Sunday Words of Encouragement June 12, 2016

Once again we had a good Sunday School, wonderful worship and nice service. Then we enjoyed a nice fellowship lunch together as a church family.

Pastor’s sermon was titled "When to Ask and When to Believe?" First, he reminded us not to allow ourselves to be dulled to God’s blessings. The he directed us to John 16 where Jesus gave “prayer promises”. Jesus was instructing the apostles to ask the Father in the name of Jesus. We ask in two ways: by way of inquiry and for assistance. Once Jesus left this earthly life, the Comforter (Holy Spirit) came to speak and intercede on our behalf. The Holy Spirit knows the mind of the Father. We are to ask, receive and our joy can be complete. John 16:24.

Ask in prayer, believe that you have received, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24. God gives gifts but man does not always use the gifts as given – to be shared in love. All our worldly power is nothing without Love. 1 Corinthians 13:2.

I feel compelled to add a requirement as directed in 1 John 5:14: ask according to His will.
(See lesson on Three Keys to Effective Prayer by Paul J. Bucknell.)
This is consistent with Luke 11:9.
Ask -- in prayer;
Seek -- according to His will;
Knock -- by faith believe you will receive the promise.

This is the wonderful song I was led to use today: Testify to Love!

A Verse for Today
1 Corinthians 13:2 NIV
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

Lord, please help me to love my neighbors/others as myself. Help me always, in every circumstance, to show your great love and mercy.

[An extra word: Happy Birthday to my sister! I thank God that we share a strong faith.]

Sharing Beyond Books #256 Comment Giveaway June 11, 2016

Hello again and Welcome to Sharing Beyond Books, SBB!
Since the last SBB (#256) post was late I will allow it to run through 6/14/16.
I am working on this a bit earlier than some nights after a full day at work.

Thanks to everyone who commented last week and "Welcome" to another new visitor.

There were ten comments, eleven counting mine. Seven are not interested in buddy reading. Several (at least four) never heard of the concept. Two commented that the concept is interesting but seems good especially for children.

~~~~~

The Winner from SBB #255 comments is: TBA after 6/14 who can make a GC choice if international or book choice from the Updated ARC/Review titles or (not yet updated) Love titles - all linked near the end of the post. [I'm hoping to update the book choices - maybe the beginning of next year, lol.] Please let me know your choice by completing the WINNER FORM.

WEEK #256

(One Question.)

Infuse asks: Do you read seasonally? eg - summer/fall/winter/spring themes at the time you're reading??

I like this question. Yes, I like to read seasonally. Maybe not as much as I would like but I like to pick spring, summer, fall and winter titles to read during those seasons. I have even started a collection of books for monthly, I just don't get the time to do the reading. Maybe I'll make it part of my reading goals for next year.

Image found at Girl in the Pages

Thanks to those who are sending in Questions. DON'T BE SHY! Surely everyone has a Q or two you'd like to ask. Input suggestions in this Suggested Question Form. At the end of each month I draw from the suggestions I used during the month and that person will get a book choice or GC. I thank everyone for submitting questions. Thanks for sending in questions! The supply of questions is dwindling so share some if you think of any -- even if they are duplicates I'll weed through or try to modify.

Your turn to share:
Infuse asks: Do you read seasonally? eg - summer/fall/winter/spring themes at the time you're reading??

SBB Comment Winners can choose a selection from the Valentine and "Love" books or the February 2015 Newly Updated ARC/Review List. (My daughter pulled several of the Christmas titles to give with gift bags we made up for the nursing homes. One of these days I will get together a new box of Christmas titles.)

SBB Rules:
a) Must be a follower.
b) Share a comment on the question above.
Open internationally and an international winner may get a smaller book or a $5.00 GC if I decide the mailing is too much.
I will pick a Comment winner from all comments made through Saturday June 18, 2016 at 5 PM central.

Book Review: Cast Adrift by Mannah Pierce

There is really good world building in this gripping story.
Cast Adrift
by Mannah Pierce

File Size: 804 KB
Print Length: 451 pages
Publisher: Clink Street Publishing (May 8, 2015)
ASIN: B00X2ZZ8NY
Genre: Science Fiction, Space Adventure
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Cast Adrift is the first part of a science fiction saga set in an interstellar world of the far future where Earth is merely a myth. Ean is queen of the Willow, a small ship with a Traditional crew who live in space and trade between the stars. Suddenly Tre, the laid back crew enforcer, is demanding that they dash to one system to pick up cabin boys and then divert to another to recruit an adolescent who is utterly unsuited to spacer life. Who is Jax? What is Rae? Why is the most powerful individual in Known Space interested in Kip? Most importantly, what is Tre up to?

Review:
Jax is a young boy of twelve who has arrived at an age, as well as a circumstance, that requires him to sign on as crew for a spaceship and train to become a 'spacer' who can defend himself. His wealthy family made arrangements so there should be a Traditional crew that will bid for him or accept him. The difference between a “Traditional” crew and one that is not, is important. Traditional crews consist of all males but they have strict rules of integrity that protect the young unlike other ships. Plus, the right ship for Jax has an agent on board who knows Jax’s true identity. Jax gets the signal from “Tres” the enforcer on the Willow. Jax brings along another young street rat, Rae, who is a hybrid 'cat' with an unknown defect.

Now Jax and Rae are cabin boys on the crew of the Willow. The queen on the ship is Ean who has the perfect, caring personality and organizational skills to manage a successful crew. Jax is a quick learner with an educated background and incentive to train. Rae is a fast, street smart scamp who is surprised and thrilled to have the first friend of his life. The crew adds a medico friend of Tres and also collects a fourteen-year-old boy, Kip. The other members of the crew do not understand why Tres, who clearly has his own secrets, has encouraged them to pick up Kip. But Tres has information that this boy is special too.

Danger waits as there are those who are seeking Jax and many who will sell him out. And that may include betrayers within the crew once they learn who he is. As the crew tries to dodge danger, it stalks them...and finally catches up.

Ms. Pierce has a gift for world building and I found this writing wonderfully creative and remarkable. The plot is well laid out and consistent in the details and growth. There are also some subtle double meanings and twists that added to the overall package. Granted, I was not thrilled about the homosexual nature of the crews but I understand how it is an important element of the dynamics among the characters. The issue was handled with dignity and not in a prurient way.

I couldn’t help being rather enthralled with the story. I feel vested with the characters and I don’t think I can resist reading the next book and finding out what happens. I certainly recommend this to readers who love unique and well written science fiction.

I received this title through Publishing Push and the author. Don't miss the author's interesting guest post that will give you some background on her writing and her story development!

Biography of Mannah Pierce
Mannah Pierce has been building her imaginary interstellar world of the far future, story by story, for four decades. At the age of fifty she decided to try sharing it with readers online and then, five years later, spurred by the diagnosis of a life-limiting illness, she wrote and had published Cast Adrift, her first fiction book.

In the everyday world, Mannah Pierce was a scientist and teacher but now works for a charity. She has been married for over thirty years and, predictably, likes cats.

Read more about her journey as an author: http://www.mannahpierce.com/blog.html.

Guest Post: Scribbling or Writing by Mannah Pierce

Scribbling or writing?

I always used to call my fiction ‘scribbles’. The stories were written by me, for me. I never allowed anyone to read them. They were a physical manifestation of my imagination. Every so often I would open a notebook or a file and read it, like other people look at photographs.

Then I turned fifty. After four decades I was ready to make the next step. I would write a book with a beginning, a middle, an end and readers.

The world was easy; my imaginary world of the far future. Earth is a merely a myth, traces of which appear in languages and cultures. Humans have spread across outer space along routes linked by ‘holes’. Countless human civilizations have prospered and then declined. Some were restricted to a single planet. Others cut a swathe across Known Space.

Characters were more difficult. I knew that the main characters in my scribbles were a bit too perfect. Even if they have been damaged by past events, they rose above it. They preferred solving problems to creating them. They built rather than destroyed.

So I created Jax. I am three books in and I still do not know how Jax will turn out. Like his father, his grandfather and his great-grandfather, Jax was conceived and raised to be a hereditary dictator. His task, like theirs, is to unite the clan. His great-grandfather was a megalomaniac. His grandfather was a monster. His father murdered two of his sons for political gain. All three were utterly ruthless. Could any or all of the three have been like Jax when they were young?

The other main characters are easier for me to write: Rae with his shadowy origins and non-human genes; Tre whose life was destroyed by Jax’s father and yet is sworn to protect Jax; Ean with his unflinching determination, limitless patience and clear-sighted morality; Kip who is intent on living his own life rather than becoming a weapon of mass destruction.

My characters are human so they behave like people today; like people have ever since Homo sapiens became a species. They have to balance personal wants, even love, with responsibilities. They are influenced by the cultures in which they are raised. They make decisions that they have to live with, some of which they regret.

As for the themes, they are familiar. What is family? Is humanity a matter of genome or behaviour? Are some people more valuable than others? Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few? Does absolute power corrupt absolutely?

So now there is a book, Cast Adrift, and it is published. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. Will it have readers? Will you be one of them?

I invite you to my imaginary world (www.mannahpierce.com).

I appreciate this candid post shared by Ms. Pierce. Now that you have learned a little bit of the characters, please see my review of this gripping Sci Fi story - next post.

Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway June 10, 2016

Happy Friday!
I am sorry this is late. I crashed Thursday night and this morning I had court hearings. I never thought about it again until after 6pm when I realized I hadn't posted Friday Pick. 
I'll work this week on pulling together another set of books.

TO ENTER FRIDAY PICK

US Entrants: Leave a comment and tell me WHICH BOOK you would like to get from the Friday Pick lists.
INTERNATIONAL: Leave a comment indicating "Gift Card" (see further comments near the end of the post.)

CUT OFF TIME IS THURSDAY NIGHTS AT 9:00 PM CENTRAL so I do not have to stay up too late to do the winner post! I will randomly pick two winners to announce Friday mornings with the next Pick post.

Thank you to all who entered the June 3 Pick. There was one automatic win this week. Automatic wins are those who requested the book four times without other people asking for that book during those weeks. There were two blocked titles.
AUTO: Bn100 gets The Bequest

CONGRATULATIONS
to Random.org picked Winners from June 3 Pick:
Janhvi gets a GC

Llehn also gets a GC

All winners please fill in the Winner's Acceptance Form or email me to confirm your win, send your snail mail address information and let me know if you would like bookmarks - sensual, sexy or sweet bookmarks. {The form is new because Google changed their forms and the old one wasn't letting me print out the responses.}

Sharing sunshine and books -- Ah, the good life!

Image found at Benobscot Pilot.

New Book Group #65 April 29, 2016

PAIRS:
Jayne Ann Krentz: Gift of Gold and Man with a Past (spine creased) 
Linda Howard: Cover of Night and Strangers Night
SINGLES:
A Dangerous Fancy by Tracy Cozzens
The Bodyguard and the Snitch by Christy Tillery French (autographed)
When Dashing Met Danger by Shana Galen
The Champion by Heather Grothaus
Never Marry a Cowboy by Lorraine Heath
Just The Way You Are by Donna Jordan
The Second Chair by John Lescroart (hardcover)
What a Rogue Desires by Caroline Linden (spine creased)
Violets are Blue by James Patterson
The Bequest by Candice Proctor
A Perilous Attraction by Patricia Francis Rowell (spine creased)
So Wild A Kiss by Nancy Richards-Akers


New Book Group #64 March 4, 2016

SINGLES:
Short Straw (Ed Eagle Novel) by Stuart Woods Hardcover
First Things First by Stephen R. Covey- Audio Cassette
N is for noose by Sue Grafton -Cassettes
Regretsy: Where DIY Meets WTF by April Winchell


New Book Group #63 January 22, 2016

SINGLES:
Wayward Winds by Michael Phillips - Audio Tapes

New Book Group #62 November 6, 2015
All Gone

New Book Group #61 October 30, 2015
After I noticed the trend I went on a hunt for “bride” titles. I even pulled a couple from some of my long time collections(*). (But they are not getting read on my shelves.)

SINGLES:
Bride of Lochbarr by Margaret Moore (*)
The Ideal Bride by Stephanie Laurens (*)
A Necessary Bride by Debra Mullins
Border Bride by Deborah Hale

New Book Group #60 September 18, 2015
A set of "haunting" tales and a few mysteries for October!

Shannon Drake –  Realm of Shadows (Alliance Vampires#4) 
SINGLES:
The Shadowing by Joan Overfield
The Renegade Hunter by Lynsay Sands
Trilogy Of Mysteries Audio Book Shadow Prey, There Was A Little Girl, Smokescreen Audio Cassettes (NOT CDs)


New Book Group #59 July 31, 2015
A few more summer titles, historicals and mysteries!

SINGLES:
Cruise to a Wedding by Betty Neels

New Book Group #58 June 26, 2015 -- All Gone
SINGLES:
Servant, The Awakening by L.L. Foster

New Book Group #57 May 1, 2015 -- All Gone


New Book Group #56 March 20, 2015
(I'll try to get the rest linked another day.)

SINGLES:
The Sweetheart Dance by Patti Ann Colt
Raintree Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones (spine creases)

New Book Group #55 February 5, 2015 -- All Gone

New Book Group #54 December 26, 2014

SINGLES:
Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card - Tape Cassettes


BOX 4 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 47-53)

The Hidden Truth of Cytech's Randall Forty byVickie Kennedy
First to Fight Anthology
Jezebel by Katherine Sutcliff
The Commander by Kate Bridges
A Garden of Friends by Penny Pierce Rose
Undateable by Ellen Rakieten & Anne Coyle


BOX 3 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 39- 47)

Shetland Summer by Janet Lynnford
Breakfast in Bed by Sandra Brown - Audio Cassette Tapes (link is for mass media version)
A Lady of Consequence by Mary Nichols
Sweet Talking Man by Betina Krain


BOX 2 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 24- 38)

Thinner by Stephen King
Foundation (Foundation Novels) by Isaac Asimov
Magic: The Gathering Distant Planes, An Anthology
The Willful Widow by Valerie King (spine wear)
An Honorable Man by Rosemary Rogers (spine creases)
A Courtesans Guide to Getting Your Man by Susan Donovan and Celeste Bradley -- NOTE This book has dog bite damage; it is missing half back cover and the edges of pages in the back third of the book... it does not effect the text but I will understand if no one wants this one
Tara Taylor Quinn: Father: Unknown and McGillus v.Wright
The Trailsman: Texas Lead Slingers by Jon Sharpe
Anthology: Something Borrowed, Something Blue - this book has spine creases and minor water damage...I thought I had read it and liked it but now I realize it was another anthology I read with Elaine Barbier.


BOX #1 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 1- 23)

Circle of Stars by Anna Lee Waldo
Alien Chronicles - The Crimson Claw by Deborah Chester
Ghost Writer (Shivers #3) by M.D. Spenser


If you saw the pictures posted of my bookshelves and boxes you know I do have lots of books! And that doesn't include the other eight or so boxes at my office!! And more books as I find deals too good to pass up! I am sharing my book bounty by these Friday Pick Giveaways.

I started Friday Pick on November 27, 2009 and in almost six years I have posted 62 groups of 16 (992) books to find new homes! (as of November 6, 2015).

I am happy to say that so far about 967+ books have found new homes! YAY. I have to update my print out to check the exact number sent out - a few were never claimed. I periodically update the lists - deleting those won. You can still go to the Friday Pick list link to see older posts and the older lists book pictures if you want!

Note rules here regarding international entries.

Because postage to overseas can be prohibitive I am willing to give a $5.00 book certificate to international winners - Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, ARe, TWRP, ClassAct Books, eTreasures, Desert Breeze, etc....you tell me where and I'll set it up. So for my overseas visitors your comment may indicate a smaller book and I'll check postage or note your choice of gift card.

I learned that The Book Depository does not ship to everywhere. The postage for some of the books to far away places runs between $7.00 and $10.00 and up. Since I would award $5.00 for The Book Depository to an international winner, as an alternative you may choose a smaller book and we will hope the postage will not exceed $6.00. If the postage is more, or if you want to pick a larger book and you are willing to pay any extra postage beyond the $6.00 I will work with you on that. This may not make a difference to many but if it helps one or two of you to give one of my books a home that will make me happy too. :o)

Repeating this helpful blog tip: You can right click on a link and you will be given the choice to open the link in a new window or tab so you do not navigate away from the screen you are on!! I use this all the time!