Sunday Words of Encouragement March 11, 2018

Hubby isn’t feeling well so we didn’t make it to church today. These are notes from our Sunday School class on January 28, 2018.

We start each class with prayer and our teacher noted that it is important for us to share this burden of prayer. We should pray for others as we pray for our family. There should be sincerity of prayer. We need to be purposeful, praying with intensity; intentional, pressing in.

God is bigger than we can see. We need to be careful never to box God. His love is beyond what we can understand yet we are directed to love others like Jesus did/does.

God is sovereign. We need to trust that God is working and all things are possible through Him.
There should be awareness in our prayer: awareness of His expansiveness, His sovereignty, and the Peace He gives!

We should be keeping our mind on God and Walking in the Spirit; remembering that God's grace and love is unconditional.

I had this fitting song in my list: My Prayer For You:

Verses for Today:
James 5:14-16 ESV
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.


Lord, Thank you for being our intercessor to God. Please help me to pray sincerely for others.

Image from Sidewalks Chalk.

Sharing Beyond Books #339 Comment Giveaway March 10, 2018

Hello again and Welcome to Sharing Beyond Books, SBB!

I am going to continue to post this event biweekly (every other week) for another month and then see if I am ready to go back to four a month. I have gotten some more questions - Thank you.

Thanks to everyone who commented last week.
13 of us do not listen to music, several noting distracting and some prefer silence. Three listen to background noise, one listens depending on mood. Only Alina actually listens to a rotating playlist.

The Winner from SBB #338 comments is: #12 Natalija who can make a GC choice if international or book choice from the Updated (**Finally!) ARC/Review titles or (recently updated) Love and Christmas titles - all linked near the end of the post.

**NOTE: I did post an Updated ARC and Other books for Giveaways. I have to go back and list the titles -- someday.
Please let me know your choice by completing the WINNER FORM.

WEEK #339

(One Question.)

Alina asks: What are some of your pet peeves while reading??

Hmm - I am reading this question as a pet peeve while reading, not a pet peeve about books I am reading. [We can do that one another time.] I had to think about the question. It is a peeve if I am interrupted at a good spot in the reading although I understand this if it is family need. On the other hand, it is terribly annoying when my device runs out of power at a good point in the story.
Another peeve would be loaning a book out and never getting it back.. for that reason I now only loan if I don't need or expect the book back.

Image found at Pinterest.

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. Alina asks: What are some of your pet peeves while reading??

SBB Comment Winners can choose a selection from the Updated ARC and Other books, including the "Love" and Christmas titles all in one post.

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 March 24, 2018 at 5 PM central.

#NetGalley Review: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip

This is a beautiful story full of emotional magic.
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
by Patricia A. McKillip

File Size: 760 KB
Print Length: 242 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1616962771
Publisher: Tachyon Publications; Reprint edition (September 15, 2017)
ASIN: B06VW2PKQ7
Genre: Fantasy, Magical, Romance
My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0

Young Sybel, the heiress of powerful wizards, needs the company of no-one outside her gates. In her exquisite stone mansion, she is attended by exotic, magical beasts: Riddle-master Cyrin the boar; the treasure-starved dragon Gyld; Gules the Lyon, tawny master of the Southern Deserts; Ter, the fiercely vengeful falcon; Moriah, feline Lady of the Night. Sybel only lacks the exquisite and mysterious Liralen, which continues to elude her most powerful enchantments.

But Sybel's solitude is to be shattered when a desperate soldier arrives bearing a mysterious child. Soon Sybel will discover that the world of men is full of love, deceit, and the temptations of vast power.

Review:
Sybel inherited her wizardly gifts that include calling and controlling magical beasts. Her mother died in childbirth and her father raised her until he died when she was only 12. She has lived in her mountain mansion alone except for her beautiful animals who are the stuff of myths and legend.

One day a soldier brings an infant to her gates and asks Sybel to protect him and raise him. She knows nothing of human infants but agrees and seeks help from the witch who lives down the hill. Sybel learns that her Tamlorn is the greatest of her treasures as the boy grows but she doesn’t know what will happen as he approaches adulthood.

The soldier, Coren, returns when Tam is a young lad of 12 seeking to take Tam to the world of men. Sybel is drawn to the soldier who has so much information regarding her animals but she will not release Tam. A few years later Tam is seeking his father and King Drede comes up the mountain in search of a rumored son.

Sybel learns the heartaches of the world of men as Tam’s curiosity seeks his own history… and the truth of his parentage. COREN is enchanted by Sybel but she does not know the world of emotions involved with men and she cannot understand the deep bitterness that COREN has that drives him to seek revenge against his enemy. The King also is enthralled by Sybel but he makes a terrible mistake in trying to capture her as his own.

This story is enchanting with the wonderful beasts who speak, often in riddles. They don’t seem to mind terribly being caged by their gentle mistress although some of them do chaff and want things beyond her territory. Their reactions as the tensions escalate between the opposing tribes of men are an interesting element added to the tale. The story speaks to the human heartaches of love and hate, and the poison and losses that spread from bitterness and obsessive revenge. The story evoked emotions, high and low, in me as I feared what might happen and wondered at events that did happen.

The writing is beautiful with a lovely fairy tale quality. I was not familiar with most of the named beasts and, as far as I know, this is an original fairy tale. I highly recommend this to readers who enjoy fairy tale fantasy.

Source: NetGalley 2017. This qualifies for 2018TBR, NetGalley and Alphabet Challenges.

Audible Book Review: Golden Son, Red Rising Trilogy, Book II, by Pierce Brown

This is an intense series with well-developed characters, complex world building and wonderful narration.

Golden Son
Book II of the Red Rising Trilogy
By: Pierce Brown
Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds

Series: Red Rising, Book 2
Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
Unabridged
Publisher: Recorded Books
Genre: Dystopian, Fantasy, Sci Fi
My Rating: 5.0 of 5.0

Publisher's Summary
With shades of The Hunger Games, Ender's Game, and Game of Thrones, debut author Pierce Brown's genre-defying epic Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation. Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom from the overlords of a brutal elitist future built on lies. Now fully embedded among the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues his work to bring down Society from within.
A life-or-death tale of vengeance with an unforgettable hero at its heart, Golden Son guarantees Pierce Brown's continuing satuts as one of fiction's most exciting new voices.
©2015 Pierce Brown (P)2015 Recorded Books

Review:
Darrow was born in the low, slave caste of the reds. Although he had frustrations at unfair treatment, he would have been happy living his life with his young wife, Ieo and their children. Darrow would have given up after Eo was killed by their Gold master, but others took control of his life and destiny. He was reshaped to become one of the Golds, the ruling race, so that he could help to lead a rebellion from a place of strength.

Darrow has successfully climbed through the training and institution programs to accept a close position to the very man who killed Eo. Along the way Darrow has developed a group of loyal followers, the howlers, as well as making extreme enemies of a competitive ruling house. He has given up a possible chance at love to continue his deception and ambitious climb. His work is lonely as with every step there are those who would eliminate him and those who would betray him.

This second book takes Darrow on a vicious roller coaster of highs and lows, loyalty and betrayal. There are allies who are admittedly enemies and enemies who are covertly allies. It is a remarkable ide of imagination and intrigue with well-developed characters and complex world building.

I spent several nights up late listening to this engaging story. I highly recommend the series to fans of other world, dystopian battles for equality.

Audio Notes: Tim Gerard Reynolds does a masterful job on the narration. He makes Darrow and the other characters, as well as the intensity of the situations, come alive. If you like audio, this is a series and narrator not to be missed.

Source: Audible 2017 Credit Purchase. This qualifies for my 2018TBR, Audiobook and Alphabet Challenges.

Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway March 9, 2018

Happy Friday!

Hubby and I have enjoyed a relaxing week of cruising. He has even been listening to audio books with me! We've been pretty careful not to overeat and to get in some walking time. I have had limited success being online with spotty internet.

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 March 2 Pick. There was one automatic win again this week. Automatic wins are those who requested the book four times without other people asking for that book during those weeks. There was one blocked title.
Rita gets Night Whispers

CONGRATULATIONS
to Random.org picked Winners from March 2 Pick:
DI gets a Heroes are My Weakness and
MARYP gets a CG.

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.}

I should have posted this last week to kick off National Reading Week.
Thanks to Dr. Seuss for his wonderfully creative children's reading!:-)

Image found at NEA.

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New Book Group #77 February 16, 2018
I thought I would look for some 'Springish' titles but that didn't happen. Hope someone finds a title or two you like.

PAIRS
Betty Neals: Tabitha by Moonlight and Fate Takes a Hand
Nora Robert: Hot Ice (spine creased) and Sanctuary
SINGLES:
My Lord Conqueror by Samantha James
Surrender by Pamela Clare
Dessert Rogue by Suzanne Simmons
The Rose and the Shield by Elaine Barrieri
Hannah’s Courtship by Emma Miller
Someone to Watch Over Me by Judith McNaught
Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
Heroes Are My Weakness by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
A Husband’s Wicked Ways by Jane Feather
Hot on Her Heels by Susan Mallery
Indigo Blue by Catherine Anderson
Between the Devil and Desire (Scoundrels of St. James Book 2) by Lorraine Heath (hardback)


New Book Group #76 November 3, 2017
21 books remain of the original 37:

I finally Have them Listed!
Boots & Booties by Kristine Rolofson
Saucer the Conquest by Stephen Coonts
Echo Burning by Lee Child
The Scorpion Seducer by Bonnie Vanak
Hell On Earth by David L. Porter
Tempted All Night by Liz Carlyle
Day of the Dead by J.A. Jance
White Night by Jim Butcher
Five Gold Rings Anthology Constance O’Banyon and three others
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton
Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell
Crisscross by Harmon Henkin
Wizard’s Daughter by Catherine Coulter
Pearl Beyond Price by Claire Delacroix
Maelstrom by Anne McCaffrey
The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks
The Wicked Wyckerly by Patricia Rice
Inhuman Condition by Clive Barker
Night Whispers by Judith McNaught
101 Commonsense Rules for the Office by John R. Brinkerhoff

 THESE BOOKS CHOSEN/WON ARE THE ONES STRICKEN HERE:
Finger Licken' Fifteen
How to Tame a Highland Warrior
The Texan
Total Control
Atlantis Found
Stephanie Laurens Pair
Desperado 
Rebellious Desires 
Forget Me Not 
The Eighth Commandment
Ghost Riders
The Manning Brides by Debbie Macomber 
Shadow Music 
Corbin's Fancy 
Hawk's Lady

This shelf of 35 books are what is left from Groups #1 (11/27/09) through Group #75 September 29, 2017

(Title list reads left at bottom to right at top - 14 titles.)
Rehabilitation
Secret Blessing
Named of the Dragon
Daring
Aunt Erma's Cope Book
JoAnn Ross: Confessions
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
The New Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Leman
A Kiss Before Dawn by Kimberly Logan
The Fireman’s Fair by Josephine Humphreys (Hardcover)
Bound by Destiny by Rayka Mennen
Rainbow Mars by Larry Niven
There Was A Little Girl by Ed McBain (Audio Cassettes)
Love's Brazen Fire by Betina Krahn 

(Title list reads left at bottom to right at top - 21 titles.)
Plan of Attack by Dan Brown
(*Three more very old books from my Gothics box.)
*The Man in the Garden by Paule Mason (1969 - yellowed)
Fire Dancer by Ann Maxwell
*Four books are very old; pulled from a box of gothic novels I found.
*Maggie – Her Marriage by Taylor Caldwell (1953 very old, yellowed pages, some stain damage doesn't effect reading)
First Things First by Stephen R. Covey- Audio Cassette
Trilogy Of Mysteries Audio Book Shadow Prey, There Was A Little Girl, Smokescreen Audio Cassettes (NOT CDs)
Raintree Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones (spine creases)
The Shadowing by Joan Overfield
The Sweetheart Dance by Patti Ann Colt
BOX 4 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 47-53)
Undateable by Ellen Rakieten & Anne Coyle
Jezebel by Katherine Sutcliff
The Hidden Truth of Cytech's Randall Forty by Vickie Kennedy
Breakfast in Bed by Sandra Brown - Audio Cassette Tapes (link is for mass media version)
BOX 3 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 39- 47)
Shetland Summer by Janet Lynnford
BOX 2 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 24- 38)
The Trailsman: Texas Lead Slingers by Jon Sharpe
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
An Honorable Man by Rosemary Rogers (spine creases)
The Willful Widow by Valerie King (spine wear)
Foundation (Foundation Novels) by Isaac Asimov
BOX #1 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 1- 23)
Ghost Writer (Shivers #3) by M.D. Spenser
Alien Chronicles - The Crimson Claw by Deborah Chester


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 EIGHT years I have posted 75 groups of 16 (1,200) books to find new homes! (as of November 2, 2017).

I am happy to say that so far about 1,145+books have found new homes through this feature! YAY. [A month or so ago I posted I had reached 2000 books given away. As I calculated the numbers 11/2/17 I realized that had to be an error. I realized I went from 1098 to 2001 instead of 1101. Guess I was tired; sorry for the error.] 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!