Teaser Tuesday: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
1. Grab your current read.
2. Open to a random page.
3. Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.
4. 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!).
5. Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

          "But there was no gift. The surprise was the hand itself.
The flesh of her palm was like no flesh I had seen before. Its whitened ridges and purple furrows bore no relation to the pink mound at the base of my fingers, the pale valley of my palm. Melted by fire, her flesh had cooled into an entirely unrecognizable landscape, like a scene left permanently altered by the passage of a flow of lava. Her fingers did not lie open but were drawn into a claw by the shrunken tightness of the scar tissue. In the heart of her palm, scar within a scar, burn inside a burn, was a grotesque mark. It was set very deep in her clutch, so deep that with a sudden nausea I wondered what had happened to the bone that should be there. It made sense of the odd set of the hand at the wrist, the way it seemed to weigh upon her arm as though it had no life of its own. The mark was a circle embedded in her palm, and extending from it, in the direction of the thumb, a short line." - pg. 53, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

What are you reading this week?

Guest Post: Change by Soraya Lane

Today's guest is Soraya Lane, author of Change. RT award winning author Soraya Lane describes being an author as a dream come true. An avid book reader and writer since her childhood, Soraya now divides her time between writing, being a mom and caring for the many animals on her small farm in New Zealand.
In addition to young adult fiction, Soraya also writes contemporary adult romance for Harlequin Mills & Boon.

Welcome Soraya, and take it away!

                                        What Makes a Book a ‘Keeper’?
Everyone has different criteria for deciding a book is a ‘keeper’. For me, I’m reluctant to get rid of books at all, especially since I’ve had a wall-to-wall bookshelf custom built for my office!! But I must say that some books just don’t work for me, and those ones usually find their way to a local fundraiser or book fair. I always feel guilty, because I know that the author has put a huge amount of work into their story, but for me there’s no point keeping a book that doesn’t have great memories.
For me personally, my favorite books get the best placement in my new bookcase. I like to be able to glance across when I’m at my desk and look at the books I love, and the real “keepers” for me are those I can remember details about, as well as the names of the main characters.
One of my favorite authors is Nalini Singh, and I can tell you right now that I’ll never, ever forget the names of the characters I love from her books! Just the names “Hawke & Sienna” send a shiver down my spine, as do “Elena and Raphael”. If you’ve read her books you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
So how about you? What makes a book a “keeper” for you? Is it the characters themselves?
For more information about my books, I’d love you to visit me at my website www.sorayalane.com, or connect with me on Twitter @Soraya_Lane. I often do giveaways of my latest releases, and Twitter is the best place to find me!

Thank you for stopping by, Soraya. I'll have to check out Nalini Singh for myself!

Top 100 Teen Books

I love lists, don't you? NPR Books recently announced its list for the Top 100 Teen Books after a poll that accumulated 75,000 votes. Going down the list, I have either read, partially-read (for the series), or plan to read 36 of the books on the list. Considering I'm a decade older than the genre is meant for, I'd say this is pretty good statistics. That means I'm still cool, right?

          1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling (read)

2. The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins (read)

3. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee (read)

4. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green

5. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien (read)

6. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger

7. The Lord of the Rings (series), by J.R.R. Tolkien (read)

8. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury (read)

9. Looking for Alaska, by John Green

10. The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

11. The Giver (series), by Lois Lowry (read)

12. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (series), by Douglas Adams (read)

13. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton (read)

14. Anne of Green Gables (series), by Lucy Maud Montgomery (read)

15. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman (read)

16. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

17. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman

18. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding (read)

19. Divergent (series), by Veronica Roth (partially-read)

20. Paper Towns, by John Green

21. The Mortal Instruments (series), by Cassandra Clare (TBR)

22. An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green

23. Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes (read)

24. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher

25. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon (TBR)

26. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

27. Twilight (series), by Stephenie Meyer (read)

28. Uglies (series), by Scott Westerfeld (read)

29. The Infernal Devices (series), by Cassandra Clare (TBR) 

30. Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt 

31. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

32. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (series), by Anne Brashares

33. The Call of the Wild, by Jack London

34. Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green, David Levithan

35. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous (read)

36. Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones

37. Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli

38. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles

39. Vampire Academy (series), by Richelle Mead (read)

40. Abhorsen Trilogy / Old Kingdom Trilogy (series), by Garth Nix

41. Dune, by Frank Herbert

42. Discworld / Tiffany Aching (series), by Terry Pratchett

43. My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult (read)

44. The Dark is Rising (series), by Susan Cooper

45. Graceling (series), Kristin Cashore (TBR)

46. Forever..., by Judy Blume

47. Earthsea (series), by Ursula K. Le Guin (TBR)

48. Inheritance Cycle (series), by Christopher Paolini (TBR)

49. The Princess Diaries (series), by Meg Cabot

50. The Song of the Lioness (series), by Tamora Pierce

51. Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson

52. Delirium (series), by Lauren Oliver (TBR)

53. Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins

54. Hush, Hush Saga (series), by Becca Fitzpatrick (partially-read)

55. 13 Little Blue Envelopes, by Maureen Johnson (read)

56. It's Kind of a Funny Story, by Ned Vizzini

57. The Gemma Doyle Trilogy (series), by Libba Bray

58. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs (TBR)

59. The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros

60. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury

61. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier (read)

62. Just Listen, by Sarah Dessen

63. A Ring of Endless Light, by Madeleine L'Engle (read)

64. The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen

65. The Bartimaeus Trilogy (series), by Jonathan Stroud

66. Bloodlines (series), by Richelle Mead (partially-read)

67. Fallen (series), by Lauren Kate (TBR)

68. House of Night (series), by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast (partially-read)

69. I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith

70. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlsit, by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan

71. Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver

72. Unwind, by Neal Shusterman

73. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle

74. The Maze Runner Trilogy (series), by James Dashner

75. If I Stay, by Gayle Forman

76. The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley

77. Crank (series), by Ellen Hopkins

78. Matched (series), by Allie Condie (TBR)

79. Gallagher Girls (series), by Ally Carter

80. The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale

81. Daughter of the Lioness / Tricksters (series), by Tamora Pierce

82. I Am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak

83. The Immortals (series), by Tamora Pierce

84. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (series), by Patricia C. Wrede

85. Chaos Walking (series), by Patrick Ness

86. Circle of Magic (series), by Tamora Pierce

87. Daughter of Smoke & Bone, by Laini Taylor

88. Feed, by M.T. Anderson

89. Weetzie Bat (series), by Francesca Lia Block

90. Along for the Ride, by Sarah Dessen

91. Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (series), by Louise Rennison

92. Leviathan (series), by Scott Westerfeld

93. The House of the Scorpion, by Scott Westerfeld

94. The Chronicles of Chrestomanci (series), by Diana Wynne Jones

95. The Lullaby, by Sarah Dessen

96. Gone (series), by Michael Grant

97. The Shiver Trilogy (series), by Maggie Stiefvater (read)

98. The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley

99. Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson

100. Betsy-Tacy Books (series), by Maud Hart Lovelace