What I'm Reading - January 7, 2019

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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! After missing a couple of weeks due to the Christmas busy-ness, here's what I've been reading lately.

I finished reading . . . 

My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge: Laurel's Dream by Pepper Basham - This one is set in North Carolina during 1918. Jonathan Taylor is a British schoolteacher come to a remote mission school in the Blue Ridge mountains, and Laurel McAdams dreams of leaving the mountains to attend college. (Read my full review HERE.)

I'm currently reading . . .

Silent on the Moor (A Lady Julia Grey Mystery Book 3) by Deanna Raybourn - I started re-reading this series (again!) and couldn't stop. In this one, Lady Julia Grey follows Brisbane to his newly acquired property on a lonely moor, determined to settle their relationship. And of course there's a mystery or two to solve!




Humorous Stories and Sketches by Mark Twain - This is the next required reading assignment for the History class I teach, so I'm doing my best to read it quickly before turning it over to my daughter so she can read it for class!




Next on the stack... 

The Alamo Bride (Daughters of the Mayflower) by Kathleen Y'Barbo
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte


     

On my blogs recently . . . 

Here on Just A Second:

Recent Reads - My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge: Laurel's Dream
Scripture and a Snapshot - We Saw His Star
Share Four Somethings - December 2018
Wordless Wednesday - Christmas Vacation

And on my homeschool blog, Homeschool Coffee Break:

A Trans Siberian Orchestra PhotoJournal
Homeschool Highlights - The First Week of the New Year
A Columbus Christmas PhotoJournal
Virtual Refrigerator - Blurryface Complete Set
It's A Wonderful Story
Homeschool Highlights - The Week We Celebrated
Elements of Creative Writing - in Christmas Specials!
Virtual Refrigerator - That's Christmas to Me
Homeschool Highlights - The Week We Prepared for Christmas
Homeschool Highlights - The Second Week of December

What are you reading?

©2008-2019 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.

Recent Reads - My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge: Laurel's Dream

This post contains affiliate links. 

My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge: Laurel's Dream by Pepper Basham - Laurel McAdams has grown up in a remote community in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where the living conditions are primitive, money is scarce, and things don't change. But she has a boundless optimism and love for learning, and her dream is to go to college and become a teacher.

Jonathan Taylor arrives in the mountains to teach upper grades in the two-room schoolhouse. His uncle is the well-respected mission preacher in the community, but Jonathan is still viewed with suspicion by many because he's an outsider (and British besides!), and his teaching methods are different. The McAdams family is welcoming and befriends him quickly, and Laurel does her best to help Jonathan adjust to life in the mountains and understand his students better. Their friendship also gives Laurel hope as she continues to pursue her dream of college.

Jonathan courageously faces the opposition of some parents and the unfamiliar ways of the mountains, and wonders if his deepening friendship with Laurel will prevent her from pursuing her dreams. And whether he should return to his first dream of becoming a doctor, since the medical training he already has is needed in the community. When Laurel is seriously injured, Jonathan saves her life, but the situation leads to a misunderstanding with her drunken father, and is followed by bad news from his home in England. Jonathan is faced with a difficult decision as his future and Laurel's hang in the balance. What sacrifices will they be called upon to make in order to follow their dreams?

In many ways, this story reminded me of Catherine Marshall's book, Christy. The tension between honoring the traditions and ties of the mountain community and the need to accept the inevitable changes in the world forms the backdrop to the developing relationship between Laurel and Jonathan. In addition, Jonathan needs to reconcile his own purpose for being there with reality. In a sense, he has run away from home and wants to prove himself, so he has to wrestle with that more selfish motivation and sometimes set that aside so that he can build the necessary friendships with people and learn from them. A really sweet love story and I highly recommend it!

From the publisher:

Journey into the Blue Ridge Mountains of 1918 where Laurel McAdams endures the challenges of a hard life while dreaming things can eventually improve. But trouble arrives in the form of an outsider. Having failed his British father again, Jonathan Taylor joins his uncle's missionary endeavors as a teacher in a two-room schoolhouse. Laurel feels compelled to protect the tenderhearted teacher from the harsh realities of Appalachian life, even while his stories of life outside the mountains pull at Laurel's imagination. Faced with angry parents over teaching methods, Laurel's father's drunken rages, and bad news from England, will Jonathan leave and never return, or will he stay and let love bloom?

Visit Barbour Publishing for more info on where to buy.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

©2008-2019 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 - We Saw His Star

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

~Matthew 2:1-2, 9-11~

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;

no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

the words to the ends of the world.

~Psalm 19:1-4~

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Thank you for joining Scripture & A Snapshot. Leave a link to your own post sharing a Scripture and a Snapshot. Take time to visit some of the other links and bless each other with comments.

An InLinkz Link-up

I also link up at Sunday Scripture Blessings, hosted by Peabea Scribble Pad. and at Selah, hosted by A Spirit of Simplicity.

©2008-2019 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.

Share Four Somethings - December 2018

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Here I am late on a Wednesday night in January, reflecting on Something Loved, Something Said, Something Learned, and Something Read in a very eventful December. How to choose? Especially when it comes to things loved. There is so much!

Something Loved

Once again this year, we were able to spend Christmas with our son and his family. We all gathered in Columbus, where they live. Christmas morning was so much fun with their little girl, our precious granddaughter, just old enough to start enjoying tearing open presents and seeing the surprises inside for her. She's two, and loves books and Peppa Pig. I especially loved hearing her come to me with a book saying, "Nonnie, read?" 💖

More to love - while in Columbus, we all went to a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert, which was outstanding and also a great family time!

Something Said

"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives.When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?" ~Clarence Oddbody, in It's A Wonderful Life

Something Learned

I adjusted my lesson plans for my high school Creative Writing class so that we could just watch a Christmas special during the last class before Christmas break. But! It wasn't just a throwaway class! We also identified and discussed elements of fiction writing and characterization in two shows, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Which meant that I had to think about those elements and come up with some ideas before I brought it up to the class. We all learned something about developing an empathetic lead in our discussion of the Grinch, and about conflict and tension as we watched Rudolph. See more on my homeschool blog: Elements of Creative Writing - in Christmas Specials!

Something Read

I completed three books in December. You can see more about my reading in my Monthly Bookshelf Review for December 2018.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
Silent in the Sanctuary: A Lady Julia Grey Mystery by Deanna Raybourn

  

This post is linked at Share Four Somethings hosted by HeatherGerwing.com

©2008-2019 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 - Christmas Vacation

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On Christmas Eve, we packed up all the gifts, and right after the service at church we drove out to spend a few days with our son and his family. After just a few hours sleep, we got to enjoy Christmas morning with our adorable two-year-old granddaughter. She loves Peppa Pig.

And she also loves to read!

My new favorite sound is probably her coming to me with a book, saying, "Nonnie, read?"

reading with Uncle Landon

Tim Horton's run the morning of December 26!

Gotta catch 'em all

The evening of the 26th, we all went to a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert!

We celebrated my birthday while in Columbus, which means a trip to my favorite book shop, The Book Loft in the German Village.

Kennady wanted to visit the Franklin Conservatory again, so we spent an evening doing that.

A final Tim Horton's run for the road home. This was the first Christmas in a very long time that I didn't buy or receive a Tim Horton's mug, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. (I do still have some birthday money 

though . . . )

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

©2008-2019 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.