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Wondrous Words

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http://www.bermudaonion.wordpress.com   1.cocoyam  2.prodigally Title Mango Seedling 1.On one ever recurring dot of cocoyam.... http://www.wikipedia.com 2.Cocoyam is a common name for several tropical root vegetables and may refer to: Taro ( Colocasia esculenta ) - old cocoyam Malanga ( Xanthosoma spp.) - new cocoyam On seed yams, prodigally. wastefully or recklessly extravagant: http://www.dictionary.com  

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

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http://www.shouldbereading.wordpress.com  I finished The Spark And The Drive by Wayne Harrison. Also finished,Sister Betty Says I Do by Pat G'orge Walker. Now I'm reading When Camels Fly by NLB Horton. Next, I want to finish The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman. Next, I would like to continue The Gold Finch by Donna Tartt and Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

First Chapter First Paragraph

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"You risk everything by killing her." The Israeli voice outside Maggie's rent rattled with age.  "How much do you thin she knows?" The second speaker sounded young, his diction precisely well educated. Based on her work in the region, she thought his accent was Lebanese or Jordanian. He was not the same caste as the Bedouin guard who communicated with a grunt, and leared and cleaned his pistol across from her now." Arabian Desert, western Jordan http://bibliophilebythe sea.blogspot.com

Teaser Tuesday

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They didn't build a fire because it could attract attention. The desert chill made them thankful for their robes. Mark was wrapped tightly, and pulled the dense wool closer. "You take the first shift, I'll take the second. I want to be in the market by five thirty." He wiggled a small rock from the wall. "Peep hole, in case of visitors. Make it five." Visitors were unlikely because the terrain was rugged and off the beaten path, and showed no sign of recent traffic when they had approached two hours earlier."

THE SPARK AND THE DRIVE A NOVEL WAYNE HARRISON (Courtesy copy of www.stmartinspress)

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When I first received this novel in the mail, I thought it would be all about mechanics and car repair. My reaction proves it's not always possible to really know a book until you open it and start reading a bit. The Spark And The Drive by Wayne Harrison is about more than I could ever imagine. I would say Mr. Harrison deals with the nuts and bolts of life experiences. In this instance, the novel mainly is about a couple's struggles to deal with the loss of a baby. Around this one event will swirl like a typhoon the lives of other people who become involved with Nick and his wife, Mary Ann. I can't even imagine how difficult it is to lose a child. I only have heard or read the experiences of  other people in my life or characters in books. Nick and Mary Ann grieve in different ways. Perhaps, men and women always grieve differently. I don't know. Anyway, their grief separates them one from another. Their marriage is now on dangerous ground. It's very easy to kno

The Spark And The Drive by Wayne Harrison

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" Sometimes I'd go to the great gothic campus downtown and look at the Gutenberg Bible, one of only forty eight in existence , or  Van Gogh's Night Cafe, which he gave his landlord in lieu of rent, now worth upwards of fifty million, according to the catalog."

Sister Betty Says I Do by Pat G'orge Walker

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The main characters this time around in Sister Betty says I do are Freddie Noel and Sister Betty. Yes, the church bells are suppose to ring for their wedding. However, every obstacle in the world seems to show up. It's as if that ole devil doesn't want these two lovebirds to tie the knot.  Not only does the devil want to stop a wedding, he wants to dirty the name of the finest pastor ever, Reverend Leotis. Surprisingly or not surprisingly, Reverend Leotis seems to need a woman companion. He's looking too. The two ladies who have their eyes on him are Sister Ima and Sharvon. Sister Ima does a Holy dance one Sunday in church. Her holly rolling body says more than any altar call should say or show. I hope in the next novel Pat G'orge Walker  picks up with Reverend Leotis' roving eye. I also can't wait to read again about Freddie and Sister Betty. I think Sister Betty will make a fine First Lady, but you never know. As the novel explains, it's not easy be

Friday 56

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" I saw a recognizable behavior--due to manners, in this case--I felt that we weren't so different, that whatever made us different wasn't more than the random matter of life experience." http://www.fredasvoice.com

Friday Beginnings

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"Mary Ann smooths over his lap marks, and it's their quiet together that makes me feel safe. You hope for such assurance around your own parents, though mostly I remember my father's light jab, my mother's retaliations, words that hook in and stay." http://rosecityreader.blogspot.com

W...W...W...

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http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com I have finished Every Bitter Thing is Sweet by Sara Hagerty. I'm still reading Sister Betty Says I Do by Pat G'orge Walker. I'm also reading The Spark And The Drive by Wayne Harrison. 

Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet by Sara Hagerty

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Some times our children may seem too noisy. As they grow older, they seem to pick the wrong date over and over again. Through these rough days, there are times when we forget the wonder of having conceived and birthed a child. Sara Hagerty helped me regain the right perspective. Our children are gifts from God. Their childhood terrors or adult terrors are never enough to make me feel ungrateful for these living gifts especially when thinking of Sara Hagerty and her husband and many others like this couple who find difficulty in conceiving a child is to be their cross in this life.  This couple was willing to wait over ten years, willing to travel to Ethiopia, Africa in order to fight for the right to adopt children. Sara Hagerty learned many spiritual lessons during this time. Once they get the children the lessons don't stop. God continues to speak to her and she continues to speak back to God. Finally, the lesson learned is that in the place of  hunger is where she finds Jes

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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I finished Elizabeth Bourne's A Fickle Wind. I received it as a review copy from the Cadence Group. Now I'm reading Sister Betty Says I Do by Pat G'orge Walker. Her books make me laugh so hard. I don't see how it's possible to read one without laughing.Also reading, The Spark And The Drive by Wayne Harrison. I won this one from the Bookreporter.  At first, I felt frustrated. I know nothing about cars. For me, car language is like Heiroglyphics.  The plot is good. Hope to put a dent in When Camels Fly by NLB HORTON. I love the cover of this one. http://www.bookjourney.wordpress.com

First Chapter, First Paragraph

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http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com "It was only a duck pond, out at the back of the farm. It wasn't very big. Lettie Hempstock said it was an ocean, but I knew that was silly. She said they'd come here across the ocean from the old country."  

Teaser Tuesday

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http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com " Nobody came to my seventh birthday party. There was a table laid with jellies and trifles, with a party hat beside each place, and a birthday cake with seven candles on it in the center of the table. The cake had a book drawn on it, in icing . My mother, who had organized the party, told me that the lady at the bakery said that they had never put a book on a birthday cake before, and that mostly for boys it was footballs or spaceships. I was their first book."

A Fickle Wind by Elizabeth Bourne

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In this one novel I have traveled to so many places: England, Canada, parts of California. I especially enjoyed the author, Elizabeth Bourne's travels and move to California. She had friends in Carmel, San Francisco and she built a home in Silicon Valley for a couple to buy. A Fickle Wind by Elizabeth Bourne is filled with the usual life all of us live: marriage misunderstandings, in-law problems, parental problems and our struggles with where and how we want to make a living for the rest of our lives.  The problems we face are like fickle winds: unpredictable, confusing and miserable. This does not mean Elizabeth Bourne led a life of unhappiness. She is the type of woman who knows how to grasp hold of the wheel of a sail boat and hold on for dear life. She isn't going to let life just sweep her to and fro without a time out to look at her map again and gain a new perspective if necessary. She is a graceful and strong woman. This is one of the important lessons I discovere

Book Beginnings

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http://rosecityreader.blogspot.com " When I was in preschool, I had a teacher named Starlily. She wore rainbow tie-dyed dresses and was always bringing in cookies that were made with granola and flax and had no taste."

Friday 56

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http://www.fredasvoice.com "We were both young and from England, and we had each married just before moving to Canada. Doreen's ethnicity was Czech, and her parents had escaped just prior to the Nazi occupation of their country. They had been put into an English refugee camp. Doreen was in utero when her parents arrived in England, and she was named for the woman who had masterminded their escape. "

Follow Friday Four Fill-In Fun

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http://www.feelingbeachie.com If I eat too many_____, I_______  Running a____is______ Why is it that_________? Where do you_____? 1. If I eat too many cookies, I feel overstuffed. 2.Running a house is not easy. 3.Why is it that I can't get organized? 4.Where do you go to church?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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http://bookjourney.wordpress.com I finished Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. I finished Breaking All The Rules by Rhonda McKnight. I finished Return to Love by Kathleen Shoop. This is a courtest copy for review. This is from Beck Valley. The blog tour is listed at the top of the page. Now I'm reading for KREGEL Candle Prayers for Kids by Claire Freedman. I am also reading Sister Betty Says I Do by Pat G'org Walker. Also, The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier.

Teaser Tuesday

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" The men found me weeding among the strawberries. I have planted them so that there's a place for me to kneel easily and weed. I don't think much of them as plants--the flowers don't smell and the leaves are neither soft nor  prickly nor thin nor fat. But the fruit is heavenly. Now in early summer the berries have begun to grow but are still small and hard and have little scent. Once the fruit is ripe, though, I would happily spend all day in this square of the garden, crushing the berries between my fingers to smell and taste...I am happiest in my garden. It is the safest place in the world." http://www.shouldbereadingwordpress.com

Wondrous Words

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"Alienor didn't seem to be listening to him, but was wrinkling her nose in disgust. Then I smelled it, and a moment later Noiclas did too. " Bon Dieu, what is that" he cried. " It smells like a barrow full of piss!" "It's Jacques Le Boeuf," I said. " The woad dyer." "Is that what woad smells like? I've never been near the stuff. In Paris they have to work outside the city walls in a place no one goes near."  a European herb ( Isatis tinctoria ) of the mustard family formerly grown for the blue dyestuff yielded by its leaves; also :   this dyestuff http://merriam-webster.com " http://bermudaonion.net

The Lady And The Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier

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" The messenger said I was to come at once. That how Jean le Viste is-- he expects everyone to do what he says immediately. And I did. I followed the messenger, stopping just briefly to clean my brushes. Commissions from Jean Le Viste can mean food on the table for weeks. Only the king says no to Jean Le Viste, and I am certainly no king." http://rosecityreader.com