Recent Reads - Queen of Sheba

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Queen of Sheba by Roberta Kells Dorr - This novel gives the legendary Queen of Sheba a name - Bilqis - and lots of background. As the only child of the king, Bilqis claims the throne of Sheba, but is in a constant battle with her male relatives and the priests of Sheba's moon god to marry and provide an heir. She knows that if she gives in and marries her cousin that he and his father will control her and the kingdom. At the same time, Egypt's pharoah and some other neighboring kingdoms are pressuring her to join their coalition to attack Israel, because Solomon now has ships that can bypass their land trade routes. Bilqis hears about the great wisdom of Solomon and the power of Israel's God from a Hebrew trader and makes the bold decision to visit Solomon herself before deciding whether to join the coalition, or whom she will marry. 

Meanwhile, Solomon is growing weary of dealing with the constant jockeying for position among his wives, and is becoming depressed as he realizes that the son who will inherit the throne of Israel is a fool. (Also contributing to his depression is that he continues to grieve the loss of the only wife that he loved, the Shunamite maiden of the book Song of Solomon - Dorr tells her version of that love story in the book that comes before this in the series. I didn't know about it or I would have read it first!) He has allowed his many foreign wives to worship their pagan gods and has had temples built for many of them, thinking that it will keep peace and that as long as the temple for the one true God is bigger and more prominent, it's still good enough. All this makes for a believable transition from the king known for his incredible wisdom to a king foolish enough to disobey God's commands and marry foreigners and condone pagan worship within his own household.

Solomon is fascinated by the Queen of Sheba and finds a renewal of his own faith as he answers her many questions about the God of Israel and how He can be known and worshiped. Bilqis becomes convinced that God is the one true God and wants to learn all she can about Him, but she is reluctant to trust Solomon enough to enter into a marriage covenant with him.

Just as in the previous title by Dorr that I read, she has taken a character mentioned only a few times in the Bible, and built a fairly convincing novel around her. In I Kings 10 and II Chronicles 9, we are told that the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon "to test him with hard questions." She brought him very rich gifts, and was overwhelmed by his wealth and his wisdom. And Solomon gave her many gifts as well. That is all we know from the Bible. But other traditions and legends say that Solomon married the Queen of Sheba, and that their son was the next ruler of Sheba and the founder of a line descending from Solomon to the last king of Ethiopia, Hailie Selasse. I enjoyed this novel very much, because even though it imagines the scenarios that brought the Queen to Jerusalem and the rest of the interactions, it gives context to how it might have played out and the traditions that have followed.

By the same author - David and Bathsheba

©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 - He Is Risen!

Carry Your Name, by KAT, March 2016

Then he [Jesus] said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

~Luke 24:44-48~

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

Weekend Whispers is hosted by Barbie Swihart.

©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 - Good Friday

Hope, by KAT - February 2015

For he grew up before him like a young plant, 

and like a root out of dry ground; 

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men;

a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised,

and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned - every one - to his own way;

and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

~Isaiah 53:2-6~

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

©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/

Wordless Wednesday - Twister

We had company with younger kids on Friday evening, and they made use of our living room!

This post is linked at Wordless Wednesday, hosted by Life at Rossmont.

©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 - The Coffee Trader

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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!

Hannah believed she knew what coffee was, but she had no guess as to why Daniel would want to keep Miguel from trading in it, or why Miguel would think anyone would want to buy the stuff. Miguel and Daniel had talked suspiciously about coffee, and there, in Miguel's cellar, she found a sack of curiously pungent berries the color of dead leaves. . . . Why, she wondered, would anyone care about so foul a substance?

~The Coffee Trader: A Novel by David Liss, at 24% on my Kindle

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

 

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 rippled thickly in the bowl, dark and hot and uninviting. Miguel Lienzo picked it up and pulled it so close he almost dipped his nose into the tarry liquid. Holding the vessel still for an instant, he breathed in pulling the scent deep into his lungs. The sharp odor of earth and rank leaves surprised him; it was like something an apothecary might keep in a chipped porcelain jar.

"What is this?" Miguel asked, working through his irritation by pushing at the cuticle of one thumb with the nail of the other. She knew he had no time to waste, so why had she brought him here for this nonsense? One bitter remark after another bubbled up inside him, but Miguel let loose with none of them. It wasn't that he was afraid of her, but he often found himself going to great lengths to avoid her displeasure.

The Coffee Trader: A Novel by David Liss

Here's the blurb:

In his richly suspenseful second novel, author David Liss once again travels back in time to a crucial moment in cultural and financil history. His destination: Amsterdam, 1659 -- a mysterious world of trade populated by schemers and rogues, where deception rules the day.

On the world's first commodities exchange, fortunes are won and lost in an instant. Miguel Lienzo, a sharp-witted trader in the city's close-knit community of Portuguese Jews, knows this only too well. Once among the city's most envied merchants, Miguel has lost everything in a sudden shift in the sugar markets. Now, impoverished and humiliated, living on the charity of his petty younger brother, Miguel must find a way to restore his wealth and reputation.

Miguel enters into a partnership with a seductive Dutchwoman who offers him one last chance at success -- a daring plot to corner the market of an astonishing new commodity called "coffee". To succeed, Miguel must risk everything he values and test the limits of his commercial guile, facing not only the chaos of the markets and the greed of his competitors, but also a powerful enemy who stop at nothing to see him ruined. Miguel will learn that among Amsterdam's ruthless businessmen, betrayal lurks everywhere, and even friends hide secret agendas.

With humor, imagination, and mystery, David Liss depicts a world of subterfuge, danger, and repressed longing, where religious and cultural traditions clash with the demands of a new and exciting way of doing business. Readers of historical suspense and lovers of coffee (even decaf) will be up all night with this beguiling novel.

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/

What I'm Reading - March 21, 2016

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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! 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...

A Beauty So Rare (A Belmont Mansion Novel) by Tamera Alexander (Read my full review HERE.)




I'm currently reading...

Queen of Sheba by Roberta Kells Dorr



Boundaries with Teens: When to Say Yes, How to Say No by Dr. John Townsend - I realized that I will need to return this borrowed book soon, so I got started on it. It will be a skim more than a detailed read!




Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte




The Coffee Trader: A Novel by David Liss




 Next on the stack...

The Prophetess: Deborah's Story (Daughters of the Promised Land) by Jill Eileen Smith
Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far by Amy Grant


        


On my blogs last week . . .

Here on Just A Second:

Recent Reads - A Beauty So Rare
Scripture and a Snapshot - Hosanna!
Wordless Wednesday - Front Porch
Teaser Tuesday/First Chapter First Paragraph - Miriam
Treasures of the Nile - Scavenger Hunt Blog Hop and Giveaway


And on my homeschool blog, Homeschool Coffee Break:

Music and Other Beautiful Things
Homeschool Weekly - Springtime Edition
From the High School Lesson Book - Transcripts
Virtual Refrigerator - Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Homeschooling High School Collection
Happy Pi Day!
Exploring History and Geography


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/

Recent Reads - A Beauty So Rare

This post contains affiliate links. 

A Beauty So Rare (A Belmont Mansion Novel) by Tamera Alexander - Eleanor Braddock has pretty much accepted that she will never marry. She realizes she's not the petite beauty that most men seem to be looking for, and in the aftermath of the Civil War there aren't many available gentlemen anyway. And now that she is nearing her thirtieth birthday, her family's assets are all but gone, and her father's mental health is failing, the chances of becoming a wife and mother are slim. Eleanor is nothing if not practical, however, and when she comes to her wealthy Aunt Adelicia's home in Nashville, she has a plan for supporting herself and her father that she hopes her aunt will approve. That particular dream is soon dashed, but Eleanor begins to find fulfillment in providing assistance to the destitute widows and their children.

Marcus Geoffrey is a member of the Austrian royal family, but has come to America to pursue his own dreams of architecture and botany. He keeps his heritage a secret and Americanizes his name, but knows that eventually he will have to return home. When he crosses paths with Eleanor and they develop a friendship and working partnership, he wants more than anything to stay in America and pursue her, but how can he when the expectations of his father are so demanding?

Even as Eleanor and Marcus are finding an unexpected love, they also believe a relationship is impossible. Eleanor's aunt has chosen a practical husband for her, and Eleanor resigns herself to the match thinking there is no other way to ensure her father's care. Marcus has in turn resigned himself to the commitments thrust on him by his royal family and their expectations. As they work together on building a home for the widows and orphans, and on Marcus's botany experiments, can they find the courage to pursue their own dreams and convictions - and the growing love between them?

Another wonderful love story set in antebellum Nashville, with compelling characters facing complicated problems. As I've said before, I love that Tamera Alexander's main characters tend to be more mature and realistic rather than inexperienced teenagers. Although Marcus is a bit of a departure, being a member of a royal family, he is still a fairly believable character. I loved this story and the way the courage and integrity of each of the characters was tested in the dilemmas they faced.

By the same author: Rekindled, A Lasting Impression, To Whisper Her Name

©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/