20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

Thank you for joining me this week for Book Beginnings on Fridays where participants share the opening sentence (or two) from the book they are reading. You can also share from a book you want to feature, even if you are not reading it at the moment. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

The year 1866 was marked by a bizarre incident, an unexplained and unexplainable phenomenon, which—without a doubt—no one has forgotten.

 -- from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (translated by William Butcher for Oxford World's Classics, 1998).

The original (1873) English translation by Mercier Lewis was horribly clunky, but remained unchanged despite criticism for over 100 years:

The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and puzzling phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten.

"Signalized"? Doubtless no one has yet forgotten that awkward and made-up word! 

No matter the translation, 20,000 Leagues is a corker and I'm loving every page. I read junior versions of Verne's classic tales when I was a kid, and am finally reading the full versions now as an adult. I started with Around the World in 80 Days, which was terrific. So exciting! Now I am having an undersea adventure with Captain Nemo and it's just as wonderful. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING

Please add the link to your book beginning post in the linky box below. If you participate or share on social media, please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings so other people can find your post.

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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 asks participants to share a two-sentence teaser from their book of the week. If your book is an ebook or audiobook, pick a teaser from the 56% point. 

Anna at My Head is Full of Books hosts The Friday 56, a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please visit My Head is Full of Books to leave the link to your post. 

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea:

I was stretched on the ground, just under the shelter of a bush of algae, when, raising my head, I saw some enormous mass, casting phosphorescent gleams, pass blusteringly by.

My blood froze in my veins as I recognized two formidable sharks which threatened us.

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne is a pioneering science fiction novel that takes readers on an extraordinary underwater adventure. The story follows Professor Aronnax, his servant Conseil, and the Canadian harpooner Ned Land as they are captured by Captain Nemo aboard the technologically advanced submarine, the Nautilus. As they journey across the world's oceans, they encounter exotic sea life, lost civilizations, and mysterious underwater wonders.

The novel explores themes of isolation, the boundaries of human knowledge, and mankind's relationship with nature. Captain Nemo, a complex and enigmatic character, embodies a mix of scientific genius and tragic defiance. Verne's vivid descriptions of marine exploration and futuristic technology captivated audiences, establishing the book as a cornerstone of the science fiction genre.

May 2026 Monthly Wrap Up -- BOOK THOUGHTS

BOOK THOUGHTS

February 2026 Monthly Wrap Up

When it comes to vacation books, I’m Team Fluffy all the way. When I go out of town, like I did in May, I pack hen lit, comfort reads, and mysteries. Many of the books I read in May are not in this picture because I left them behind when I finished.* Do you do that?

Here's a list of the books I read in May. See any favorites?

• The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey, set in Bath, England, where I started my vacation. This is the first of his Peter Diamond mysteries and I thought it was terrific. I have most of the series in Soho Crime editions and look forward to reading all of it. 

• The Art of Making Memories by Meik Wiking, author of The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living, which has so much more going for it. He followed Hygge with The Little Book of Lykke: Secrets of the World’s Happiest People. This is the weakest of the three. It was interesting enough, but felt like he overworked scant material. 

• Regeneration by Pat Barker, the first book in her Regeneration Trilogy about psychological injuries caused by, and closeted gay life during, WWI.

• The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker, the second book in the trilogy.

• The Ghost Road by Pat Barker, the last book and the 1995 winner of the Booker Prize. 

• The Trees by Conrad Richter, the first novel of his Awakening Land trilogy about American pioneers in the late 1700s.

LEFT BEHIND

• The Royal Secret by Lucinda Riley. I greatly enjoyed this thriller involving a “fictional” royal family, even through its highly improbably spots. 

• Fellowship of Fear by Aaron Elkins, his first Gideon Oliver mystery. I read a later book from this series last summer and loved it, so wanted to start at the beginning. This one didn't do much for me. The plot just never made sense. But I will continue because I try to not judge a series from its first book and I know from the other one I read that these get better. 

• The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier. This one was just my cup of tea. It's a campus novel featuring a woman of a certain age who moves from New York City to to be a professor at Amhurst, where she renovates a big old house and tries her luck at romance.  

• They Did It with Love by Kate Morgenroth is a domestic thriller set in ritzy Greenwich, Connecticut. It was very clever, but (without giving anything away), I didn't like the ending. 

• Bookish People by Susa Coll, a cute story set in a Washington, D.C. bookshop. This one came full circle for me because I bought it while on vacation in Alaska a couple of years ago and read it on vacation this year. 

AUDIOBOOKS

• What I Ate in One Year (and Related Thoughts) by Stanley Tucci. Entertaining, but not as good as Taste: My Life Through Food. It's easy to understand why. Taste was the story of his whole life, so he had a lot of material to draw on. It was also charmingly self-deprecating and he played down his life as a famous movie star. This one is limited to one year, so he had to make a little go a long way. As a result, it's mostly about his life as a movie star and there's a lot of name dropping.  

• The Engine House by Rhys Dylan, the first in a mystery series set in Wales, where I went on vacation after Bath. One of my book club friends recommended the series to me when I told her I like to read books set in the places where I travel. I plan to continue with the series because this first one was quite good and most (all?) are available as audiobooks from my library. 

* I love a "take one/leave one" shelf in a hotel. I love searching for some gem that will then be a souvenir of my trip. And I'm more than happy to leave behind any books I finish. But I never leave a book in an airplane seatback if I finish it on the plane. I think those just get thrown away, either immediately, when the plane is being cleaned, or later, after a long internment in a lost and found closet. What do you think happens to them?

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett

Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

Downtown Drugstore had a bell on the door that made a single tink sound when you opened it.

-- from The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, which I admit I haven't read, despite its enormous popularity. 

The Calamity Club sounds like the kind of "great yarn" novels I really enjoy. Over 650 or so pages, Stockett tells the story of three women whose "fates converge" in Oxford, Mississippi in 1933. It looks like a winning mix of historical fiction, Southern Gothic, Great Depression, women's friendships, grit, determination, and overcoming adversity. I can't wait to dive in!

(I got my copy through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. I'm not one for review copies because I don't like the guilt when I don't review it fast enough. But this looked too good to pass up. Fortunately, my copy arrived well after the May 5, 2026 launch date, so I don't have any guilt about reviewing it in June.)

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.

Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from The Calamity Club:

My sister's house was very white and very wide and very tall. Six fat columns supported a deep front porch with a dozen black rocking chairs on it.

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

Abandoned by her mother one Christmas Eve, eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one. Now one of the unadoptable "big girls" at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, she fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed.

Birdie Calhoun, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford to ask her socialite sister to help the struggling family she's left behind. But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie discovers her sister's seemingly charmed life is a tapestry of lies. 

Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman running low on luck with little left to lose. When their fates--and Meg's--converge, Charlie comes up with an audacious plan for them to take control of their lives. But in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife and women's freedom is fragile, even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences.

The Ghost Road by Pat Barker -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

The Ghost Road by Pat Barker

Thank you for joining me this week for Book Beginnings on Fridays where participants share the opening sentence (or two) from the book they are reading. You can also share from a book you want to feature, even if you are not reading it at the moment. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

In deck-chairs all along the front, the bald pink knees of Bradford businessmen nuzzled the sun.

-- from The Ghost Road by Pat Barker.

The Ghost Road is the final book in Pat Barker's World War I trilogy, beginning with Regeneration and The Eye in the Door. She won the 1995 Booker Prize for The Ghost Road. I'm reading it right now. 

The trilogy is not like other WWI books I've read. I expected the usual muddy trenches and battle scenes. I think I'm going to get some of that in the second half of The Ghost Road, but the first two book and the first half of this one have been set during the war, but in England. The books center on psychiatrist William Rivers treating soldiers with shell shock and other mental conditions. The patients talk about what happened to them in the war, which is traumatic enough, but none of the action (so far) takes place on the battlefield. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING

Please add the link to your book beginning post in the linky box below. If you participate or share on social media, please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings so other people can find your post.

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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 asks participants to share a two-sentence teaser from their book of the week. If your book is an ebook or audiobook, pick a teaser from the 56% point. 

Anna at My Head is Full of Books hosts The Friday 56, a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please visit My Head is Full of Books to leave the link to your post. 

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from The Ghost Road:

He wasn't particularly surprised: the removal of hysterical paralysis was often -- one might almost say generally -- as dramatic as the onset. Moffet lay still, his face sallow against the whiteness of the pillow, making no attempt to hide his depression, and indeed, why should he?

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

In France, millions of men engaged in brutal trench warfare are all “ghosts in the making.” In England, psychologist William Rivers, with severe pangs of conscience, treats the mental casualties of the war to make them whole enough to fight again. One of these, Billy Prior, risen to the officer class from the working class, both courageous and sardonic, decides to return to France with his fellow officer, poet Wilfred Owen, to fight a war he no longer believes in. Meanwhile, Rivers, enfevered by influenza returns in memory to his experience studying a South Pacific tribe whose ethos amounted to a culture of death. Across the gulf between his society and theirs, Rivers begins to form connections that cast new light on his—and our—understanding of war.

The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier

Thank you for joining me for Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now.

MY BOOK BEGINNING

It takes a keen eye to tell a false start from a dead end.

-- from The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier. I like that clever opening sentence!

This is another book I found languishing on my TBR shelves. It's a novel about a woman of a certain age starting over in a new city, with a new house. I love books like this! What's a good name for this subgenre? I use hen lit or Aga Saga, but maybe there's another term for them. 

 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please add the link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 is a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings. The idea is to share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your featured book. If you are reading an ebook or audiobook, find your teaser from the 56% mark.

Freda at Freda's Voice started and hosted The Friday 56 for a long, long time. She is taking a break and Anne at My Head is Full of Books has taken on hosting duties in her absence. Please visit Anne's blog and link to your Friday 56 post.

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from The Season of Second Chances:

A number of dinner guests looked up to see us standing in the doorway. I don't think they caught much dialogue, but the uneasy crackle of the air between us was loud enough to be heard in the back of the room.

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

Coming-of-age can happen at any age. Joy Harkness had built a university career and a safe life in New York, protected and insulated from the intrusions and involvements of other people. When offered a position at Amherst College, she impulsively leaves the city, and along with generations of material belongings, she packs her equally heavy emotional baggage. A tumbledown Victorian house proves an unlikely choice for a woman whose family heirlooms have been boxed away for years. Nevertheless, this white elephant becomes the home that changes Joy forever. As the restoration begins to take shape, so does her outlook on life, and the choices she makes over paint chips, wallpaper samples, and floorboards are reflected in her connection to the co-workers who become friends and friendships that deepen. A brilliant, quirky, town fixture of a handyman guides the renovation of the house and sparks Joy's interest to encourage his personal and professional growth. Amid the half-wanted attention of the campus's single, middle-aged men, known as "the Coyotes," and the legitimate dramas of her close-knit community, Joy learns that the key to the affection of family and friends is being worthy of it, and most important, that second chances are waiting to be discovered within us all.