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Showing posts from June, 2014

What Is Visible by Kimberly Elkins

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" Sarah was stung by the remark and realized she was being dismissed. Laura adored Dorothea Dix and was always on her best behavior for those visits. The reformer was nearly as devoted to Laura's cause as she was to helping the insane. Nearly ten years had passed since she'd brought about the changes to Massachusetts' asylums. Before her graphic reportage, the poor lunatics had been tied up, kept in pens, lashed, starved. Sarah read in the paper that Miss Dix was now establishing hospitals in Illinois and North Carolina. history.com/topics/womens-history/dorothea-lynde-dix

First Chapter, First Paragraph

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" How little they trot me out for show these days, and yet here I am this frigid morning, brought down from my room to meet a child , and me not out of my sickbed two weeks. They're actually calling her "the second Laura Bridgman." The second, and I'm still here! I didn't like children even when I was one, and now I think them worse than dogs. I've shriveled and so they've searched for another freak in bloom to exhibit and experiment on. It's taken Perkins decades to find one pretty enough, quick enough. Well, pretty is really the important thing, or at least not too strange or looking like what she is. Not looking like what I am." http://bibliophilebythesea@blogspot.com

Teaser Tuesday

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"A loud harrumph came from Janette's right. "She can pass if she wants to. I wouldn't be in no wedding if my sister was marrying my ex-boyfriend, " Pamela said.  "As a matter of fact, I wouldn't even be in town that day." shouldbereading.wordpress

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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I've finished The Doctor of Thessaly by Anne Zouroudi. Now, I'm reading Breaking All The Rules by Rhonda McKnight, The Returned by Jason Mott, What Is Visible by Kimberly Elkins and The Devil Riding by Valerie Wilson Wesley. http://bookjourney.wordpress.com

Doctor At Thessaly by Anne Zouroudi

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My book is a Kindle e-book.   I f you would like to feel as though you've taken a trip to Greece, this is the perfect novel. Anne Zouroudi in The Doctor of Thessaly has written a mystery filled with true to life characters or at least, characters you would not mind getting to know. The characters are a mite eccentric but very real. There is the woman in the village who cooks bad coffee. The whole town knows it. They still choose to go to the establishment for a chat and a cuppa. There are the two sisters, Noula and Chrissa. The eldest is expected to marry first. That would be Noula. Life doesn't always happen in the pattern we pick. There is the mechanic's wife. She keeps hundreds of old, old photographs taken by her father. She will not try to sell them because the sales would disappoint her sick mother. There are more characters. The most important character is the Fat Man. He is a private investigator visiting from Athens.  There is a jilted bride,  Chrissa. Her

Four Fill-In Fun

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http://www.feelingbeachie.com The statements: I am trying hard to learn how to ____  ___ makes me think that ____ When you try too hard, _______ Can you really______? 1. I am trying hard to learn how to stay up really late at night. I go to bed too early. 2. Wearing white makes me think that I need to lose weight quickly. 3. Whe you try too hard, you get nervous. 4. Can you really weave cloth?

Book Beginnings

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" One by one, peal by peal, the joyful church bells fell silent. First, word reached the chapel of St. Anna's; from there, the message passed to St. Sotiris's where the ringer looped the bell rope on its hook and set off to her daughter's for more news. ..So they found a bicycle and told the oldest boy to travel quickly; and midway through a celebratory peal, that bell too faltered in its rhythm, and was still." http://rosecityreader.blogspot.com

Friday 56

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" But the walls made the room extraordinary. Everywhere, there were photographs--in black-white and sepia, a few in poor quality, early color, all mounted in rough, homemade frames of pine and panel pins. Simple, almost naive in composition, they illustrated a rural life now extinct: men scything fields of grain; women stirring pans of goats' milk on a fire; a donkey being whipped to turn the grinding stones of an olive press; a chandler outside his shop; a fisherman holding up a pair of octopuses; men struggling...studying faces alive with character and settings which captured perfectly the landscape's soul." http://fredasvoice.com

Sadness

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When I am sad, I feel so alone. It's like the whole world has gone to visit Antartica. I am left behind. Although they would have taken me with them, my sadness hid me from their eyes. My faults made me a black shadow. So I misinterpreted God's way of thought. I thought He was too high for me to even contemplate. Forgetting all about David who learned to think about God all day and all night long. David is a good role model.  When I throw away my mask and pull myself out of the closet I learn He never left me. He was beside me all the time. This reminds me of a well known poem, Footprints in the Sand. The words are something like 'when you thought I had left you, I was carrying you. This is why there were only one pair of footprints in the sand.'  I've learned no sadness is too difficult for God to handle. He is comfortable sitting beside me in any situation I find myself. Because at one time  He cried tears of blood. I would like to say, "thank you, God.

Tamela Mann - Take me to the King lyrics

Drought

The cows walked slowly to the cloudy grey pasture fence to ease their thirst. (Haiku 5, 7, 5)

W...W...W...Wednesdays

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http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com I have just finished  English Tea Murder by Leslie Meier. I really enjoyed visiting London, England. I am reading The Devil Riding by Valerie Wilson Wesley. Next, I am going to read....Not sure.

Wondrous Words

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http://bermudaonion.net 1.numinous 2.spectral 1.Gaze, gaze on the numinous greys.. 2.its spectral traffic. 1. For numinous, I chose "mysterious." surpassing comprehension or understanding; mysterious: that element in artistic expression   that remains numinous. 2. its spectral traffic " ghostly" of or pertaining to a specter; ghostly; phantom. Then Sunday brings its summary of the world, with the serene Hudson and its criss-crossing ferries, great clouds and a red barge. Gaze, graze on the numinous greys  of the river, its spectral traffic.... http://dictionary.com                

Seashells

Seashells. Cornucopias, Curled ears, Large white lace plates without rye and cheese crumbs. A seashell - anchor. A hook to settle me here and not there.

First Chapter First Paragraph

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" It was half past midnight on a Friday night--the witching hour, my dead grandma used to call it. I was tending bar in a gangster's suite in a glitzy Atlantic City hotel. I'd stuffed myself into a black silk sheath as snug as it was expensive and was pouring drinks, grinning like a fool. But I was scared." http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com

The Devil Riding by Valerie Wilson Wesley

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" I thought again about Amaretta. Had I made a mistake by keeping my identity to myself? If she was afraid, then I could find a way to protect her. I should have let her know there was somebody on her side, somebody she could depend on to fight a battle if she needed it. But she knew me as Tommie. She had no idea who I was or how to get in touch with me, and I felt guilty about that." http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com  

English Tea Murder by Leslie Meiers

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Lucy Stone, Sue and Pam have just returned from a trip. They traveled from the United States to England. I enjoyed reading about England in Leslie Meier's English Tea Murder cozy. Lucy Stone and her group are traveling along with another group. One of the men has a serious case of Asthma. One man, Dr. Cope, is a Medical doctor. There are two or three college students. One young man's mother is along for the trip and a few other people. I enjoyed their travels around England because Leslie Meier writes about the foods, the historical sites and the hotels in such a realistic way. Believe me, the author doesn't romanticize England like I might have wished. Some places are described as old due to Europe's age and also the blasting of bombs during the Blitz.  Who gets murdered and the motivation for murdering that person is very interesting. Since there are two murders unless I can't count, I don't see why Leslie Meier didn't use the title "English T

Afraid

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Poem They wouldn't like her short plaids tied with ribbons pink. She was sure of it. Once aunts, uncles and friends touched her skin, they walked away for always. Never coming back because she was like barbecue without the hot, red sauce. No taste. She couldn't chance stepping on to their blue and white porch.  Barbara and Tony and Will would run in the house. Close the blinds. Push the old grey sofa against the door. Then, look out the venetian blinds. To make sure she left without a backward glance.

Book Beginnings/Friday 56

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http://rosecityreader.com " MANNY DIAZ HAD THIS DEAL WHERE sometimes he's play the voiceover to his own life in the back of his head. "Here's Manny, down the sidelines--thirty, twenty, ten!" Or..."As Supercop walked along the dark alley, demons and serpents fled from his path." Or, more poignantly..."Manuel Diaz occasionally wondered whether he was the hero of his own life or if someone else had landed the part." In Iraq, when he was part of an EOD team, Manny would run a voiceover while looking for tripwires: "Lieutenant Diaz, fifth call of the day and not even two in the afternoon. One-twenty in the shade. Dust thicker than paint from a spray can. He approaches the target with caution, knowing that one false step could mean the end." http://fredasvoice.com "This was perfect--just perfect. He wouldn't even need to risk using a flash. Manis closed the bathroom door and took a tape measure from his coat pocket.

Jaspar's War by Cym Lowell

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This is a Political Thriller. It is about the Economic stimulus in the United States. However, the battle between those who would destroy America during President Heinrich's ideal plan to stimulate the economy by shooting money into the system is threatened by people not in America. So, the novel begins in Connecticut, and soon ends up in Rome, Italy. This is a novel about one woman's battle to save her children after they are kidnapped. First, she receives word of her husband's death in an airplane crash. He acted as Secretary of the Treasury. It is amazing how all this bad news does not knock this woman off her feet. Therefore, I think this is a novel about how to continue to fight for life and love when all hell has broken loose to take what is so important from you.  Nul becomes the man who will lead her through strategies of warfare in urban areas. Nul is wise beyond his years and fights for the right in any situation. He is well known by the Vietnamese. He is a h

First Chapter, First Paragraph

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" Pock!" The distinctive sound of a plastic bat driving a Wiffle ball into the outfield triggered shrieks from children as they ran and played. My ten-year-old daughter Chrissy dropped the bat and raced toward first base, actually a luminous orange Frisbee. It was Easter Weekend, a time for relaxation and family in Greenwich, Connecticut. Neighbors, friends, and local dignitaries filled our park-like estate. We had room for a ball field where neighborhood kids could congregate. Private security personnel were out of sight." http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com

Teaser Tuesday

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" Are you  awake?" Nul whispered, tiptoeing into the room. "Sort of. I keep having nightmares about my children. They are pitiful and crying for me." Alice slid aside to make room without rising or causing disturbance, displaying the agility of a combat team member. Instinct told her to be on duty, even though there was no indication of danger. Slipping off the bed, the door became her place of sentry, face turned to the small space where light peeked through." http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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http://bookjourney.wordpress.com I finished The Antigone Poems by Australian author, Marie Slaight and Artist, Terrance Tasker. Also finished, Heart of Gold by Beverly Jenkins. I'm still reading The Prodigal by Derek Walcott. Also continuing to read, Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coehlo. Also reading one last book for my Cozy challenge, English Tea Murder by Leslie Meiers. Continuing to read Love Letters from the Edge by Shelly Beach and Wanda Sanchez.

English Tea Murder by Leslie Meier

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"Because it's natural to go right and the maze designer knows that."

English Tea Murder by Leslie Meier

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" I believe George made arrangements for an excursion to Hampton Court today. In fact, I noticed a minibus parked outside, and ....As always in London, the road was crowded and the minibus crawled through town. Lucy didn't mind the slow pace, because it gave her an opportunity to get the lay of the land. Passing through busy Leicester Square,she noticed a sign pointing the way to Buckingham Palace....Hampton Court was built by Cardinal Wolsey and was the finest palace in England....."

Book Beginnings / Friday 56

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"What happened? Why are we being kep t on the plane? asked Rachel as they gathered in a little group. Pam was looking around. "Where's George? How come they didn't call his name?" Lucy cast a questioning look at Sue, who delivered the bad news. "He's dead." Pam was stunned. "What?" "How on earth?" asked Rachel.  "I knew something was wrong. There was a fuss, but I never imagined ...." said Pam. Rachel was clasping her hands together."Was it the asthma?" "He was having trouble breathing at the airport." http://rosecityreader.com The Fish The first fish I ever caught would not lie down quiet in the pail but flailed and sucked  at the burning amazement of the air and died in the slow pouring off  of rainbows. http://fredasvoice.com