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Wondrous Words

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"Mr. Cynster has offered me the position of amanuensis , assisting him with his collection, his library, and his interests in those spheres." amanuensis " one employed to write from dictation or to copy manuscript." merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amanuensis "The moment--filled with a nascent emotion she couldn't name--hovered between them." nascent  budding.  merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nascent

In The Shadow Of The Cypress by Thomas Steinbeck

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  Enjoyed the historical side of the novel. Learned so much about China and California while in California. Will not forget reading about the 1906 Earthquake in California. Felt very sad about the discrimination against the Chinese people. Then, felt very moved by the way the Chinese treat their History. Historical artifacts are very dear to them much like the sacred graves of Native Americans. These particular artifacts, two in number, were hidden inside the root ball of a Cypress tree. There is a seal and another artifact made like a kneeling camel, but it is a giraffe in pink marble. Two or three men Robert Wu,a scholar and a History Professor, and an old friend of the Chinese named Billy O'Flynn become deeply involved in keeping the artifacts hidden. Learning more about the origin and translating the three different languages on one artifact is exciting. Really, great fun reading about Fifteenth ce

It Had to Be You by Jill Churchill (2015 Alphabet Soup)

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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

Teaser Tuesday

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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/

First Chapter, First Paragraph

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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?

Cat Thursday

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

This Heart of Mine by Brenda Novak

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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