Recent Reads - Obedient Unto Death

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Obedient Unto Death by Liisa Eyerly - In ancient Ephesus the first generation of the Christian church is growing, but it is considered an outlawed religion in the Roman Empire. Sabina is a devoted Christian, but as a young woman living in her father's household, she must be especially careful that her movements don't draw attention and put the church at risk, because her father is a Roman magistrate.

During a church meeting, a young scribe dies suddenly, the victim of poisoning, and the church bishop is arrested for murder. Sabina knows that Apollos is not guilty, but confessed in order to protect the rest of the church, so she is determined to find the true killer so Apollos can be set free. Her father reluctantly allows her a few days to find the murderer before Apollos is executed.

Sabina begins tracking down information about the dead scribe and his contacts, and eventually enters into a tense partnership with his brother to find the answers. They uncover several possible suspects, and realize that not everyone is telling the truth about their interactions with the scribe, or even about their religion and loyalties. Sabina's pursuit of the truth puts her in danger of being exposed as a member of an outlawed religion, and puts her very life in danger.

This was an interesting mystery, because without reliable eyewitnesses or a confession, how could murders be investigated in a time before DNA evidence or time-stamped surveillance videos? Sabina must be creative and use logic and intuition to figure out who might have motive and opportunity, and how to prove it. The contentious interactions with her father, the scribe's brother, and others complicate her search. She also finds out that Apollos has some information related to her mother's death, and must decide whether to press him to reveal what he knows about that; and there's a suitor likely to propose to her, so she must navigate through those expectations and her own feelings about it. There are a lot of threads to weave together for the story to work, and overall I felt that it worked well and kept me interested in all facets of her journey of discovery. The answer to the murder mystery made sense but I wasn't completely convinced about the proof, and although the wrap-up didn't neatly tie up every loose end with appropriate justice, it was believable because rarely does a real tragedy get wrapped up in a neat and perfect ending. I also appreciated the elements of faith and the history of the early Christian church that were woven into the narrative and figured in the mystery itself.

From the publisher:

Murder, intrigue, and treachery in ancient Ephesus.

Sinister forces are at work to destroy the fledgling Christian faith in Ephesus, and Sabina is in their way.

A young scribe is murdered during a covert Christian worship service. Sabina, a member of this outlawed religion, can't believe a member of this new faith could be the killer. But when her Roman magistrate father arrests the church bishop for murder, she reluctantly admits all is not brotherly love and harmony among the faithful.

Racing to stop the bishop's imminent execution, Sabina plunges into the private world of the dead scribe, searching for proof of the bishop's innocence. Mystery, intrigue, and treachery meet her at every turn. Will she discover the truth in time, or will she be thrown in prison herself for her faith in Christ?

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a book I meant to read last year (#35) for The 52 Book Club's 2023 Reading Challenge

#the52bookclub #the52bookclub2023

©2008-2023 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/ 

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Scripture and a Snapshot - We Shall All Be Changed

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

"Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?"

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the vicotry through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor is the Lord is not in vain.

~I Corinthians 15:51-58~

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Scripture and a Snapshot - For All Nations (Epiphany)

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,

you may now dismiss your servant in peace.

For my eyes have seen your salvation,

which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and the glory of your people Israel."

~Luke 2:25-32~

Today is Epiphany, the twelfth day of Christmas, and the day chosen to remember the visit of the Magi. The word Epiphany comes from a Greek word that means "manifestation". While the date chosen is arbitrary, the meaning is significant. The Magi were from the East, and although we don't know for certain where they came from, we can be fairly sure that they were Gentiles (not Jewish), traveled a long distance and that they recognized Jesus as a very important king. They recognized that he was the King of the Jews, but they worshiped him and gave him costly gifts even though they were not Jews. You see, even though the Jews had been watching and waiting for the coming Messiah for generations, the prophecy had always been that the Messiah would be for all people, all nations. He is not just the King of the Jews, he is the King of Kings. A Saviour not just for Israel, but for all nations.

This post will be linked at Scripture and a Snapshot hosted by Just A Second.

©2008-2023 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/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Friday Fun - The Friday 56 and First Lines for January 6, 2022

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 

Just over a month ago, we moved to Ohio, and just before the holidays, I got my new local library card. I tested it out by borrowing a book about Ohio history, because isn't that what readers do?

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The solid oak planks of the boat held, but the treasured pie safe - and the crate of chickens - toppled into the roiling water. Peter could swim, but it was dark and the waves were moving fast, so he only managed to save the chickens, since they were easy to locate by their shrieking.

~from page 56 of It Happened In Ohio by Carol Cartaino

True Tales from the Buckeye State's Past - from the birth of Tecumseh to the Bicentennial Barnstorm

For a small state, Ohio has had a big impact on America. This agricultural, political, and industrial power has long been known for the vigor, earnestness, and imagination of its citizens. It Happened in Ohio goes behind the scenes to tell its story, in short episodes that reveal the intriguing people and events that have shaped the Buckeye State.

 

The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice

*Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your e-reader.

*Find a snippet, short and sweet.

*Post it, and share in the Linky.

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I moved to southern Ohio in 1978 from what the people around here call "up East." I wondered before I left whether you could take a state with only four letters in its name seriously and knew only that Ohio seemed to be a fairly flat, bland place beyond the mountains of Pennsylvania. 

~From the beginning of It Happened In Ohio by Carol Cartaino

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader.

*It's Book Beginnings on Fridays! Time to gather with our fellow book lovers and share the opening sentence (or so) of the books we are reading this week. Or share from a book that is on your mind right now -- whatever catches your fancy.

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First Line Fridays is hosted at Reading is My SuperPower

*Share the first line or two of the book closest to you, then visit other FLF participants.

*Please keep posts family friendly or clean reads.

*Link back to Reading is My SuperPower within your post or grab a button.

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And here is the weekly bookish question in the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.  

This Week's Question: What was the first book you read this year?

My Answer: I haven't quite finished it yet, but I will count Obedient Unto Death by Liisa Eyerly as my first book completed. I actually started it in the summer but was unable to finish at the time, so I was able to skim the beginning to remind myself before settling in to find out how all the clues in this murder mystery fit together. Review coming soon!

Book Blogger Hop

 ©2008-2023 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/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

 

2023 Reading Challenges

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 

I may be setting myself up for failure by taking on several reading challenges this year, and setting higher reading goals than I've managed the last couple of years. But if the goal is simply to read more, then even if I don't complete everything on the challenge, I haven't really lost, have I? At any rate, I consider it all for fun and to push me out of my comfort zone a little bit too. So here are the challenges I'm attempting in 2023.

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Last year I started The 52 Book Club challenge partway through the year so I knew I'd never complete all the prompts. Then the last quarter of the year presented some life challenges to me that got in the way of reading. I'm going to try again this year and see how many of the prompts I can do - realistically, I'm pretty sure I won't do all, since I've been reading only about 30 or so books in a year. Find out more about the 2023 Reading Challenge HERE.

#the52bookclub #the52bookclub2023

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Last year I also joined a couple of challenges hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader, and I will do the 2023 edition of those as well. They are combined in this anchor post.

First is the 2023 European Reading Challenge! For this challenge, participants will be reading books either set in Europe or by European authors. Once again, I will try the Four Star (Honeymooner) level participation. My goal will be to read four books set in four different European countries, or by authors from four different countries. Last year I listed only three books that fit this challenge, but they did cover four different countries.

From Rose City Reader:

THE GIST: The idea is to read books set in European countries or books by European authors. The books can be of any genre - fiction, nonfiction, novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, whatever. You can participate at different levels, but each book must represent a different country - either written by an author from a different country or set in a different country, no two books from the same country. It's supposed to be a tour!

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The TBR 23 in '23 Challenge is meant to encourage us to read the books already on our shelves (including eReader shelves) and maybe make room for more! I did have a lot of books on shelves, in boxes, and in the library of my Kindle that I hadn't read when I started this challenge last year. Many of them I was quite willing to pass on to others, but I didn't feel right about doing that without even trying to read them! So I thought I would read before I purged. I didn't get very far, to be honest. This year, I'm less confident about the challenge, because I did purge my shelves drastically when we moved, and of the books I kept, a lot of them are stored at the old house. However, I have largely ignored the many books on my Kindle over the past few years, so this will encourage me to actually read those. And hopefully I'll find books there that will help me meet the other reading challenges as well. 

From Rose City Reader:

"TBR" counts as any book that was on your shelf prior to January 1, 2023. "Shelf" includes your ebook reader and audiobooks you own, but it doesn't include library books. This is a TBR challenge, so the goal is to read the books you own to make room for more books.

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I will continue keeping track of the titles I read in an "Alphabet Soup" challenge, to see how many letters of the alphabet I can represent. I will also try to participate weekly in what I call my Friday Fun posts. These include First Line Fridays, hosted by Reading is My SuperPower; Book Beginnings on Fridays, hosted by Rose City Reader; the Friday 56, hosted by Freda's Voice; and the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. I'll also continue occasional bookshelf summaries, shared with Book Date and at the BookWorms Monthly link-up.

Happy Reading!

This post will be linked at the current BookWorms Monthly link-up hosted by At Home A Lot.

 ©2008-2023 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/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

2022 Reading Challenges Wrap-up

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 

In recent years, I've been reading fewer total books each year for various reasons. I hoped that I would be able to get my totals up in 2022, but there's no way I could have foreseen all the interruptions to "normal" I would experience over the year, and how that would impact my time and interest in reading. So although I didn't reach my goals, I made progress, and I will be doing the 2023 version of these challenges as well. Watch for that post coming up soon!

I attempted two specific challenges hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader:

For the 2022 European Reading Challenge participants tried to read books either set in Europe or by European authors. I decided to try the Four Star (Honeymooner) level participation. My goal was to read four books set in four different European countries, or by authors from four different countries. I did manage to read books representing at least four different countries, but in only three books:

1. A Brush With Shadows - Anna Lee Huber (United Kingdom)
2. A Rose For The Resistance - Angela K. Crouch (France)
3. The Master Craftsman - Kelli Stuart (Russia, Finland)

From Rose City Reader:

THE GIST: The idea is to read books set in European countries or books by European authors. The books can be of any genre - fiction, nonfiction, novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, whatever. You can participate at different levels, but each book must represent a different country - either written by an author from a different country or set in a different country, no two books from the same country. It's supposed to be a tour!

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The TBR 22 in '22 Challenge is meant to encourage us to read the books already on our shelves (including eReader shelves) and maybe make room for more! I thought this was a great idea, since I have a lot of books on shelves, in boxes, and in the library of my Kindle that I haven't read yet, despite all my good intentions. Many of them I'm quite willing to pass on to others, but I don't feel right about doing that if I haven't even tried to read them! So it seems like a good idea to read before I purge. Once again, who knew that I'd need to purge those shelves in a hurry in order to make a move! And thanks to my reduced reading time, I did focus on books that I was supposed to review rather than plowing through the ones I already had. I'm not sure how I'll manage this in 2023, unless I focus mostly on the books in my Kindle. But that's a goal I'll decide on in the next week or so. So, sadly, I reached only a fraction of the goal - just six books from the existing library:

1. High-Wire Heartbreak - Anna Schmidt
2. A Brush With Shadows - Anna Lee Huber
3. An Artless Demise - Anna Lee Huber
4. Pudd'nhead Wilson - Mark Twain
5. A Stroke of Malice - Anna Lee Huber
6. A Wicked Conceit - Anna Lee Huber

From Rose City Reader:

"TBR" counts as any book that was on your shelf prior to January 1, 2022. "Shelf" includes your ebook reader and audiobooks you own, but it doesn't include library books. This is a TBR challenge, so the goal is to read the books you own to make room for more books.

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Partway through the year, I added another specific challenge - The 52 Book Club's 2022 Reading Challenge. Since I started halfway through the year, I thought I might be able to complete about half the categories. Find out more about the 2022 Reading Challenge HERE. I didn't quite make it, completing 17 of the 52 prompts, but hopefully I can get a lot closer to 52 this coming year!

5. Pudd'nhead Wilson - Mark Twain (Chapters have titles)

7. Atomic Habits - James Clear (non-fiction bestseller)

11. The Bride of Blackfriars Lane - Michelle Griep (less than 2022 Goodreads ratings)

12. The Master Craftsman - Kelli Stuart (set on at least two continents)

15. A Promise Engraved - Liz Tolsma (A five-syllable title)

22. A Stroke of Malice - Anna Lee Huber (An unlikely detective)

23. Price of a Rose - Byrd Nash (author with an X, Y, or Z in their name)

25. A Wicked Conceit - Anna Lee Huber (a wealthy character)

26. An Artless Demise - Anna Lee Huber (has an author's note)

27. Mary - Shannon McNear (has a map)

33. A Rose For The Resistance - Angela K. Crouch (A bilingual character - protagonist Rosalind is French but also speaks English well, and works hard to learn German during the story)

37. Season Of My Enemy - Naomi Musch (set in a rural area)

41. Off The Chain - Janice Thompson (involves a second chance)

44. Lumberjacks and Ladies - novella collection (an anthology)

47. Beneath His Silence - Hannah Linder (Read during the month of November)

50. Recitatif - Toni Morrison (A person of color as the main character - the twist is . . . the reader is not told which of the two main characters is black and which is white)

52. The Heart of the Mountains - Pepper Basham (published in 2022)

©2008-2023 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/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Scripture and a Snapshot - What Great Love

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.

~John 3:16~

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

~I John 3:1-2~

Happy New Year!

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 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.