N/A

Add caption http://rosecityreader.blogspot.com Prologue 1926 They keep saying "the body" and Flora thinks this might make her scream and never stop. Speaking in whispers that are not quiet enough, as men do, they say it over and over. "We can't have the body simply lying in a room here." "If we put the body in the bathing pool, then it might appear to be a drowning." "But when they examine the body they'll find no water in the lungs." And so on.

Did I Do That?

"When I was a little girl, I had my own magnolia tree. No one else in the world was invited underneath her canopy of waxy citrus leaves. She was all mine. My fortress, my empire." bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com "When Madge arrived in Chicago, it was an unusually windless summer day, and she could not take her eyes off the bluest water she had ever seen. She believed she was seeing the ocean for the first time, but she had heard from a woman who had heard from another woman that the ocean stirred waves as tall as trees, and this broad..."

When life becomes too difficult for the younger generation, they form a group named The Gathering and Inner Circle. In these groups are young people who have been abused by family members or church clergy. Soon, there is a plan chosen to save themselves and other young people from abuse.This plan entails thirty letters being sent out to different states. On a set date a revolt will occur. This revolution will deeply involve a huge church which has congregations all over the world. Gavriel and Josh are the ones really in charge of this move to make a change in the world. Amanda and Jake Bannon are a married couple. They are ideal at thwarting disasters. To help stop catastrophes, Amanda Bannon uses her psychic abilities. In this instance, all of these desperate and bloody take place between Rome and Chicago. I wasn't prepared for the violence in The Congregation by Desiree Bombenon. The violence perpetrated in this terrorist situation is mind boggling. I had to put the novel

"They arrived forty-five minutes later at the Hotel Hassler, located at the top of the Spanish Steps of the Piazza della Trinita dei Monti...Amanda found it exhilarating and awe-inspiring when she thought of Rome's role in history and its importance in shaping so much of the current world."(Wikepedia)

Days of Awe have become a part of Izzy's life. Her life, at this time, definitely fits the Holy time of remorse and sorrow celebrated by the Jewish population. She and everyone in her family are deeply stirred by the death of Josie, a close friend of the family. Josie dies on an icy road in her car. She is a young and vibrant woman. I could feel her loss jump from the pages of the novel. In Days Of Awe by Lauren Fox, Josie's death seems to cause a compound of calamities in each characters life. Everything seems to go through rapid change. With this one person's death, it seems like the world has begun to spin out of control. Not only does Izzy deal with the death of Josie she also goes through a separation from her husband. Izzy had no idea her marriage was headed for disaster. It's just another shock to her system. I had to wonder. What must it feel like to not have known your husband was falling out of love with you? There is also the fact that your close friend

"The morning of Josie's funeral was cloudless and knife-sharp, one of those bitter spring days that comes sandwiched between warmer ones and reminds you not to grow accustomed to good things. I was leaning against my car, face to the sun, trying to breathe, when Mark pulled into a spot near mine. I turned and watched as he got out of the car. He wore the scarf Chris and I had gotten him for his last birthday, soft dark blue cashmere, and my heart slammed inside my chest: that beautiful scarf still existed, warm as a blanket, and Josie was gone." http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com Netgalley

Usually, I love Historical fiction. So I looked forward to this one especially since it takes place in London. Weirdly enough I also like pickpockets. That's why I liked Lilah. It didn't matter that her sister, Fiona, died. I didn't think Fee and secretary school was a fit for the time and place. I liked Viscount Palmer. I enjoyed his love moves on Lilah. Still, the bantering dialogue didn't seem smooth to me. I especially liked reading about the beautiful items in the auction house and in Buckley Hall. I liked Cathy Everleigh as well. The stolen love letters and Lilah trying to match Palmer with Cathy Everleigh just fell apart for me. And again the dialogue just seemed jerky.

http://bermudaonion.wordpress.com A medieval map of the world. oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/mappemonde "We found a Flemish mappemonde that sent her into ecstasies. Why, a full hour passed before she found another reason to scold me." dactylic    pentameter is a form of meter in poetry. The dactyls, which is made of a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables, is repeated five times to create a pentameter line. google.com/search?q=dactylic "Your name sounds like a poem! IZZZZabellll APPLEbaum!" She trilled it. "It's dactylic!" she whispered, and kissed me on the cheek with an actual mwaaah, then moved on to hug Chris, who looked like he was being asked for directions to Neptune. planchettes   a small board supported on casters, typically heart-shaped and fitted with a vertical pencil, used for automatic writing and in seances. google.com/search?q=define+planchettes& "Scores of mediu

http://bookjourney.wordpress.com I finished Only with Blood by Therese Down. Now I'm reading Lady Be Good by Meredith Duran and Balm by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.

Expect nothing. Live frugally On surprise. become a stranger To need of pity Or, if compassion be freely Given out Take only enough Stop short of urge to plead Then purge away the need. Wish for nothing larger Than your own small heart Or greater than a star; Tame wild disappointment With caress unmoved and cold Make of it a parka For your soul. Discover the reason why So tiny human midget Exists at all So scared unwise But expect nothing. Live frugally On surprise. poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/3119/Before_you_knew_you_owned_it

"It was cold. Frost stopped the breath of the land, seized the breath of those who moved upon it. Winter would come early and it would be harsh. Jack Flynn thanked God for a good harvest, for the cows would need early hay. Lately, he felt more keenly the pain of rheumatism in his hands. This creeping infirmity and a cough which daily grew fiercer were insistent reminders to Flynn that he could no longer put off marriage if her were to have sons to inherit his land. The alternative of selling to strangers the land his great-grandfather had purchased over a hundred years before was unthinkable. And so, this evening in 1943 at the age of forty-three, though he would rather have faced any kind of physical test of his courage, he put on his only suit and set off on foot towards the village of Dunane and the house of Malachai Brett, the matchmaker." bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com

At my apartment, this has been the year of the marigolds. I bought two pots of yellow marigolds in the spring. One pot of them died. The second pot of marigolds is still doing well. Although I would like to have bigger blossoms.  I have heard marigolds are easy to grow. So, I decided to look up a few tips about growing these flowers. http://homeguides.sfgate.com/care-french-marigolds-containers-68255.html   Any pointers you might have would help. By the way, are marigolds perennials or annuals?

bermudaonion.wordpress.com Poem of the Day: Song for the Last Act by Louise Bogan "Now that I have your heart by heart, I see The wharves with their great ships and architraves; "  Poetry Foundation An architrave (/ˈɑrkɨtreɪv/; from Italian: architrave , also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον epistylon "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture. google.com/search?q=architraves+define textramarital   " Recently reissued by New York Review Books, this once-obscure novel, about a textramarital affair between two college instructors, is enjoying a second life as a contemporary classic." readitforward.com/bookshelf/14-campus-novels-will-make-want-go-back-school/   The art of cheating on your partner using text messages. http://www.urbandictionary.com

"As if it were that simple. I open my mouth to tell him I can't, but all I do is wheeze, and my head is light and I wonder if this is what dying feels like. And then I think how nice it is for Jack's face to be the last thing I see." http://adailyrhythm.com

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.   --Isaac Asimov Daisy Richards has beat cancer in the past. However, after a few years, the news from Doctor Sanderson is far more difficult for her and Jack to handle. This time the cancer has spread throughout Daisy's body. She has only four to six months to live. The novel before i go by Colleen Oakley is about how Daisy, Jack, her mother and her friends react to this news. It's also about what will Daisy choose to do with the remainder of her life? This novel will break your heart and mend it again. Daisy seems like a  real person. Many times I thought, "Well, I would react the same way as Daisy in this situation." I thought this way when she bought bunches and bunches of groceries she didn't need. I could also understand when she became so terribly angry with Kayleigh, her friend. Horrible feelings about Kayleigh flew out of her mouth like birds taking flight. Dai

http://bookjourney.wordpress.com I finished Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson. Now I'm reading before i go by Colleen Oakley. Next I need to read Only with Blood by Therese Down.

"With her squealing silenced by food, the house is quiet and I wonder for a moment how long I can stand exactly where I am, not making a sound. Maybe Sammy will just leave. Maybe she already has." http://www.fredasvoice.blogspot.com  

http://bermudaonion.net/2015/08/05/wondrous-words-wednesday-337/ christophine (chayote) the pear-shaped fruit of a West Indian annual vine ( Sechium edule ) of the gourd family that is widely cultivated as a vegetable; also :   the plant —called also chayote squash, christophene, mirliton merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chayote eddoes a taro corm or plant, especially of a West Indian variety with many edible cormlets. google.com/search?q=eddo&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 cassava 1. A shrubby tropical American plant (Manihot esculenta) widely grown for its large, tuberous, starchy roots. 2. The root of this plant, eaten as a staple food in the tropics only after leaching and drying to remove cyanide. Cassava starch is also the source of tapioca. In both senses also called manioc , yuca . thefreedictionary.com/cassava

Two sisters, Dionne and Phaedra, live with their mother, Avril, in Brooklyn, New York.  Because of their mother's depression and her struggle to make a living as a single parent they are sent to live with their Grandmother  in St. Johns, Barbados. Naomi Jackson in The Star Side Of Bird Hill writes in detail about what happens to two teen-age girls as they face death and violence.What happens is unexpected and at times, very sad. For example, while in Barbados, Dionne and Phaedra will hear the most horrible news about their mother. The way both sisters handle the situation is extraordinary. Maybe too extraordinary? Such news must work on the inner soul of a  person for a long while. Then, the father, Errol, comes along with a new lady friend. He just ups the level of stress in the lives of the sisters and the grandmother. Sometimes people come to rescue the ones they love and end up almost destroying them. I was struck by how quickly reality can slam into our lives. Sometim

Guava Tree "The church hall doors remained open behind Clotel and Dionne; the sweet stink of the  guava trees, which were planted when an ugly woman named Cutie died and left her small fortune to the church, wafted inside." google.com/search?q=barbados+guava+tree

After a great tragedy, Michael Hunter arrives in Hope Harbor, Oregon to remake his life. He meets Tracy, a cranberry farmer, Grace, a young woman with family problems, Anna, a recluse, and Tracy's Aunt Nancy among others in the town. The cranberry farm is suffering. Cranberry prices are down. At the same time, Tracy and other town people are facing very hard struggles in their personal lives. Irene Hannon's Hope Harbor shows that life is an adventure. God's plans aren't always the same as our plans. Michael thinks he's just going to deal with guilt over his wife's death, an aneurysm. However, he finds himself helping Tracy with manual labor on the cranberry farm. He also helps her to talk openly about her husband, Craig. Craig died a tragic death too. Then, there is another unexpected problem that arises. In this instance, a whole family is in turmoil. I liked the fact that the author writes about anger toward God when horrible circumstances happen in

http://www.bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com Closed until June 13     "Michael Hunter stared at the hand-lettered sign on the Gull Motel office, expelled a breath, and raked his fingers through his hair. Not the welcome he'd been expecting after a mind-rumbling thirty-six-hour cross-country drive to the Oregon coast. And where was he supposed to stay for the next three weeks, until the place opened again?"

Although she loved writing, it was rare for Benilde Little to sit down and write without fighting feelings of depression. In Welcome To My Breakdown , she writes about the early years when she was bullied at school. Then she becomes one of the many grown-up daughters who choose to care for their parents as they age. She loves her mother deeply. She cares for her mother as her heart condition worsens. At the same time, she cares for Ford and Baldwin, her children, and husband. Through all of her pain, she never gives up writing. She hangs in there and writes and publishes quite a few novels. Baldwin tells her mother to write out her depression. This memoir tells how to keep going when the energizer bunny inside you just wants to give up and throw in the towel. It's not about what's going on in our life. It's whether we keep going and attending life's demands. facebook.com/BenildeLittlePage

Hard trials that come our way build us up. They don't tear us down. In Stronger by Clayton King, there are traits of character listed. We become more vulnerable, humble and strong and really give our hearts to worship during struggles in our lives. The author, Clayton King, after thirty years of his life had passed, and during one of the saddest moments of his life, the death of his mother became a 'new' man. It's deeply touching to read about the author's parents, their illnesses and other problems. His personal experiences made me look at situations I had gone through in my own life. His journal entries are also an important part of the book. These entries are at the very beginning of the book. Here is one. "I can grow bitter or I can become better." Throughout Stronger , a bit about Hospice Care is mentioned. I am now more aware of the way this system works with family and friends.  Who knows what the future will bring?  www.claytonking.com  

Cormac McCarthy's novel All the Pretty Horses says it well: "'Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.'' "I have to teach my girl and my little guy, who just started kindergarten, to be proud of their heritage. I have to encourage them to immerse themselves in black history, both in and out of the classroom, so they understand why some history books....." http://www.adailyrhythm.com

Carlyn Kearney is a woman who must remake herself in the Christian novel, The Innocent by Ann H. Gabhart. This because her husband, Ambrose, is a missing soldier. Her only companion is her dog, Asher. When she is evicted from her home by Curt Whitlow, she moves into the Shaker community. I felt very sorry for Carlyn. It's never easy for a woman to try and make a new life anywhere. There are new friends to meet. These friends are strange to her because she doesn't understand their way of life. The Shakers don't believe people should have pets. So, Carlyn has to give Asher away. Reading about a woman who had to give up so much really upset me. Like in real life, one trial led to another trail. She had to totally lean on God. I grew tired of reading about Shakers. It almost made me not like this Christian Fiction novel. It seemed more like a novel about this religious sect than a murder mystery.

"It had been the first day since Jason's advance that it was remotely easy to move about the streets again, but with all the action now focused in the city's center--and Menelaus and his party locked down in the Akra --there was a strange feeling of freedom in the southern quarter."

Kregel  Publications The Grecian empire's ruler, Antiochus, has come to change the life of  people in Jerusalem. This situation causes discord between families and friends.  There are Honiah, Eleazar, Jason and Meir on Judah's side and on Greece's side there is, Sarpedon and Appollonios. At first, their leader, Antiochus, used subtle brainwashing of the masses. Finally, an all out rebellion happens with the Maccabees and Greece. One goal is to make Judah give up the laws of  life taught in the Torah. For example, they should no longer worship one God but worship idols like Zeus Olympios. Like any time of civil war, this is a complicated period. People change allegiances as quickly as they change their garments. It reminded me of America's Civil War during the Nineteenth Century. It's brother against brother in one household.  Day of Atonement by David A. deSilva brings alive a time of brutal revolution. It is a time when people show courage and loyalty to

"Jason came at last to his bedroom, swung open the double door, and entered. He looked to the left at his own bed, the sheets and blanket still perfectly stretched out from Niobe's morning service. It beckoned to him as the Pool of Siloam beckons to the hot, dusty travelers that pass through the southern gates. He walked over to it, but only grasped a corner of the blanket that sat folded at the foot of the bed, allowing it to trail behind him as he walked to the alabaster chair on his terrace." bibleplaces.com/poolofsiloam