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.
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?
