Sunday Post January 8, 2023/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday January 9, 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.

Thanks for the well wishes and prayers for my DIL. We will get an update on prognosis next week. She has been battling this rare form of sarcoma cancer for six years. It is generally treatable only by surgical removal each time it returns and this was the fourth surgery. Chemo and drug treatments are in testing stages and the doctors are watching the testings closely to determine if they are successful and worth trying. My DIL did have chemo after her first surgery not for the tumors above her ear but when they found cancer in her lungs. That has not returned.

Work has started off well. We all seem to be getting focused with work getting done.

I have some additional photos from our trip to the cold.
We visited the St. Louis Zoo for their night show.
We were early so we got to see some of the animals but I didn't get any good pics of them.
Everyone was pretty impressed that the waterfalls were still frozen.

I always get a goodby photo (and my son took a couple of me too).

My continuing prayers include prayers for more unity in all nations and a calmer atmosphere in 2023. Plus, I just learned tonight that one of our community friends lost her teenage son to suicide this weekend. How devastating!

We had a couple of nights at 35 and 37 but the days have been pretty lovely at 55 to 75.

I finished three audios and posted four reviews with my memes. I have chosen to end the Friday Pick Giveaway after 13 years.

I visited 18 blogs last week.
Shout out this week to LIFESTYLE OF ME. Kelly Lyn shares books and other things. I learned about washi under her About Me posts.

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

• Sunday Post December 18, 2022/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday December 19, 2022.

• Wrap Up MBS 2022 Reading GOALS.
  

• Wrap Up MBS 2022 Audiobook Challenge.
  

• MBS 2023 Reading GOALS.
  

• MBS 2023 Audiobook Challenge.
  

• ATBR: Audible Book Review: First Book of the Year, Audible Book Review: The Return of the Gods by Jonathan Cahn; Genre: Christian Spiritual Growth; My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.75; Narration 5.0.
  

• Martha's BookShelf Friday Pick January 6, 2013.
  

• A2022: Audible Book Review: This Fallen World by Christopher Woods; Genre: Adventure, Dystopia, Post-Apocalyptic; My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.5.
  

• A2022: Audible Book Review: Don't Call Me Ishmael by Chris Kennedy; Genre: Action, Post-Apocalyptic, Superhero; My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.
  

• A2022: Audible Book Review: Welcome to Hell: The Tasmanian Special Forces Group, Book 1 by C. R. Daems;Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Military, Space Opera; My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.5.
  

• Sunday Words of Encouragement January 8, 2023 - Alignment, Balance, and Focus.
  

Finished Reading:

1. Audible Smartphone (ATBR)

The Return of the Gods
By: Jonathan Cahn
Narrated by: Lawrence Richardson
Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
This is quite remarkable. My review is linked above.
Source: 12/3122 Audible Credit.
Click on book title for full description.

2. Audible Smartphone (ATBR)

At Love's Command
By: Karen Witemeyer
Narrated by: Amy Rubinate
Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
Release date: 06-09-20
This is a lovely Christian Historical Romance.
12/18/2021 November Audible Credit.
Click on book title for full description.

3. Audible Smartphone (ATBR)

Soul Taken
A Mercy Thompson Novel, Book 13
By: Patricia Briggs
Narrated by: Lorelei King
Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
I enjoyed the latest in this series which is one of my favorites.
Source: 8/28/2022 Audible August Credit.
Publisher's Summary
Mercy Thompson, car mechanic and shapeshifter, must face her greatest fears in this chilling entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.
The vampire Wulfe is missing. Since he’s deadly, possibly insane, and his current idea of “fun” is stalking me, some may see it as no great loss. But, warned that his disappearance might bring down the carefully constructed alliances that keep our pack safe, my mate and I must find Wulfe—and hope he’s still alive. As alive as a vampire can be, anyway.
But Wulfe isn’t the only one who has disappeared. And now there are bodies, too. Has the Harvester returned to the Tri-Cities, reaping souls with his cursed sickle? Or is he just a character from a B horror movie and our enemy is someone else?
The farther I follow Wulfe’s trail, the more twisted—and darker—the path becomes. I need to figure out what’s going on before the next body on the ground is mine.
©2022 Patricia Briggs (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Currently Reading:
I plan to listen to these two on NetGalley before they are archived.
1. NetGalley App on Smartphone (NG2022)

Coup de Grâce
By: Paul Centeno
Narrated by: Rob Jones UK
Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
I like SteamPunk and this sounds like a good adventure.
Source: December 2022 NetGalley.
Publisher's Summary
The world has changed. Gone are the old gods. Nature withers and dies beneath the growing bane of machines and industry. Desperate to prevent their world from dying, citizens turn to science and sprawling cities of steam ruled by the Imperium. Kaimo de Morté has never known another life. He is an optometrist by trade but too poor to open an optical boutique. Forced to work in the mines, Kaimo has no idea how his life is about to change. A chance encounter with insurgents thrusts him into a battle for the very future of mankind. One he is ill prepared to fight. Kaimo uncovers hidden truths, forms alliances stretching to the highest halls of power, and becomes the catalyst for either saving the world or watching it end.
©2022 Paul Centeno (P)2022 Paul Centeno.

2. NetGalley App on Smartphone (NG2022)

The Prayer Warrior
By: Traci Wooden-Carlisle, D. Tina Batten
Narrated by: Anita Faye Thomas
Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
I like spiritual warfare stories so I am looking forward to this.
Source: December 2022 NetGalley.
Publisher's Summary
There is a thin line between the natural and the spiritual realm.
Ms. V., a humble servant of the Lord, has been placed on assignment at Center of Hope Christian Academy.
By day, she serves as a trusted counselor for students, giving them a safe haven to pour out their innermost feelings while providing professional and honest truth wrapped in a firm kindness and love that inevitably draws them closer to Jesus. Not to be outdone, the faculty also bends her ear from time to time.
By night, Ms. V. enters the spiritual realm and takes her place on the battlefield as one of God's faithful prayer warriors. She wields her whispering sword, slicing through the enemy's plans to bind the precious hearts under her charge.
Her assignment's burden on her physical body is taxing, but can she withstand the strain and remain victorious?
Saving souls is her true mission, but at what cost?
Listeners are in for a journey of spiritual intrigue and biblical insight as they experience the ramifications of each character's life-altering decision.
Note: The digital and paperback versions come with a reader's-choice alternate ending. We chose the ending for you in this audiobook for uninterrupted listening pleasure. Enjoy.
©2021 D. Tina Batten and Traci Wooden-Carlisle (P)2022 D. Tina Batten and Traci Wooden-Carlisle.

I will decide on the next book when I get there. :-) 

January 8, 2023 -  I am enjoying this new plan in YouVersion. I am excited to have my son and daughter signed up too. They may not get to read everyday yet but signing up is a plus! 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 think I will enjoy it.

I finished three audio titles and reviewed four. I am now behind 9 reviews (not likely to get to the 7 children's books any time soon). I continue to work on these.

NETGALLEY STATUS--
I have three titles from NetGalley plus the two under current reading..
I still have the two old ebook titles. I went ahead and said "no feedback" for A Place Called Armageddon as a DNF.
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 new to the team, Velvet at vvb32reads. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

After I fill up on titles in December so they will qualify for TBRs in 2023, I try to hold off on buying any new titles in the early part of the new year.
I will pick my VIP selection before the end of the month at Audiobooks.
I won't have new credits at Audible until the 19th so I won't select those until after that.
Unless I find something at NetGalley or free on kindle, I might go three weeks with nothing new!
I got no free Kindle titles this week.
Are your mailbox and TBR piles blooming?

Review Titles

NONE

Won

NONE

Purchased

NONE

Free

NONE


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

Sunday Words of Encouragement January 8, 2023 - Alignment, Balance and Focus

I enjoyed visiting with church friends this morning. Our Sunday School teacher allowed an open discussion to conclude the study in Revelation, which he has dubbed Revelation of Restoration.

Church began with two well known praise songs and then we had guest ministers/revivalists. They both are amazing singers and shared in song and message. The husband noted that God will not operate through you until he is able to operate in you. He also stated that we have all ‘been through things, are going through things, or will go through things.’ We are all impacted by the world around us. God is going to take us through and into new things. The preacher asked if we would be “available” to God? He then gave a message on “Alignment, Balance, and Focus”.

God will give us direction and focus. The Bible directs us to “train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 KIV. Parents sometimes plan a career for their children that isn’t suitable to the nature of the child and results in disappointed dreams. Parents need to be more like God, knowing their child and directing the child to follow which may result in a going beyond our dreams.

When you follow God, He will align you with others who will support and help guide you. The most important thing we can do is to read His word. When the tires on your car are out of balance, the ride is rough. This is true of live too.

2 Timothy 2:15-16 tells us to show ourselves approved and this would be living in alignment with God's word. Paul tells us “one thing I do, I press towards the goal for the prize...” Philippians 3:13-14. We should be available for His direction; focused on Him as the goal. Let go the past to focus on the future. He has a plan for you. We each have a divine appointment.

You Lord will show you the path for life. Psalm 16:11. “18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." Proverbs 29:18 KIV. The NIV translation reads: “18 Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.”

The preacher encouraged us to catch the vision of our Pastor and our Church under God’s direction. As we follow after God, we will see things change. It is not just in the doing, but also in the ‘being’ that we succeed. Being available.

I was looking for the song for today and found this one. God I Look To You.

Verses for Today:
2 Timothy 2:15-16 NIV
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

Lord, help me to focus on you and to stay in alignment with Your Word.

Audible Book Review: Welcome to Hell: The Tasmanian Special Forces Group, Book 1 by C. R. Daems

I enjoyed the strength, physical and mental, of this female protagonist in the vein of GI Jane.

Welcome to Hell: The Tasmanian Special Forces Group, Book 1
By: C. R. Daems
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Series: Tasmanian SFG Series, Book 1
Release date: 03-03-20
Publisher: Podium Audio
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Military, Space Opera
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
Jolie was 3 when she found she was ugly and deformed.
She was 5 when she found she was a subhuman and an outcast. She was 7 when five boys and two girls dragged her out of the orphanage and beat her unconscious, leaving her lying bleeding and broken in the street.
She was content to lie there and die, tired of being hated and abused. But a frail old man with wispy white hair and a long beard wasn't content to let her die. He not only saved her, but he adopted her and passed on his unique martial art to her.
She was 20 when she headed to Delphi, the center of the United Systems of Perileos (USP) and the planet of her birth father, to find her place in his society.
Based on her unique upbringing, she decides to join the USP military, requesting to be assigned to the Tasmanians SFG, an elite all-male unit. The military brass is reluctant to deny her request and admit their enlistment contract permits bait-and-switch assignments. Instead, they agree to let her enter the school, thinking she couldn't possibly succeed - a Chihuahua competing against Rottweilers — and plan to make an example of her when she fails.
Although Jolie is small, she is not what she appears. But can her adopted father's art enable her to survive the treachery of the military brass, the grueling of the school, the prejudices of the instructors, and the testosterone of an all-male class.
And if she succeeds, can she thrive in the high-octane and all male environment of the Tasmanians?
©2019 C. R. Daems (P)2020 Podium Publishing.

Review:
Jolie was a child on a foreign planet who was considered ugly and deformed due to her human heritage. She was beat up and dragged out of the orphanage at the age of 7. Instead of dying on the streets, she was adopted by a frail old man who spent years teaching her special martial arts. At age 20 Jolie sets out to find her place on her birth father’s planet, United Systems of Perileos (USP). She appears at a recruiter station and, after reviewing the brochures, asks to be assigned to an elite all-male unit, the Tasmanians SFG. If they refuse her request, then their brochures are full of bait and switch lies. The military leaders reluctantly admit her figuring that the rigorous training, if not the peer pressure, will force her out of the program quickly. The leaders are wrong.

Jolie doesn’t have the size, strength, or bulk of her larger male classmates. But she does have great physical training and distinct, strategical thinking and planning skills. When the training officer notes that there are no separate facilities for females and she might face sexual pressure she reminds him, and the men around them, that the third way a candidate could leave the program is “dead by misadventure”. Her own ability to take down the men dissuades the unwanted advances the first night in the dorm.

Very quickly Jolie uses her smarts and skills to show that she can keep up with and beat many of the men. She prevails by successfully preparing before taking action. Of course, that results in enemies among the men as well as military leaders who aren’t beyond sabotage to get her out of the program.

When you note that this is the intro, book 1 of a series, you realize that Jolie makes it through the program to graduation. Jolie’s perseverance gains respect and friends, but how will the leaders and men treat her when she has to go into action in the field?

I really like Jolie’s intelligence, strength of character, and ability to plan her actions. I also liked the action in the story. The story does have a resemblance to GI Jane with some brutality but less sexual harassment. The cons on this is that it is set in a futuristic space world and there is a notable lack of cool technology and a strange level of sexual discrimination/limitation. None the less, I enjoyed the action and the comraderies that is developed. I have purchased book 2 to continue with the series. I recommend this to fans of female military protagonists.

Audio Notes: Emily Woo Zeller does a good job with the narration. The voices are appropriately distinct, and the narration conveys the emotional and action levels of the story. I am glad that I listened to this Audible Plus story.

Source: 12/14/22 Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2022Audiobook goal.

Audible Book Review: Don't Call Me Ishmael by Chris Kennedy

This is a strong story, set in The Fallen World series, of a man without a memory seeking his identity.
Don't Call Me Ishmael
By: Chris Kennedy
Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Series: The Fallen World, Book 2
Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
Release date: 06-25-19
Publisher: Podium Audio
Genre: Action, Post-Apocalyptic, Superhero
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
Don’t call him Ishmael. Or do; he really doesn’t care. Just don’t call him Fred.
No matter what you call him, though, he has a problem. Well, several of them. Ishmael - for want of a better name - woke up in a world that had changed. The Corporations - the wielders of power in a society not long from now - brought about the end of civilization as we know it, nuking each other to the point where it collapsed.
Ishmael doesn’t know any of this, though; in fact, he doesn’t know anything about himself when he wakes up in this shattered world. All of his autobiographical and episodic memories are gone, and along with them, any knowledge of who he was or anything in his past.
Worse, he has made enemies of some very important people, and they are after him. They are armed and he is alone and in...well, he doesn’t know where he is, either.
Can Ishmael stay alive long enough to recover his memories - to find out who he is and how he fits - or will he be just another casualty of This Fallen World?
©2019 Blood Moon Press (P)2019 Podium Publishing.

Review:
“Ishmael” doesn’t know his name or his identity. He awoke in a ‘coffin’, like a tanning bed, in a locked room. He soon runs into hostiles and discovers that the world around him is in chaos. As he escapes from the building, he destroys it behind him not knowing how important that chamber was to his recovery.

Ishmael, or Fred as he gets dubbed, has some natural muscle memory that helps keep him alive. He learns clues that send him off to find a former Corporation leader who may be able to help him learn his identity.

I liked Fred’s personality even when he didn’t know who he was. It was clear he was a superhero/warrior of sorts, probably an assassin like Kade in This Fallen World. I was glad that his inclinations were to do good considering the history and reputation of the Corporation assassins.

I really enjoyed the story-telling that fit well even though this is a different author in The Fallen World series. There are good characters, plenty of action, and a sense of humor. Again, the use of “this Fallen World” was fun but the reader has to get used to the repetition as it is used at the end of almost every chapter. I will be looking for more books in the series and more series from this author. I recommend the series and this action packed superhero, post-apocalyptic story.

Audio Notes: Again, Mark Boyett does a wonderful job with the narration. He is one of a handful of narrators I would be willing to search to select books he has narrated. I am thankful to have gotten these books for free for Audible listening.

Source: 11/5 Audible Plus Catalog This qualifies for 2022Audiobook goal.

Audible Book Review: This Fallen World by Christopher Woods

I liked the action in these stories.

This Fallen World
By: Christopher Woods
Narrated by: Mark Boyett

Series: The Fallen World, Book 1
Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
Release date: 04-23-19
Publisher: Podium Audio
Genre: Adventure, Dystopia, Post-Apocalyptic
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.5.

Publisher's Summary
The world has Fallen, but life goes on....
Matthew Kade was a corporate assassin - one of the best agents Obsidian Corporation had. But then the bombs began falling, and the old world ended. Now he must navigate the new world he finds himself in, a world where the strongest survive, and the weaker do their bidding...or die.
Kade was always one of the strongest, though, so when a rich man’s daughter goes missing, he turns to Kade to find her and bring her back. But she has already been gone three days, and in the Fallen World, that is an eternity in which any number of things could have happened to her.
Can Kade - a man with a price on his head - pick up the trail of the young woman and navigate the streets of the city to find her, or will the city’s denizens be the end of him? It will take all of Kade’s abilities to find her and save her life...if he doesn’t lose his first.
This Fallen World includes three novellas in an exciting new universe by best-selling author Christopher Woods. You’ll want to get it - right now!
©2018 Blood Moon Press (P)2019 Podium Publishing.

Review:
This book consists of three short stories. The first was This Fallen World. The second is Broken City and the third is Seeds. The Fallen World is the bigger story.

A nuclear holocaust between warring corporations has resulted in decimating the United States. Few cities and countryside communities have survived. Slowly the survivors have established very rough societies who have a hierarchy with trading for life needs such as water, food (the Farmers), protection (the Society of the Sword), and even electric power (the Dynamo). The society groups are broken into blocks known as Zones some led by good, fair leaders, and others by vicious Warlords. Travel between Zones can be tricky.

In the Old World, Matthew Kade was a corporate assassin for one of the high corporations, the Obsidian Corporation. Now he serves as a tracker, retriever – a warrior of quiet renown. Kade has made enemies and has a price on his head due to prior events. But he also has made friends among prior clients, being trustworthy, and by being kind to people on the street. These friends can help him survive in the streets and as he passes from Zone to Zone.

A wealthy man hires Kade to find and return his daughter who was on a Caravan through Zones but has been missing for three days. Kade has a connection to Teresa, a leader of the Society of the Sword, which is a group set on removing the worst of the bad guys. Teresa has sent a tank of a man, William Poe, to watch Kade’s back. Kade and Poe will face random gangs as well as Zone armies to accomplish his mission. Kade is quick to say "Expect the worst and you won't be disappointed."

Broken City finds Kade called in to solve a mystery of murders taking place among the Mardins. This is a society group who live under the city in the maintenance tunnels, where they provide water and sewer systems to the groups above in exchange for being left alone. When someone violates the agreement by entering their tunnels and killing members, the Society of the Swords in called upon and Kade is assigned to solve the problem. Again, he has assistance, and they face mutant killers. There is also a furtherance of the relationship between Kade and Teresa.

Finally, in Seeds, we learn about Zebadiah Pratt and struggles of the Farmers as they begin to form shortly after ‘the fall’. Pratt was in the military in the Old World and came home alive but damaged. This story fills in some of the history of how the world became ‘this fallen world’. There were interesting additions in this story, including a fat, lazy pony. Also, this one gets a bit more brutal than the first two stories.

I enjoyed the character development and the full-on action in these stories. There was a bit of repetition especially for the phrase of “in this Fallen World.” Initially it is clever, cute, but it gets to be overdone. I am glad to have received this through Audible Plus and I have another book in this series which I look forward to reading (listening) to. I recommend this to fans of dystopian, post-apocalyptic novels that are filled with fighting action.

Audio Notes: Mark Boyett is a skilled narrator, delivering distinct voices and apt energy to the stories. I am drawn in by his narration and I really was pleased to get to listen to this story.

Source: 11/5 Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2022Audiobook goal.