My Two Blessings

I've managed to resist signing up for all challenges other than my own.  This one I can't resist.   Bev's Follow the Clue Mystery Challenge Your goal? Is still to follow a set of clues furnished by the mystery books you read to create a body of evidence to support a book court case. Each book clue should lead you to your next read. The connection can be anything at all from author names to motive for murder to type of mystery (police, procedural, espionage, romantic thriller, etc.) to an item on the cover, but you must be able to make your case to the jury on your detective logic. I would prefer that you not read eight books from the same author and use the author/series/character/ etc. as the clue link. An example: If the first book I read is by Agatha Christie, then the next book could be by Elizabeth Daly, who has often been referred to as the "American Christie." If the Daly book is Arrow Pointing Nowhere, then my next book could be The House of the Ar...

Where did your reading take you this year?   I went all over the place – USA, Italy, India, Russia, Iceland, Sweden, England, Scotland, Europe, Middle East, through the Arctic and up into outer space.  I time traveled back to the time of the dinosaurs, through Dystopian and Utopian worlds as well as into the future. What was your reading goal for the year and did you meet or beat your personal goal?  Did you end with a prime number of reads?    My primary goal was to complete Birthstone Bookology which I did and even did so with a prime number.  I also attempted to do A to Z by Author but didn’t get to Q, U, or X so calling that incomplete. I waited until later in the year to start, shouldn’t have left the more difficult letters  until last and ran out of time.  Oh well.   Overall I read 117 fiction books and 8 non fiction books. My top favorite reads:    My top read is The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, a histor...

2017 Completed Reads  Fiction 1.       Aimee & David Turlo -  Turquoise Girl - (Ella Clah series, mystery, e) 2.       Alexandra Ivy - Kill Without Mercy - (#1 Ares Security, TX, Romantic suspense, e) 3.       Alister McGrath - Aedyn Chronicles: Chosen One - (YA fantasy, 208) 4.       Anne Bishop - Etched in Bone - (#5 Others, Urban fantasy, 416) 5.       B N Toler -  Where One Goes - (paranormal, e) 6.       Ben Kane - Spartacus: The Gladiator -  (74bc Italy, historical, 480) 7.       Benedict Jacka-  Fated - (#1 Alex Verus, paranormal, e) 8.       Charlaine Harris -  Midnight Crossroad - (#1 Midnight series, Texas, paranormal, 384 pg) 9.       Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni - The Mistress of Spices - (India, magical realism, e) 10....

Little did I realize when coming up with the Birthstone Bookology challenge, how many vowels there were.  Loads of fun picking out books. December beat me however with the q and u's and had to go with the whole word in the title versus spelling it all out.  Incidentally,  The total number of books turns out to be 73 which is a prime number.  Plus it is Sheldon's favorite number from Big Bang Theory.  *grin* Sheldon : "The best number is 73. Why? 73 is the 21st prime number. Its mirror, 37, is the 12th and its mirror, 21, is the product of multiplying 7 and 3." Leonard : "We get it, 73 is the Chuck Norris of numbers!" Sheldon: "Chuck Norris wishes. In binary 73 is a palindrome, 1001001, which backwards is 1001001. All Chuck Norris backwards gets you is Sirron Kcuhc!"' ************************************************** January  - Garnet  Spartacus: The Gladiator -  Ben Kane  Alexandria Link - Steve Berry   Russian W...

Hubby is carving the turkey and kitty is holding the wine. Dinner is almost ready to be served. Feeling blessed. Hugs and love to all. Christmas Bells By  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play,  And wild and sweet  The words repeat  Of peace on earth, good-will to men!  And thought how, as the day had come,  The belfries of all Christendom  Had rolled along  The unbroken song  Of peace on earth, good-will to men!  Till ringing, singing on its way,  The world revolved from night to day,  A voice, a chime,  A chant sublime  Of peace on earth, good-will to men!  Then from each black, accursed mouth  The cannon thundered in the South,  And with the sound  The carols drowned  Of peace on earth, good-will to men!  It was as if an earthquake rent  The hearth-stones of...

We  had a lovely time with John's family celebrating his dad's birthday and Christmas Saturday evening in a quaint Italian restaurant.  Always enjoy staying at Dinah's Garden Hotel in one of their rooms on the lagoon.  We were fortunate with traffic being light in our direction on the way there and home.

Have you ever been silenced?    They don't want to hear what you think.  They only want to express what they believe. What they feel. What they know.  They don't want to be questioned or have to explain.  They don't want to hear opposing views or even the truth. You try to speak and noise fills the air, wails of censorship zooms through the square. No, you cannot. No you should not. You should be ashamed.  They can't bear to hear and stick their fingers in their ears.  Let's not confuse the issue with facts.  They will not listen. They do not care. Emotion rules the day.  They slice and dice and tear you to pieces.   They interpret your words, change and mold them to their point of view and lead their sheep to think that what they think you said is true. You choose silence. You choose not to explain.  You think those who know the truth will remain.  Your words, your thoughts, your ideas shred and cease to exist. Assumpt...

I'm hosting another round of Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks .  This year's theme is mysteries and we'll be armchair traveling around the world again.  Lots of interesting places on our itinerary from the Silk Road to the old Roman Roads,  across glaciers and seas, climb the Alps, explore the Middle East as well as trek through the Sahara desert.  We'll be doing  another spelling challenge using flowers this time with Blossom Bookology.  Plus a special Mystery Road trip around England, cohosted by Sandy and Amy from Well Trained Mind.  Lots of fun in store.  Come join us. 

Misty eyed! Just received a most thoughtful gift in the mail from Sandy, a friend in my 52 books group. Beautiful handmade quilted wall hanging. It’ll look great above my desk in the kitchen!