Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Teaser Tuesday: Trick or Treat? - a History of Halloween by Lisa Morton


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of  Should Be Reading.
Anyone can participate. just do the following.
Rules:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t  give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

Published 2012 by
Reaktion Books Ltd.
This week's teaser is from Trick or Treat? a History of Halloween by Lisa Morton.

"One town took the pranking so seriously that it ended up becoming the town's identity: Anoka, Minnesota, claims to have been the first city in the United States to put on a Halloween celebration to divert its youngsters from Halloween pranks. Tired of waking up on 1 November to find their cattle roaming on Main Street, in 1920, Anoka's civil leaders instituted a programme of Halloween parades, giveaways and bonfires." (p.77)

Further reading on the same page reveals that a young man went to Washington in 1937 and asked for the town to be named the official Halloween capital of the world. And currently the week preceding Halloween is filled with contests and parades "boasts 40,000 participants."

The book is filled with facts about Halloween. I am enjoying it, although I find the reading a little dry in parts.

So, what are you reading this Tuesday? What's your teaser? Please share it in the comments. Thanks for visiting!

14 comments:

  1. How perfect for Halloween! I am wearing a Snoopy t-shirt. Snoopy is wearing a witch hat and riding a broom with Woodstock in attendance.
    My TT this week is a series mystery: Burn by Nevada Barr at http://wp.me/pZnGI-f4

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    1. The t-shirt sounds perfect! Love Snoopy. And the description of the shop in your teaser is good too. Wondering where everybody was in the store. Thanks for coming by!

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    1. It's pretty interesting. Some of it I knew before, but there is new info for me to glean from it. Your teaser about Joni Mitchell is interesting. Thanks for coming by!

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  3. This would be a fun book. I know some of the history but just a little. I think I'll be surprised at what I learn.
    I'm watching Tremors right now. I love a good B - movie with lots of snark.
    Here is my TT - http://fuonlyknew.com/2014/10/28/teaser-tuesdays-87-moore-zombies-and-the-alien-next-door/

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    1. I love B movies with snark too. They're great for watching any time, but this is the perfect week for it! Enjoyed your teasers too.

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  4. Sounds like an interesting reference. I imagine some of the stories are pretty wild!
    My Tuesday post features THE BEARWALKER’S DAUGHTER.

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    1. So far, what i've read has been on the tame side, but I am not too far into the book. Celtic origins for the holiday are what I'm reading about now. I love your teaser this week. I think I'll have to add it to my TBR.

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  5. That's really cool. I've never considered how Halloween got to be what it is today. I bet there's some great ideas for events and programs in there. Cool pick, and thanks for stopping by My Teaser earlier!

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  6. Sounds like fun! Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

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  7. Sounds like an interesting read. The Halloween pranks is one of my favorite scenes in Meet Me in St Louis. For many years we had a problem in our city with crowds of people coming in from out of town/state and causing riots in the downtown area, resulting in thousands of dollars in damages. It finally changed when they instituted "Freak Fest." They cordon off one of the major downtown streets, feature a couple of music stages and charge admission and what a difference it has made. Thanks for visiting!

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    1. Glad they found a workable solution! Happy Halloween!

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  8. An interesting sounding book full of interesting facts for this time of year. Here is my TT http://cleopatralovesbooks.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/teaser-tuesday-october-28/

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    1. Your Lisa Scottoline book sounds good too. Thanks for coming by!

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