Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Tuesday Memes: Ordinary Grace

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where you can share the first paragraph, or a few, of a book you are reading or thinking about reading soon.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Today I am spotlighting Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were at the ready at Halderson’s Drug Store soda counter, and Hot Stuff comic books were a mainstay on every barbershop magazine rack. It was a time of innocence and hope for a country with a new, young president. But for thirteen-year-old Frank Drum it was a summer in which death assumed many forms.

When tragedy unexpectedly comes to call on his family, which includes his Methodist minister father, his passionate, artistic mother, Juilliard-bound older sister, and wise-beyond-his years kid brother, Frank finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal.

On the surface, Ordinary Grace is the story of the murder of a beautiful young woman, a beloved daughter and sister. At heart, it’s the story of what that tragedy does to a boy, his family, and ultimately the fabric of the small town in which he lives. Told from Frank’s perspective forty years after that fateful summer, it is a moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. It is an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God.

Opening Paragraph

(there is a prologue, but I am excerpting the beginning of chapter 1)   

  Moonlight pooled on the bedroom floor. Outside the chirr of crickets and other night bugs gave life to the dark. It was not yet July but already hot as blazes. That may have been why I was awake. In 1961 no one but the rich in New Bremen had air-conditioning. During the day most folks battled the heat by closing their curtains against the sun and at night fans drew in the promise of cooler air. In our house there were only two fans and neither was in the bedroom I shared with my brother.

  As I tossed about on top of the sheet trying to get comfortable in the heat the telephone rang. My father often said that nothing good came of phone calls in the middle of the night. He answered them anyway. I figured it was simply another part of his job, another part of all the things my mother hated about what he did. The telephone sat on a small table in the hallway outside my room. I started at the ceiling and listened to the brittle ring until the hall light came on.

My Teaser

    This was odd behaviour toward a minister and his family. People usually invited us in.
page 51

So...what do you think? Is this one you would pick up? Leave a comment below!
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14 comments:

  1. I am huge Kueger fan, so I'm embarrassed to admit I haven't read this one yet. I need to make the time.

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  2. I like the premise...and I particularly like the 2nd paragraph of the intro.

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  3. I haven't yet read this author, but I do like stories set in this time period. Although thinking about the 60s, I don't often remember how much we didn't yet have, like air conditioning and technology, things we take for granted now.

    Here's mine: “ALL DAY AND A NIGHT”

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  4. Definitely yes. I'm attracted to it. Enjoy!
    Here's my suspenseThe Rivers Run Dry

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  5. This author and his novels came across my radar screen last year. I really want to read this book.

    My Tuesday post: http://www.bookclublibrarian.com/2015/01/first-chapter-first-paragraph-89.html

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  6. As soon as I read root beers, it made me think of the A & W I used to go to when I was younger. Are there any of those left around. We have a drive-in in our neck of the woods called Sonics. How about you?
    sherry @ fundinmental My TT ~ Gone Before Goodbye by Nora Leduc

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  7. I love the intro of this one and would keep reading. I haven't read anything by this author before.

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  8. Oh, this sounds wonderful. I'm watching Fried Green Tomatoes right now and it has me thinking this would be a great movie.

    My TT - http://fuonlyknew.com/2015/01/13/teaser-tuesdays-95-growl/

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  9. I've read some of his Cork O'Connor books and really enjoyed them, so this is a definite possibility for me.

    Mine is from Fortunata and Jacinta by Benito Pérez Galdós at http://wp.me/pZnGI-h9

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  10. This sounds like the kind of story I enjoy. The second paragraph made me want to know who was calling and why; your Teaser made me wonder why the preacher and his family suddenly were not welcomed. I'll read this book.
    My Tuesday post features A LOVE BEYOND.

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  11. I think it sounds very good. I'd keep reading. I can relate to her description about growing up in the 60's. I had an attic bedroom that was stifling hot. The heat forced to do a lot of outdoor sleeping. Have a nice week. kelley—the road goes ever ever on

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    Replies
    1. Ha! We have that in common! I also slept in an attic with no heat or ac! Gotta love the 60s!

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  12. I like the intro Kim and also enjoyed the book. Hope u do as well.

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  13. Yes, I would pick it. I've written the title down. I want to know more about this story. It is odd not to let the minister's family inside the door.

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