N/A

Robert and Lily live at Grace and Favors in New York. They inherited the mansion. This time they are helpers at a nursing home owned by Ms. Twibell. While there at the nursing home, an elderly man is smothered in his bed. Strange because his death from the illness would have happened in a matter of hours. This is one of my favorite cozy series. I really like Robert and Lily. I like this one because the wife and grandsons could be the very ones telling untruths. There is also a very strange woman who is a little bit off her rocker who tells wild stories about the death of a man while putting on his skates by the lake. When I wasn't thinking about the whodunnit, I was thinking about the new dumbwaiter. Interesting little social history because I don't think rich homes have dumbwaiters today, or do they? Sean Connor, the old man, is very grumpy. The only surprise about the murder, really, is the timing as mentioned above. cozy-mystery.com/Jill-Churchill.html

They emerged from the lyceum and came upon the palaestra, a large courtyard covered in sand, surrounded by porticoes, with an entrance to another building at the far side. The palaestra, was buzzing with activity. In the nearer part, a group of about thirty young men were moving through a series of well-choreographed exercises. A young man played a rhythmic tune on a reed instrument, setting the pace for the exercise, as the trainer walked between the others, pausing to correct this one's posture or another one's movements. Farther away, some students as well as adult males were engaged in wrestling matches, boxing, and the long jump. http://adailyrhythm.com/

Add caption http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com The first glow of dawn appeared over the horizon. In an hour it would be  beautiful, an ocean of fire setting the thin veils of clouds ablaze.But for now, it was still that pale green that appeared almost sickly, especially to the man who had already been staring at the sky for most of an hour. Jason slouched in a large alabaster chair upon the terrace outside his bedchamber. A cushion below him took off the chill of the stone seat. A wool blanket made of the finest weave shielded him from the bite of the morning air. He had seen far too many sunrises of late. How long had it been since the sun last woke him up rather than the reverse?

My cat Boots, a Tuxedo, can read books too. :) http;//truebookaddict.com

For Phoenix, it's all about Jacob, her son, whom she hasn't seen in seventeen years. Phoenix has been away in prison for the murder of a friend, Lori. Supposedly, Phoenix murdered her boyfriend's girlfriend by running her over with the car. However, there is another girl on the passenger side riding with her. Whether Phoenix murdered a girl passing by or something freaky happened is part of the novel. No matter Phoenix loses part of her life living away from her mother, her son and her friends in Whiskey Creek. Brenda Novak begins This Heart of Mine with the return of Phoenix to Whiskey Creek. Friends are now her enemies, she has a son to win over and Riley, an old lover and the father of Jacob to try and understand. There is also her mother, a hoarder, a very dysfunctional woman whom Phoenix tries to love over and over again. The novel is multifaceted. It left me wanting to return to Whiskey Creek again in another book. At first, I felt apprehensive reading about a

Whether or not Xenophanes was the first monotheist among Greek philosophers or remained a polytheist is still highly controversial. What is sure is that he rejected the traditional deities. He conceived of God as one, unchanging and motionless. Omnipresent, “He is all sight, all mind, all ear.” For Xenophanes, God creates everything but is himself not created, for He is eternal. He eludes our limited human understanding as he is beyond description. Therefore, God cannot be modelled after humans: "There is one God, greatest among gods and men, neither in shape nor in thought like unto mortals …” http://www.egs.edu/library/xenophanes/biography/

It is a time when the Israelites are very concerned with the role of the Grecian empire. The Israelites and the Grecian empire disagree about worshipping a God or Gods. They disagree about a day of worship. These differences cause a civil war atmosphere in the homes of the Israelites, brother against brother, etc. It is definitely a time of chaos and upheaval.

http://www.bermudaonion.wordpress.com She'd laid in patterns. Moss            let it go, let it go Turns the bricks green, softening them          By the gray rocks          Where hollyhocks That lofted while she lived, stem by tall stem,           Dwindle in loss. edenbrothers.com/store/queeny-mix-hollyhock-seeds lofted ] To raise aloft; to send into the air;

My memory died on the day I saw you die. Your hands wrinkled, cold. hn

In a slave's cabin, I was born on newspaper. I lived there always.

But as anxious as she was, she'd promised herself she wouldn't cry, or try to hug him, or do anything else that might make a teenage boy feel uncomfortable. She was a stranger to him. Although she hoped to change that now that she was back in town, she couldn't come on too strong or he'd likely shut her out--even if his father didn't make sure he kept her at arm's length. http://www.rosecityreader.blogspot.com The memory of Phoenix sitting at Just Like Mom's in probably the only nice outfit she owned, counting out the money to cover his breakfast, made him squirm. http://www.fredasvoice.com

Up the mountain path I saw a hummingbird bush. Below a bee buzzed.

"It was the first time she'd seen her son since the day she gave birth to him. Phoenix Fuller had spent an eternity waiting for this moment. She'd counted every single breath, it seemed, for sixteen years, waiting to lay eyes on Jacob again." http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com

The poetry in this book is as pretty as the cover of the book. Each poem is meaningful. Some of the poems are about family, growing up, birth and other themes. "My Dad, / he needed to go back...Go back / To his childhood memories - England..." by Liana Wendy Howarth. http://www.faithwriters.com

A Gospel singing group can run into moments of sadness and happiness.  After entering a singing Gospelfest, Veronica, Roxanne and Alisha, all sisters, lose the contest. Delilah their mother is the support and manager of the group. So she is hurt by the loss also. Some people in the audience voiced their love of the group and wanted Delilah's Daughters to win. It isn't long before Veronica is asked to join a big musical corporation named Legends. However, this means leaving her mother and sisters behind while she hopefully soars to the top of the charts as a dancer/singer. Delilah's Daughters by Angela Benson shows what happens when one or two members of a family decide to shoot for success without the rest of the family. Suddenly, the family is torn apart. Old secrets fall out of the closet. For different reasons each person in the family is fighting a battle. Most of all I enjoyed Delilah. She's a very wise woman, but she has her weaknesses too. The novel is Chris

Jesus forgive me. I always disappoint You. I need You every day.

Vintage   Children and pets go together like ice cream and a cone. Lady and her five pups needed the children desperately while the children discovered an important life lesson from the pups. The children discovered that there is something called death which takes you away forever. Lady knew she needed more than herself during hard times. I suppose the lesson is all of us need one another in some way. Vintage (Amazon)

Now, I am your fool. In the darkness, I cry tears. In bed I wipe away you.

The Hawk and the Dove series is a trilogy which follows the life of Father Peregrine, the Abbot of St. Alcuin's Benedictine abbey. Along with learning about Father Peregrine's life, there is much to learn about  the brothers. After reading the first book The Hawk and the Dove" and the next two books, I wanted to immediately read another book in the series. In each book, Penelope Wilcock describes these lovable characters not as saintly but as flawed men who love God and who have given their lives to please Him. The stories become deeply personal as we learn about men who struggle with befriending fellow brothers,  and also fight with the aging process and death. Not surprisingly, some brothers feel called away from the inner world of the abbey and back into society to love and be loved by someone other than their Christ. Then they become involved with a battle whether to  hold on to the world or to hold on to a life in the sanctuary of Christ. Also,

December 23, 1837 Casphairn Manor, the Vale of Casphairn, Scotland Daniel Crosbie felt as if all his Christmases had come at once. Letting his gaze travel the Great Hall of Casphairn Manor, filled to overflowing with six Cynster families and various associated household members, he allowed himself a moment to savor both his unexpected good fortune and his consequent hope. http://rosecityreader.blogspot.com Regardless of all intentions, it was a full hour later before they were finally mounted and ready to ride. Lucilla had been partly to blame for the delay, but when she'd suggested that perhaps taking food to fill their stomachs at midday might be wise, all nine males had immediately agreed. Mira http://fredasvoice.com By Winter's Light by Stephanie Laurens