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Showing posts from March, 2015

First Chapter First Paragraph

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"Come quick before he starts looking for you!" my grandpa hissed in a frantic whisper from below my bedroom window, where he stood on an overturned wheelbarrow with outstretched arms while my father roared drunkenly downstairs." http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com

Teaser Tuesday

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"Even if he had access to the latest technology, I know Rafe wouldn't use it. Forensic science is an unnecessary distraction in his eyes. He believes anything can be found out by asking enough people enough questions. His crime-solving philosophy is based on one simple belief: no one can keep his mouth shut forever." http://adailyrhythm.com

Aunt Dimity: Detective by Nancy Atherton

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It's always fun to read a cozy from Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity series. I'm glad to see Aunt Dimity's writing is still going strong. Also glad that Reginald is still around, the pink stuffed rabbit. In Aunt Dimity: Detective,  Prunella Hooper is the mean, nosy woman who lives in Crabtree Cottage. She has a swinging brick for a heart. Her window looking out on the square seems to give her fodder for gossip. Anyway, there is more to learn about her in Aunt Dimity: Detective. The twins are doing well. However, Bill is away on a working trip in London. He's Lori's husband. Lori is the  sweet sleuth in Finch, England. While Bill is gone, Lori meets Nicholas the nephew of the vicar and his wife. There is murder in the village. Each page becomes more exciting as Aunt Dimity scrawls away in her journal using blue ink. Thank goodness, Lori has such a wonderful confidante. Looking forward to getting back to other Aunt Dimity cozies. http://www.aunt-dimity.com/

The Other Shakespeare by Lea Rachel

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The Shakespeare family live in Stratford, England. William Shakespeare is one of the siblings. Although William Shakespeare is world famous, this Historical novel is not about his life. It's about his sister, Judith's life. As a matter of fact, there isn't much in the book about William Shakespeare. Mostly his name appears  in the letters he writes to Judith while she lives and works in London. Judith Shakespeare's passion is writing. She dreams of writing for the theater one day. However, women are not thought of as playwrights and little else except homemakers. At this time, women were thought of as far inferior to men. Therefore, women did not need an education. A woman should do fine needlework, take care of the children, go to church. There is even a question of whether a woman can love another person as completely as a man. This part of the novel is very sad. Judith's heartbreak is evident throughout the novel. Yet, Judith  continues to fight and stru

Friday 56

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This is a Friday meme for Freda's voice. Pick page 56 out of any book and write a few sentences on your blog. You can hook up by using Freda's linky on her blog. http://fredasvoice.com Chad laughed. "You leave Loco to me, big brother. He's unpredictable, but I'm telling you this horse can run. He's going to help me win that five-thousand-dollar purse this year, or my name's not Chad Aaron Carter."

Book Beginnings

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http://rosecityreader.blogspot.com   Every Friday share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name. September 1873 "Father was the tallest and strongest man in the whole world. Dressed in his fancy dinner clothes, he was also the most handsome." KREGEL Little girls haven't changed. Most girls think their father is the best at everything.  

Wondrous Words

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http://bermudaonion.net "Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love.  Feel free to get creative" like my mind with its pitiful      searching for an exit from itself, and thinking these      days of Pavese Pavese -   (chā`zärā pävĕ`sā) , 1908–50, Italian novelist, poet, and translator. A major literary figure in postwar Italy, Pavese brought American influence to Italian literature through his translations. He himself was strongly influenced by Melville. Pavese's flight from the Fascists and subsequent imprisonment were reflected in his writings, which dealt with social struggle and revealed his sympathy for the oppressed. His major works include Il Compagno [the comrade] (1948), Tra Donne Sole (1948; tr. Among Women Only, 1953), and La luna e i falò (1950; tr. The Moon and the Bonfire, 1952).

White Egrets by Derek Walcott

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  I am haunted by hedges of         pink oleander along the Sicilian roads, their      consonants of gravel under the tires, by stone piles,      by walls whose wonder     

Friday 56

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Judith wasn't trying to upset her mother, she didn't want to be a bad daughter, she just couldn't help being who she was. She just couldn't help wanting to read." http://fredasvoice.com

Book Beginnings

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"Every third birth shall be for the grave. The words rang in Judith Shakespeare's ears as she picked up the looking glass with the ornate, gold trimmed handle, and spied again her heavy blond locks and clear blue eyes. It was always startling, to see her own face reflected in such sharp outline and detail. It was nothing like looking in the waters of the Avon, the cold dark waters which rushed by with such urgent speed, ferrying leaves and branches and thick clumps of dirt on their way to the next village....." http://rosecityreader.blogspot.com

A Glorious Dark by A. J. Swoboda

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It's almost Easter. It is the most Holy time of the year. It is the day when Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Some people call it Resurrection Sunday. However, according to A. J. Swoboda , Friday and Saturday are just as important. So, there is Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday. Good Friday and Saturday typify a time of  heavy darkness: On Friday, Jesus is crucified. On Saturday, there is deadly silence. In A Glorious Dark, the author beams his light on to darkness proving that in darkness there is hope, and in darkness there is  change. In our darkest periods , is the light at the end of our tomb. In our dark times, there is no reason to give up. There is no shame in having a Messiah whom some people might think of as a Fallen hero because He laid in a dark grave. There are also answers in our most silent periods. Those lonely times can lead us into our community. The strength of  the book A Glorious Dark by A.J. Swoboda is that the author is able to take the full Ho

Wondrous words

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Apologetics - The branch of theology that is concerned with defending or proving the truth of Christian doctrines.  http://bermudaonion.net   dictionary.search.yahoo.com

First Chapter First Paragraph

It's Monday! What Are Your Reading?

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http://bookjourney.wordpress.com This week I finished A Book Thief At Christmas by Melissa AuClair and Death Of A King by Tavis Smiley. Currently I'm reading "A Glorious Dark by A.J. Swoboda and NightBird by Alice Hoffman. Next is Aunt Dimity: Detective.

Death Of A King by Tavis Smiley

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Stupendous! Tavis Smiley's Death Of A King brings one of the heavyweights of the Civil Rights movement back to life. The man, Martin Luther King, proved himself  a hero over and over again. This book takes us into the heart of a movement and a man. Often there is a focus on his To Have A Dream speech which can still move the heart to cry out for the civil rights of mankind. However, there is more to know. He faced g reat obstacles from all sides. Many times it seemed as though the movement would fall apart or give away to the violence hawked by the militants of the sixties. Still, Martin Luther King held to his values while chasing away depression, nervous exhaustion and sometimes fear. Mr. Tavis Smiley introduces us to a man who continued standing through the worst of times. He continued fighting for nonviolence while men were dying in Vietnam. He never gave up. "We shall overcome" always remained his motto. While he faced persecution, he spoke of poverty and unequal

A Cookbook Thief at Christmas by Melissa AuClair

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There is a lot going on in Melody's life. Some of the circumstances are expected, others aren't expected. Along the way Melody will become attracted to Brandon, a handsome guy. What's really exciting is the theft of over two hundred cookbooks. Some of these cookbooks are collectibles. These cookbooks belong to Melody's elderly neighbor, Gwendolyn. When Gwendolyn asks for Gwendolyn's help in finding the thieves, events become more exciting. While this is going on, Christmas is never left out of the picture. There are Christmas recipes to bake, Christmas music and Christmas get togethers. At the end of the book, there are the recipes that blogger Melody chose to bake while on the search for not only thieves but a killer. Plus, there is always Nibbles making an appearance. http://www.melissaauclair.com/

Book Beginnings

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Near Sawrey, October, 1905   "It was a splendid morning in October when Miss Abigail Tolliver departed this world--one of those brilliant, breezy days that sets the heart singing and stirs the blue English lakes and the blue English sky into a grand and glorious celebration of clouds and color. It was one of those perfect days that seem to promise the beginning of all good things, but because the leaves were whirling from the trees, it promised endings, too." http://rosecityreader.com

A Cookbook Thief At Christmas by Melissa L. AuClair

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thejoykitchenall-about-joy/1931-edition "No, who would murder him? And really, over cookbooks? I highly doubt it. Copies of the first edition of The Joy of Cooking with a signature from the author aren't that valuable."

Drinking Coffee In The Mornings

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I miss one of my daily rituals. I love to drink one cup of coffee every morning. Lately, I have thought about giving up that one cup of coffee. Then, I thought; "what would my life feel like without it?" I would feel numb. One reason I get up out of bed is to drink a cup of cafe' au lait. It's not the mocha taste necessarily. It's because a mug of coffee gives me a reason to sit down and rest in the moment. Otherwise, I would keep roaming from project to project like a butterfly drifts from rose to rose. Usually, I'm sitting at my computer drinking my cup of coffee. I look at my emails especially the ones about books. Then, I feel my body become awake like a Polar bear wakes from a long winter sleep. I drink more sips of coffee. I rest in the blessing of the day. God has given me another day to enjoy. I rest in the scripture. "'This is the day which the Lord hath made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.'" (Psalm 118:24).

Armchair Travel

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I've missed experiencing many days of travel by way of train, bus, airplane and boat. Most of my travel has taken place through the pages of books and magazines. In the United States, I've only traveled up and down the East coast: Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina,Mississippi, Maryland, Washington. I've lived in Pennsylvania. I now live in Tennessee. I vaguely remember the first time I heard the words Armchair Traveler. I loved those words. Possibly, I could travel this way. I wouldn't need money. When I look at photographs in a book or read pages of a book, it's as if I've gone to the location whether foreign or American. I haven't traveled to every state in the United States either. However, for every lemon there is lemonade. Hence, there is travel, Armchair travel, without ever leaving home. This is a blessing. I have eyes to see. I have all my senses. There are so many authors willing to use their authentic voice to help me see Mount Everest,

Weekend Cooking

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"Melody glanced back at her friend, wondering what could have ruffled Gwendolyn so badly. few things shook up the normally staunch woman. Melody brought back the coffee and a rugelach . (A cookie of cream-cheese dough spread with filling, such as jam or nuts, and then rolled up). cookie she had made that morning, handing them to Gwendolyn." www.bethfishreads.com

Wondrous Word

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http://bermudaonion.wordpress.com Gyrovagus a vagrant monk who wandered from one monastery to another.  http://dictionary.com Comfort: "She would think of the recipes for poultices or decoctions . Some were complex and required a great deal of thinking, thinking that left little room for sadsome ideas about the death of her friend."   Decoction is a method of extraction by boiling of dissolved chemicals from herbal or plant ...Decoction involves first mashing and then boiling in water to take out oils, Decoction can be used to make herbal teas , teas , coffees , tinctures and similar solutions. http://www.wikipedia.org " She took her daily sip of the quassia infusion and began to calculate the number of days more she would have to sip and build up her tolerance to the herb."  Quassia 1. A tropical American shrub or small tree (Quassia amara) having bright scarlet flowers and yielding a fine-grained, yellowish-white wood.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

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This is a powerful novel about a female Psychology Professor in Massachusetts. She is married to John who works at Harvard in another department. She is the mother of three grown-up children who are either married, are starting a family or working to build a career. Alice's identity will change as her condition separates her from her career and from her family. She will be diagnosed with Early onset Alzheimer's Disease. I felt badly for Alice. It helped to learn about her willingness to fight this battle. She is a strong woman who never quits. She keeps striving to hold on to herself and to give back to those whom she loves and to new people who enter her life. It's very moving when she attends a graduation at Harvard. One of her students, Dan, is graduating. She is there for him. She doesn't remember him as an individual. Still, she's there to give hope and love to this student. I also felt very moved when she drew up a support group for people who were suff

Teaser Tuesday

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http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com "The bread is so good, and the butter," said a coworker sitting next to Melody. "I used to make bread like this, but--"

First Chapter First Beginnings

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http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com "'Is it too soon to ask you out on a date?'" His voice cracked. Melody dropped the lanyard. Her stomach locked up, like she had just completed one of those crazy abs exercise videos. She didn't look up at Ned. Instead, she began stuffing the name card into the lanyard a little bit faster for a few seconds, trying to gather the courage to say what she really wanted to say. Unfortunately, the words she wanted to say couldn't come up past the pit of her throat. The words she wanted to say stuck in her throat like a blob of peanut butter.

Weekend Cooking

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www.bethfishreads.com I've never tasted a Chocolate Croissant. That's odd because I loved bakery pastries. We're going to get about three for tonight. I might look up a few recipes. The pastry pictured here looks difficult, I think. Will soon know. "Melody jogged up the stairs, trying to switch her thoughts to the cooking group tonight. The Chocolate Croissant Cooking Club started eight months ago, over hot cups of coffee with cream and a shared chocolate croissant, and they had been going strong every since....While they talked, they cooked a lot. Pasta dishes, fish entrees, soups, salads, desserts and chocolate. Especially chocolate."

Friday 56

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"Since then, I've had tea with the Abercrombies, who live three doors down, Been to a backyard barbecue at Bob and Marlene's....a pool party at Barry and Jelinda's...had watermelon martinis at Julie's...took in a rose garden gathering at Sally's."http://fredasvoice.com http://www.fredasvoice.com/