Teaser Tuesday and a Library Loot

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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

My teasers

First, more Villette:

"To do so was a mistake.  That night she should have left me calm -- not excited, indifferent, not interested, isolated in my own estimation and that of others -- not connected, even in idea, with this second person whom I was to forget."  (chapter 35, page 461)

 from I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith:

"I shall have to do the evening at Scoatney bit by bit, for I know I shall be interrupted -- I shall want to be, really, because life is too exciting to sit still for long.  On top of the Cottons' appearing to like us, we have actually come by twenty pounds, the Vicar having bought the rug that looks like a collie dog."  (chapter 8, page 108)

 from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child:

"What was American food like forty years ago when this book first appeared?  It's hard for me to remember since the 'now' is so much with me."  (Introduction to the anniversary edition)

Library Loot:

This is an unintentional library loot.  See I went to return some books and I decided to wander around just to look at the books.  Well, no big surprise that I left the library with 5 books.

-- The Bedside Book of Beasts:  A Wildlife Miscellany by Graeme Gibson
--  The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule
--  The Lute Player by Norah Lofts
--  Flint Anchor by Sylvia Townsend Warner
--  The Detective and Mr. Dickens by William J. Palmer

The Bedside Book of Beasts was lying on top of the new books' shelf.  The gorgeous robin blue cover graced by a vibrant orange tiger caught my eye.  I picked the book up expecting to glance quickly through it.  I was delighted to find that it is a veritable compendium of delightful anecdotes and facts about beasts.  The volume is resplendent with illustrations and art.  This will be my bedtime book for certain.

The Creative Family I picked up while checking books out.  One of the librarians had just checked the book in and I snagged it.  I'm always looking for creative things to do with my artsy, kooky child and hopefully this book will have some good activities.

Norah Lofts' The Lute Player was also on the new book shelf.  I've never read any Lofts before, but given my new love for historical novels (Plaidy is a favorite, and Heyer is on the list as well) I thought I'd give the lovely plum-colored paperback a go.

Sylvia Townsend-Warner is one of my most favorite authors.  Luckily I stumbled upon one of her novels, Flint Anchor.  I have no clue what the plot is about, but it is Townsend-Warner so it is bound to be good.

Lastly, The Detective and Mr. Dickens caught my eye because it is about Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, their link to an inspector and a murder.  Sounds very Drood like and so I picked it up.  One can never have enought Dickens and Collins.

Well there are my teasers and loot for the week.  I'm about to look through my lovely Beasts book and drink my coffee.  I'm working tonight (until 10) and I've been up since before dawn so caffeine is in order.