Teaser Tuesday - The Storyteller

My two-sentence Teaser Tuesday post is taken from the opening paragraph of Chapter 1 - "Journey of a Soul" from THE STORYTELLER. I'm about halfway through this book, and it just gets better and better. Be sure to allow plenty of time to stop and think while reading this story. The author presents many interesting ideas.

TEASER:
In case you haven't guessed, I am a soul. Oh yes, and perhaps I should mention that I am presently a soul living here on this planet in a rather dense human body/mind.


AUTHOR: Sharon Tillotson
GENRE: Literary Fiction
NO. OF PAGES: Approx 400
AMAZON LINK: The Storyteller

AMAZON SYNOPSIS: 
An ordinary human being finding her life purpose... With a little help from her soul...


Sarah is a Soul who is trying to guide Suzy along her path of rediscovering herself... Or is it redefining? Reinventing? Sarah thinks it might be better defined as remembering, but it's only Suzy who is concerned about the semantics. Sarah just wishes Suz would get on with it. A rather spirited Spirit, Sarah often finds herself rolling her eyes at Suzy's antics and the walls she has built up following the death of her husband. Sarah knows the body/mind/spirit energy who is currently housed in the human called Suzy has faced far more difficult challenges than the one she chose for this reincarnation. 

Storyteller is the most common role this body/mind/spirit has chosen for its human lives and Sarah chooses to tell the story of Suzy's spiritual awakening as it unfolds, interweaving compelling stories of past lives and how these individual energies accomplished their shifts in awareness. There are three such interwoven stories beginning in 10,000 BC in Eastern Europe where a young apprentice storyteller named Luza is thrust into her awakening by the death of her mentor/shaman and a natural catastrophe. The next story Sarah reveals takes us to 5000 BC and the American Southwest, into the life of Chu-Tze, a healer who milks snakes to aid in her treatment of children. Chu-Tze must overcome the unbearable loss of her husband and children and find a way to the ultimate forgiveness. Sarah then tells the tale of Zhumbee, a prince in East Africa at the time of Jesus. Zhumbee's grandmother takes the prince on a journey to meet this mysterious prophet whose words he holds in his heart as he leads his city-state to its glory.
 
Suzy's journey takes the reader from the lush shores of Seattle to the deepest heart of Africa where humanity is said to have made its first appearance.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! 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 and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers

Book Beginnings and Friday 56 - Goodnight Nobody

BOOK BEGINNINGS

      "Hello?" I tapped on Kitty Cavanaugh's red front door, then lifted the brass knocker and gave it a few thumps for good measure. "Hello?"
      "Mommy, can I ring the doorbell?" Sophie asked. She stood on her tiptoes and waved her fist in the air.

FRIDAY 56

      "I ... uh ..." I fumbled through the slurry of broken crayons and juice-stiffened napkins at the bottom of my WGBH totebag and pulled out a notebook with a pink, glittery cover featuring Hello Kitty. It was Sophie's--the only thing I'd been able to find on short notice.

AUTHOR: Jennifer Weiner
NUMBER OF PAGES: 400
Written in 2005

AMAZON SYNOPSIS

      New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner's newest novel tells the story of a young mother's move to a postcard-perfect Connecticut town and the secrets she uncovers there.

      For Kate Klein, a semi-accidental mother of three, suburbia's been full of unpleasant surprises. Her once-loving husband is hardly ever home. The supermommies on the playground routinely snub her. Her days are spent carpooling and enduring endless games of Candy Land, and at night, most of her orgasms are of the do-it-yourself variety.

      When a fellow mother is murdered, Kate finds that the unsolved mystery is one of the most interesting things to happen in Upchurch since her neighbors broke ground for a guesthouse and cracked their septic tank. Even though Kate's husband and the police chief warn her that crime-fighting's a job best left to professionals, she can't let it go.

      So Kate launches an unofficial investigation -- from 8:45 to 11:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, when her kids are in nursery school -- with the help of her hilarious best friend, carpet heiress Janie Segal, and Evan McKenna, a former flame she thought she'd left behind in New York City.

      As the search for the killer progresses, Kate is drawn deeper into the murdered woman's double life. She discovers the secrets and lies behind Upchurch's placid picket-fence facade -- and the choices and compromises all modern women make as they navigate between independence and obligation, small towns and big cities, being a mother and having a life of one's own.

      Engrossing, suspenseful, and laugh-out-loud funny, Goodnight Nobody is another unputdownable, timely tale; an insightful mystery with a great heart and a narrator you'll never forget.

MY THOUGHTS
I've enjoyed other books by this author (IN HER SHOES, GOOD IN BED, etc.) but this one was not my favorite. However, there was lots of humor and anyone living in suburbia with young children would find plenty to relate to.  

Anyone can participate in 

Book Beginnings and Friday 56. 

Click here to connect to other Book Beginnings posts (hosted by Rose City Reader.)

Find other Friday 56 bloggers here (hosted by Freda's Voice). 

                

Teaser Tuesday - Goodbye Emily

I knew I'd enjoy this book (especially since I'm a Baby Boomer), but I had no idea it would be such a touching and entertaining story. This isn't merely a flashback to the 1960s; it is a story of love, healing, and the power of friendship. The characters felt real and the plot kept me engrossed. I finished reading GOODBYE EMILY in one day. 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Humor
Author:  Michael Murphy

Number of Pages: 270

Amazon Link: Goodbye Emily

Teaser:

He wore a greasy green Transcontinental Transport T-shirt and carried an empty pitcher of beer. His shaved head, shirt and thick toad-like body reminded me of Shrek, without the ogre's charm. To my great relief, he chose a stool at the other end of the bar.
[at 1% on my Kindle - approx Page 4]

GREAT description, isn't it? Can't you just see that guy?

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Three baby boomers relive their 1969 trip to Woodstock. One final roadtrip. One last chance to say Goodbye Emily.

They met at Woodstock, and the love lasted a lifetime. Then she was gone, and so was his college teaching job. Heartbroken but determined, he calls on his two best friends to help him return to the place it all began.The professor and his Woodstock buddy need the third tripper from back in the day, now in a nursing home with early stage Alzheimer’s. When the home refuses to allow their friend to come along, the professor and the vet bust him out, attracting the attention of the cops and the media, fascinating the public.   The roadtrip turns into a flight from “the man” and not even the professor’s defense attorney daughter can help. In a psychedelic van, the trio dodges cops and prosecutors. Against all odds, they close in on their destination, where thousands of supporters and cops await them.   Goodbye Emily is the irreverantly funny story about a journey of self-discovery for a man who thought he’d left all important journeys in life behind.

NOTE: If you like this, you might also like our book: I.O.U. SEX

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! 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 and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers

Boomers & Books Review

Thank you, Sharon Tillotson, for your kind review of I.O.U. SEX. We're so glad you enjoyed reading our book.

Here's what Sharon had to say: Review of I.O.U. SEX

To get your own copy (in paperback or ebook formats - Kindle, Nook, etc.), click on the "Buy I.O.U. SEX" tab above. It makes a great Christmas gift.