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The Friday 56 (With Book Beginnings): The Lost City of Z by David Grann + 50/50 Friday


Welcome to The Friday 56, a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice.

These are the rules:
1. Grab a book, any book.
2. Turn to page 56, or 56% on your eReader.
3. Find any sentence (or a few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.
4. Post it.
5. Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda's most recent Friday 56 post.


I'm also taking part in Book Beginnings, a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader.  The rules are pretty simple - you share the first sentence or so and your initial thoughts, impressions, or whatever else it inspires.  Don't forget to link up your post's url with Rose City Reader.


This week I'm spotlighting one of my current reads, The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann.  This is my eighth read for Book Riot's 2017 Read Harder Challenge and it fulfills the task of reading a travel memoir.  It follows the quest to discover what happened to Percy Fawcett's 1925 lost expedition to find the lost city of Z in the Amazon.  The book was released in 2009, but I didn't realize what it was about until recently after seeing it come and go from my library almost weekly - plus, I've been seeing the trailers for the movie which looks pretty promising.  I'm not that far along into the book yet, but I'm already hooked.


Beginning:

I pulled the map from my back pocket.  It was wet and crumpled, the lines I had traced to highlight my route now faded.  I stared at my markings, hoping that they might lead me out of the Amazon, rather than deeper into it.

56:

When I told the archivist that I was looking for Fawcett's papers, she gave me a quizzical look.  "What is it?"  I asked.

"Well, let's just say that many people who are interested in Fawcett are a little..."  Her voice trailed off as she disappeared into the catacombs.


This week I'm also taking part in a brand new linkup called 50/50 Friday, which is hosted by Carrie @ The Butterfly Reader and Laura @ Blue Eye Books.  Every week they'll have a new topic featuring two sides of the same coin - this week the topic is Favorite/ Least Favorite Book in the X Genre.  The topic gives me a bit of freedom this week, so I'm selecting Romance.  I don't talk about romance much as a genre since I generally prefer very little romance in my books, but I thought I'd change things up today.

Favorite:



The Princess Bride by William Goldman - Seriously, how can you go wrong - it has everything!

Least Favorite:


Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick - Okay, I have several least favorites, but this one definitely stands out.  I probably strained my eyes rolling them so often while reading this - Britt and Korbie were irritating and too stupid to live, plus, there's Stockholm Syndrome and a love triangle, etc.  It's shooting for something like YA romantic thriller - it's neither and I remember wondering if either Britt or Korbie had ever seen a bad made (and not of the so bad it's good category) for tv horror movie.  Yet somehow I still managed to finish reading it.

Comments

  1. The Lost City of Z is so fascinating. I think it is very well written, too. Enjoy!

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    Replies
    1. I definitely agree with you there - very well written. :)

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  2. I'll definitely be checking this out ... and the movie. Charlie Hunnam? TRY and keep me away!

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  3. Oh i want to read this, Lost City of Z, and see the film! Going to add this to my shelves - didn't realise there was a book, too.

    Here's my book choice for this week : http://bit.ly/2owKV9o

    Have a great weekend!

    Sassy :)

    By the way, I LOVE Supernatural - Dean is my fav. :D

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    Replies
    1. I hope you will like both, then! :)

      Supernatural is the best and so is Dean! :D

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  4. Lost City made me think of Indiana Jones. :-) I love the line...too stupid to live. I say that a lot. LOL
    sherry @ fundinmental Friday Memes

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    Replies
    1. I can't help but make that comparison myself.

      I don't blame you there! :D

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  5. Lost City sounds full of adventure, so I'll bet it's a page turner. Thanks for sharing, and here's mine: “WOMAN NO. 17”

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  6. Sounds interesting. I prefer my travel of the armchair variety. Let someone else face the dangers! Come see what Grave Visions by Kalayna Price has to offer. Happy reading!

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    Replies
    1. Especially when the dangers are of the life or death variety!

      Thanks for visiting, Kathy!

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  7. Haha ah yes The Princess Bride! I've recently been rewatching the movie and I love it! I can see how you didn't like Black Ice's romance. I haven't read it but I read Fitzpatrick's other series, Hush, Hush, and I found the romance was was pretty underwhelming. Thanks for linking up, Lauren!

    Laura @BlueEyeBooks

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    Replies
    1. It's just so much fun, isn't it! :)

      I just didn't get the romance in Hush, Hush myself...

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  8. Eee! Totally love The Princess Bride! You can't go wrong with it at all!

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  9. Got to get my hands on this one. I'll be watching the movie too!

    My Friday 56 from Ararat

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  10. A great opening line. Here is my post
    http://totallyaddictedtoreading.blogspot.com/2017/04/friday-memes-book-beginnings-and-friday_21.html

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  11. Sounds good to me! Happy weekend!

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  12. I spy The Princess Bride! I'd not heard of The Lost City of Z though. It sounds interesting! Happy reading, Lauren!

    Have a lovely weekend. =)

    Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Alyssa!

      Thanks for coming over - and I hope you have a great weekend, too!

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  13. Lol Black Ice... yes I'm fully with you. I got to give it to you though, I didn't finish the book.

    Thanks for linking up!

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  14. Very intriguing opener! I think I would like to read it and see the movie; I'm into travel memoirs.
    Oh, and your review of Black Ice... haha!... you are hilarious! Thanks for sharing.

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    Replies
    1. The trailers look really promising. :)

      Haha! Thanks for checking it out...

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