Teaser Tuesdays/First Chapter First Paragraph - Queen of Sheba

This post contains affiliate links. 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by  Jenn at Books and Beat. 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!

She didn't wait for them to recover their senses and rise, but lifted her skirt and hurried from the room with all of her women following behind. She had proposed something more daring than the bravest men of Sheba even imagined. There was no turning back now; she would have to go through with the venture.

~Queen of Sheba by Roberta Kells Dorr, page 38

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is a weekly link-up hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or two) of a book you're reading, or thinking about reading soon.

   It was the annual dry season and the first of the caravans had arrived in Jerusalem from the south. On hearing the news, Solomon with his son and a few of his friends retired to the more casual, tentlike quarters built on the roof of his new palace. This was an ideal place to view the varied assortment of bobbles and oddities with some real treasures brought from distant lands.

   The traders would go on to Hazor and then Damascus, where they sold most of their wares, but in Jerusalem they had always found Solomon to be one of their best customers. He knew quality and was not reluctant to pay high prices for an item he happened to like. However, now that his ships had made a successful trip down the Red Sea to Punt, the traders were afraid he would no longer buy from them.

Queen of Sheba by Roberta Kells Dorr

Here's the blurb:

In Queen of Sheba, Roberta Kells Dorr has woven historical and archaeological research with age-old legend to create a riveting tale of ancient plots and passions.

This stirring and epic account of a pagan queen's search for truth and love paints a captivating portrait of a woman struggling with her passions and responsibilities while it brings to life the ancient Middle East. Dorr tells of a beautiful, intelligent, and independent queen who constantly battles the priests and high lords of her kingdom who resent being ruled by a woman. Bilqis, the queen of Sheba, is a woman as modern as her story is ancient.

Disillusioned by her own religion, under pressure to marry but finding no suitor who meets her own high standards, and disturbed by the effect of Solomon's new fleet of ships on Sheba's precious trade routes, Bilqis travels to Israel to meet the legendary Hebrew king and divert a needless and costly war.

Bilqis is a woman who longs for love but is reluctant to forsake her independence, aware that she has much to lose if she makes the wrong choice. In Solomon, to her surprise, she finds both love and a new faith - the covenant between man and woman and the covenant between humanity and God. But she is still too independent to let anyone become close to her. Also, she must return to rule her own people. How Solomon finally wins her, and how this beautiful queen resolves the conflicts among herself, her old religion, and the intrigues of her kinsmen, make The Queen of Sheba an exciting, bold novel of love and faith.

What do you think? Would you continue reading?

©2008-2016 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/

Join the Scavenger Hunt Blog Hop!

I have the privilege of being a part of the launch team for Mesu Andrews' newest book, Miriam, the second installment in her Treasures of the Nile series. Several of us on the team decided to get together and have a scavenger hunt and giveaway to celebrate the book's release. We want to invite you to be a part of the fun next week!

From 1am Eastern (US) time on March 15th, the book's release date, until 11:59pm on March 20th, there will be a scavenger hunt with stops on 14 different blogs! You'll start at Mesu's blog and finish your journey at Mommynificent.com. At the end of each post, you’ll find links to all of the stops in the hunt. Between March 15th and 20th, click on the next link, head over to the page, meet a new book-lover, and read their thoughts about this fantastic book. Somewhere in each post there will be a single word that is in BOLD AND ALL CAPITALS. Write it down. (The words "Home" and "Good Luck" are not secret words for anyone.) Then, go to the next stop. That post will also have a word that’s bolded and capitalized. You will need to visit all 14 blogs as each one will have a word that you need. Once you reach the end and have found all the words, you will have found an inspirational quote from the book Miriam. There are 14 words in this quote. Enter the quote into the Rafflecopter on the last stop and you will be entered to win a Kindle Fire from Mesu Andrews! In addition, each blogger will be running their own giveaway of a set of paperbacks of Mesu's two Treasures of the Nile books - The Pharaoh's Daughter and Miriam! If you have any questions, get lost, or experience any technical difficulties, you may email Tina at tina{at}mommynificent{dot}com for help. Good luck and have lots of fun! 

 ©2008-2016 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/

What I'm Reading - March 7, 2016

This post contains affiliate links. 

This weekly reading list meme is hosted at Book Date. Join in to see what others are reading and maybe get some ideas of what to read next! I'm also going to be linking up with Tales of a Pee Dee Mama for D.E.A.R. Monday (Drop Everything And Read).

I recently finished reading...

David and Bathsheba by Roberta Kells Dorr - I just finished this one last night, so I have yet to write a review. It took me a few chapters to really get rolling with this book, but then I had a hard time putting it down!




I'm currently reading...

Empty Nest: What's Next?: Parenting Adult Children Without Losing Your Mind by Michele Howe



A Beauty So Rare (A Belmont Mansion Novel) by Tamera Alexander



The Coffee Trader: A Novel by David Liss - I did go back to this one during the week. I really do want to finish it.




 Next on the stack...

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Prophetess: Deborah's Story (Daughters of the Promised Land) by Jill Eileen Smith
Queen of Sheba by Roberta Kells Dorr
Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far by Amy Grant
Boundaries with Teens: When to Say Yes, How to Say No by Dr. John Townsend


     

   




On my blogs last week . . .

Here on Just A Second:

A Literary Classic for February #collaboreads - The Hound of the Baskervilles
Scripture and a Snapshot - Take Up the Cross
Book Blogger Hop - March 4, 2016
Teaser Tuesdays - David and Bathsheba
Bookshelf Review - February 2016


And on my homeschool blog, Homeschool Coffee Break:

Homeschool Weekly - Almost Spring Edition
From the High School Lesson Book - The Fine Art of Percussion
R is for (Virtual) Refrigerator
An Extraordinary Adventure with Alfred the Great
High School Language Arts


What are you reading?

©2008-2016 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/    

A Literary Classic for February #collaboreads - The Hound of the Baskervilles

This post contains affiliate links.

I finished reading my Literary Classic for #collaboreads quite early in February, and had almost forgotten to link up at Rachel A. Dawson. Here is my original brief summary and review of the book, followed by my thoughts specifically for #collaboreads.

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Thanks to the many movies and TV shows, I think everyone knows the name of the great detective Sherlock Holmes, but I'm finding that the original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are not that commonly read. I've read most of these stories, but despite it being perhaps the most famous detective story of all time, I honestly couldn't remember the resolution or many details from The Hound of the Baskervilles so I decided it would be a good start for the Back to the Classics Challenge.
Dr. Mortimer brings his concerns to the great detective - there is something mysterious about the recent death of Sir Charles Baskerville, especially considering the story that continues to circulate among the residents of Dartmoor that the Baskerville family is cursed by a devilish hound. As Holmes considers the case, the new heir, Sir Henry, arrives in London amid some strange circumstances. Holmes sends Dr. Watson along with Sir Henry to Baskerville Hall as a protector and observer, while he pursues the case from another angle. The final resolution is, of course, a testament to Holmes' brillance and ingenuity.
Dr. Watson's narrative, as usual, contains most of the clues necessary to solve the mystery, but Mr. Holmes delights in holding the final piece of the puzzle and presenting it with a bit of prideful flourish. In this one, as I read, I developed a sense of who the villain was, but couldn't figure out exactly how he committed his crimes, or why, until Sherlock Holmes explained.

Riveting. {What part of the book could you NOT get enough of?} It's amazing to me that Sherlock Holmes can be so smug and condescending about his mental prowess and ability to solve any mystery, and yet remain such a likable character! Dr. Watson's self-deprecating narrative is always entertaining as well, and his almost hero-worship of Mr. Holmes.

Elements. {How did you relate to/care for the characters?}The characters were overall very likable and each had some appeal to sympathetic feelings, even - to a certain extent - the villain, at least at the beginning.

Associate. {What other books are like this one? Does it remind you of a TV show or movie with its themes and characters? Did it serendipitously line up with things going on in your life or in the news right now?} Of course Sherlock Holmes has found yet another generation of fans with the popularity of the TV show and recent movies. I haven't watched much of the TV series, but my daughter is a fan of it, so I'm thinking it would be entertaining to watch some of the episodes and satisfy myself as to how well the characterizations follow the books.

Design. {You know you judged this book by the cover. What did you think of it? How did it relate to the contents of the novel?}  Well, there are many different covers, and since I read on my Kindle, I didn't spend much time looking at the cover. In fact, I have to admit I mostly pictured the Robert Downey, Jr. version of the movie poster in my head!

Stars. {How many out of five do you give this book? Would you recommend this book to a friend?} Four stars out of five. It's entertaining and is a clever mystery. For younger readers, who may be expecting the polish or "special effects" of the TV show or movies, they may be disappointed in that aspect. However, I highly recommend that all modern Sherlock fans read the original stories, and I hope that my own daughter will find the time to read a few of the original stories sometime soon as well.

This review is linked at Rachel A. Dawson for #collaboreads (February's theme was A Literary Classic)

A LITERARY CLASSIC

Find a book that fits the category (here's a list to get you started!), read it throughout the coming month, and join us with your review as we link up again on February 29!

©2008-2016 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 - Take Up The Cross

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?"

~Matthew 16:24-26~

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

Weekend Whispers is hosted by Barbie Swihart.


Verse of the Week is hosted by Counting Pinecones.

 ©2008-2016 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/

Book Blogger Hop - March 4, 2016

Time for another Book Blogger Hop question from Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.

Do you tend to read more in the winter or in the summer months? 

I have never thought about it before, or noticed that there is a big difference. It's possible that I do read just a bit more in the summer, because I can read while traveling and on vacation. 

©2008-2016 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 - David and Bathsheba

This post contains affiliate links. 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jenn at Books and Beat. 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!

Bathsheba wished he would stay there, where she could see him within view of her window. She knew now why it was said that every woman in Israel was in love with the king.

David and Bathsheba by Roberta Kells Dorr, page 124

©2008-2016 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/