The "Summer's Flying By" Reading Challenge Kick-off

This summer IS flying by, and the past week flew by too! I had wanted to post my kick-off for The "Summer's Flying By" Reading Challenge last weekend, and just didn't get it done. Which is kind of how summer generally works, isn't it? Lots of plans and ideas for all the great things we're going to do, and then before we know it, we're partway through August and what happened to summer? I digress. Audra Marie and her daughter Chrystiana were having trouble finding a summer reading challenge they could participate in, so they created their own, and it is not too late to join! The challenge is simple - just read as many books as you can before summer ends on September 21st. To be eligible for the prize they are offering (a $15 Amazon gift card - for more books, of course!), write a kick-off post about the challenge and link it up, then write a wrap-up post at the end and link that up. Every Friday, there will be a mini-challenge as well, just to add some fun! Because I'm late in getting this kick-off post off the ground, so to speak, I am including the first mini-challenge here too.

My daughter Kennady is doing the challenge with me, so I guess we'll have to agree on what we'll buy if we win the Amazon gift card!

Mini-Challenge #1 - It Begins with SUMMER

The first mini-challenge is to read a book with a title that starts with each letter in the word SUMMER. (And you can disregard A, An, or The at the beginning of the titles.) Here's what we're already reading and how it fits in:

S-U-M-M-E-R

S - (A) Stand At Sinai by Hope Auer

U - Understanding the Times by Ken Ham

M - Michal by Jill Eileen Smith

M -

E -

R -

Kennady recently finished A Stand At Sinai and now I'm reading it. I was partway through Michal when the challenge started, and I just started Understanding the Times. I'll update our SUMMER list as we read other titles that start with the appropriate letters.

 Visit The "Summer's Flying By" Reading Challenge Kick-off Post at Simply Audra Marie and join in.

What summery books are you reading? Please take "just a second" to leave a comment and let me know.

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Chats on the Farmhouse Porch #151

Good morning! Time for another weekly Chat on the Farmhouse Porch hosted by Everyday Ruralty. My Wednesday evenings are usually full, so I am just planning to join in on the chat on Thursday morning. It's a good way to start the day, with a cup of coffee and a little visit.

This week's questions:

1. What's the earliest time in your life you can remember? Can you remember being 2 years old, 5 years old, etc?
2. What do you like to put on pasta? (Your favorite topping.)
3. Is there something that takes time away from more important things in your life? (TV, internet, talking on the telephone, etc.)
4. Do you buy many clothes that are "high maintenance"? (Clothes that need to be ironed, dry cleaned, or hand washed)
5. Please finish this sentence. "I'd like to visit the beach today and --------------."

My answers:

1. I have a couple of very vague memories from when I was about 3 or 4 years old, but it's from about 5 years old that I can more clearly remember events such as playing in the backyard that summer and my first days of school.
2. I'm not a big fan of tomato sauces on pasta, unless it's baked - like a lasagna. But I love alfredo sauce! When I make spaghetti and meatballs for the rest of the family, I serve it with the pasta in one bowl and the meatballs and sauce in another because I and a couple of my kids don't like the tomato sauce on our pasta. I eat my spaghetti with just butter. 
3. Seems like everything I do on the internet takes much longer than I planned for, and yeah - that keeps me from other things I should be doing. I am working on budgeting my time better. I have to, because school will be starting soon and I will have to stick to a better routine!
4. I really don't buy many clothes at all. I prefer things that are easy care, but it's usually not a deal-breaker if it's something that needs to be ironed or hand-washed. If it's dry clean only, I'd rather not get it.
5. I'd like to visit the beach today and visit with some friends. If I was going to the beach, I'd choose to go with a couple of good friends and do some catching up.

Visit Chat 151 at Everyday Ruralty to join in! 

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

WWW Wednesdays: August 6, 2014

Should Be Reading hosts this weekly update on what we're reading, what we recently finished reading, and what's next. 

• What are you currently reading?  I missed the link-up last week, so I have some updating to do. I have been reading Michal by Jill Eileen Smith, and I just returned to Loyal In Love by Jean Plaidy, which I had set aside quite some time ago.         

   

• What did you recently finish reading? In the past two weeks I finished  Miracle In A Dry Season by Sarah Loudin Thomas. I also read It Happened at the Fair by Deanne Gist. (Read my thoughts on these books HERE and HERE.)

   

• What do you think you'll read next?  I almost picked up Love's Pursuit by Siri Mitchell last night, but didn't. Starting to wonder if I'll ever get to that one. I have a couple of new books on my Kindle that I'd like to get to. My daughter and I are doing a Summer Reading Challenge, so that may help me choose what's next!

   

What are you reading? Anyone can join in this link-up by answering these three questions. Visit Should Be Reading for this week's link-up.

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Recent Reads - It Happened At The Fair

It Happened At The Fair by Deeanne Gist - When I saw the cover of this book as I walked by a display shelf at the library, I couldn't help myself. I picked it up and had a look. The setting is the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, so that intrigued me as well. Cullen McNamara is a North Carolina farmer who also happens to be allergic to his crops, but he is also an inventor who has come up with an automatic sprinkler system to help fight fires. His father pays for Cullen to show his invention at the World's Fair, and when Cullen finds out that the family's farm is heavily mortgaged, he knows that he must sell his invention. He has a huge problem though - he is losing his hearing, and the noise in the Machinery Hall makes it next to impossible for him to communicate with potential buyers. He seeks out Della Wentworth, a teacher at a school for the deaf, to teach him lip-reading. Della has been told by her father that she can't trust any man, and she is reluctant to take an adult student, but eventually agrees. And predictably, the two begin falling in love. This presents another dilemma for Cullen, because he has a girl back home who expects him to come back and marry her.

While I enjoyed the book for the most part, I wasn't fully absorbed in it, and a couple times I thought I could put it aside and be okay with that. I am glad I finished it though, as the final resolutions of Cullen's situations with the sprinkler invention and his relationships were interesting and satisfying. There were a couple of elements to the story that I wasn't sure of - for instance, it is mentioned many times that Della's father had instilled a deep mistrust of men in her, and yet this didn't seem to be completely necessary to the story; and in fact it led to one complete scene that I thought unnecessary and gratuitous. I found the insights into how deaf people were viewed at the time interesting. I didn't realize that many people thought that deafness was related to mental illness, and it was for this reason that Cullen felt he needed to learn lip-reading - some people would not do business with him if they realized he was hard of hearing, because they thought he might also be insane.

(Book #32 in the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge)

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Recent Reads - Miracle in a Dry Season

Miracle in a Dry Season by Sarah Loudin Thomas - I've been looking forward to this book since reading the prequel novella Appalachian Serenade which takes place several years earlier. In "Miracle", Perla Long has returned to her hometown and is living with her aunt Delilah and her husband. It's a sleepy small town and everyone seems to know everyone else's business, so it isn't long before the folks start making assumptions and judgments about Perla and her young daughter. Perla was hoping for a fresh start and leave the mistakes of her past behind her, but she gets a lot of attention when her unusual gift for cooking has the potential to see the townsfolk through a difficult drought. Casewell Phillips is a well-respected bachelor in the community, and he can't deny his interest in Perla, but he's not sure she's right for him - not when she obviously has a checkered past.

The characters in town also include a pair of elderly sisters with a longstanding hurt between them; a preacher that seems a little too focused on the sins of others; generous Delilah and her husband; and Casewell's parents. Forgiveness and acceptance are themes throughout the poignant story. I enjoyed getting to know these characters, many of whom reminded me of folks I have known over the years. One thing I especially like about the main love story in "Miracle" (and also in "Appalachian Serenade") is that the characters are a little older, past the blushing teenager stage of life. I think this makes them believable and realistic.

From the publisher:

In a Drought, It's the Darkest Cloud That Brings Hope     It's 1954 and Perla Long's arrival in the sleepy town of Wise, West Virginia, was supposed to go unnoticed. She just wants a quiet, safe place for her and her daughter, Sadie, where the mistakes of her past can stay hidden. But then drought comes to Wise, and Perla is pulled into the turmoil of a town desperately in need of a miracle.
Casewell Phillips has resigned himself to life as a bachelor...until he meets Perla. She's everything he's sought in a woman, but he can't get past the sense that she's hiding something. As the drought worsens, Perla's unique gift divides the town in two, bringing both gratitude and condemnation, and placing the pair in the middle of a storm of anger and forgiveness, fear and faith.

Visit the Baker Publishing Group for info on where to buy.

(Book #31 in the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge)

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Teaser Tuesdays: August 5, 2014

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers!
• Share the title and author, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

"Your father..." David bent forward, hands on his thighs, forcing air back into his lungs.
"He tried to kill you again." The simple statement sounded uncharacteristically calm.

~Michal by Jill Eileen Smith, page 128

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Scripture and a Snapshot: August 3, 2014

For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children. They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank.

~Isaiah 44:3-4~

Scripture and a Snapshot is hosted by A Glimpse of Our Life.

The Weekend Brew is hosted by My Freshly Brewed Life.

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/