Category: The Friday 56 Page 13 of 15

The Friday 56 for 2/12/21: Phantom Song by Kate Sheeran Swed

On February 12, 2021

In Currently Reading, Fiction, News/Misc., Quotations, Science Fiction, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from page 56 of:
Phantom Song

Phantom Song by Kate Sheeran Swed

“The new ballet dancer entered from the wrong wing tonight,” she said-slash-sang, switching on the apartment’s news holo as she passed through the living room. She loved to fill her home with layers of background noise, constant streams of chatter over music over more chatter. She had no trouble flitting around or holding conversations without paying attention to any of it.

Sam, on the other hand, could never fully tune out the babble of voices. He tended to get pulled in. But Aunt C had given him a place to stay, and he didn’t feel right complaining.

She bustled into the kitchen and set her bags on the counter without glancing at him, removing containers that smelled like chicken and peanut sauce, with a tang of something peppery.

The Friday 56 for 2/5/21: Parting Shadows by Kate Sheeran Swed

By HCNewton

On February 5, 2021

In Currently Reading, Fiction, News/Misc., Quotations, Science Fiction, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from page 56 of:
Parting Shadows

Parting Shadows by Kate Sheeran Swed

Astra would never be a hero. Heroes had hearts.

She wrenched her hand away from Henry’s. “Stay away from me, and you’ll be fine,” she said, straightening away from the glass wall. Someone passing brushed by her shoulder and murmured an apology. She was vaguely aware that the braided guard had returned to Conor’s door. She could feel the woman’s eyes locked on her, as though Astra might pull a battering ram out of her pocket and attempt to rush the fortress.

She ignored them. She ignored everyone.

“I’m not worried about me,” Henry said.

Astra forced herself to turn away, nearly forgetting the cactus and swiping it off the wall at the last moment. “Then you’re even more of a fool than I thought.”

The Friday 56 for 1/29/21: Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby

By HCNewton

On January 29, 2021

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from page 56 of:
Blacktop Wasteland

Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby

“What’s wrong?”

Ariel shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing. Just getting ready for graduation. Me and the other five dummies who couldn’t graduate with the rest of the class.”

“You ain’t no dummy. You had a lot going on,” he said.

“Yeah. Like Mama getting her third DUI and wrecking my car. Of course, that ain’t no excuse, according to her and grandma,” Ariel said. She shook her bottle of juice lackadaisically in her left hand.

“Don’t worry about them. You just concentrate on college and getting that accounting degree,” Beauregard said.

Ariel blew air over her bottom lip.

“What?” Beauregard said.

“Since I won’t be eighteen until January, Mama has to co-sign for my student loans. She says she don’t want to put her name down on nothing like that. She says I should just take classes at J. Sargeant Reynolds and get a job until January,” Ariel said.

The Friday 56 for 1/15/21: Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

By HCNewton

On January 15, 2021

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from page 56 of:
Across the Green Grass Fields

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

“You’ve just arrived, haven’t you?” asked the centaur “Bright and beautiful and brand-new, and I found you! Me, Pansy, found a human before someone else had a claim to chase. That’s even better than bringing back a lost unicorn! A real human-you are a human, aren’t you, not satyr or silene playing games with poor Pansy?”

“I’m human,” whispered Regan. Her voice sounded dull, almost deadened. Still, now that she’d found it, it was willing to let her keep going, which she considered very sporting of it. “You’re not real. None of this is real. Unicorns don’t exist.”

“But here I am, and here’s a unicorn, and there you are.” The centaur beamed. “Come on, human, let’s go see the others. They’re going to be even happier about this than I am.”

Regan shook her head. “No. This isn’t real. Centaurs are characters from Greek mythology. They’re not named ‘Pansy,’ and they don’t take lost human girls to see their friends. I’m dreaming.”

“You must be a lot of fun at parties, if you always argue with your dreams,” said Pansy, cocking her massive head.

The Friday 56 for 1/1/21: Dead Perfect by Noelle Holten

By HCNewton

On January 1, 2021

In Currently Reading, DC Maggie Jamieson, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, News/Misc., Noelle Holten, Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from 56% of:
Dead Perfect

Dead Perfect by Noelle Holten

…I apologize if this is slightly repetitive. Remember when we were talking about strange people you may have come across or who’ve made you uncomfortable? Can you just remind me of them again and maybe what made you feel weird around them?’

‘Erm … All right. Is this one of those times I have to just give you what you ask and trust that you have your reasons?’

‘I’m afraid it is.’

The Friday 56 for 12/18/20

By HCNewton

On December 18, 2020

In (Auto)Biography, Currently Reading, Dogs, News/Misc., Non-Fiction, Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from page 56 of:
Olive, Mabel & Me

Olive, Mabel & Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs by Andrew Cotter

She just wouldn’t leave Olive alone. And Olive, having enjoyed four years of peace and solitude, was clearly rather put out by the visitor—asking, with those Labrador eyes that tell all, “Is this thing going to be staying long?”

I’m pretty sure that from the start Mabel saw Olive as some sort of replacement mother. They are, in fact, related in that curious mixed-up dog dynamic, where romantic liaisons are free and easy and they don’t feel tied down by human constraints or propriety. Olive’s father Henry was also the father of another litter, which contained Mabel’s mother Izzy. Working it out, that makes Olive a half-aunt to Mabel, if there can be such a thing. One of these days we’ll get everyone together on a Jerry Springer-style program and Henry will be confronted by his numerous partners and offspring. Child support will finally catch up with him and it will all get messy.

One thing that was more simple and obvious was Mabel’s love for Olive, and within just a few weeks, some—if not all—of that love was reciprocated. Neither would now want to be without the other, but Olive could probably spend more time without Mabel than vice versa.

The Friday 56 for 12/4/20

By HCNewton

On December 4, 2020

In Currently Reading, Fantasy, Fiction, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56, YA/MG/Children's Books

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from page 56 of:

The Silver Arrow by Lev Grossman

“Kate. Tom. Good to see you. You made it this far.”

“Uncle Herbert!”

“Uncle Herbert!” Tom said. “We went through the woods and didn’t crash and then we saw a station and it was full of animals and they talked and then the train talked!”

Tom said this as one long continuous word. Uncle Herbert didn’t look particularly surprised at any of it.

The Friday 56 for 9/25/20

By HCNewton

On September 25, 2020

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from page of:
Next to Last Stand

Next to Last Stand by Craig Johnson

I hope you Westerners don’t mind, but this Custer stuff bores teh shit out of me.” Vic, uninterested in the conversation, reached out and turned over a Durant Courant, flipping a few pages as she sipped her drink. “you want to know what Custer was thinking there at the end?

The Bear volunteered. “Where di all these Indians come from?”

“Exactly.”

The Friday 56 for 9/18/20

By HCNewton

On September 18, 2020

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from 56% of:
Annihilation Aria

Annihilation Aria by Michael R. Underwood

Wheel was tired of waiting. Kenoa had flown up to low orbit to join her, so she’d spent most of the day talking to a destroyer-sized turtle while a barely-sentient tentacle-beast tried to stick its limbs up her nose.

The Friday 56 for 9/11/20

By HCNewton

On September 11, 2020

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it

from page 56 of:
Fool's Paradise

Robert B. Parker’s Fool’s Paradise by Mike Lupica

They caught one small break. There turned out to be security footage in Marshport of Paul coming out of the First Episcopal Church on Saturday night. Jesse had called the chief there, Captain John Kyle, who told Jesse they had a camera set up at one of their new substations across the street. The picture of Paul’s face was clear enough that Jesse allowed Nellie Shofner to put it up on the Crier website on Wednesday night. Trying to make something happen. Get them in the game.

Now it was Thursday afternoon, and they still had no hits from any of the agencies Molly and Suit had contacted. No missing-persons report filed on a white male in the whole state since Sunday.

“We’re reaching the point where we may need some help from the universe,” Molly said.

“Is there a number we can call for that?” Jesse said.

“On it,” Molly said.