Teaser Tuesday: "Fragile" & "The Pelican Brief"

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought I would play for fun! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser. 

Gerard's:

Even when he hated his father--and sometimes he really, really did--there was still a part of him that waited like a puppy for a bone.  Anything--a smile, a pat on the shoulder.  Anything.

From p. 57 of Fragile by Lisa Unger.

Karen's:

In two hundred and twenty years, we've assassinated four Presidents, two or three candidates, a handful of civil rights leaders, couple of governors, but never a Supreme Court Justice.  And now, in one night, within two hours, two are assassinated.

From p. 39 of The Pelican Brief by John Grisham.

"Room" by Emma Donoghue--A Must Read For Moms

Imagine being five years old and knowing only one room your whole life with just your mom, a TV and books.  That’s the situation Jack is in in Room by Emma Donoghue.  I loved Jack!  This book is very interesting and very funny too.  Ma is really good also, but Jack steals the show.  I liked the ending too!  Enjoy!.
(Gerard's review)

Room by Emma Donoghue is an unusual story about the love between a mother and child. It is told Jack when he is five. His mother was abducted at 19 and has been kept locked up in a one-room shed for seven years. She was raped by her kidnapper, Old Nick, and had Jack. The only world Jack knew was the one room for the first five years of his life until one day, Ma felt he was old enough to help them escape. The mother's main focus was to keep Jack safe from Old Nick.

I enjoyed all the things the mother did with Jack every day. They had a TV and a few books for entertainment. They never got outside until they tricked Old Nick. Jack was a hero and the rest of the book was about Jack learning about real life outside of the room and his mother readjusting to living again. I think the mother did an amazing job with Jack under the circumstances. I liked that it has a happy ending and think any mother would enjoy this book.
(Karen's Review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Related Posts:  Life With Books reviewed ROOM too and thought it was great.
For a different view, see Parchment Girl's review--she did not like Ma or Jack!

We're It--Been Tagged by Coffee N Crackers

This is a fun simple tag meme and since we were tagged by one of our regular commenters, CJ'Alhafiz at Coffee N Crackers, we decided to participate and go head and answer these questions.  We're even going to follow the rules this time and tag four others!

The Rules

1) Accept the tag and link to the tagger at the beginning of your post.
2) Answer the questions honestly in your post by listing four things.
3) Pass on the love by picking four other people to tag and listing them at the bottom of your post. Notify them that you tagged them.

4 things that are in my handbag or backpack or briefcase

Karen Says:

1--Checkbook.

2--Change Purse with my bus tickets and some change.

3--New Testament.

4--Cough drops in case someone starts coughing on the bus.

 Related post:  "Look What's In My Purse"

Gerard Says:

1--Book currently reading.

2--Sandwich.

3--Cookies.

4--Fruit.

4 favorite things in my bedroom

Karen & Gerard say:

1--Abby, our dog (she sleeps in there every night with us)

2--Bed

3--Poster of Gerard and Abby

4--Poster of Gerard and Moe (our first cat)

4 Things on My Desk

Gerard says:

1--Book rack that Karen's dad made to sit on a desk or table.

2--Husky dog pen/pencil holder with pens.

3--Phone.

4--Framed picture of us with Abby wearing her graduation cap when completing intermediate dog training at PetSmart.

Karen says:  Which one?  I have 3 desks--two at home and one at work.

Guess I'll do my computer desk at home where I blog:

1--Giraffe noteholder.

2--Golf bag pen/pencil holder.

3--Notebook for jotting down things blogging related.

4--Clock and timer (I know that is two things, but they are both to keep me aware of the time and remind me to get off the computer!)

4 Things I've Always Wanted To Do (but haven't yet)

Karen says:  

1--Try to hit a baseball thrown by a major league pitcher. (Yes, this is Karen.)

2--Volunteer at an animal shelter.

3--Bowl a 300 game.  The closest I ever came to it was 234. 

4--Retire!


Gerard says:
1--Go to a Ohio State football game.
2--Go to Fenway Park to see a Red Sox game.
3--Go see the New England Patriots play.
4--Retire!

4 Things I Enjoy Very Much At The Moment
Karen says:
1--Relaxing at home petting my cats and dog.
2--Blogging.
3--Watching football with Gerard.
4--Reading.

Gerard says:
1--Planting our new mum plant.
2--Watching football.
3--Walking Abby.
4--Petting Abby.

4 Songs I Can't Get Out Of My Head
Karen says:
1--"When We All Get To Heaven"
2--"It's Such A Pretty World"
3--"How Majestic Is Your Name"
4--That's really all I have.

Gerard Says:
Don't have any.

4 Things You Don't Know About Me
Karen says:
1--I had my first gray hair when I was in first grade.
2--I hate politics because it's so frustrating not knowing who to vote for.  Especially this coming election, it seems all the candidates to is criticize their opponents.
3--I am a morning person, always up by 5 a.m., even on the weekends.
4--I didn't like school very much.

Gerard Says:
1--I like to wear footies to bed on cold nights.
2--I like listening to sports talk on the radio.
3--I never went to college but still like to watch college basketball and football.
4--My favorite sport is hockey.

4 Bloggers I am Tagging
1--Kate at The Parchment Girl
2--Bloggin' 'bout Books
3--4 The Love Of books
4--Just One More Paragraph

        

"Armed With God's Power--Changing Brokeness To Victory Through God's Love" by Nora White

Armed With God's Power--Changing Brokenness to Victory Through God's Love by Nora White is about how God helped Nora through very difficult situations in her life including, depression, divorce, domestic violence, and losing a husband to cancer. She tells an amazing story of how God spoke to her and brought her through some terrible times.

I couldn't put this one down because I was anxious to see what happened next.  It certainly gives hope to anyone in similar situations. She is an example of a woman with great faith. I would recommend this book to any woman.


Nora White attends our church and is actively involved in leading women's Bible studies, does counseling and is founder of Healing Hearts Ministries.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell

Freedom Writers Diary is inspirational to both teachers and students. It is written by high schoolers who were considered "losers" by the school administration of Wilson High, a racially integrated school in Long Beach, California. No one expected them to graduate. They are teens write about their problems and how being in Erin Gruwell's class made a huge difference in their lives. It is a compilation of their journal entries. 

 

At the beginning of their freshman year, none of them expected to graduate and were just basically trying to survive another day. The language is offensive and the topics they write about include gangs, killing, drinking, drugs, teenage pregnancy, abortion, depression, and rape but they wrote about their experiences. It was interesting to see their values change as the book progressed and how they really got to like each other and turned their lives around, thanks to their English teacher going way above and beyond the "call of duty." Whereas at the beginning they saw each other only in terms of race, at the end they saw each other as all human beings and friends.

When I graduated from high school, I was just glad to be out. It was just assumed everyone would graduate. It was enlightening for me to see how happy these kids were about graduating and what a huge accomplishment it was for them. What struck me as very unusual though was that they all kept the same English teacher for all four years. No wonder they were like a "family." Teachers certainly can learn from Erin's optimism, determination, perseverance and methods. I look forward to reading the book she wrote, Teach With Your Heart.

(Karen's Review 2/19/09)

Better Than The Movie (13 stars)

 

I saw this movie on Showtime and was so impressed by it that I had to get the book that this English class wrote.  I'm glad I did.  This book is even better than the movie!  The movie dealt with motivating the kids to learn using "The Diary of A Young Girl" by Anne Frank.  The book goes into depth on a wide range of subjects that the kids wrote.  It's interesting to hear from these students.  It makes for VERY compelling reading to say the least, and Ms. Gruwell, you are an awesome teacher!  I really enjoyed this book.  Some of the subjects get a little repetitive but still the kids express their own opinions.  Read this book, you will be glad you did!

(Gerard's review 2/12/09):

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?