First Chapter: AN UNCOMPLICATED LIFE by Paul Daugherty

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn.

An Uncomplicated Life: A Father's Memoir of His Exceptional Daughter by Paul Daugherty
Published March 17, 2015; William Morrow

First paragraph:

INTRODUCTION 

"I wide bike."

This is a story about a dream and a child and the progress of each. It starts on our driveway in early spring. Jillian Daugherty straddles a comically tiny two-wheeler that, against considerable odds and long-held perceptions, she intends to ride. She is 12 years old and prone to doing what all kids do. She's going to try to ride it. 

Book description:
A father's exhilarating and funny love letter to his daughter with Down syndrome whose vibrant and infectious approach to life has something to teach all of us about how we can better live our own.

Would you continue reading based on the opening paragraph and the book description?

Mailbox Monday: Mixed Genres

Visit Mailbox Monday to see what books bloggers are featuring.

Thanks to the publishers for the following books and ARCs for review: 

Murder on Amsterdam Avenue by Victoria Thompson; publication May 5, 2015

Second Chance Friends by Jennifer Scott; publication May 5, 2015

An Uncomplicated Life by Paul Daugherty; publication March 17, 2015

When the Moon Is Low by Nadia Hashimi; publication July 21, 2015

In the Dark Places by Peter Robinson; publication August 11, 2015

Losing Faith by Adam Mitzner; publication April 14, 2015

Digital Gold by Nathaniel Popper; publication May 19, 2015

Circling the Sun by Paula McLain; publication July 28, 2015

What's new in your mailbox?

Currently reading:

Rock With Wings by Anne Hillerman, publication date May 5, 2015; Harper

Easter Sunday!

Welcome to the Sunday Salon!

photo by Harvee Lau

I'm reposting a photo from last year, April 20, 2014, the day on which Easter Sunday fell.
By that time, the daffodils had sprung up and shown their yellow heads.
This year, April 5, they are still hibernating.

The cottontail rabbits have been running around the lawns, however, the only sign of spring apart from my valiant purple crocus.

Happy Easter! Enjoy spring colors wherever you are!
If you celebrate Passover, happy celebrations as well!

Saturday Snapshot: Crocus

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy.

Out of the detritus of winter
A sign of new life 
Tentative, but sure.
Bright green, a hint of violet,
a new bloom.


- Harvee 

Book Beginning: ON GOLD MOUNTAIN by Lisa See

The Friday 56: *Grab a book, any book. *Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. *Post it. *Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginnings at Rose City Reader.

On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family by Lisa See
Published February 7, 2012 by Vintage, Reprint Edition
Genre: memoir

Book beginning:

Chapter 1: The Wonder Time 1866-71 

Fong Dun Shung hoisted his God Mountain bag on to his shoulder and nodded one last time to his wife, daughter, and Number One and Number Four sons.He turned, and began the half-day's walk to Fatsan where he would board a sampan and float east through the Pearl River Delta to the big city of Canton. Then south to Hong Kong, where he would board a ship for Gam Saan, the Gold Mountain. Fong Dun Shung and his second and third sons padded single file among the raised pathways that divided the pale green rice fields that lay just outside the protective wall of Dimtao. How long, he wondered, would it be before they returned home?  

page 56:

Letticie supposed it was natural that one thing would lead to another. Hard work to success. Loneliness to happiness. Friendship to love. On January 15, 1897, Letticie Pruett of Central Point, Oregon, and Fong See, the fourth son of a Chinese herbalist, were wed. They went to a lawyer to draw up the papers for a contract marriage. Their union would be recognized by the state as a contract between two individuals, since California forbade interracial marriages. 

Book description:
In 1867, Lisa See's great-great-grandfather arrived in America, where he prescribed herbal remedies to immigrant laborers who were treated little better than slaves. His son Fong See later built a mercantile empire and married a Caucasian woman, in spite of laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Lisa herself grew up playing in her family's antiques store in Los Angeles's Chinatown, listening to stories of missionaries and prostitutes, movie stars and Chinese baseball teams. 
With these stories and her own years of research, Lisa See chronicles the one-hundred-year-odyssey of her Chinese-American family, a history that encompasses racism, romance, secret marriages, entrepreneurial genius, and much more, as two distinctly different cultures meet in a new world.  (amazon)

Fascinating history and memoir. This book started the author on her road to writing many more books on China, historical fiction. 

Wordless Wednesday: A Tail Like No Other

Visit Wordless Wednesday for more posts.

Photo © Harvee Lau

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn.

The life-changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo, published October 14, 2014; Ten Speed Press
Genre: self-help

Chapter 1:

Why can't I keep my house in order? You can't tidy if you've never learned how

When I tell people that my profession is telling other people how to tidy, I am usually met with looks of astonishment. "Can you actually make money doing that?" is their first question. This is almost always followed by, "Do people need lessons in tidying?"

...The general assumption, in Japan at least, is that tidying doesn't need to be taught but rather is picked up naturally....one never hears of anyone passing on the family secrets of tidying, even within the same household.

Book teaser:

By paring down to the volume that you can properly handle, you revitalize your relationship with your belongings. (p. 126)

Book description:
This best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing.

I bought this book before I even knew it was a best seller. I started it, it sounded reasonable and very do-able, but I now have to finish the book to get back on track and remember all the advice. Tops in one drawer, bottoms in another; how to fold and store socks, underwear, bags; clothes that one must hang in the closet, etc. 

But first, I must throw everything away or dispose of those things I don't want, use, or find useful! Phew!

Would you keep reading after the first paragraph, etc.?

Other reviews of the book: 1330V