The Friday 56 (251) & Book Beginnings: The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. **Note: Freda @ Freda's Voice is taking a break from The Friday 56; Anne @Head is Full of Books is hosting for now.**

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

From the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an enchanting, beautifully illustrated short story set in the Strange universe.

"A church is a sort of wood. A wood is a sort of church. They're the same thing really."

Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scott is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees - and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods. One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst - and the path of her life is changed forever.

Beginning: "It was winter, just a few days before Christmas. A few flakes of snow fell on the quiet fields."

56: "Some stories sink down into your bones. In my own writing I had become fascinated by characters who are bridges between different worlds, between different states of being, characters who feel compelled to try and reconcile the unreconcilable."

Comments: I really liked this short story from Susanna Clarke. Its a very quick read but a good one, and it's illustrated by Victoria Sawdon. Since this was a so short, my 56 this week comes from the author's afterward, just because of how much I loved the quote. What are you reading this week?