Teaser Tuesday 294: The Insider

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jenn of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current book or recent read.
* Share a few "teaser" sentences from somewhere in the book.
* 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 and author so that other participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!



This week's teaser comes from the final installment of the Kingdom Keepers series by Ridley Pearson, The Insider. This is a young adult fantasy series set in the Disney parks.

Tia Dalma steps forward from behind the cages, observing the headless corpse lying on the the grate. She looks up at Chernabog, back at the guard's body. She shakes her head.

"Now, that's a problem," she says.


(Chapter 12)

About the book:
Series: Kingdom Keepers #7


Deep within the catacombs beneath an Aztec temple, a Disney witch doctor is summoning powers that should be left alone. As terrifying wraiths and demons attack the Archives on the Walt Disney Studios lot, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake, Finn, Willa, Philby, Maybeck, and Charlene are summoned to Disneyland fresh from high school graduation. They must stop an enemy that hasn't been clearly identified.

In this, the final installment in the epic Kingdom Keepers series, betrayal and ambition push the boundaries of loyalty. Chasing scattered clues in pursuit of a long-lost icon--whose magic offers a fighting chance against an evil that Walt Disney himself created--the Keepers find their hearts and minds tested in the park where it all began. Bonds that once threatened to fray are renewed under the pressure for survival. As the five are pushed to their limits--and then beyond--feelings intensify behind self-imposed walls of well-kept secrets.

With its dazzling action sequences and moments of touching intimacy, Kingdom Keepers VII: The Insider will leave readers breathless, cheering, and biting their nails. It's a winner-take-all battle for magical good--but then why is Disneyland burning out of control?

Teaser Tuesday 295: The Insider

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jenn of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current book or recent read.
* Share a few "teaser" sentences from somewhere in the book.
* 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 and author so that other participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!



This week's teaser is again from Ridley Pearson's The Insider, a young adult fantasy series set in the Disney parks. The exchange below is between two of the Kingdom Keepers, Finn and Maybeck, and while it is much more than two lines, it had me laughing out loud.

"Let me get this straight. We're going into Disneyland, a place where some of us have never been, trying to find an old dude who may not be there. We can't control when we arrive or when we leave, and the best clue we have is a bunch of demons who nearly smoked us the other night?"

"Well," Finn says, "yeah."

Maybeck nods. "Well, good. Glad to hear it. I'm in, by the way. Have a magical evening."


(Chapter 13)

About the book:
Series: Kingdom Keepers #7


Deep within the catacombs beneath an Aztec temple, a Disney witch doctor is summoning powers that should be left alone. As terrifying wraiths and demons attack the Archives on the Walt Disney Studios lot, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake, Finn, Willa, Philby, Maybeck, and Charlene are summoned to Disneyland fresh from high school graduation. They must stop an enemy that hasn't been clearly identified.

In this, the final installment in the epic Kingdom Keepers series, betrayal and ambition push the boundaries of loyalty. Chasing scattered clues in pursuit of a long-lost icon--whose magic offers a fighting chance against an evil that Walt Disney himself created--the Keepers find their hearts and minds tested in the park where it all began. Bonds that once threatened to fray are renewed under the pressure for survival. As the five are pushed to their limits--and then beyond--feelings intensify behind self-imposed walls of well-kept secrets.

With its dazzling action sequences and moments of touching intimacy, Kingdom Keepers VII: The Insider will leave readers breathless, cheering, and biting their nails. It's a winner-take-all battle for magical good--but then why is Disneyland burning out of control?

Thursday Thirteen 447: 2016 Year in Books

Hello everyone! This week I have my annual look back on the previous year's reading. About half of these have been featured for Teaser Tuesday and all have been mentioned in Recently Read posts at some point during the year, so be sure to check out those links in the right hand sidebar if you're interested in a brief glimpse at what I've been reading.



01. Number of Books read: I had a goal of 80 and read 84. That's 23,415 pages. The shortest was Walking by Henry David Thoreau (48) and the longest was The Insider by Ridley Pearson (609). Average book length was 289 pages. Among those was a mini goal of ten classics, which I also achieved.

02. Genres/Authors I read: Among genres read were Classics, Romance, Mystery, Young Adult, and Literary Fiction. I read 58 different authors, and 11.5 by male authors (one was by a husband/wife team).

03. New-to-me authors: 23, including: Albert Camus, Jacqueline Winspear, Betty Hechtman, Amanda Flower, Fannie Flagg, David Sedaris, Rainbow Rowell, Diane Vallere, Helen Simonson.

04. Authors I read more than once: Juliet Blackwell, Agatha Christie, Kate Collins, Sheila Connolly, Roald Dahl, Charlaine Harris, Julie Hyzy, Amanda Lee, Nora Roberts, Barbara Ross, Amanda Stevens, Leann Sweeney, Diane Vallere, and Marty Wingate.

05. Most-read Author: Nora Roberts, with five books. She was followed by Sheila Connolly and Roald Dahl, at four books each, and Amanda Lee, Agatha Christie and Barbara Ross at three books each.

06. Authors I plan to read again: Ellery Adams, Nancy Atherton, Patricia Briggs, Agatha Christie, Kate Collins, Sheila Connolly, Julie Hyzy, Amanda Lee, Nora Roberts, Barbara Ross, Amanda Stevens, Leann Sweeney . . . to name but a few.

07. Classics Read: Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka; Walking by Henry David Thoreau; The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte; The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West; O, Pioneers! by Willa Cather; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain; Third Girl by Agatha Christie; The Call of the Wild by Jack London; Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer; The Stranger by Albert Camus

08. Book I did not finish: Far From the Madding Crowd. I made it about halfway through, then set it aside to read other books and never got back to it, though I would like to finish.

09. Best reads overall: O, Pioneers by Willa Cather (a reread), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte, United We Spy by Ally Carter (the book that made me miss my bus stop!), A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg, Starry Night by Debbie Macomber, Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear, Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson.

10. Biggest Disappointment: Criminal Confections by Colette London and Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris.

11. Most imaginative world(s): Ridley Pearson (The Insider), Amanda Stevens (The Visitor), and Charlaine Harris (Midnight Crossroad).

12. Weirdest read: Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, which I reread at beginning of 2016 for a classics group.

13. Reading goal for 2017: This is my seventh consecutive year joining the Goodreads Reading Challenge. In recent years I have set a goal of 100 books per year, but due to life changes lowered that goal to 80 books last year, and have set the same goal again this year. Within that are mini-goals, such as reading at least 10 classics and catching up on some of the favorite authors/series in Mount TBR.


What about you? What was your year in books like? What was the best book you read?

For a complete list of books read, click on the "Books 2016" tab at top of the page.



LINKING TO: Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen 406: Recently Read

Here's what I've been reading the last couple months.















ROW 1: The books in this row were all read in December 2015. All I Want for Christmas is You is a free novella I picked up from B&N for the Nook, and the most recent romance read. Pecan Pies is the third book in Ellery Adams “Charmed Pie Shoppe” series, and I have book four in Mount TBR. Death of a Dapper Snowman was another freebie from B&N (at time of purchase), and was an okay read, though the later chapters especially would have benefited from better editing.

ROW 2: I kicked off the year with three books for the 2016 Ultimate Challenge, starting with a 600-pager, The Insider by Ridley Pearson, the last book in his Kingdom Keepers series. Next was The BFG by Roald Dahl, a movie adaptation of which will be in theaters this July. I was not planning to reread Metamorphosis by Kafka when it was chosen as the March classic group read, but it fit the criteria of a book read in high school, was short, and was included in a “classics” anthology on my ereader, so I did. Just as weird and depressing as I remembered it!

ROW 3: I have read a lot of cozy mysteries over the last couple months, as these next two rows show. All of these fit multiple challenges, including monthly mini challenges, the 2016 Ultimate, or the “winter” challenge. The Merlot Murders was actually read in December, and Ellen Crosby was a new-to-me author. I received a couple of B&N gift cards for Christmas, and some of my purchases included the two most recent books by Kate Collins, from her Flower Shop mystery series: A Root Awakening and Florist Grump. This is a favorite series I’ve been following for years, and I look forward to the next one out this spring. I read these this month for mini challenges, but they also fit the Ultimate criteria of a NY Times Bestseller.

ROW 4: Nancy J. Parra was the September cozy featured author. While I had this book since then, I wasn’t able to fit it in before this month, for two different challenges. Lea Wait was a new-to-me author, and Twisted Threads the first book in one of her two embroidery series. Thread End is also from a favorite mystery series, "Embroidery Shop", and fit the Ultimate criteria of a character with my occupation (craft/retail).

ROW 5: Rhys Bowen was the December featured author for the Cozy Mysteries group. While I did not get to the book I had by her, I did read this short prequel to one of her two popular series.


Your turn: What are you reading these days? Is there anything you’ve read recently you would recommend to others?




LINKING TO: Thursday Thirteen