Ten Wishes for the Book Genie & Tuesday Intro (Missoula)

Top Ten Tuesday


Top Ten Tuesday
 is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish that asks bloggers to create Top Ten lists on a variety of bookish topics. This week’s topic is actually Top Ten Author Duos You’d LOVE To See Write A Book Together, but that topic had me flailing around. So, I just skipped to the following week, which is 10 Wishes for the Book Genie. Next Tuesday, while everyone else is doing their ten wishes, I’ll be sharing the second installment of my bathroom collaboration with Hanover Avenue!

Ten Wishes for the Book Genie

  • For more time…to read, write about books, improve my blog, learn about the tech side of blogging, visit other blogs. I could go on and on…
  • For a six month moratorium on new releases…so I can catch up on all the books on my TBR without being tempted by shiny new releases.
  • To read my favorite books again for the first time.
  • For Pat Conroy to get nine lives.
  • To know before starting a book whether it will have the intangibles that will make me love it.
  • For publishers to stop revealing too much plot detail in their blurbs.
  • For a better book memory.
  • For a new (adult) book by Meg Wolitzer.
  • To be able to concentrate while listening to audiobooks.
  • For publishers to stop marketing books as “the next Gone Girl“. There will never be another.

Tuesday Intro

First Chapter First Paragraph


Every Tuesday, fellow blogger Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where bloggers share the first paragraph of the book they are currently reading or thinking about reading soon.

Missoula, Jon Krakauer

Plot Summary from Amazon (adapted for length)

From bestselling author Jon Krakauer, a stark, powerful, meticulously reported narrative about a series of sexual assaults at the University of Montana ­— stories that illuminate the human drama behind the national plague of campus rape.

Here’s the first paragraph:

Allison

Office Solutions & Services, a Missoula office-products company, didn’t have its 2011 Christmas party until January 6, 2012. As a counterpoint to the chilly Montana evening, the staff decorated the place for a Hawaiian motif. Around 9:00 p.m., thirty or forty people – employees and their families, mostly – were chatting, playing party games, and sipping beverages from red plastic cups in a room overlooking the parking lot when a shiny Chrysler 300 sedan pulled up and rolled to a stop in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, attracting the attention of the revelers. Two well-dressed men with dour expressions got out of the vehicle and stood beside it. “It was a really nice black car,” recalls Kevin Huguet, the owner of Office Solutions.

Would you keep reading?

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25 Comments

  1. Beth F wrote:

    I’ve been meaning to read this one. I’ve seen mixed reactions, so my expectations aren’t very high.

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I loved it! 4.5 stars 🙂 Discussion post coming probably next week.

      Posted 10.14.15 Reply
  2. Carmen wrote:

    I think most if not all of us wish the same wishes you do (but not Pat Conroy or Meg Wolitzer because I haven’t read anything by them yet).
    Yes, I would keep reading. There is a sense that–given the title of the book–something bad is going to happen.

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Yep…there are some bad things in that book. But, also a lot of questions to ponder.

      Posted 10.14.15 Reply
  3. I love your list – especially the last one, but I wish they’d stop comparing books to any bestseller.

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Ha – yep! I’m in the middle of an “everything is being compared to The Boys in the Boat” run right now.

      Posted 10.14.15 Reply
  4. I don’t read a lot of nonfiction, mostly because I like to escape through stories. So, I don’t think your current read is for me.

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Judging by what I’ve read this year, I apparently don’t read much nonfiction either 🙂 I think this is only my 5th nonfiction of the year.

      Posted 10.14.15 Reply
  5. Um, I’ll second the wish for a six-month moratorium, Sarah; GAH! Why are there SO MANY BOOKS??? I’m drowning over here – ha! I just want to read them all, is that so much to ask? Reading that first paragraph of Missoula (now that I’ve finished it) is almost creepy; I really, really enjoyed it and can’t wait to see what you post. I feel certain your perspective will be interesting!

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I landed on a discussion post for Missoula. Finished a first draft today. We’ll see how it goes. Can’t wait to see what you post as well!

      Posted 10.14.15 Reply
  6. The opening doesn’t grab me but it doesn’t matter because I’ve got this on hold at the library, so I’ll be reading it soon.

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      The opening didn’t really grab me either, but I loved the book. The opening doesn’t really relate much to the book overall.

      Posted 10.14.15 Reply
  7. It doesn’t appeal to me, even though the topic is tempting. Something about the writing style left me cold.

    Thanks for sharing…and for visiting my blog.

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      The whole book kind of left me cold…but, I think that was the point given the topic! I did end up loving it! Thanks for stopping by.

      Posted 10.14.15 Reply
  8. carrie wrote:

    “for publishers to stop labeling EVERY book as ‘the next gone girl'”….AMEN! one of my true pet peeves right now.

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
  9. Vicki wrote:

    I love the cover, and would keep reading, at least a bit more before deciding whether to keep going.

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
  10. Missoula isn’t a book I would pick up, but the story sounds interesting and scary too. The intro makes me want to know who those guys are, and I’d keep reading to find out.
    My Tuesday post features Skinny Dip

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
  11. Carrie wrote:

    oh that first wish – yep. me too. My TTT

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
  12. Oh my gosh, YES on the too much info in the blurb thing!

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
  13. Nise' wrote:

    Love your book genie wishes.

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
  14. This week’s top ten left me staggering, as well. I opted to move a review in place of it. On to Missoula – yes, yes, yes, keep reading! The first paragraph “recall” has me curious about the way the story is written and how everything pans out. I love the subtitle including “justice.” I’m curious enough to want more.

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
  15. I’ve been wanting to read Missoula. I really like Jon Krakauer’s work. I have heard mixed reviews about this particular one, but it does sound interesting.

    Great top ten list, Sarah! I didn’t participate in this meme today. I am right there with you on several of your points, especially the first two. And the concentrating on audiobooks. Also the one about publishers giving away too much information in the book blurb.

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
  16. Diane wrote:

    I wish I had a better “book memory”, unfortunately, unless it’s a story like A Little Life or a 5 star read, its quickly forgotten.

    I like the intro and would keep reading.

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
  17. Not sure Missoula is for me. I love your top ten list! I totally agree about more time for reading and blogging, and I also struggle to concentrate when I listen to audiobooks!

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply
  18. Missoula’s first paragraph appeals to me. There is a sense that something big and forboding is about to happen. I’d like to keep going.

    Posted 10.13.15 Reply

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