Sunday Post February 12, 2023/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday February 13, 2023

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.

Heather finally got her car fixed and got into the office on Thursday. She is still not feeling 100% and we think she may have an infection.
I stayed home on Thursday as I had (what I thought was) a 24 hour stomach bug. I was still a little shaky on Friday but had work to get to. Sunday I still felt under the weather and stayed home although I had a full day of plans, including a Super Bowl gathering. I didn't want to risk passing a bug to anyone else so I didn't go out. :-(.

Saturday I attended a very nice GFWC District 2 meeting in a nearby community. It was nice to share with a good number of ladies from our Marianna club and sharing with ladies from other clubs. Whenever we meet the host club selects a charity for collecting donations. This week was a food bank and our club contributed over 500 items of non perishables to help others.

I managed to kill one orchid but this one is blooming.
I need to get it some fertilizer for the leaves.

My continuing prayers include prayers for more unity in all nations and a calmer atmosphere in 2023. Special prayers for the families in Turkey and Syria after the earthquakes. And New Zealand without power after the storm.

We had a week with several days of rain. Tonight will dip to 34 but that is the lowest for this coming week.

I finished two audios (again) and posted four reviews with my memes.

I only visited 15 blogs last week.
Shout out this week to THE LADY NEVER. Nicci describes herself as: "... a UK based blogger with a love for books, Marvel, baking, history and gaming." And she works in a STEM organisation. Doesn't that sound interesting?

Audiobooks.com is still sharing some free listens for children.

• Sunday Post February 5, 2023/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday February 6, 2023.

• NG20222: #NetGalley Audio Book Review: The Prayer Warrior by Traci Wooden-Carlisle, D. Tina Batten; Genre: Christian Fantasy, Spiritual Realm; My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.
  

• ATBR: Audible Book Review: Forging Zero: The Legend of ZERO by Sara King; Genre: First Contact, Science Fiction, Space Exploration; My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.25.
  

• ATBR: Audible Book Review: The Last Tribe by Brad Manuel; Genre: Action & Adventure, Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic; My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.25.
  

• ATBR: Audible Book Review: How Great Science Fiction Works by Gary K. Wolfe; Genre: Nonfiction, Science Fiction; My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.
  

• Sharing Beyond Books #455 Comment Giveaway February 11, 2023. Open Worldwide. Ending 3/11/2023.
  

• Sunday Words of Encouragement February 12, 2023 - Agape Love!
  

Finished Reading:
1. Audible Smartphone (ATBR)

 
Cat o' Nine Tales
The Jane Yellowrock Stories
By: Faith Hunter
Narrated by: Khristine Hvam
Series: Jane Yellowrock
Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
This is a great collection that gives the background of several of Jane's friends.
Source: April 2021 Audible Plus Catalog free audio.
Click on book title for full description.

2. Audio Smartphone (ATBR)

The Yankee Widow
By Linda Lael Miller
Narrated By: Jack Garrett
Duration: 14 h 37 min
I did enjoy the blend of history and romance in this story.
Source: 5/8/2021 Two for One Credit Deal at Audiobooks.com
Click on book title for full description.

Currently Reading:
1. Audio Smartphone (ATBR)

Blind Search
Written by Paula Munier
Narrated by Kathleen McInerney
Run Time 12h 10min
I liked the first book in this series and I was looking for a “B” title.
Source: March 2021 Chirp purchase $3.99.
Publisher Description
Former Army MP Mercy Carr and her retired bomb-sniffing dog Elvis are back in Blind Search, the sequel to the critically acclaimed A Borrowing of Bones. It’s October, hunting season in the Green Mountains—and the Vermont wilderness has never been more beautiful or more dangerous. Especially for nine-year-old Henry, who’s lost in the woods. Again. Only this time he sees something terrible. When a young woman is found shot through the heart with a fatal arrow, Mercy thinks that something is murder. But Henry, a math genius whose autism often silences him when he should speak up most, is not talking.Now there’s a murderer hiding among the hunters in the forest—and Mercy and Elvis must team up with their crime-solving friends, game warden Troy Warner and search-and-rescue dog Susie Bear, to find the killer—before the killer finds Henry. When an early season blizzard hits the mountains, cutting them off from the rest of the world, the race is on to solve the crime, apprehend the murderer, and keep the boy safe until the snowplows get through.Inspired by the true search-and-rescue case of an autistic boy who got lost in the Vermont wilderness, Paula Munier’s mystery is a compelling roller coaster ride through the worst of winter—and human nature.

2. Audible Smartphone (ATBR)

Exiled Fleet Publisher's Pack (Books 1-2)
By: Richard Fox
Narrated by: Mark Boyett
Series: Exiled Fleet, Book 1-2
Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
This is a new series, an "E" title and
another mid-length audio.
Source: May 2022 Audible Plus.
Publisher's Summary
Book 1: Albion Lost:
For centuries, the Daegon waited. They plotted. And now they are ready to strike.
The core worlds of settled space enjoy a tenuous peace, unaware and ill prepared for the threat building beyond the furthest reaches of humanity. The star kingdom of Albion stands as a shining light of justice and mercy in a harsh galaxy, and they will be the first to suffer the Daegon's fury.
Defying his low born status, and despite his self-doubt, Commodore Thomas Gage has risen through the ranks by sheer grit and determination, defending Albion from brutal pirate clans. And when the onslaught comes, Gage and his fleet may be Albion's last hope for freedom.
Book 2: The Long March:
Albion burns beneath Daegon rule.
Commodore Thomas Gage and his fleet, safeguarding the last of the Albion Royal Family, are on the run. Hunting them, a ruthless Daegon commander will stop at nothing to crush Albion's only remaining free force.
To find sanctuary beyond their enemy's reach, the battle-damaged fleet must cut through a hostile and dangerous region of space known as the Kigeli Nebula. But to secure passage, Gage must strike a deal with an old enemy who wants nothing more than to fulfill a vendetta and see the commodore dead.
Facing threats ahead, behind and from within, Gage must lead his fleet down the long march to freedom.
Exiled Fleet is a new military science-fiction series for fans of Honor Harrington, Earth Alone, and Old Man's War from the author of the best-selling Ember War Saga.
©2017 Podium Publishing; 2017 Richard Fox

Again, I had a hard time choosing the next book so I might change my mind when I get there. :-)

February 12, 2023 - I am enjoying this new plan on YouVersion. I totally enjoyed watching the devotion videos so I am doing another BibleProject plan: The Full Story - "From the beginning to the Amen" .  I have never done a Chronological reading before.
I added Matthew so I could follow along with my son who is reading with the BOBs (Band of Brothers). I will add the applicable New Testament book to read along.
I am 12 days into a 21 day plan: The Sauce: Seek First.

I finished two audio titles and reviewed four so I am still making progress. I am now behind 2 reviews for January and 3 for February.  I'll continue to work on these.

NETGALLEY STATUS--
My ebook on NetGalley was on my old phone and will expire before I finish it.
I plan to listen to one of the two audiobooks in the next two weeks.
I still have the two old ebook titles.
I have one author review in my queue that I need to start reading on my computer.
(Plus a few that I received from Facebook links and newsletter sign-ups, not specific review requests.)
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: Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, me, and newest to the team, Emma at Words and Peace. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

I selected two credit picks at Audible and purchased two one sale.
I didn't get any free Kindle titles again this week.
Are your mailbox and TBR piles blooming?

Review Titles

NONE

Won

NONE

Purchased

2/7/2023 Audible Two Credit picks:

From the Ashes
The Fallen World, Book 3
By: Chris Kennedy, Christopher Woods, Marisa Wolf, Mark Wandrey, Jon R. Osborne
Narrated by: Mark Boyett
Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins

E-Day
E-Day, Book 1
By: Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins


2/7/2023 Audible Sale:

Dragon's Envoy
By: James Haddock, Gus James
Narrated by: Daniel Wisniewski, Elizabeth Plant
Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
$1.99.

Roadkill
By: Dennis E. Taylor
Narrated by: Ray Porter
Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
$3.99.

Free

NONE

No new titles added to Kindle library. Free titles often found at Bookbub, Book Adrenaline, Ereader News Today, Inspired Reads, or Kindle ebooks.

Sunday Words of Encouragment February 12, 2023 - Agape Love

My stomach was not settled Sunday morning and after going twice to the car, I decided to stay home rather than risk exposing anyone else to a tummy bug. Pastor’s message was about Agape Love - from 1 John 4:7-10.

These words were directed to believers, not a specific church group. These are universal truths.
Agape love is a benevolent love desiring the best for the object of the love.
It is a command of God and God gives us the ability to do what He commands.
God so loved us that He made a way out of our sinful condition. John 3:16.
If we don’t want the best for others, we don’t know God. Our desire should be that everyone be saved and go to Heaven.

God is love It isn’t always easy to desire the best for others, like exes or those who have mistreated us or threatened us. But if God is in us, His love will flow through us. We need to abide in Him and allow Him to abide in us. 1 John 4:15-16.

The first fruit of the spirit is Love. Galatians 5:22-23. Only God can change, or transform, our hearts from hate to love. We have to get rid of negative attitudes of jealousy, covetousness, hate.
We have to have an attitude of love, then we have to act in love.
How do we act? We serve for the benefit of others. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
Love is patient…. And that is another fruit of the spirit. If we struggle with patience we have an issue with Agape love. Agape love gives mercy and patience. Love is the expansion joint that God gives us to deal with others.

God is forbearing and patient with us. When we recognize that, we can be forbearing and patient with others. Ephesians 4:2. Colossians 3:13.
If we can’t love one another, how can we love the world?
Agape love is more than acceptance. It is wanting the best for others.
We offend God but He sent His Son to atone for our offense and bring us back in relationship.
If someone has offended us, we need Agape love to forgive the offense.

To get Agape love we have to have transformation in our hearts. We have to surrender to God and allow Him to dwell in us.

I found this song and it made me cry. "Love You With the Truth"

Verses for Today:
1 John 4:7-11 NIV
God’s Love and Ours
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Lord, thank you for loving me so much that you gave your son Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for my sins. Please help me to love others enough to show your nature to them.

Sharing Beyond Books #455 Comment Giveaway February 11, 2023

Welcome to Sharing Beyond Books.  I am sorry only five people commented last month but I am glad to hear from each of you. I will continue this post monthly for now.

Thanks to everyone who commented on the last question.
Last post SBB #454: Natalia asked: What would you do if you had more free time??
Two commenters said reading and two more included reading. Two of us included decluttering, and another mentioned other household chores. One also mentioned things like crafts and baking. Finally another item mentioned was jigsaw and word puzzles. I would like those too. I was hooked on Wordle, Dordle, and Quordle for several months but when my computer got cleaned, I stopped mostly due to be tired at night.

The Winner from SBB #453 comments is #4 LIFE'S SIMPLE PLEASURES 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. -- [9-18-2021 I have added a new box and crossed off books no longer available through August 2021.]

Please let me know your choice by completing the WINNER FORM.

WEEK #455

(One Question.)

Life's Simple Pleasures asks: Has the pandemic turned you into a gardener? Be it flowers/leafy plants as a hobby or a vege gardener for food??

Since I continued working through the pandemic, I didn't add gardening as a hobby, even though I love it. However, I added six decent size plants from my husband's funeral last May. I now consider my front room with those plants as my little garden of remembrance.

Image found at Greenhouse Product News.

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 1/2 book choice or $2.50 towards 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 them.
November question was provided by LIFE'S SIMPLE PLEASURES who gets a GC credit.

Your turn to share. Life's Simple Pleasures asks: Has the pandemic turned you into a gardener? Be it flowers/leafy plants as a hobby or a vege gardener for food??
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.
The deadline is a month, until March 11, 2023.
I will pick a Comment winner from all comments made through Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 5 PM central.

Audible Book Review: How Great Science Fiction Works by Gary K. Wolfe

This course is very informative. I am glad I listened to it and got the pdf before the free download became unavailable in my library.
How Great Science Fiction Works
By: Gary K. Wolfe, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Gary K. Wolfe

Series: The Great Courses: Genre Fiction
Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
Lecture
Release date: 01-08-16
Publisher: The Great Courses
Genre: Nonfiction, Science Fiction
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
Robots, spaceships, futuristic megacities, planets orbiting distant stars. These icons of science fiction are now in our daily news. Science fiction, once maligned as mere pulp, has motivated cutting-edge scientific research, inspired new technologies, and changed how we view everyday life - and its themes and questions permeate popular culture. Take an unparalleled look at the influence, history, and greatest works of science fiction with illuminating insights and fascinating facts about this wide-ranging genre. If you think science fiction doesn't have anything to do with you, this course deserves your attention. And if you love science fiction, you can't miss this opportunity to trace the arc of science fiction's evolution, understand the hallmarks of great science fiction, and delve deeply into classics while finding some new favorites.
These 24 captivating lectures reveal the qualities that make science fiction an enduring phenomenon that has been steadily gaining popularity. You'll grasp the context and achievements of authors like Arthur C. Clarke, H.G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, Ursula K. LeGuin, and many more. You'll experience the wonder, horror, and incredible imagination of works like Frankenstein, the Foundation series, Stranger in a Strange Land, and dozens of more recent stories as well. You'll also see this genre's influence in movies like Star Wars and TV shows like The Twilight Zone.
Science fiction can take us places in time and space where no other form of fiction can - outer space, the far future, alternate universes, unfathomable civilizations. The best science fiction expands our imaginations and makes its mark on our reality. And while few writers would ever claim to predict the future, sometimes authors get it almost eerily right: Gernsback describing radar in 1911, Bradbury describing giant flatscreen TVs in 1951, Gibson inventing "cyberspace" in 1984, and so on.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
©2016 The Great Courses (P)2016 The Teaching Company, LLC

Review:
This lecture is very informative on the history of science fiction writing themes, notable authors and their works. The material is presented in logical groupings, and it kept my interest. It supplies a great resource for me to look for more authors and works in the genre that I will want to read/listen to. What this course DID NOT clearly include, though implied by the title, is what writing features make great science fiction. I know that I have often commented on the “irony” aspects of science fiction stories that I read. I was hoping to learn the elements of the genre to look for as I read.

There were some genre features shared such as the fact that science fiction is deemed to be a category presenting future worlds although time travel and alternate worlds fit too. Science fiction is distinguished from fantasy which generally contains more world building than connection to possible realities. The material presented described the creative use of futuristic technologies that often became real in a matter of years. It made me wonder if science developed on the creative ideas or if the authors had leaks of real projects.

Another part of the features that did contribute to the writing of science fiction are subsets such as the various means to make space travel possible and “The Artifact” as a specific theme to build stories on. The course also covers post-apocalyptic and dystopian themes. I enjoyed hearing authors and titles that I am familiar with. And now have more to look for. I do recommend this to anyone interested in the history of science fiction.

Audio Notes: The author does a good job narrating this lecture material. As noted in my comments above, the material is grouped well and makes the listening move along well. I am glad that I got to listen to the free book while available in my library. But I am also very glad to have the pdf available for future resource material.

Source: September 2022 Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2023TBR, 2023Audiobook, 2023Alphabet, and 2023Nonfiction goals.

Audible Book Review: The Last Tribe by Brad Manuel

I liked this post-apocalyptic which is full of characters and survival rather than guns and gore.

The Last Tribe
By: Brad Manuel
Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 22 hrs and 42 mins
Release date: 06-14-16
Publisher: Podium Audio
Genre: Action & Adventure, Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.25.

Publisher's Summary
Imagine being alone in the world, one of only a handful to survive a global pandemic. Not only do you struggle to find food, water, and shelter but you also deal with the sadness and losing everyone you know and everything you have.
Fourteen-year-old Greg Dixon is living that nightmare. Attending boarding school outside of Boston, he is separated from his family when a pandemic strikes. His classmates and teachers are dead, rotting in a dormitory-turned-morgue steps from his room. The nights are getting colder, and his food has run out. The last message from his father is to get away from the city and to meet at his grandparents' town in remote New Hampshire. Knowing the impending New England winter could be the final nail in his coffin, Greg packs what little food he can find and sets off on his 100-mile walk north with the unwavering belief that his family is alive and will join him.
As the fast-moving and deadly disease strips away family and friends, Greg's father, John, is trapped in South Carolina. Roadblocks, a panic-stricken population, and winter make it impossible for him to get to his son. John and his three brothers appear to be immune, but they are scattered across a locked-down United States, forced to wait for the end of humanity before travelling to the mountains of New Hampshire.
Spring arrives, and the Dixons make their way north to find young Greg. They meet others along the way, slowly forming the last tribe of humanity from the few people still alive in the Northeast.
©2015 Brad Manuel (P)2016 Podium Publishing.

Review:
A fast-moving global pandemic has eliminated most of the people within two months. There is no clear reason why certain people survive and others do not. Surprisingly in this world, four Dixon brothers seem to be immune. Even more surprising, one of their wives survived too. The four brothers are spread across the Eastern United States from South Carolina to Ohio. John, Todd, Paul, and Hank agree to meet in the spring at their childhood home in Hanover, New Hampshire.

John is in Charleston, with two of his sons who survived. His fourteen-year-old son, Greg, is away at boarding school in Massachusetts. In their last phone call John told Greg to get to Hanover to wait for the rest of the Dixon men. After all of the others at his school appear to be dead, Greg sets out alone on his journey north. Along the way he is stunned to stumble upon another living person. Thirteen-year-old Rebecca is a young genius who is determined to survive.

Paul and Hank live in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, respectively. They react differently when their wives and children die leaving them alone. They have to decide how to travel north and whether they should travel before winter.

Todd lives in Raleigh and is relived that his wife, Emily, and two young sons, have survived. Emily is determined to continue to educate their boys even as they travel to meet the rest of the family. They have a surprising visit to the Governor’s house before they proceed on their journey, adding some interesting companions along the way.

John and his sons have the furthest distance to travel. Young adult, Matt is prepared to help his father as soon as they can get control of young Craig who is suffering grief and anxious to get to Greg. When they get Craig focused on fishing, he can add his skills to their survival.

A handful of other survivors are discovered along the various journeys. There is a fine dilemma between finding others to rebuild society and finding others who are safe to trust. This is a totally character driven post apocalyptic story. Rebecca, the child genius, and extreme organizer, is a fascinating character. The other characters are well developed I was engaged by the character interactions which kept the story interesting. Although there is no heavy action, I enjoyed all of the survival observations and techniques.  I recommend this to post-apocalyptic survival fans who would enjoy character strengths as a change of pace.

Audio Notes: Scott Brick is a talented narrator. He delivers clear voices and appropriate emotion. I enjoyed the audio entertainment.

Source: 05/17/2020 Audible Credit pick. This qualifies for 2023TBR, 2023Audiobook, and 2023Alphabet goal.