What I'm Reading - September 10, 2018

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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!

It seems like awhile since I did one of these - and last week it was replaced by my Monthly Bookshelf Review. We are back to school now so our fall schedule is in full swing, which does not necessarily mean everything is predictable!

I finished reading . . .  

Fawkes: A Novel by Nadine Brandes - an innovative fantasy twist based on history. (Read my full review HERE.)

I'm currently reading . . .

Treacherous Is the Night (A Verity Kent Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber - Verity Kent and her husband Sidney hunt for one of her former La Dame Blanche colleagues while trying to restore their relationship, which has become awkward after the four years during which Verity believed he had been killed in the Great War.




Condemn Me Not: Accused of Witchcraft by Heather B. Moore - still slowly working on this.




Next on the stack... 

Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age by Alan Noble
Praise Habit: Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi (Experiencing God) by David Crowder


   

On my blogs recently . . .

Here on Just A Second:

Scripture and a Snapshot - Shelter
Wordless Wednesday - Pentatonix Concert
Teaser Tuesday/First Chapter First Paragraph - Treacherous Is The Night
Monthly Bookshelf Review - August 2018
Scripture and a Snapshot - Do Not Be Anxious
Recent Reads - Fawkes
Scripture and a Snapshot - Sow Generously
Wordless Wednesday - Back to School
Teaser Tuesday/First Chapter First Paragraph - Fawkes

And on my homeschool blog, Homeschool Coffee Break:

Homeschool Highlights - The Week We Started Our Last Year
A Niagara Falls PhotoJournal Part 1
Virtual Refrigerator - First Day of 12th Grade
A Pentatonix PhotoJournal
Homeschool Highlights - Last Days of Summer Edition
Virtual Refrigerator Art Link-up
School Scripture 2018-2019
What Are Your Favorite Honeschool Tools and Resources?
What Are You Thankful For This Homeschool Year?
Virtual Refrigerator - Never Grow Up
How Do You Fit Electives Into Your Homeschool Schedule?
What Curriculum Are You Using in Your Homeschool?
How Do You Stay Motivated When Homeschooling Is Hard?

What are you reading?

©2008-2018 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 - Shelter

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress;

my God, in whom I trust.

He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

~Psalm 91:1-2, 4~

Last week we were on vacation and spent a couple of days at Niagara Falls. As many times as we've been there, we had never gone on the boat cruises that take you to the base of the falls. Since it was the first time my sister and niece had ever been there, we splurged and went on the cruise. We loved it! But back to the point. There we were, on the open decks of a relatively small catamaran, getting up close to the six million cubic feet of water per minute thundering over the Horseshoe Falls, with only thin red plastic ponchos to prevent us getting completely drenched. How could we possibly have been laughing and confident, snapping photos with our cellphones, so near the base of these powerful falls? We didn't think about it much at the time, but obviously everyone on that cruise trusted that the boat was sound and that the captain and crew knew exactly what they were doing. How much more can we trust that God knows exactly what he is doing! We can be completely confident and at peace no matter how loud the thunder and chaos around us may be. 

Okay, this picture was taken BEFORE we got on the boat but believe me we smiled at least as much when we were in the full mist of the falls and afterwards when our hair was rather soaked!

I'm pleased to be joining my friend Jennifer as co-host of the weekly Scripture and a Snapshot link-up this month! We're planning for Just A Second to become the new home of this link-up starting in October. Please be sure to thank Jennifer at A Glimpse of Our Life for hosting so faithfully for so long.

Link up here and visit others:

I am now co-hosting Scripture & a Snapshot along with A Glimpse of Our Life.

Sunday Scripture Blessings is hosted by Peabea Scribble Pad.

©2008-2018 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.

Wordless Wednesday - Pentatonix Concert

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Kennady has been a fan of the vocal group Pentatonix for several years, and I love their music as well. A goal has been to get to one of their concerts, and I did manage to get two tickets to the show in Hershey, PA this past Sunday. We joked about the tickets not being real, and that we'd pay WAY too much for them (which might have been true . . . ) but we were both very excited about going. Last night was the big night! We arrived shortly after the gates opened, bought Kennady a tour t-shirt, and found our seats. We were in the bleachers about halfway up, so they were perfectly adequate seats, but not great.

Not long after we took this selfie, two young ladies came up and started talking to Kennady. At first I assumed they had seats right near us and were just making small talk, but they were actually asking Kennady if she'd like a wristband to move up to the pit area! YES! They were part of the Pentatonix entourage (one was Esther, a manager for the group), and scouting the bleachers for people wearing older merch and who were obviously devoted fans. And just like that, the price we paid for our tickets didn't seem so high after all.

our new location for the show

Kevin on stage, and on the screen of Kennady's camera.

A favorite photo to end - Kennady waiting for the encore. 💖

See all the pictures and a few more words on my Homeschool Coffee Break post: A Pentatonix PhotoJournal.

This post is linked at Wordless Wednesday, hosted by Life at Rossmont; and at Pictorial Tuesday, hosted by Peabea's Scribble Pad.

©2008-2018 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.

Teaser Tuesday/First Chapter First Paragraph - Treacherous Is the Night

This post contains affiliate links. 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. 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!

I'm reading an Advance Uncorrected Proof of this soon-to-be-released title. It can be pre-ordered through Amazon.

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Was it any wonder we scrambled to find respite and pleasure wherever we could? That we'd chosen to drown ourselves in gin and dance a frenzied tarantella to blot out the pain of the present. Just for a moment to forget our black, yawning future.
~Treacherous Is the Night (A Verity Kent Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber, p 90

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First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is a weekly link-up hosted by I'd Rather Be At The Beach. To participate, share the first paragraph (or two) of a book you're reading, or thinking about reading.

July 1919

London, England

"I've a favor to ask of you," Daphne declared as she plopped down on the emeraldine cushions of the sofa in my drawing room. "Now, hear me out before you say anything," she added, removing her gloves.

I gazed at her in wary amusement. Her enthusiasm was boundless, as was her penchant for stumbling into bizarre circumstances. I could only guess what predicament she'd found herself in this time.

She inhaled swiftly and then leaned toward me. "I want you to attend a seance with me."

Here's the blurb:

In 1919 England, in the shadow of The Great War, some look to the spirit world for comfort. But it will take an all too earthbound intrigue to draw in the discerning heroine of Anna Lee Huber's latest mystery . . .

It's not that Verity Kent doesn't sympathize with those eager to make contact with lost loved ones. After all, she once believed herself a war widow. But now that she's discovered Sidney is very much alive, Verity is having enough trouble connecting with her estranged husband, never mind the dead. Still, at a friend's behest, Verity attends a seance, where she encounters the man who still looms between her and Sidney--and a medium who channels a woman Verity once worked with in the Secret Service. Refusing to believe her former fellow spy is dead, Verity is determined to uncover the source of the spiritualist's top-secret revelation.

Then the medium is murdered --and Verity's investigation is suddenly thwarted. Even Secret Service agents she once trusted turn their backs on her. Undaunted, Verity heads to war-torn Belgium, with Sidney by her side. But as they draw ever closer to the danger, Verity wonders if she's about to learn the true meaning of till death to us part . . .

What do you think? Would you continue reading?

©2008-2018 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.

Monthly Bookshelf Review - August 2018

This post contains affiliate links.

This monthly summary is a bit overdue, since we were on vacation during the last few days of August. We will soon be back to school, and life will still be busy - just a different kind of busy from the summer schedule. Not sure yet how much reading I'll be able to do, but I plan to make time to keep up with some of the novels I'll be teaching as part of a US History class I'm teaching.

August's Books Completed and Reviewed

Where the Fire Falls: A Vintage National Parks Novel by Karen Barnett - Loved this novel with a bit of mystery and romance, and the setting of 1920s Yosemite National Park. (Read my full review HERE.)

Olivia had changed her own name, dyed her hair, become a new person -- all at Frank's bidding. Was this really so different?

Delilah: Treacherous Beauty by Angela Hunt - This novel about Samson and Delilah tells the story from their point of view and it was interesting to consider the possible background story for Delilah. (Read my full review HERE.)

Silver was a rare and precious commodity, worth more than its weight in gold. Yet the cerens were willing to pay eleven hundred pieces of silver for Samson?

 


The Patriot Bride: Daughters of the Mayflower - Book 4 by Kimberley Woodhouse - Faith is a young widow who agrees to carry messages for Patriot spy Matthew. (Read my full review HERE.)



Fawkes: A Novel by Nadine Brandes - intriguing retelling of the story of the Gunpowder Plot, with the addition of fictional character Thomas Fawkes, and the fantasy element of color magic. (Read my full review HERE.)

Not masked, barely Keeper, and certainly no Igniter despite the few times I'd talked to the White Light. Seeing the glow in Emma's skin and the joy on her face, recalling what she'd done to that cart . . . made me want to talk to it again.

During August I continued reading:

Condemn Me Not: Accused of Witchcraft by Heather B. Moore - this tells the story of a woman on trial for witchcraft in Salem, with alternating chapters telling her story as a young woman.

I lean against the cold wall as Sarah continues whispering. Her life has been hard; mine has been easy compared to hers. I do not know how she has endured so much, but I am certain of one thing as I watch her care for her two young children in the worst of conditions. Sarah Good is no witch.

During August I started reading:

Treacherous Is the Night (A Verity Kent Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber - Verity is still adjusting to the fact that her husband wasn't killed in the war as she'd believed when her friend convinces her to go along to a seance where she becomes suspicious of foul play. And she finds another mystery that needs to be solved.

I glared at the medium, letting her know she'd made a grave miscalculation. I was not going to be duped, so she had best conclude this nonsense before I concluded it for her.

Coming Up in September!

Praise Habit: Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi (Experiencing God) by David Crowder

 

This post will be linked at:

5 Minutes For Books - What's On Your Nightstand? August 28
The Book Date - Month In Review August Reading Link-up

©2008-2018 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 - Do Not Be Anxious

Our school year starts next week, and as we're making the final preparations for the big day, I took some time to settle on this passage as our School Scripture for the coming year.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus.

~Philippians 4:6-7~

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

Sunday Scripture Blessings is hosted by Peabea Scribble Pad.

©2008-2018 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.