Monday, September 15, 2014

Tumbleweeds - Teaser Tuesday and First Chapter, First Paragraph, Tuesday Intros

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      I came across Tumbleweeds on the shelves at Barnes & Noble, attracted by the book's cover. When I discovered the book was set in Texas and written by a Texas author, I claimed it.  
      What a great story! I related easily to the attitudes of the characters (and the small town's obsession with high school football) and was drawn into the plot. The bond between three 11-year-olds who had lost their parents is the basis for everything that happens as the friends travel to adulthood. There were plenty of twists and turns to keep me engaged until the final page.  
      By the way, there were no errors in this book, and that's a big deal to me. That's not surprising, though, since Ms. Meacham is a retired English teacher.

First Paragraph:
June 2008
     The call he'd been expecting for twenty-two years came at midnight when he was working late at his desk. He had a second's start, the kind of stab he'd experienced often in the first years when the telephone rang in the early hours, but with the passage of time the duties of his office had accustomed him to its ring in the middle of the night.

Teaser (from Page 53 - hardback edition):
They were as different from each other as bacon and eggs, but they went together as nicely. John was quiet and calm, patient and steady. He blended in. Trey was someone who stood out.

Genre: Women's Fiction / Coming of Age / Family
Length: 483 Pages
Other Books by This Author: Leila Meacham Goodreads Page
Link: Tumbleweeds (Hachette Books)
(Note: Normally I would post a link to Amazon, but with the controversy between Hachette and Amazon, a link to the book's publisher made more sense to me.)

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Recently orphaned, eleven-year-old Cathy Benson feels she has been dropped into a cultural and intellectual wasteland when she is forced to move from her academically privileged life in California to the small town of Kersey in the Texas Panhandle where the sport of football reigns supreme. She is quickly taken under the unlikely wings of up-and-coming gridiron stars and classmates John Caldwell and Trey Don Hall, orphans like herself, with whom she forms a friendship and eventual love triangle that will determine the course of the rest of their lives. Taking the three friends through their growing up years until their high school graduations when several tragic events uproot and break them apart, the novel expands to follow their careers and futures until they reunite in Kersey at forty years of age. Told with all of Meacham's signature drama, unforgettable characters, and plot twists, readers will be turning the pages, desperate to learn how it all plays out.

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54 comments:

  1. I've read 2 of her other books. Can't wait to read this one.

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    1. This is the first of her books that I've read, but I'll definitely read others.

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  2. I loved this book....its settings, characters, and storyline wrapped themselves around me like a cozy shawl....thanks for sharing and reminding me that I want to try more books from this author.

    And thanks for visiting my blog!

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  3. This sounds promising Sandra. Thanks for sharing with us today...enjoy

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  4. That dreaded late night phone call we've all feared. What a strong hook.

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  5. I like the cover too. The intro is good and I like the bacon and egg analogy.

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    1. I like that analogy too. It's a terrific description of the two boys and their relationship.

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  6. As a very devoted Friday Night Lights fan, you had me at "high school football", especially the Texas kind!

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    1. High school football is definitely a community affair in small-town Texas. This author captures that perfectly.

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  7. A love triangle that spans decades? Now that sounds interesting! Thanks for sharing!
    My Teasers.

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  8. Sounds like an interesting read, glad you enjoyed it! Mine: Books Can Be Deceiving

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  9. Great teaser. Sounds like a good read. Thanks for stopping by my TT http://cynthiastacey.com/2014/09/16/teaser-tuesday-sept-16/

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  10. Poor Cathy must have gone into culture shock moving from California to small town Texas.

    Mine this week is Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse #1) by Charlaine Harris at http://wp.me/pZnGI-dk

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  11. A call in the night is always to be dreaded. I've seen this and I think it might be on my TBR. Sounds wonderful and I'm huge on character driven stories.
    Gere is my teaser - http://fuonlyknew.com/2014/09/16/teaser-tuesdays-81-free-short-story-raker-by-christopher-a-gray-move-over-robocop/

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  12. That cover would catch my eye, too, and I love the opening. Enjoy!

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  13. That must mean they are friends. Opposites attract.

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    1. Yes, they're close friends. Actually, more like brothers than friends.

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  14. I've never really seen anyone use bacon and eggs to describe a friendship, but I'm kind of wondering why they don't. Even though I don't eat bacon, most see it as a winning combo when paired with eggs so the friends must be just as great too.

    Here's mine.

    ~pdbkwm

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    1. I thought the author was really clever to come up with that comparison. It works!

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  15. Love the cover and teaser!

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  16. I love the cover and enjoyed the teaser too. Thanks for stopping by earlier, Sandra. Enjoy your week.

    Kay

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  17. The first teaser was AWESOME. I wanna know what the call was! I may have to check this book out, thank you for stopping by my blog!:)

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  18. Beautiful cover! That's a great teaser. makes me wonder who's on the other end of that phone call. Thanks for visiting my TT!

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    1. That's a terrific opener, isn't it? I was curious about that call when I started the book too.

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  19. This looks like a fascinating book. I may need to check it out of our library!

    Thanks for dropping by my TT, by the way.

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  20. I like the food analogy for John and Trey's friendship. It's the yummier opposite of "like chalk and cheese". Thanks for popping over to deweygirl.co.uk to read my teaser.

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    1. I'd definitely agree that it's yummier than "chalk and cheese!"

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  21. This is my kind of book - coming of age stories that contrast lifestyles. Thanks for telling us about it. I'm off to find it.

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  22. Aw, sounds like the 3 of them have a pretty good, stable relationship, besides the fact of the love triangle! Thanks for stopping by! Happy reading!

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  23. I like the sound of this one. I want to read more!

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  24. The cover is so eye-catching. It's a book that I'd pick up as well. Good news re the errors - that drives me crazy, too.

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  25. I really liked the opening paragraph, it pulled me right in. I want to know what happens after that phone call. kelley—the road goes ever ever on

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  26. I really love the title and the book cover along with The Teaser.

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  27. That's a lovely teaser, Sandra! And what a different similie :) I hope you'll enjoy the whole story.
    Thanks for stopping by my teaser yesterday. Happy reading.

    Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews

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  28. Good teaser - so very descriptive of the boys and their relationship. Glad you enjoyed it!

    Thanks for visiting my Teaser.

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  29. This looks like a great find! I can see why the cover attracted you...beautiful:)

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  30. I like the phrase: as different as bacon and eggs.
    Hey, but they go nicely together!

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  31. I can understand why you were attracted to it since the cover looks similar to your own Bluebonnet cover. Being a retired English teacher is no guarantee of no mistakes. I'm a current English teacher and my proofreader finds commas I never would have noticed. And I find errors in most published books. It's so hard to get all those words right, no matter how many editors.

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    1. So true! I had a typo in this post (which I just corrected), even though I'd proofed it several times. Seems like it's hard to catch our own errors, especially after reading something many times.

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  32. That IS an eye-catching cover! I love it! Thanks for visiting my Teaser!

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  33. I love the metaphor of bacon and eggs! Let me know their relationship at once.

    Thanks for having stopped by my blog!

    ^_^

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  34. A love triangle amongst childhood friends? Ok, that's a hook for me. It sounds like a very interesting story and I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for visiting our teasers!

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  35. Definitely sounds like an interesting relationship and story!!!

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  36. I love the cover and I'm quite intrigued now. I think I'm going to add this one to my TBR. :)

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  37. Sounds good! I have Roses and haven't read it yet. I'll have to add this to the TBR list. Thanks for stopping by my TT!

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    1. Now that I've discovered this author, I plan to read Roses too.

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  38. This is a new author for me. And even though I'm not usually attracted to coming of age tales, I'm intrigued by this one. Maybe because I lived for a while in one of those small Texas panhandle towns. Lovely teaser! Thanks for the blog visit, and happy reading this week!

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  39. Ooh, that sounds like an interesting read! Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

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  40. These teasers drew me in right away...love it! :)

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  41. I read Roses a year or two ago and really liked it. Tumbleweeds has been on my TBR list, but 2014 has been a year of "use and make do", so I have purchased very few books. I am determined to read the books I already own or at the least borrow from the library or friend. That has also been my mantra in my sewing room. Only purchase to finish an already started project! Whew! It's working though.

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