The Baby Bequest by Lyn Cote

"Clutching the railing of the riverboat, Miss Ellen Thurston ached as if she'd been beaten. Now she truly understood the word heartbroken. Images of her sister in her pale blue wedding dress insistently flashed through her mind. As if she could wipe them away, she passed a hand over her eyes. The trip north had been both brief and endless." Pepin, Wisconsin, August, 1870

bibliophilebythesea

Teaser Tuesday

"You and fear cannot coexist. If fear decides to visit you and any mission you are leading, then you are the first to face him and send him running to look for an easier target."

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I finished The Incense Game by Laura Joh Rowland. I really enjoyed this mystery which takes place in Japan during the year 16.I would really like to read more of Ms. Rowland's novels.

Now I'm reading, The Power of a Woman Who Leads by Dr. Gail M. Hayes. The opening chapter is powerful. It leads off with a quotation in the header. After reading that quotation, I know this is going to be a book that will really help me grow in leadership.

Next, I will finish up Facing Your Giants: by Max Lucado. It's nonfiction. It's about facing the giant troubles or small troubles in life without falling apart.

Quote It Sat

fredasvoice.blogspot

“It is a noble responsibility to not back down when you know that you know that you know that you are right.” Goodreads
― Criss Jami

Book Beginnings

"The earth trembled as if a massive, restless dragon were uncoiling beneath the city. On the black expanse of the Sumida River, the moon's reflection shivered. Thousands of houses shifted, groaning, and creaking.Wind chimes tinkled in the icy air. At two hours before midnight, the few soldiers patrolling the streets reined in their skittish horses. Sleepers tossed, troubled by bad dreams."rosecityreader

"Hirata-san and I will go back to the incense teacher's house and look for what we would have looked for today if we'd known we would be investigating the murders." http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com/

Travel Tuesday

talesofarantingginge

"FROM A DISTANCE Zojo Temple appeared unchanged, its hilly terrain and pine forests serenely beautiful under the fresh snow. Sano could almost believe that all was well at the Tokugawa family temple, home to three thousand priests, nuns, novices, and their attendants until he and his troops drew nearer....On the altar, hundreds of candles burned before a giant golden Buddha statue."

Wondrous Words

1.Incense  .ehowjapanese-incense 
"They were playing an incense game."

2.samurai

sam·u·rai

 [ sámmə r ]   

"Reiko saw samurai whose masters didn't have enough food for  them. Shamed, they bowed their heads. Their suicides numbered among the deaths that occurred daily in the camp, the earthquake's never-ending casualties."

1. aristocratic Japanese warrior: an aristocratic Japanese warrior of a class that dominated the military aristocracy between the 11th and the 19th centuries (Bing dictionary) bermudaonion.net
2. 
   

Teaser Tuesday

"In the years to come, a picture would appear in many Negro homes, right there on the mantel. It was a picture of three who had troubled the waters--Jack Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Bobby Kennedy--and who were assassinated because of it."

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I finished Hope on A Tightrope by Cornel West.

I am now reading The Butler by Will Haywood. It's a very moving true story about a butler, Eugene Allen, who worked in the White House through eight administrations. It's a story of love for family, country, and it's also about integrity. Not at all boring I find it hard to put down. It's now a movie starring Forest Whittaker and Oprah Winfrey and other famous stars.

Quote It Sat.

brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/rudyard_kipling

"All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was." Toni Morrison
 http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/toni_morrison.html


"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."
Rudyard Kipling  http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com/

THE SHADOW TRACER by MEG GARDINER

This mystery novel is fascinating as well as disturbing. The Shadow Tracer by Meg Gardiner happens in Oaklahoma City, Mexico and Texas. The novel is about a clan who really want to rule the world. If you don't share the blood of  Eldrick and Grissom, you don't deserve to live especially if you have taken one of their own. Zoe, a little girl, who loves her mousie is the center of a battle which is full of meanness and bloodshed. The story begins with the murder of Zoe's mother, Beth. Beth's sister is Sarah. When Beth succumbs to a bloody death, Sarah takes Zoe knowing she is the person who will love her more than anyone else.

Sarah epitomizes love. She will fight to the end to keep Zoe away from these crazy people who call themselves a family. Knowing there are such groups in the world fills me with sadness. Really, they didn't care what happened to Zoe. It was their fight: Reavy's, Fell and Grissom to gain control.  Gain control of what or whom? Anyone or anything which got in their way. They just wanted to prove they could win. Forget the child caught in the middle of firing guns, forget the child who will definitely need counseling after living through such a gruesome ordeal, forget the love of a father and the wishes of a dead mother. Just fight to Hell and back to say you're a winner.

The novel proved people don't always die for a great cause. Sometimes people are willing to give their lives just to prove they're the strongest or they're the ones who should rule the world. It's not surprising that the author mentions Timothy McVeighbritannicaTimothy-McVeigh. I thought of the Waco murders. I don't know the name of these groups in the novel. I just have read about their actions. Let's kill until there is no more blood to shed. By the way, the clan is polygamist. This is not to say Polygamists are people who like bloodshed. I'm just stating the fact that this is the lifestyle of the people in the novel.

There are many themes weaved throughout the novel. One of the themes is the definition of family. Family isn't always the biological mother and / or father. Enduring love might have to come from another source. That's okay. As long as the child, the children are loved in the way Danisha, Teresa, a nun of a sort, and Sarah and Lawless and finally, Nolan are able and willing to love. Sarah and all were willing to give their lives for the sake of Zoe. Perhaps, that's why they won the gun battles. They had a purpose for fighting whereas Grissom and his gang had no purpose. I don't think they ever called Zoe's name. Still, they had the audacity to place a microchip in her body that could be scanned like she was a loaf of bread. That fact thoroughly made me sick.

It's also about the fact that people can change and do change for the better. People grow like flowers. Nolan grows and leaves the arms of the brutish clan. Fell grew also. In the end Nolan gave his life for his child. I would never have expected his life to go in the direction it ended up going. I am so looking forward to reading more books by Meg Gardiner. I loved the wild chase through the airplane junkyard. I didn't know there was a place for airplanes, graveyards. Who knew? I've learned about technology, the meaning of family and good always wins over evil. By the way, where can I buy a mousie for my grandbaby? meggardiner,
polygamy

Teaser Tuesday

"With each passing year, he had tried to convince himself that silence from Sarah meant she was safe, and safer, and out of reach. That silence meant everybody else had forgotten what happened at the cabin in the mountains, and had gone on with their lives, unmindful of her and the baby she had rescued."

"I want to know: How deep is your love for the...? What kind of courage have you demonstrated in the stances that you've taken? What are you willing to sacrifice for? These are the fundamental questions. I don't care what color you are."

Wondrous Words

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Marbled Murrelet
B. marmoratus
Conservation status

The Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) is a small seabird from the North Pacific. It is a member of the auk family. It nests in old-growth forests or on the ground at higher latitudes where trees cannot grow. Its habit of nesting in trees was suspected but not documented until a tree-climber found a chick in 1974, making it one of the last North American bird species to have its nest described. The Marbled Murrelet has declined in number since humans began logging its nest trees in the latter half of the 19th century. The decline of the Marbled Murrelet and its association with old-growth forests, at least in the southern part of its range, have made it a flagship species in the forest preservation movement. In Canada (north of 50° North Latitude) and Alaska, the declines are not so obvious because populations are much larger and the survey techniques have not had sufficient power to detect changes.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

bookjourney

I am reading The Shadow Tracer by Meg Gardiner. It's released by Dutton. It's a fascinating mystery.

I am also reading Hope on A Tightrope by Dr. Cornel West. It's nonfiction. His insight about music, famous people and family are fascinating. It's a compact book easy to stick in a purse or carry in your hand.

Lady in Black by Christina Dodd

"They had the school Science Club out identifying plants in the mountains, and some youngster decided to dance beside the cliff. James lunged for him. Brenda caught at James. They both flew off the precipice.....James was killed instantly. It damaged Brenda enough to keep her in the hospital for a month....Then, she died too."shouldbereading

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

bookjourney

I finished Children of The Tipi by Michael Oren Fitzgerald. Although for a younger reader, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had a chance to learn the values of different American tribes. The book is from NetGalley.

I also finished Too Important to Fail by Tavis Smiley. It's about the problems and solutions in the educational systems for the Black male in our society today.

Now I am reading Lady in Black by Christina Dodd. I am enjoying it. It's been a long time since I've read Christina Dodd. Whenever I read her in the past, I had a wonderful experience. In this one the butler is a lady. She is working with the grandfather and son of the household. The grandfather has suffered a stroke. Meanwhile, there are kidnapping letters coming in the mail. Threatening  to do harm to the grandfather whether he's in a wheel chair or not. The letters are awful. I can't imagine who is sending these notes.

Next I want to read The Incense Game by Laura Joh Rowland. It starts off with a bang. I hated to put it down to read Lady in Black. Anyway, it's in Japan. The story begins with a horrible earthquake. While reading, I literally felt that my body was shaking. That's how real the author paints the picture. Also, want to read Harriet Tubman's 30 Lessons in Leadership and Love and Legacy.