13 December 2011

Today's Read: Take Me Home by Brian Leung

MizB at Should Be Reading hosts Teaser Tuesdays. Here's how it works: Grab your current read; let the book fall open to a random page; and share 2 "teaser" sentences from that page. For more teasers, click on through to MizB's blog.

Today's tease comes from a novel set in the American west at a time when the railroad barons were king and adventurous young men sought their fortunes in mining. Both industries exploited Chinese immigrants, and sometimes there was violence. I'll be talking more about this book in an upcoming Imprint Friday feature.
Inside the observation car, well-dressed men and women lounged in straight-backed red velvet chairs, peered out the windows at rock and pine trees, read newspapers. She didn't know any of them, but she could stand where she was and make up a pretty good story for each. And wasn't that the way of the history? Strangers looking at strangers from afar, telling what was knowable, filling in the rest with interesting guesses. (pp. 5-6)
—From Take Me Home by Brian Leung (HarperCollins / HarperPerennial, 2011)

Take Me Home at Powell's
Take Me Home at Book Depository
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21 comments:

  1. Oh, this one sounds intriguing...I love trains; and journeys on trains are such opportunities to really study people.

    Here's
    MY TT POST and
    MY WEBSITE

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  2. I'll have to check this one out!

    Here's mine:
    http://junkboattravels.blogspot.com/2011/12/teaser-tuesdays-weekly-bookish-meme.html

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  3. Never heard of this but I like the quote.

    Visit My Teaser Tuesday!

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  4. Interesting .. a good teaser

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  5. Something in the back of mind tells me I have heard about this one before. I'm excited to hear your thoughts!

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  6. Loved the teaser -- so subtle and intriguing! I'll be watching for your review.

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  7. Speaking of the exploitation of Chinese immigrants, you should read Deep Creek by Dana Hand. It is fiction but based on a true story about people seeking gold along the Idaho border in the 19th century. Full disclosure here: Dana Hand is the pen name of friends of mine. It's received raves from reviewers across the country who don't know them though.

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  8. Those interesting guesses can turn into whole books.

    Great teaser.

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  9. I love this teaser, and it reminds me of all those times I like to just take a bench in the mall or park and people watch.

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  10. I'm so interested in Chinese immigration to the U.S. A good historical novel it sounds like.

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  11. Ah, people watching. It's always so much fun. Thanks for visiting my teaser.

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  12. That teaser has my attention. Look forward to your thoughts.

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  13. I have a certain attraction to historical novels about the American West, so this looks perfect! And at such an interesting time-when opportunities and insanity married to form a distinct epoch in American history.

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  14. That is a wonderful teaser, I'll be looking for your review!

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  15. A fun observation, and one that many of us make when faced with a room (restaurant, subway car) of strangers.

    I'll look forward to learning more about TAKE ME HOME on Imprint Friday!

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  16. I love trains! We rode one a few weeks ago...but the red velvet chairs were gone. :-( As were the well-dressed men and women.

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  17. Such a fun way to pass some waiting time, observing people and joining the dots... whether we like it or not, we all judge books by their cover to some degree ;)

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  18. I like the teaser. I'll be interested in hearing more about the book. Railroads are romantic, but really dangerous when they were being laid, if I remember right.

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