Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Power. . .Bliss

Well, after 3 1/2 days without power, our lights finally came back on Thursday evening.  We were one of the victims of the vicious wind storm that came through our area on Monday morning.  The week went something like this.

I stayed up late on Sunday night watching movies with my daughter, so when my husband called me a few minutes before 8AM on Monday morning I was just reaching consciousness.  All he said was "Big wind coming your way," - which translated to "Go get the pool noodles and toys off the pool so they don't blow away."  Well I jumped out of bed as I could already hear the wind picking up and dressed as I made my way downstairs.  It took three grabs to get everything off the pool and into the shed.  As I headed back to the house, my son yelled to me to get his hula hoop out of his play set, so I turned back and grabbed it. 

I got into the house and had just grabbed a towel to dry off when the wind really started - I walked to the window in time to see the branches coming down into the yard where I had just been.  I picked up the phone to call my husband back and the power went out. So even after 3 1/2 days without power, I am thankful for that 1 minute I had to spare before the storm really hit.


(I think you can make the picture bigger if you click on it.)

This is the picture that I took with my phone soon after it was over.  To put it into better context - it is an 18 foot diameter pool - 4 foot high - so you can get an idea on the size of the branches.  The wind also took one of those metal plant hangers that you stick in the ground and bent it until it was touching the ground.  I can't find the camera that I took other pictures with!

So - the rest of the week passed in sort of a blur.  Why is it that when you don't have power the world stops?  My family acted like they couldn't even see during the day - dishes piled up in the sink, dirty towels and clothes were left on the bathroom floor (and there is a skylight in addition to the window in the bathroom - so there was plenty of light!) It drove me crazy!  I was going to bed so early that I would wake up achy because of too much sleep!

I spent the day Wednesday throwing out all the food in our fridge and upright freezer.  I took the opportunity to remove all the shelves and bins and wash everything down.  Considering I don't think I have ever cleaned the freezer part of the fridge, it was time.  I don't think it has been this clean since we bought it! 

I hated losing all the food, but some of it should have been tossed before now.  I have a hard time throwing food out, even if there isn't much of a chance that someone is going to eat it.  Do you ever have stuff in your freezer like that?  Like Jose Ole Taquitos that I am sure I bought for a New Year's Eve finger food night, and only about half got eaten.  They were probably extremely freezer burnt, but you never know when someone will want a stale taquito!  Or a free Market Day Apple Pie that I kept saying I was going to defrost and have for dessert - for at least a year. . .  

The good news is, the power is back - our house was not damaged - nobody was hurt - and my refrigerator is clean!  Now maybe I can get back to catching up on reviews!  I was so far behind before and now it is worse! 

Happy reading everyone!

Monday, July 4, 2011

It's Monday! What are you reading? (July 4, 2011)




What are you reading on Mondays is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey - You can hook up with the Mr. Linky there with your own post - but be sure and let me know what you are reading too!

Currently Reading:
In the Heat of the Bite by Lydia Dare
What Are You Waiting For by Dannah Gresh

Reading to become "Literary Genius":
Animal Farm by George Orwell

Next Up:
Don't Kill the Birthday Girl by Sandra Beasley

Reading with Daughter:
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

E-Book:
Singular by David Porteous
The Five Love Languages of Teenagers by Gary Chapman

Bathroom Book:
The Book Thief by Markus

Reviewed Since Last Post:
Echoes of Savanna by Lucinda Moebius

Children's Books Reviewed Since Last Post:
Sadly none


Waiting for Reviews: (Ugh! I am never going to get caught up on reviews!)
The Arrivals: A Novel by Meg Mitchell Moore
 White Sleeper by David R. Fett and Stephen Langford
Graveminder by Melissa Marr
Wither (The Chemical Garden Trilogy)by Lauren DeStefano
The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain
The Place of Belonging by Jayne Pearson Faulkner
The Blackberry Bush by David Housholder

E-books waiting for review:
Sudden Moves by Kelli Sue Landon
This World We Live In (The Last Survivors, Book 3) by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Children's Books waiting for review:
Pearl's Wisdom by Auntie LuLu
Bug Meets His Friend (Bug's Adventure Series) by K.M. Groshek




READY - SET - READ!

Mailbox Monday (July 4, 2011)


 Mailbox Monday's host for July is Gwendolyn B. at A Sea of Books. In My Mailbox is hosted Sundays at The Story Siren. Please visit these posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week!  This mailbox covers the last three weeks.


The Year We Left Home
by Jean Thompson

Over the course of a thirty-year career, Jean Thompson has been celebrated by critics as "a writer of extraordinary intelligence and sensitivity" (O, The Oprah Magazine), "an American Alice Munro" (The Wall Street Journal), and "one of our most lucid and insightful writers" (San Francisco Chronicle).  Her peers have been no less vocal, from Jennifer Egan ("bracing. . . boldly unconventional") to David Sedaris ("if there are 'Jean Thomson characters,' they're us, and never have we been as articulate and worthy of compassion").

Now, in The Year We Left Home, Thompson brings together all of her talents to deliver the career-defining novel her admirers have been waiting for: a sweeping and emotionally powerful story of a single American family during the tumultuous final decades of the twentieth century.  It begins in 1973 when the Erickson family of Grenada, Iowa, gathers for the wedding of their eldest daughter, Anita.  Even as they celebrate, the fault lines in the family emerge.  The bride wants nothing more than to raise a family in her hometown, while her brother Ryan watches restlessly from the sidelines, planning his escape.  He is joined by their cousin Chip, an unpredictable, war-damaged loner who will show Ryan both the appeal and the perils of freedom.  Torrie, the Ericksons' youngest daughter, is another rebel intent on escape, but the choices she makes will bring about a tragedy that leaves the entire family changed forever.

Stretching from the early 1970s in the Iowa farmlands to suburban Chicago to the coast of contemporary Italy -- and moving through the Vietnam War's aftermath, the farm crisis, the numerous economic booms and busts -- The Year We Left home follows the Erickson siblings as they confront prosperity and heartbreak, setbacks and triumphs, and seek their place in a country whose only constant seems to be breathtaking change.  Ambitious, richly told, and fiercely American, this is a vivid and moving meditation on our continual pursuit of happiness and an incisive exploration of the national character.



Overbite
by Meg Cabot

Meena Harper has a special gift, but it's only now that anyone's ever appreciated it.  The Palatine Guard -- a powerful secret demon-hunting unit of the Vatican -- has hired her to work at their new branch in Lower Manhattan.  With Meena's ability to predict how everyone she meets will die, the Palatine finally has a chance against the undead.

Sure, her ex-boyfriend was Lucien Antonescu, son of Dracula, the prince of darkness.  But that was before he (and their relationship) went up in flames.  Now Meena's sworn off vampires for good. . . at least until she can prove her theory that just because they've lost their souls doesn't mean demons have lost the ability to love.

Meena knows convincing her co-workers -- including her partner, Uber-demon-hunter Alaric Wulf -- that vampires can be redeemed won't be easy. . . especially when a deadly new threat seems to be endangering not just the lives of the Palatine, but Meena's friends and family as well.

But Meena isn't the Palatine's only hope.  Father Henrique -- aka Padre Caliente -- New York City's youngest, most charming priest, has also been assigned to the case.

So why doesn't Meena -- or Alaric -- trust him?

As she begins unraveling the truth, Meena finds her loyalties tested, her true feelings laid bare . . . and temptations she never even imagined existed impossible to resist.

This time, Meena may finally have bitten off more than she can chew.


Betrayal of Trust
by J.A. Jance


At first glance, the video appears to be showing a childish game: a teenage girl with dark wavy hair smiles for the camera, a blue scarf tied around her neck.  All of a sudden things turn murderous, and the girl ends up dead.

It's as bad as a snuff film can get, and what's worse, the clip has been discovered on a phone that belongs to the grandson of Washington State's governor.  However, the boy, who has a troubled background, swears that he's never seen the victim before.

Fortunately, the governor is able to turn to an old friend, J.P. Beaumont, for help.  The Seattle private investigator has witnessed many horrific acts over the years, but this one ranks near the top.  Even more shocking is that the crime's multiple perpetrators could be minors.  Along with Mel Soames, his partner in life as well as on the job, Beaumont soon determines that what initially appears to be a childish prank gone wrong has much deeper implications.  But Mel and Beau must follow this path of corruption to its very end, before more innocent young lives are lost. 




Killer Move
by Michael Marshall

Bill Moore already has a lot, but he wants more. . .much more.

He's got a lucrative job selling condos in the Florida Keys, a successful wife, a good marriage, a beautiful house.  He also has a five-year plan for supersuccess, but that plan has begun to drag into its sixth year without reaping its intended rewards.  So now Bill's starting to mix it up -- juist a little -- to accelerate his way into the future that he knows he deserves.

Then one morning Bill arrives at work to find a card waiting for him, with no indication who it's from or why it was sent.  Its message is just one word: MODIFIED.

From that moment on, Bill's life begins to change.

At first, nothing seems very different.  But when things begin to unwind rapidly, and one after another, people around Bill start to die, it becomes increasingly clear that someone somewhere has a very different plan for Bill's future.  Confused and angry, Bill begins to fight against this unseen force until he comes to a terrifying, inescapable realization:  Once modified, there's no going back.



Following Polly
by Karen Bergreen

Would you call Alice Teakle a stalker? Or just someone with an, um, unhealthy obsession with golden girl Polly Linley Dawson?  No one much notices Alice: not her boss, not the neighbors, not even her mother.

Besides, everyone follows Polly and everything about her: her business selling high-end lingerie you can imagine only her elegant self wearing, her all-over-the-social-pages marriage to movie director Humphrey Dawson, her chic looks, her wardrobe.  Alice just follows her a little more. . . closely.

Yet one Manhattan autumn afternoon when Alice loses her job and starts to follow Polly, she stumbles on the object of her attention sprawled dead on the floor of a boutique and is forced to become truly beneath anyone's notice.  Invisible in fact.  Because she's accused of murder.

But can another obsession help save Alice with the fallout?  Charlie is Alice's longtime unattainable crush.  He might be able to help her out of the mess she's in. . . in return for a favor or two, that is.  But how will Alice find out if Charlie is really the man she thinks he is?


Route 66: A Crash Course in Navigating Life with the Bible
by Krish Kandiah

For many of us, there is a disconnect between the Bible we treasure and the book we struggle to read. Route 66 is an eight week course to learn how to let the whole Bible guide your life.

The eight sections--living faithfully, distinctively, emotionally, imaginatively, discerningly, purposefully, infectiously and hopefully--also provide an introduction to the eight different kinds of literature within the Bible. Each section includes questions for discussion and five days of daily readings.

Route 66 is ideal for small groups, church leaders, and those engaging in serious study of the Bible. A leader's guide and PowerPoint presentation are available from Spring Harvest.


Dark Awakening
by Kendra Leigh Castle

For centuries, shapeshifting vampire Tynan MacGillivray has prowled the night as an outcast, valued only for his ferocious hunting skills.  When a feud among the immortals escalates into all-out war, he is ordered by his ruthless queen to locate a Seer -- a human woman with a special gift -- who can secure victory for their clan.  Ty's search leads him to a quiet New England town, but once he has the Seer in his grasp, her touch awakens within him a hunger like he's never known. . .

Lily Quinn has always been different.  Since childhood, she's had vivid nightmares and an eerie sixth sense.  When a sexy, silver-eyed stranger demands her help, Lily plunges into a new world of danger and sensuality.  With Ty, she discovers sizzling passions she cannot deny and powers she cannot control.  Soon, it is clear that Lily is much more than a Seer -- she holds the key to ancient secrets and unthinkable destruction.  But will a vampire's vow of eternal protection stop these evil forces. . . or unleash her dark destiny?



How to Seduce a Scoundrel
by Vicky Dreiling


 Lady Julianne Gatewick is in a pickle.  It started when her brother's best friend -- for whom she's long nursed a secret tendre -- agreed to act as her guardian for the Season, only to seduce her with a risque waltz.

But when the music stopped and the expectant ton waited for the Earl of Hawkfield to claim her as his own he made his disinterest clear.  Rather than succumb to humiliation, Julianne does what any recently discarded, wickedly witty young miss would do.  She secretly pens a lady's guide to enticing unrepentant rakes. . . and it becomes the hottest scandal in London.

Every honorable rake knows that friends' sisters are forbidden.  But suddenly Julianne has a spark of mischief in her eyes that Hawk can't resist.  Try as he might to push her away, he spends his days listening for her laughter and his nights dreaming of her kisses.  He's always avoided innocents and their marriage-minded mothers, but has the man least likely to wed finally met his match?



Tamed by a Highlander
by Paula Quinn

Connor Grant left his first love in the Highlands, vowing to return after serving in the king's army.  Seven years later, he is still fighting for the crown, and his victories are legendary -- both in the battlefield and in the bedroom.  Yet he's never forgotten his bonnie lass.  And he certainly never expected to see her amidst the splendor of the British royal court: beautiful, breathtaking, and tempting him past the point of no return.

The night he left, Mairi MacGregor banished Connor from her life forever.  Now her heart belongs only to Scotland.  As part of a secret alliance, she journeys to London in search of information. . . only to find herself face to face with the one man she swore she'd never trust again.  Though Mairi's body still craves Connor's touch, she can't forgive his betrayal.  But a traitor lurks in their midst and to protect her beloved Highlands, Mairi must make a leap of faith and join forces with Connor -- even if it means losing her heart to him again.


Book Smart: Your Essential Reading List for Becoming a Literary Genius in 365 Days
by Jane Mallison

Like taking a private class with an engaging literature professor, Book Smart is your ticket to literary enlightenment all year long and for the rest of your life.  Whether you're a passionate turner of pages or you aspire to be better-read, Book Smart expands your knowledge and enjoyment with a month-by-month plan that tackles 120 of the most compelling books of all time.

Throughout the year, each book comes alive with historical notes, highlights on key themes and characters, and advice on how to approach reading.  Here is a sampling of what you can expect:
  • January    Make a fresh start with classics like Beowulf and Dante's Inferno.
  • April        Welcome spring in the company of strong women like Jane Eyre, Anna  Karenina, and Vanity Fair's Becky Sharp.
  • August     Bring some cooling laughter to summer's heat with comedic works from Kingsley Amis and Oscar Wilde.
  • October     Revisit your youth reading about adolescents in classics like Little Women and recent bestsellers such as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
  • December   Celebrate year's end with big prizewinners such as The Remains of the Day and Leaves of Grass.



What books came home to you last week?


Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Echoes of Savanna by Lucinda Moebius (Book Review)

Title: Echoes of Savanna
(Book one in the Parent Generation)
Author: Lucinda Moebius
Publisher: Stonehouse Ink

About the book: Every generation has their defining moments, events that change history and turn the course of lives. Forever will the children of that generation be identified by those moments.

Savanna Taylor is a medical doctor in 2036, the same year terrorists release a series of plagues and viruses into the world. She is a nineteen year old Brain Trust whose task it is to find a cure for the diseases and develop vaccines to prevent their further spread. The world is thrown in turmoil and Savanna needs to find a way to survive with her sanity and family intact.

Can Savanna cope in a world in constant flux brought on by war and disease? Can she save the world and protect her loved ones or will she make the ultimate sacrifice? How will she be defined?


My thoughts:  This book starts out by throwing you right into the action. We meet Savanna as she is coming to work at an emergency clinic that has had a huge influx of smallpox victims.  A disease that the world thought it had eradicated. 

Savanna's DNA was altered by her father, a geneticist.  He has worked on creating babies for years because of the infertility that the world is experiencing.  The population is actually declining.  He has created a facility known as Haven that reaches out to (mainly) women and children who have addictions, been abused, need some sort of help.  Haven is completely self-contained - food, water, resources - all grown or obtained on the property.  You even have to go through special sanitizing showers upon entering and "containerize" all outside belongings until it is time for you to leave.

Savanna is only working outside of Haven until she feels she has enough experience to go take over for her father.  This time comes too soon and the responsibility is thrust upon her.

This book was good in creating the world as it could be in 2036.  There is much dissension among the population due to governmental control. Much of the population is left homeless, hungry and without health insurance due to refusing to have a microchip implanted in them with all of their personal information.

Savanna doesn't experience much of this first hand as she lives in her self-contained bubble at Haven.  The outside world starts to infringe on Haven as transients become more desperate in their search for food.  Savanna and her family are separated because of the situation that seems to be escalating every day.

Savanna is only nineteen when the book starts - and as we know she is a genius because she is already a doctor - she is still only nineteen, a teenager.  She seemed too mature for a nineteen-year-old though.  I never felt that she was that young.  The book covers the first 10-12 years fairly slowly with lots of detail and many different things happening both to Savanna and the world, but then all of sudden the next 5-6 years are jumped through and the book ends.  It just seemed like the ending was rushed, especially since this is just the first book in the series.   That would probably be my only criticism.  I definitely want to know what else could possibly happen in the next book.

~I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from Media Guests in exchange for my review.~

About the author: Lucinda Moebius grew up in the mountains of Idaho and Eastern Oregon. Her mother taught her to read when she was four years old and since that time books have been her constant companions. She has a Bachelors Degree in English Teaching, a Masters in Educational Leadership, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Education. Lucinda supports her writing habit by teaching High School and College. She currently lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband and their dog and cat. Lucinda is the author of Echoes of Savanna, a Haven Novel, part of the Parent Generation.
 You can connect with her at her website, blog, and facebook.

Echoes of Savanna (Parent Generation)
Publisher/Publication Date: Stonehouse Ink, Aug 2010
ISBN: 978-0982770535
400 pages

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

It's Not Monday - But What are you Reading Anyway? (For Mon, June 13, 2011)




What are you reading on Mondays is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey - You can hook up with the Mr. Linky there with your own post - but be sure and let me know what you are reading too! I have not posted a What Are You Reading post in weeks - we have had some things come up in our family that has taken me away from blogging.  I will be blogging sporadically over the summer, but hope by next fall sometime I will be able to get back on some sort of schedule.  I will blog more later about what is going on, as I can use advise, support, and just some place to blow off steam.


Currently Reading:
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood


Next Up:
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

E-Book:
The Summoner by Layton Green


Next E-Books up:
In the Belly of Jonah by Sandra Brannan


Bathroom Book:
The Book Thief by Markus

Reviewed Since Last Post:
Dead of Wynter by Spencer Seidel
The Sandalwood Tree by Elle Newmark
Darkness Follows by Mike Dellosso
Surrender the Dark by L.A. Banks

Children's Books Reviewed Since Last Post:
Good Night, Little Sea Otter by Janet Halfman
Little Star by Anthony DeStefano


Waiting for Reviews:
The Arrivals: A Novel by Meg Mitchell Moore
 White Sleeper by David R. Fett and Stephen Langford
Graveminder by Melissa Marr
Wither (The Chemical Garden Trilogy)by Lauren DeStefano
The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain

Children's Books waiting for review:
Pearl's Wisdom by Auntie LuLu
Bug Meets His Friend (Bug's Adventure Series) by K.M. Groshek




READY - SET - READ!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Mailbox Monday (June 13, 2011)



 Mailbox Monday's host for June is The Bluestocking Guide. In My Mailbox is hosted Sundays at The Story Siren. Please visit these posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week!  This mailbox covers the last two weeks.

I got this first book when I signed up for my local library's summer reading program.

Iron House
by John Hart
An old man is dying.
When the old man is dead they will come for him.
And they will come for her, to make him hurt.


John Hart has written three New York Times bestsellers and won an unprecedented two back-to-back Edgar Awards. His books have been called “masterful” (Jeffery Deaver) and “gripping” (People) with “Grisham-style intrigue and Turow-style brooding” (The New York Times). Now he delivers his fourth novel—a gut-wrenching, heart-stopping thriller no reader will soon forget.


HE WOULD GO TO HELL


At the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, there was nothing but time. Time to burn and time to kill, time for two young orphans to learn that life isn’t won without a fight. Julian survives only because his older brother, Michael, is fearless and fiercely protective. When tensions boil over and a boy is brutally killed, there is only one sacrifice left for Michael to make: He flees the orphanage and takes the blame with him.


TO KEEP HER SAFE


For two decades, Michael has been an enforcer in New York’s world of organized crime, a prince of the streets so widely feared he rarely has to kill anymore. But the life he’s fought to build unravels when he meets Elena, a beautiful innocent who teaches him the meaning and power of love. He wants a fresh start with her, the chance to start a family like the one he and Julian never had. But someone else is holding the strings. And escape is not that easy. . . .


GO TO HELL, AND COME BACK BURNING


The mob boss who gave Michael his blessing to begin anew is dying, and his son is intent on making Michael pay for his betrayal. Determined to protect the ones he loves, Michael spirits Elena—who knows nothing of his past crimes, or the peril he’s laid at her door— back to North Carolina, to the place he was born and the brother he lost so long ago. There, he will encounter a whole new level of danger, a thicket of deceit and violence that leads inexorably to the one place he’s been running from his whole life: Iron House.

I won this next book during the Splash into Summer Bloghop from Susie Bookworm.
Squire
(Book 3 of the Protector of the Small Quartet)
by Tamora Pierce


When Keladry of Mindelan is chosen by the legendary Lord Raoul to be his squire, the conservatives of the realm hardly think she's up to the job.  Kel quickly proves her ability as a jouster, warrior, and guardian of a fiery griffin, ultimately earning respect and admiration among the men, as well as the affection of a fellow squire.  In addition to coping with the challenges of a new romance and a life in the royal guard, Kel must also prepare for the infamous "Ordeal," the last challenge that stands between her and her dream of knighthood. . .


I also won this e-book during the Splash into Summer Bloghop from the author Megg Jensen.
Anathema
(Book 1: Cloud Prophet Trilogy)
by Megg Jensen


Forget prophecy. Make your own destiny.


Sheltered from the outside world with no hope for escape, slave girl Reychel dreads her fifteenth birthday - when her master’s symbol is burned on the back of her bald scalp. Her best friend disappears the night before, leaving her to face the branding ceremony alone. She soon discovers nothing is as it seems when people desperate for freedom beg for Reychel's help.


Can Reychel learn to believe in herself?



The Devil All the Time
by Donald Ray Pollack


In The Devil All the Time, Donald Ray Pollock has written a novel that marries the twisted intensity of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers with the religious and gothic overtones of Flannery O'Connor at her most haunting.


Set in rural southern Ohio and West Virginia, The Devil All the Time follows a cast of compelling and bizarre characters from the end of World War II to the 1960s.  Willard Russell is a tormented veteran of the carnage in the South Pacific who can't save his beautiful wife, Charlotte, from an agonizing death by cancer no matter how much sacrificial blood he pours on his "prayer log."  Carl and Sandy Henderson, a husband-and-wife team of serial killers, troll America's highways searching for suitable models to photograph and exterminate.  The spider-handling preacher, Roy, and his crippled virtuoso-guitar-playing sidekick, Theodore, are running from the law.  And caught in the middle of all this is Arvin Eugene Russell, Willard and Charlotte's orphaned son, who grows up to be a good but also violent man in his own right.


Donald Ray Pollock braids his plot lines into a taut narrative that will leave readers astonished and deeply moved.  With his first novel, he proves himself a master storyteller in the grittiest and most uncompromising American grain.


The Devil Colony
by James Rollins


Deep in the Rocky Mountains, a gruesome discovery -- hundreds of mummified bodies -- stirs international attention and fervent controversy.  Despite doubts about the bodies' origins, the local Native American Heritage Commission lays claim to the prehistoric remains, along with the strange artifacts found in the same cavern:  gold plates inscribed with an unfathomable script.


During a riot at the dig site, an anthropologist dies horribly, burned to ashes in a fiery explosion in plain view of television cameras.  All evidence points to a radical group of Native Americans, including one agitator, a teenage firebrand who escapes with a vital clue to the murder and calls on the one person who might help -- her uncle, Painter Crowe, Director of Sigma Force.


To protect his niece and uncover the truth, Painter will ignite a war among the nation's most powerful intelligence agencies.  Yet an even greater threat looms as events in the Rocky Mountains have set in motion a frightening chain reaction, a geological meltdown that threatens the entire western half of the U.S.


From the volcanic peaks of Iceland to the blistering deserts of the American Southwest, from the gold vaults of Fort Knox to the bubbling geysers of Yellowstone, Painter Crowe joins forces with Commander Gray Pierce to penetrate the shadowy heart of a dark cabal, one that has been manipulating American history since the founding of the thirteen colonies.


But can Painter discover the truth -- one that could topple governments -- before it destroys all he holds dear?


What Are You Waiting For?
by Dannah Gresh

In What Are You Waiting For? Dannah follows the trail of one provocative, ancient word through the Bible to discover God's deepest thoughts about sex.  The mind-blowing truth she uncovers clearly points the way to a sexuality that's satisfying and real and everything God designed it to be.

Not one to shy away from edgy topics, Dannah candidly shares:
  • straight talk about masturbation and pornography
  • the ground-breaking science that explains the addictive power of romantic experiences
  • honest answers about the lesbian question
  • a clear plan for breaking free from sexual guilt
  • the unexpected key to a lifetime of truly fulfilling intimacy
If you're a young woman looking for candid insights about sex -- and wondering why it's such a big deal to God -- you've come to the right place.  In these pages you'll discover a life-changing truth that no one ever talks about -- a truth that will transform everything you think you know about sex, romance and God.
 

 


Folly Beach
by Dorothea Benton Frank

Home is the place that knows us best. . .

A woman returns to the past to find her future in this enchanting new tale of loss, acceptance, family, and love.

With its sandy beaches and bohemian charms, surfers and suits alike consider Folly Beach to be one of South Carolina's most historic and romantic spots.  It is also the land of Cate Cooper's childhood, the place where all the ghosts of her past roam freely.  Cate never thought she'd wind up in this tiny cottage named the Porgy House on this breathtakingly lovely strip of coast.  But circumstances have changed, thanks to her newly dead husband whose financial -- and emotional -- bull and mendacity have left Cate homeless, broke, and unmoored.

Yet Folly Beach holds more than just memories.  Once upon a time another woman found unexpected bliss and comfort within its welcoming arms.  An artist, writer, and colleague of the revered George Gershwin, Dorothy Heyward enjoyed the greatest moments of her life at Folly with her beloved husband, DuBose.  And though the Heywards are long gone, their passion and spirit lingers in every mango sunset and gentle ocean breeze.

And for Cate, Folly, too, holds the promise of her unexpected fulfillment when she is forced to look at her life and the zany characters that are her family anew.  To her surprise, she will discover that you can go home again.  Folly Beach doesn't just hold the girl she once was. . . it also holds the promise of the woman she's always wanted -- and is finally ready to become.

Folly Beach, filled with the irresistible charm, saucy wit, and lush atmosphere that have won her the devotion of fans and propelled her books to bestsellerdom, is vintage Dorothea Benton Frank.


The Blackberry Bush
by David Housholder

An invitation to a treasure hunt through the landscape of your soul. . .

Josh grows up an artistic and gifted California Golden Boy, but for all that life has handed to him, he struggles with his identity and role in the world.  Surrounded by unrealistic expectations, he feels hedged in.

Kati's German heritage presents its own obstacles to understanding herself and what freedom means.  She is crushed by disappointment at never being "enough" -- especially for a mother who cannot be satisfied.

As Josh and Kati's lives unfold, longing for true freedom reverberates in their souls.  Come discover with them the life-transforming power of a "chance encounter". . . or is it chance after all?


Black Ties and Lullabies
by Jane Graves

A good girl can be bad for one night. . .

Bernadette Hogan doesn't make mistakes.  Not when it comes to caring for her mother, and not at her job protecting Texas's most eligible -- and infuriating -- bachelor.  Maybe that's why she's overcome with guilt after one tiny indiscretion:  a passionate fling with him that's left her confused, intrigued. . . and pregnant.

but can a bad boy be good for a lifetime?

To self-made milllionaire Jeremy Bridges, women are like fine wine: if held for too long, they sour. But one wild night with Bernadette changed all that.  She makes him laugh, she makes him think, and soon she's going to make him a father.  For the first time, Jeremy wants to be a one-woman man.  So how can he convince the fiercely independent Bernadette he's ready to change from partying playboy to dependable dad -- and become the loving husband she deserves?


Homefires
by Emily Sue Harvey

Homefires is set in the Deep South's Bible Belt on the eve of unprecedented moral changes.  It is the story of Janeece and Kirk Crenshaw, a couple married just after their high school graduation who set out to make a life for themselves.  It is a life marked by surprises, none more dramatic than when Kirk receives his "high-calling" and becomes a pastor.  It is a life marked by tragedy, the most heart-rending of which is a devastating event very close to home.  And it is a life marked by challenges: to their church, to their community, and most decidedly to their marriage.  And as the fullness of time makes its impact on their union, Kirk and Janeece must face the question of whether they have gone as far as they can together.

Filled with rich emotions and evocative characters that fans have come to expect from Emily Sue Harvey, and reminiscent of the work of Jan Karon and Anne Rivers Siddons, Homefires is a poignant and compelling novel that will steal readers' hearts.

What books came home to you this week?

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