Health and Insurance

I went to the kids school fair a few months ago.  They were holding a silent auction.  I wanted to see what they had, so popped in to check it out.  I was browsing the tables and there was a stack of books and tote bag.  It was Ken Follett’s series Fall of Giants.  All three books in the series!!  I was so thrilled about this.  I’ve been wanting to read this series.  The high bid was 12.00.  So I bid 15.00.  And I won!!!!!  The books were donated to the auction by our local library.  The books are all large print  and hardback. 

Book 1
Fall of Giants

Book 2
Winter of the World

Book 3
Edge of Eternity

Book one has 1,241 pages, so this is not going to be a fast book to read.  I’m just going to read it occasionally.

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts is the host for the Year of Creativity.  Hop over and check out her place.  Lots of interesting things to see.

I’m so behind on the challenges Shelly sets for us.  But I’m all caught up now.

Challenge # 20
Use Watercolor Paints

I’m not too good a drawing but I like this one.

Challenge # 21
Illustrate Your Name

This one didn’t turn out like I imagined.

Challenge #22
Work on a previous challenge

I worked on my Smash Book.  This is my niece’s graduation.

This is Luke the last day of school.  They had lots of fun playing in water and lots of games to play.

Challenge #23
Paint a watercolor background

I really like this, not sure what we are going to do with it, but I’m sure Shelly has something in mind.  I’m now all caught us on the challenges.  Looking forward to the new out on Thursday.

Silas Marner – George Elliot

Product Description(Amazon.com)
In this heartwarming classic by George Eliot, a gentle linen weaver named Silas Marner is wrongly accused of a heinous theft actually committed by his best friend. Exiling himself to the rustic village of Raveloe, he becomes a lonely recluse. Ultimately, Marner finds redemption and spiritual rebirth through his unselfish love for an abandoned child who mysteriously appears one day in his isolated cottage.

Somber, yet hopeful, Eliot’s realistic depiction of an irretrievable past, tempered with the magical elements of myth and fairy tale, remains timeless in its understanding of human nature and has been beloved for generations. 
Series: Signet Classics 
Mass Market Paperback: 208 pages 
Publisher: Signet; Reissue edition (August 7, 2007) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0451530624 
ISBN-13: 978-0451530622

MY THOUGHTS: I’m not really fond of reading the classics.  But I’ve decided to read some this year.  I really liked this one.  Silas is such a gentle soul that has been persecuted for something he didn’t do.  He lives his life alone in the village and works weaving his linen.   Until one day a lone child appears in the village.  Silas is drawn to this child.  And tries to help.  The author has done a wonderful job with this story, it’s very heart warming.  I give this book 5….

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges….
52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge
Literary Loners Challenge

I’ve been working on my red work baskets.  Got block 3 done, today, Slow Stitching Sunday,  I’m going to start on block 4.

This is block 3…..there was a lot of lazy daisy stitching and french knots.

I’ve also finished my June circles, which is for the Quilty 365 Challenge.

 I am at day 182 of 366, this was leap year so I’ve got 1 more circle for the year.    I’m also using my circles for The Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  The colors for June were Blues and green.  I’m also counting these towards my 350  Blocks Challenge.  June brings me to a total so far of 411 blocks.  If you want to check all these challenges out, just click on the name and it will take you there.

Breaking Creed – Alex Kava

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Ryder Creed and his dogs have been making national headlines. They’ve intercepted several major drug stashes smuggled through Atlanta’s airport. But their newfound celebrity has also garnered some unwanted attention.

When Creed and one of his dogs are called in to search a commercial fishing vessel off the coast of Pensacola Beach, they discover a secret compartment. But the Colombian cartel’s latest shipment isn’t drugs. It’s human…

Meanwhile, FBI agent Maggie O’Dell is investigating a series of murders she suspects to be the work of a brutal assassin. By the time she uncovers a hit list with Creed’s name on it, it might be too late to help him. For someone is already on the way… 
Series: Ryder Creed (Book 1) 
Paperback: 368 pages 
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons (July 7, 2015) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0425277941 
ISBN-13: 978-0425277942

MY THOUGHTS:  New author for me and a new series.  I actually got the first book in the series this time.  lol  Ryder has lots of dogs.  He either finds them, people give them to him or they are in shelters.  Ryder takes them in and trains them to find “stuff”.  Dead bodies/body parts, drugs and other things.  On one case Ryder helps out the Coast Guard, thinking he’s trying to find drugs, but instead finds 5 little children that are part of a Drug Cartel’s human trafficking.  This gets Ryder and his dogs on a hit list.  They come to Ryder’s compound, but Ryder has a surprise for them.  Does Ryder and his dogs get away?  You’ll have to read the book to find out.  I give this book 5….

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges….
What an Animal Challenge
52 Books in 52 Weeks

My hubby, Thomas, passed away July 18, 2016 at 11:06am.

He was my husband, my lover and my best friend for 48 years, he was my soul mate.

He had been fighting cancer for 2 1/2 years.  He was hanging on long enough to see his grandkids, Bella and Luke go to Kindergarten.  He made it that far.  I miss him so much.  This is how I’ll always remember him.  Young and as the kids say today, he was hot!!!

The Wanderer – Robyn Carr

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Nestled on the Oregon coast is a small town of rocky beaches and rugged charm. Locals love the land’s unspoiled beauty. Developers see it as a potential gold mine. When newcomer Hank Cooper learns he’s been left an old friend’s entire beachfront property, he finds himself with a community’s destiny in his hands.

Cooper has never been a man to settle in one place, and Thunder Point was supposed to be just another quick stop. But Cooper finds himself getting involved with the town. And with Sarah Dupre, a woman as complicated as she is beautiful.

With the whole town watching for his next move, Cooper has to choose between his old life and a place full of new possibilities. A place that just might be home. 
Series: Thunder Point (Book 1) 
Mass Market Paperback: 377 pages 
Publisher: MIRA; 1st edition (March 26, 2013) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0778314472 
ISBN-13: 978-0778314479

MY THOUGHTS:  Lets start off with I didn’t know this was a series, usually I get the last or middle book of a series.  Surprise, I got the first book in this series!!  The book is all about Cooper and the tiny coastal town of Thunder Point.  Cooper lives in a 5th Wheel traveling where ever he wants.  He doesn’t usually settle in one place for long.  He travels to Thunder Point, Oregon to see about a friend only to find him dead, and Ben has left him something.  At first Cooper wants to fix the place up and sell it.  But he gets involved with a woman and her brother.  The piece of land Ben has left him is a developers dream and everyone wants it.  But Cooper meets Sarah.  Before you know it, Cooper is involved with the town and everyone living there.  There is a long list of characters from the town and Cooper seems to help most of them.  Really great book.  I look forward to reading the book in the series.  I give this book 5….

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges….
52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge
A Year of Fun in the Sun Challenge(Wacky Readers-Good Reads Group)

Nineteen Minutes – Jodi Picoult

Product Description – (Amazon.com)
Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens–until the day its complacency is shattered by a school shooting. Josie Cormier, the daughter of the judge sitting on the case, should be the state’s best witness, but she can’t remember what happened before her very own eyes–or can she? As the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show–destroying the closest of friendships and families. Nineteen Minutes asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the right to judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be. 
Paperback: 455 pages 
Publisher: Washington Square Press; Later Printing edition (February 5, 2008) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0743496736 
ISBN-13: 978-0743496735

MY THOUGHTS:  This is my book clubs choice for June.  This was a kind of slow read until the middle of the book.  Then I couldn’t put it down.  Really, what can you say about this book.  It’s happy at times, but it’s also very sad.  Peter is bullied all the way from kindergarten through high school and by the same group of kids.  One day he’s had enough and goes on a shooting rampage.  Josie was his best friend, but she has moved on to the “in” group.  Alex and Lacy, parents of these two kids were best friends.  Now they both have to figure out what happened and piece their lives back together.  I give this book 5…..

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges….
Women’s Fiction Challenge

Gillion over at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings, Freda over at Freda’s Voice hosts The Friday 56, and Billy over at Ramblings of a Coffee Addict hosts Book Blogger Hop.  Head over and check them out, you may find your next book.

Nineteen Minutes – Jodi Picoult

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens–until the day its complacency is shattered by a school shooting. Josie Cormier, the daughter of the judge sitting on the case, should be the state’s best witness, but she can’t remember what happened before her very own eyes–or can she? As the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show–destroying the closest of friendships and families. Nineteen Minutes asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the right to judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be.

BOOK BEGINNINGS..
In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game.  In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentitis, you can fold laundry for a family of five.
Nineteen minutes is how long it took the Tennesse Titans to see out of tickets to the play-off.  It’s the length of a sitcom, minus the commercials.  It’s the driving distance from the Vermont border to the town of Sterling, New Hampshire.
In nineteen mintues, you can order a pizza and get it delivered.  You can read a story to a child or have your oil changed.  You can walk a mile.  You can sew a hem.
In nineteen mintues, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it.
In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.

This first section of the book grabbed me right away.  The title did it too.  I never thought about all the things you could do in nineteen minutes.

THE FRIDAY 56….. 
“You told me you were an EMT!”
“I said I’d had medical training!”
“Ben’s an Eagle Scout,” the principal said.
“I couldn’t leave Mr. McCabe.  I…applied pressure, and it’s working, see?  The blood’s stopped.”
Guenther gently removed the boy’s bloody hand from his teacher’s stomach.  “That’s because he’s gone, son.”

BOOK BLOGGER HOP…..
The question this week….
Are giveaways part of your blog or just reviews?

I don’t have giveaways, but do post reviews of the books I read.  I also review books for authors and publicists.

April Fool Dead – Carolyn Hart

Product Description(Amazon.com)
Someone is playing a rather nasty April Fool’s prank on mystery bookstore owner Annie Darling. A felonious forger on the idyllic — if rarely tranquil — South Carolina island of Broward’s Rock has made it appear as if Annie is accusing some of her neighbors of murder. In the wink of a bloodshot eye, the Darling name is mud . . . and then the Broward’s Rock body count starts mysteriously increasing. And now it’s up to Annie to follow the well-hidden trail of the vicious trickster — or a secret slayer’s next lethal “joke” may very well be on her! 
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages 
Publisher: Avon (February 25, 2003) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 038080722X 
ISBN-13: 978-0380807222

MY THOUGHTS:  This a new author for me.  I really enjoyed reading this book.  It’s about a town on the coast with a whole town of suspects.  The owner of the local book store is having a contest and someone copy’s the work and circulates it around town.  Until Annie tells everyone it’s a fraud.  Now all they have to do is find out who done it.  In the mean time there is a murder to solve.  Annie and Max, along with the whole town is trying to figure out who the culprit is.  I give this book 5….

 

This is my wrap of of this challenge….

What’s In A Name Challenge

This is my list of books I read.
1, A country – The Kill – Jane Casey
2. An item of clothing – In Daddy’s Shoes – Sandra Elzie
3. An item of furniture – The Chair – James L. Rubart
4. A profession – I Work at a Public Library – Gina Sheridan
5. A month of the year – April Fool Dead – Carolyn Hart
6. A title with the word ‘tree’ in it – The Bone Tree – Greg Iles