Thursday 21 July 2016

It's #FridayReads so it's also @ShelleyWilson72's #FridayBookShare :)




I'm finally joining in with Shelley Wilson's Friday Book Share this week, because I've just re-read (for the second time) a book that I raved about when I first read it, and I think it deserves another rave ~ because when I'd finished it for a third time I actually turned back and read the beginnning....again. :)

It's The Turning of the World (click title for my review, with Amazon links) by John Privilege, @JohnPrivilege1 on Twitter

(You can join in as well, if you like!  Just copy the bit below, and supply the details accordingly, on your own blog)

#FridayBookShare:

First line of the book.
Recruit fans by adding the book blurb.
Introduce the main character using only three words.
Delightful design (add the cover image of the book).
Audience appeal (who would enjoy reading this book?)
Your favourite line/scene.

Okay, here goes...

First line of the book.
I'm deviating already because I don't think the first line is representative of the book, so here's one from later on in the chapter:  "That last summer was good.  A brief span of happiness trapped in amber".

Recruit fans by adding the book blurb.
It was all going so well. Bobby Reynolds leaves Canada and travels halfway round the world to begin a new life with Sally in Northern Ireland. They have a nice house in Carrickfergus, good jobs and are looking forward to starting a family. But out in the world, a tipping-point has been reached. A devastating new disease emerges in a Vietnamese town called Quang-Tri. Suddenly, it is no longer far away, or on the news; it is outside in the street. With frightening speed, the familiar, the cherished are all stripped away. Northern Ireland teeters on the brink, then collapses into bloodshed and violence. Bobby, suddenly a stranger in a foreign country, quickly discovers that there are worse things than Quang-Tri Flu.

Introduce the main character using only three words.
Sharp-witted, funny, melancholy.

Delightful design  



Audience appeal (who would enjoy reading this book?)
Readers like me who are addicted to all things post-apocalyptic.  Any age group or gender.  People who live in or are fond of Ireland.  Readers for whom talented, intelligent, gripping writing with a convincing plot, pathos, humour, action and realism will overcome every comma not being in the right place (there are a few proofreading errors but not that many, and it's such a good book I didn't care).

Your favourite line/scene.
Too many to choose just one.  Here are a couple. 

One by one the districts of Belfast went dark.  I remember watching them with my mouth open, my breath catching in my throat as fright once again washed over me....
....the whole thing was dying, it was inevitable.  Everything we knew was gasping and flapping below us like a landed fish.

"The world keeps turning, Bobby," she said.  "It keeps turning and it doesn't give a fuck about us."....
....I never thought I would be happy or feel safe again.  But here I was, kissing a woman in the sunlight by the shore of a little lake.  There was even a dog.  She was right.  The world turns. 

There are many others much better, but, alas, I always forget to highlight them! 

Other posts:

Shelley has chosen a writer's self-help book this week.
Liz does time travel 
Cathy chooses urban fantasy 



7 comments:

  1. Welcome to the Friday Book Share game, Terry. Fabulous choice of book too. :)

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  2. A great introduction to the book. I know what you mean about the first line not always being the most representative.

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  3. Terry, you make this genre sound so tempting. It's one I've shied away from since reading 'The Road'. Hmmm...

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  4. Sorry I missed this yesterday. I have this on my reread list too - although whenever I’ll get round to rereads I don’t know! ;-)

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  5. I agree with Judith. It does sound tempting and I love Iteland, but I am just not into post apocalyptic anything...Maybe I'll give it a go anyway....

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  6. It worked! The turning of the world is now on my TBR list 😀

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