age of twelve: war, pollution, greed, crime, starving children, racial hatred, ethnic violence - and that's just for starters.
The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne

"It's an emerald necklace with a large drop and graduated stones set in gold on platinum," he said at last, still with his back to her.
She gave an involuntary gasp. "The Montgomery emeralds? But they're a valuable family heirloom. Irreplaceable."
"In which case you'd better find them, lady" said the major turning back to her. "Before my wife gets back from England. If not someone will pay for them and I can assure you it will not be me."

From A Gem of a Problem by Irene Sauman

"Merilyn was a wild thing, but she was also a bright young woman who worked as a private secretary at executive level, gorgeous to look at as she strode like a puma and tossed her long red hair in the air."

from by Barbra Leslie

My Tuesday Teaser is from

Freedom by J. Grayland


"I am naked and sitting on a cold surface, it's rough and grates against the skin of my bottom, I try to move but I have no energy, I am drained and I smell, dirt, sweat, blood and fear......."Casey" I feel a soft touch against my arm.....brown eyes."

'Detective Sergeant Sommers, can I have your partner's name for the log book, please?'
'Certainly,' Brad said. 'Detective Senior Constable Wallace. Thanks, Fulton. Good job mate.'
The young constable beamed at Brad as he jotted down their names. 'Thanks Sarge, go on through.'
'This place is like a war zone,' Dani stated, walking in Brad's shadow as he cut a path through charred debris.

Fatal Mistake by Karen M. Davis

It must be Toothy Tuesday again because I spent 2h at the dentist this morning getting a tooth prepped for a crown and then another hour this afternoon having the crown fitted. Still, I had Michael Robotham keeping me company in between so here is a teaser from his latest book The Secrets She Keeps:

If there was a bomb scare at the supermarket and everyone was evacuated except me, the police would ask,"Did you see anyone else in the shop?"
"No", they'd say
"What about the shelf-stacker?"
"Who?"
"The person stacking the shelves."
"I didn't take much notice of him."
"It was a woman."
"Really?"
That's me - unseen, inappreciable, a shelf-stacker.

"It was the third time in a month he had come to Los Angeles to observe her daily activities. "I know your comings and your goings" he whispered as he waited in the pool house."

Nighttime is my Time by Mary Higgins Clark

Himself by Jess Kidd

He looked at the envelope in his hand. ‘For when the child is grown’… Inside the envelope was a photograph of a girl with a half smile holding a blurred bundle, high and awkwardly, like found treasure. Mahony turned it over and the good solid schoolteacherly hand dealt him a left hook. ‘Your name is Francis Sweeney. Your mammy was Orla Sweeney. You are from Mulderrig, Co. Mayo. This is a picture of yourself and her. For your information she was the curse of the town, so they took her from you. They all lie, so watch yourself, and know that your mammy loved you.’

another passage I liked:
Bridget exhales and waves her cigarette at him. ‘What you have to understand, Desmond, is that this is Mahony we’re talking about. He’s a Dublin orphan, which means that he could survive on an iceberg in just his socks. You, on the other hand, are as helpless as a fruit fly out there.’

I loved Mahony - such a character:)

I'm upstairs going through old baby clothes in the attic, wishing I had put labels on the boxes instead of just throwing everything inside.
I should put some of this stuff of eBay. I have the full DVD collections of "Sex and the City" and "The West Wing" which may be worth something. Do people buy DVDs any more? What about second-hand ski boots?
The doorbell sounds. Why do people always ring when I'm upstairs? Navigating the lumps of Play-Doh and odd bits of Lego on the stairs, I reach the front door. This had better not be a salesman.

The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham

She didn't remember calling a taxi, or even leaving the house for that matter. For all she knew she'd left her doors wide open, the puddle of milk and shattered glass spread across her kitchen floor. All she'd been able to think at the time was where she must go and the person she would have to confront.

Hit and Run by Diane Hester

He used the intangible qualities of the visual world - light air and shadow - to evoke the mysteries of the mind and spirit.

by Greg Watts

My Tues Teaser is from the following book:


The Kill Room by Jeffery Deaver

"But still Mereno remained wary. Like Martin Luther King, like Gandhi, he was always at risk. This was the way of his life. He wasn't afraid of death. But he was afraid of dying....young age he still had much to do."

They reached town just before sunset - unscathed and, as far as Caleb could tell, undetected. Ant suddenly pulled over and turned off the engine. They were parked outside the Queen's Hotel, a 1920s bluestone that had been efficiently gutted of all charm in a 1970s reno.
"What are we doing here?" Caleb asked.
"You're buying me a beer."
"You don't drink anymore."
Ant opened the door. "Well, thanks Mum, but I do. I drink two days a week and I've decided that this is going to be one of them."
He got out of the car and headed inside.

And Fire Came Down by Emma Viskic

Memories of May by Juliet Madison

She shifted in her seat and took a sip of water. This was getting a bit too far out of her comfort zone. ‘Um, I would rather know exactly what I am agreeing to before I agree to anything.”
‘I understand, but part of having an adventure is not knowing what’s around the corner.’

I know it's not Tuesday, but I'm really enjoying And Fire Came Down by Emma Viskic and I couldn't resist sharing this with you all:

The man scowled at the takeaway cup sitting on the flyspecked counter. 'You want water with that? It's strong'
Caleb looked at the coffee without much hope. It was thick and black, and topped by a layer of perfect golden crema. Like finding the Holy Grail in a public toilet.
'Jesus,' Caleb said.
The bloke sniffed. 'So you want water?'
'God, no. It'd be sacrilege.'
He got a sudden, gap-toothed smile for that. 'New machine. Never used to touch the stuff, but the girlfriend put me onto it. They take it pretty seriously where she's from.'
'Italy?'
'Nah, Coburg.'

:))

Marianne wrote: "I know it's not Tuesday, but I'm really enjoying And Fire Came Down by Emma Viskic and I couldn't resist sharing this with ..."

Thank you, Marianne

Towards noon, according to the cuttings, Singh started to get cold feet. She phoned the friend who had got hold of the Rohypnol for her, a girl called Bronwyn Cammuck, and told her what she had done to Joe. His lips, she said, were 'a tiny bit blue, and he was taking a breath every ten seconds or so'. She begged Cammuck to come over and revive him. Cammuck, a sometime heroin user, insisted Singh dial emergency at once. Singh threw an hysterical fit: Joe didn't know she'd given him the drugs - if the paramedics brought him round with Narcan, he would find out what she'd done and would be furious.

Joe Cinque's Consolation, A True Story of Death, Grief and the Law by Helen Garner