Thursday, February 23, 2023

The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff -- BOOK BEGINNINGS


BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Thank you for joining me on Book Beginnings on Fridays to share the opening sentence (or so) from 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
The day I returned to Templeton steeped in disgrace, the fifty-foot corpse of a monster surfaced in Lake Glimmerglass.

-- from The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff. That is a terrific opening sentence! One of the best I've read in a long time. It hints at so much story to come and I immediately want to read the rest of the book.

And I almost didn't. I disliked Groff's other book, Fates and Furies, so much that I almost plucked this from my TBR shelf to put in a Little Free Library. But I decided to give it a try as one of my TBR 23 in '23 books and I am glad I did. 

I ended up enjoying this rollicking, shaggy story of Templeton and its generations of rowdy townsfolk much more than I expected. It is loosely based on the history of Cooperstown, New York, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and on the stories written by one of the town's forefathers, James Fennimore Cooper. 

Have you read either The Monsters of Templeton or Fates and Furies? What did you think?

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 hashtag #bookbeginnings.

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THE FRIDAY 56

Freda at Freda's Voice hosts another teaser event on Fridays. Participants share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of the book they are reading -- or from 56% of the way through the audiobook or ebook. Please visit Freda's Voice for details and to leave a link to your post.

MY FRIDAY 56

From The Monsters of Templeton:
He squeezed his eyes shut. And, thus safe against my mother’s magnificent though untethered bosoms, he explained as calmly as he could that Marmaduke Temple was perhaps the archetypical American, the first self-made man; that he, a Quaker, had slaves was scandal enough; and far worse, that he, a married man, had relations with his slaves – scandalous!


10 comments :

  1. The first quote grabbed my attention. It's definitely a unique way to open a story. Have a great weekend!

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  2. This sounds interesting. Have a great weekend!

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  3. I've often wondered if I could read this book. Is it very scary?

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    1. It's not scary at all. There are no real monsters, other than the dead sea monster from the lake in the opening sentence. I think the "monsters" are the generations of the narrator's family members who lived in the town of Templeton, doing the ordinary bad things humans do.

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  4. You're right, that first sentence is great! Hope the rest lives up to it.

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  5. Those are great snippets! I've got Groff's Matrix on my TBR, but I'm not familiar with The Monsters of Templeton. I guess I'll be adding it to my list, too!

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  6. I drove into Houston to hear Groff speak. I bought Fates and Furies at the event. I nevertheless was terribly disappointed with the book. Glad to hear you liked this one.

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    1. I rarely dislike a book as much as I disliked F&F. I wonder now why I finished it. I would not have guessed this one was by the same author. It had so much more human kindness in it.

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  7. Sounds wicked good!!! Happy weekend!

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  8. A really great opening sentence!

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