Friday, April 19, 2013

Nadine Stair

"If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds and I would pick more daisies." NADINE STAIR

Thursday, April 18, 2013

IF MASHED POTATOES COULD DANCE by PAIGE SHELTON



I enjoyed this Country Cooking School Mystery by PAIGE SHELTON. IF MASHED POTATOES COULD DANCE takes place in Broken Rope, Missouri. It seems like everybody knows the other person in this small town. It's nice when people are personal friends with the police in the town. Betts is the main sleuth. Betts talent is being comfortable in the presence of ghosts. They are also comfortable with her. There is more than one ghost, but Sally Swarthmore is the one in the forefront. Sally went to her death being blamed for the murder of her mother and father. This is a takeoff from the true story of Lizzie Borden who many years ago was accused of killing her parents. Lizzie Borden was acquitted.

I fell in love with Sally almost immediately. She's not a cruel or unruly ghost not even pushy. She would like to find her diary, and I think she's happy seeing the Monroe House again. I thought the reason for the murder of Sally's parents was very interesting and made for a good motive. My only discomfort was the fact that the reader doesn't get to see a bit of the play that's going on in town about Sally Swarthmore.  I like onstage mysteries in plays. I also felt there needed to be more meals cooked and served in the cozy. After all, it's "A Country Cooking School Mystery. Otherwise, this is a cozy you won't want to miss. I am looking forward to reading another one.paigesheltongramcookingschool By the way, there are quite a few wonderful potato recipes at the end of the book. I think this is the best advice Gram could ever have given Betts. "Don't get attached to them, Betts. They come and they go. They don't have any control over any of it. Neither do you." Gram, of course, is talking about the ghosts.

Monday, April 15, 2013

The SPIRIT of the HEART Stories of Family, Hope, Loss, and Healing by Ismael N. Nuno, M.D.

"I've always been proud of my Latino heritage. I am especially proud that I am Mexican and working in Los Angeles amongst the competition of American and US trained heart surgeons...My Latino patients are especially proud to have a Latino surgeon who will save their life. When I met Jose, he reminded me of my heritage, my roots and my ancestry. He was an embodiment of who I was and where I had come from. My pride in myself and my culture were validated by the struggle this old man had put up to live more. Jose represented my own struggle to survive in a foreign and difficult world."(Cadence Group)

Friday, April 5, 2013

Quote It Sat.

"Whatever the future has in store for you, if adventure is what you want, I hope you find it. But I will tell you this--adventure is only a word. Don't be so fixed on finding, live and in that the adveuture will come."

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros

"She'd waited all her life to go to Paris. As for the reasons why the dream of speaking French in France, of standing beneath the Eiffel Tower at the stroke of midnight, of lingering in sidewalk cafes took so long to come about--she chose to evade, not explain them.  Her greatest fear, the one she carried like a locket close to her heart, was that in taking too close a look at the days that composed her fifty-six years, the dam that confined her existence might break and release a river of regret for all the places she'd never visited, the books  she'd never read, the things she'd never done."

Teaser Tuesday

"Let me enjoy being here, before I start thinking about when I have to leave. Anyhow, I'm letting you know I arrived. All is well. ....Not to worry. I doubt anyone's interested in women with gray roots and too big to fit into Paris-sized clothes."