Scripture and a Snapshot - Sing to Him

Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;

it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

Praise the LORD with the harp;

make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

Sing to him a new song;

play skillfully, and shout for joy.

For the word of the LORD is right and true;

he is faithful in all he does.

The LORD loves righteousness and justice;

the earth is full of his unfailing love.

~Psalm 33:1-5~

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Connect Five Friday - New York City

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The Friday Five Link Up is a List Link Up hosted by The Book Date. It can be five connections of any kind. Books can have been read last year or any year. Books can be used more than once. They may not have been read yet. . . It can be as simple or as complicated as you like. Maybe it's not a list of actual books, but things connected to books - e.g. favourite book shops, recipes etc. It might even be five movies related to books or five poems or five poets or five bookish moments, five thoughts about reading - be creative! The link-up will be open each Friday and will close on Thursday. Use the hashtag #connect5books

On this September 11th, I chose five books set in New York City to feature.

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Return by Karen Kingsbury - Luke, the Baxter family's golden boy and only son, has walked away from everything that mattered most to him: his faith, his family, and Reagan, his only love. Devastated by the events of September 11, 2001, Luke decides that life is random, faith a fraud, and God a fantasy.

A baby is about to be born, but with Reagan a thousand miles away in New York City, Luke has no idea he's the father. Now though, someone in his family learns the truth. But she has a secret of her own, one that will change the Baxters' lives forever.

What will it take for Luke to return to the family who loves and aches for him? And what extremes will a certain young firefighter take to help bring the Baxters together again, and in the process, find his place in the family?

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A Dangerous Legacy by Elizabeth Camden - Telegraph operator Lucy Drake is a master of Morse code and has made herself a valuable asset to the Associated Press news agency. But the sudden arrival of Sir Colin Beckwith at rival British news agency Reuters puts her hard-earned livelihood at risk. Colin is talented, handsome, insufferably charming -- and keeping a secret that jeopardizes his reputation.

Despite their rivalry, Lucy can't deny that Colin has the connections she needs to give her family an edge in the long legal battle they've been waging over their rightful inheritance. But when she negotiates an unlikely alliance with him, the web of treachery they dive into proves to be far more dangerous than they ever could have known.

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Together Forever (Orphan Train) by Jody Hedlund - Determined to find her lost younger sister, Marianne Neumann takes a job as a placing agent with the Children's Aid Society in 1858 New York. She not only hopes to offer children a better life, but prays she'll be able to discover whether Sophie ended up leaving the city on an orphan train so they can finally be reunited.

Andrew Brady, her fellow agent on her first placing-out trip, is a former schoolteacher who has an easy way with the children, firm but tender and friendly. Underneath his charm and handsome looks, though, seems to linger a grief that won't go away--and a secret from his past that he keeps hidden.

As the two team up, placing orphans in the small railroad towns of Illinois, they find themselves growing ever closer . . . until a shocking tragedy threatens to upend all their work and change one of their lives forever.

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She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell - For a young society woman seeking a favorable marriage in the late 1890s, so much depends on her social season debut. Clara Carter has been given one goal: secure the affections of the city's most eligible bachelor. Debuting means plenty of work -- there are corsets to be fitted, dances to master, manners to perfect. Her training soon pays off, however, as celebrity's spotlight turns Clara into a society-page darling.

Yet Clara wonders if this is the life she really wants, especially when she learns her best friend has also set her sights on Franklin De Vries. When a man appears who seems to love her simply for who she is, and gossip backlash turns ugly, Clara realizes it's not just her heart at stake -- the future of her family depends on how she plays the game.

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Bees in the Butterfly Garden (The Gilded Legacy) by Maureen Lang - Raised in an exclusive boarding school among Fifth Avenue's finest, Meg Davenport has all she's ever needed . . . but none of the things she's wanted most, like family or dreams of a future that include anything other than finding a suitable match. So when her distant father dies, she seizes the chance to throw etiquette aside and do as she pleases. Especially when she learns that John Davenport wasn't the wealthy businessman she thought, but one of the Gilded Age's most talented thieves.

Poised to lead those loyal to Meg's father, Ian Maguire knows the last thing his mentor would have wanted is for his beloved daughter to follow in his footsteps. Yet Meg is determined, and her connections to one of New York's wealthiest families could help Ian pull off his biggest heist yet. But are they both in over their heads? And in trying to gain everything, will they end up losing it all?

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Wordless Wednesday - Ohio Railroad Museum

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This post is linked at Pictorial Tuesday, hosted by Peabea Scribbles.

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Recent Reads - The Seaside Affair

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The Seaside Affair by Vicki Hopkins - Elizabeth and her older brother Francis end their period of mourning for their mother by visiting the seaside resort of Aycliffe. The invitation to visit came from long-time friends of their mother, whom she had corresponded with for all the years since she herself had held a governess post in Aycliffe. 

Beth and Francis are curious about why their mother maintained her correspondence with the Wilsons for so many years, and yet had said so little about her time in Aycliffe. Their curiosity becomes more urgent when their new friends around the town drop some hints that there may have been unpleasant gossip attached to their mother. The Davenports are the family that had employed their mother as governess, and the now grown children remember her fondly. Alexander, Edwin, and Lydia Davenport, along with the Wilsons' daughter Celia, and Lord Howard's niece Annie, form the social circle that Beth and Francis move in during their vacation. Beth is quite surprised when Lord Howard asks her to stay with Annie as a companion for about a month, but decides that she will stay even if Francis objects. 

Beth's extended stay gives her opportunity to find out more about her mother's past, and gives her more time to spend with Annie and Celia, and even with Alexander whose interest in her is becoming obvious. Alexander, for his part, is determined to break away from his father's expectations to pursue his own dreams and interests. But back at home, Francis makes a discovery that sheds new light on his mother's past and realizes he must confront the people of Aycliffe with the truth, and make sure that Beth hears the truth from him.

Although the story is interesting and piqued my curiosity about the secrets of the past and the outcomes for the characters, the writing style was disappointing. Misplaced modifiers, clumsy wording, and redundant descriptions of unnecessary details were common throughout the book, and it was full of the kind of awkward writing one would expect from middle schoolers. I also found many places where incorrect words were used, and where sentences were clumsy and confusing. I found the writing so distracting and frustrating, and it surprised me that this author has many other titles published. A good story, but poor writing, to be honest.

From the publisher:

Over twenty years after their mother left the seaside resort of Aycliffe on the English coast, Elizabeth and Francis Edwards visit on holiday. They are invited by long-time friends of their mother, who are saddened to hear of her death.

Upon arrival, the siblings soon discover that the sleepy seaside town is plagued by family drama and plots of self-preservation. Gossip, greed, deceit, and lust are the vices hidden under the sands of time. As Elizabeth and Francis unearth the truth about their mother's life at the resort, a shocking revelation comes to the surface. In the end, lovers find the courage to embark on adventures, while others accept change and new lives.

(Historical fiction, set in 1840, with romantic and family saga elements.)

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Scripture and a Snapshot - When You Walk By the Way

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your chidren, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

~Deuteronomy 6:4-7~

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Recent Reads - The Travelling Cat Chronicles

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The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa - This story was charming from the very first pages, with the cat introducing himself in the Prologue before he has a name. He is a stray cat that has found a warm place to sleep on the hood of a silver van. Turns out the owner of the van is generous with snacks, and clever about petting the cat, so when an accident leaves the cat with a broken leg, he turns to the man for help. And so the man, Satoru Miyawaki, and the cat become friends and the cat is given a name - Nana, which is the number Seven in Japanese. 

After a few years, Satoru takes Nana on a road trip to visit his old school chum Kosuke. Then another to visit another old friend, Yoshimine. And a third trip to visit a pet-friendly motel run by a couple that he'd been friends with in high school. In each of these chapters, Nana's pragmatic but affectionate feline point-of-view narration is interspersed with the stories of these friendships from the past. We discover along with Nana that the purpose of these visits is to find out of if any of these old friends would provide a good home for Nana. We also sense that Satoru doesn't really want to part with Nana, and once Nana catches on, he certainly has no intention of leaving Satoru. And by the time Satoru and Nana go on their final road trip to see Satoru's only family, an aunt, there is an uneasy knowledge about the reasons behind Satoru's purpose.

Nana is as practical and serene as any mature cat, and is determined to have his own way, but he also proves himself to be the most loyal and supportive friend a cat-lover could ever have. On their journeys together, the bond between Nana and Satoru is strengthened, and Satoru's old friendships are rekindled. Satoru is a generous and thoughtful friend who has earned the respect of all his friends, and the undying loyalty of his best friend who happens to be a cat. 

A gentle road trip through friendship, healing, gratitude, love and loss, this story is heartwarming and inspiring without being sentimental or preachy. It strikes a perfect and satisfying balance.

This is a book in translation for the Modern Mrs. Darcy 2020 Reading Challenge.

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Wordless Wednesday - First Day

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School Scripture 2020-2021

This post is linked at Pictorial Tuesday, hosted by Peabea Scribbles.

 ©2008-2020 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.