Merry Christmas December 25, 2019

Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Music to Enjoy

I found this Christmas Collection that is quite nice so I am sharing today as we prepare to celebrate the most important gift in our lives - the birth of Christ.

Sunday Post December 22, 2019/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday December 23, 2019

I am linking with Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading now at The Book Date (at Wordpress)?

What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

The staff and I had a very busy week! I was successful in my trial on Friday and finished earlier than expected. That gave me time to wrap up most of the rest of the items I wanted to finish before vacationing.

I am glad I saw the eye doctor. My eye was not quite ulcerated but decidedly scratched up. He provided antibiotic drops and daily lenses for 10 days. These and eye drops have certainly helped the irratation.

This is an image from our car as we were driving north on I55 to Illinois.

Having lived in Florida since 1963 I still find snow interesting when I see it stretching out in the distance like this.

The temperatures as we drove were in low to mid-50s so it wasn't too bad. The problem was it rained most of Saturday so hubby did that 7 hour drive. I drove about an hour and a half of today's 6 and a half hours.

I enjoyed my reading and extra listening this past week. I finished one NetGalley and three audiobooks.   I posted three reviews and my usual memes.

I visited 16 blogs last week.
Shout Out this week to ALL MY BLOG FRIENDS: MAY YOU HAVE A BLESSED HOLIDAY WEEK!
Thank you to all the nice people who visit me.

These were last week's posts:

• Sunday Post December 15, 2019/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday December 16, 2019.

• ATBR- Audible Book Review: Push Back, The Disruption Series, Book 2, by R.E. McDermott Genre: Alternate History, Post-Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi; My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

• A2019- Audio Book Review: The Dogs of Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron; Genre: Animals, Dogs, Holiday, Romance; My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.25.

• Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway December 20, 2019. Open Worldwide. Ending 12/26/2019.

• ATBR- Audible Book Review: Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz; Genre: Crime Thriller, Suspense; My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

• Sunday Words of Encouragement December 22, 2019 Advent Week 4.

Finished Reading:

1. eBook/Kindle (NG2019)

Strands of Truth
by Colleen Coble
This is good Christian Romantic Suspense.
Source: 2019 NetGalley.
Click on book title for full description.

2. Audio/Smartphone (ATBR)

Orphan X
By: Gregg Hurwitz
Narrated by: Scott Brick
Series: Evan Smoak, Book 1
Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
This is a remarkably entertaining suspense with good twists.
Source: February 2017 $4.95 Sale purchase at Audible.
Click on book title for full description.

3. Audio/Smartphone (A2019)

Someone to Care
Written By: Mary Balogh
Narrated By: Rosalyn Landor
Publisher: Recorded Books
Date: May 2018
Duration: 11 hours 25 minutes
As usual, I enjoyed this Historical Romance by Mary Balogh.
I picked this because I have another one in the series to read on NetGalley.
Source: July 2019 Audiobooks.com two for one credit.
Summary:
Once the Countess of Riverdale, Viola Kingsley throws all caution to the wind when adventure calls in the form of a handsome aristocrat.. Two years after the death of the Earl of Riverdale, his family has overcome the shame of being stripped of their titles and fortune-except for his onetime countess, Viola. With her children grown and herself no longer part of the social whirl of the ton, she is uncertain where to look for happiness-until quite by accident her path crosses once again with that of the Marquess of Dorchester, Marcel Lamarr. Marcel Lamarr has been a notorious womanizer since the death of his wife nearly twenty years earlier. Viola caught his eye when she herself was a young mother, but she evaded his seduction at the time. A prize that eluded him before, she is all the more irresistible to him now although he is surprised to discover that she is as eager now for the excitement he offers as he is himself. When the two defy convention and run away together, they discover that the ties of respectability are not so easily severed, and pleasure can ensnare you when you least expect it.

4. Audio/Smartphone (A2019)

12 Days at Bleakly Manor
Once Upon a Dickens Christmas, Book 1
By: Michelle Griep
Narrated by: Nan McNamara
Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
This is a haunted house Christmas Romance which I read and enjoyed for Ladies Book Club.
Source: December 2019 Audible Sale purchase $5.24.
Publisher's Summary
A mysterious invitation to spend Christmas at an English manor home may bring danger...and love?
England, 1851: When Clara Chapman receives an intriguing invitation to spend Christmas at an English manor home, she is hesitant yet feels compelled to attend - for if she remains the duration of the 12 day celebration, she is promised a sum of 1,000 pounds.
But is she walking into danger? It appears so, especially when she comes face to face with one of the other guests - her former fiancé, Benjamin Lane.
Imprisoned unjustly, Ben wants revenge on whoever stole his honor. When he's given the chance to gain his freedom, he jumps at it - and is faced with the anger of the woman he stood up at the altar. Brought together under mysterious circumstances, Clara and Ben discover that what they've been striving for isn't what ultimately matters.
What matters most is what Christmas is all about...love.
Pour a cup of tea and settle in for book 1 of the Once upon a Dickens Christmas series - -a pause-resisting Victorian-era holiday tale by Michelle Griep, a listener and critic favorite.
©2017 Shiloh Run Press (P)2017 Oasis Audio

Currently Reading:

1. Pdf/Computer (eBook)

The Lady Lassoes an Outlaw: Western Historical
by Charlene Raddon
It is a little lot slow for me to read on the computer. I am 89% - nearly finished.
Source: Review request received from Babs Book Bistro.
Click on book title for full description.

2. eBook/Kindle (NG2019)

The Ultimate Guide to the 2020 Election: 101 Nonpartisan Solutions to All the Issues that Matter
by Ryan Clancy, Margaret White
I am finding this very interesting -- filled with good suggestions if only our leaders would set aside power struggles and listen to practical solutions.
Source: 2019 NetGalley.
Will Donald Trump’s Southern Border Wall actually make our country safer? How much will Bernie Sanders’s and Elizabeth Warren’s Medicare for All plan really cost American taxpayers? Can Cory Booker’s and Kamala Harris’s ideas for debt-free college revive the American dream?
You’ll find the answers in this book. With the 2020 US presidential election looming, the emerging contest doesn’t seem so much a battle of ideas as it does a war of two tribes bent on the other’s destruction. The Far Left and Far Right increasingly dominate and drive America’s political debate, leaving a majority of Americans feeling left out and left behind. The Ultimate Guide to the 2020 Election gives a voice to this majority and provides an unbiased education on the true nature of the problems America faces on several key issues, including:
• Health Care
• Energy & Climate Change
• Infrastructure
• Big Tech & Privacy
• The American Dream
• Immigration
• The National Debt
• Gun Safety
Beyond these policy issues, No Labels senior advisors Ryan Clancy and Margaret White present ideas for rescuing American democracy itself. Complete with sample questions for the 2020 presidential candidates and an inclusive Unity Agenda that addresses concerns on both sides of the aisle, this nonpartisan political handbook should be required reading for all US voters.

3. Audio/Smartphone (ATBR)

Morning Star
By: Pierce Brown
Narrator: Tim Gerard Reynolds
Series: Red Rising, Book 3
Length: 21 hrs and 50 mins
I got my son into this series and I knew he had passed me so I thought I would catch up.
I found out tonight that he is reading the series a second time and is still ahead of me in Book 3.
Source: March 2018 Audible Credit.
Publisher's Summary
Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society's mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within.
Finally, the time has come.
But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied - and too glorious to surrender.
©2016 Pierce Brown (P)2016 Recorded Books

4. Audio/Smartphone in Car (A2019)

The Oracle
The Jubilean Mysteries Unveiled
By: Jonathan Cahn
Narrated by: Michael Beck
Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
Release date: 11-07-19
My husband picked this up in print but wanted to listen during our long drive too.
Source: 2019 November Audible Credit.
Publisher's Summary
New York Times and USA Today Best Seller!
Discover the amazing secret of the ages...and the mystery of your life!
The Oracle will reveal the mystery behind everything...the past, the present, current events, even what is yet to come! Open the seven doors of revelation - and prepare to be blown away!
Jonathan Cahn, author of the New York Times best sellers The Harbinger, The Mystery of the Shemitah, The Book of Mysteries, and The Paradigm, now unveils The Oracle, in which he opens up the Jubilean mysteries and a revelation so big that it lies behind everything from the rise and fall of nations and empires (even America), to the current events of our day, to the future, to end-time prophecy, and much more.
Could an ancient prophecy and a mysterious ordinance given in a Middle Eastern desert over three thousand years ago be determining the events of our day?
Could some of the most famous people of modern history and current events be secretly linked to this mystery-even a modern president of the United States?
Could this ancient revelation pinpoint the events of our times down to the year, month, and day of their occurring?
Could a mysterious phenomenon be manifesting on the world stage on an exact timetable determined from ancient times?
Could these manifestations have altered-and now be altering-the course of world events?
Jonathan Cahn takes the listener on a journey to find the man called the Oracle. One by one each of the Jubilean mysteries will be revealed through the giving of a vision. The Oracle will uncover the mysteries of The Stranger, The Lost City, The Man with the Measuring Line, The Land of Seven Wells, The Birds, The Number of the End, The Man in the Black Robe, The Prophet's Song, The Matrix of Years, The Day of the Lions, The Awakening of the Dragon, and much more.
The listener will discover the ancient scrolls that contain the appointed words that have determined the course of world history from the onset of modern times up to our day. The revelation is so big that it will involve and open up the mysteries of everything and everyone from Mark Twain to Moses, from King Nebuchadnezzar to Donald Trump, from the fall of empires to the rise of America, from a mystery hidden in a desert cave to another in an ancient scroll, from the palace of the Persian Empire to the US Senate, from the Summer of Love to the Code of Babylon, and much, much more.
Ultimately the Oracle will reveal the secret that lies behind end-time prophecy and the mystery of the end of the age.
As with The Harbinger and The Book of Mysteries, Cahn reveals the mysteries through a narrative. A traveler is given seven keys; each will open up one of seven doors. Behind each door lies a stream of mysteries. The reader will be taken on a journey of angels and prophetic revelations waiting to be discovered behind each of the seven doors - the ancient secrets that lie behind the world-changing events of modern times - and revelations of what is yet to come.
Hailed as a mind-blowing masterpiece, The Oracle will reveal mysteries that are absolutely real, amazing, stunning, mind-blowing, and life-changing.
Prepare to be blown away.
©2019 Jonathan Cahn (P)2019 Frontline

December 22, 2019 - I am nearing the end of another year of devotions and readings with the One Year Bible plan through You Version App.
I finished a seven-day plan this week: Joy Upon Joy, with Charles Spurgeon.

I completed four books and posted three reviews. I am up-to-date on reviews.
My NetGalley shelf is still at 10. I am reading one and added one. [Plus I have 4 old titles (2012-13) which I guess are moving into 2020.]
I still have two author titles that I expect to carry into January 2020.
Still many titles through InstaFreebie and many new author requests I haven't replied to.

Welcome to Mailbox Monday.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. This Meme started with Marcia at A Girl and Her Books (fka The Printed Page) and after a tour of hosts has returned to its permanent home at Mailbox Monday. Thanks to the ladies sharing hosting duties: Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit and (yours truly). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

I received one NetGalley review title.
I picked up two Audible titles on credit and one Chirp title.
I added 0 free kindle titles this week. (Note these are in my Amazon library, NOT on my Kindle until I download and transfer them.) Are your mailbox and TBR piles blooming?

Review Titles

NetGalley title received:
The Finders
A Mystery (Mace Reid K-9 Mystery Book 1)
by Jeffrey B. Burton

I am pretty sure I saw this on the blog visits this week but I am not sure where.

Won

NONE

Purchased

12/17/19 Two November Audible Credits
The Oracle
The Jubilean Mysteries Unveiled
By: Jonathan Cahn
Narrated by: Michael Beck
Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
Release date: 11-07-19
See above under current reading for full description.

Promises to Keep: After the EMP
Disruption Trilogy Book 3
By: R.E. McDermott
Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
Release date: 10-05-17
Book 3 to continue this series.

12/19/2019 Chirp purchase $1.99

Pathfinder's Way
A Novel of The Broken Lands
Written by T. A. White
Narrated by Christa Lewis
This sounds good.

Free

I added 0 free Kindle titles to my Kindle library. Titles found linked through Bookbub, Bookfun, Ereader News Today, Free Par-tay, Ignite Your Book, Inspired Reads, Pixel of Ink or Kindle ebooks.

Sunday Words of Encouragement December 22, 2019 Advent Week 4

The Advent Wreath:

On the fourth week of Advent, we light the final purple candle to mark the final week of prayer and penance as we wait for the birth of our Savior. This final candle, the “Angel’s Candle,” symbolizes peace. It reminds us of the message of the angels: “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.”

Love is the greatest of all the virtues on the Advent wreath and encompasses Jesus’ entire purpose for being on earth (1 Corinthians 13:13).

John 3:16-19 (NIV)
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

Audible Book Review: Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz

This is a remarkably entertaining suspense with good twists.

Orphan X
By: Gregg Hurwitz
Narrated by: Scott Brick
Series: Evan Smoak, Book 1

Series: Evan Smoak, Book 1
Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 01-19-16
Language: English
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Genre: Crime Thriller, Suspense
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
The Nowhere Man is a legendary figure spoken about only in whispers. It's said that when he's reached by the truly desperate and deserving, the Nowhere Man can and will do anything to protect and save them.
But he's no legend.
Evan Smoak is a man with skills, resources, and a personal mission to help those with nowhere else to turn. He's also a man with a dangerous past. Chosen as a child, he was raised and trained as part of the off-the-books black box Orphan program, designed to create the perfect deniable intelligence assets - i.e. assassins. He was Orphan X. Evan broke with the program, using everything he learned to disappear.
Now, however, someone is on his tail. Someone with similar skills and training. Someone who knows Orphan X. Someone who is getting closer and closer. And will exploit Evan's weakness - his work as The Nowhere Man - to find him and eliminate him.
Grabbing the listener from the beginning, Orphan X is a masterful thriller, the first in Gregg Hurwitz's electrifying new series featuring Evan Smoak.
©2016 Gregg Hurwitz (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Review:
Evan Smoak was chosen as an orphaned child to become Orphan X. He was raised and trained in an off-the-books Orphan program creating assassins. Unlike most of the Orphans, Evan’s handler wanted to help keep him ‘human’. When events cut Evan off from the program, he chose to become The Nowhere Man. When a truly needy and deserving person calls, Evan responds to help the innocents of the world.

Evan has recently completed one of his good deed rescues and expects a gap before the next call. But a call comes in sooner than he expects. Although he queries the caller he cannot help wondering if this is legitimate. When he meets her and barely dodges a sniper bullet his suspicions increase. But he has rules he tries to follow and one of the most important is to protect the innocents.

Evan has to live a pretty solitary life to protect his secrets. Yet he finds himself being drawn in by others in his apartment building determining that he must step in to help them, even while he is paranoid about hiding his own identity.

A cat and mouse chase ensues as another assassin team has targeted Evan and is threatening innocent people to get him into the open. Suddenly Evan is facing other assassins who are trained as well as he is, including the legendary Orphan O. But even Orphan O has a handler and Evan has to discover who wants him dead, assuming he can stay alive to find out.

I was quickly drawn in by the detailed behaviors of Evan and enjoyed learning more about his history that is shared through flashbacks. He is not just a cold-blooded killer but has a complex and sometimes conflicting morality. There is plenty of action and interesting set up of the safe houses and protective measures needed to keep an assassins cover protected. I enjoyed this thriller and will be picking up more of the series. I recommend this to readers who enjoy good assassin suspense.

Audio Notes: Scott Brick is a good choice for suspense narration. He manages to convey mystery while clearly presenting the complex character of the assassin. The narration helped me to enjoy this suspense.

Source: February 2017 $4.95 Sale purchase at Audible. This qualifies for 2019TBR and 2019Audiobook goals. I may have to use this for my "X" alphabet title this year.