Merry Christmas December 26, 2022

Christmas is a huge family time for us and it was especially nice this year with more of the family than usual able to be together. I know we will remember this special time for many years to come.

I am excited to be stocked up on new jigsaw puzzles and I’m looking forward to a new coffee flavor to enjoy along with them

The most important part of the season for us, though, was remembering and celebrating the birth of Jesus, The son of God. For years he has been an important part of our daily lives and we couldn’t handle the ups and downs of life without him. Even more importantly he didn’t come to earth to be there for a few of us, he came to be there for as many as want him to care about them. I’m grateful that he is as close as a whisper and he hears my heart even when I can’t find the words to express it.

After two nights away I need some sleep. An unfamiliar bed doesn’t make for a restful sleep, although a busy mind caused most of the problems, It’s good to be home.

******************

I think we need a picture to brighten this space up a little so I will share my current read. It is time travel London England 1854 to London 2014, incredibly different times to be living.

He ends up in 2014 unable to comprehend the drastic changes of 160 years. Three days later they both inadvertently end up back in 1854 where cultural norms create havoc for the uninitiated, which describes her perfectly.

There is so much more to be said but I don’t want to give too much away and spoil it for you.

This well written book is a joy to read and I can hardly wait to see how it all turns out. That’s if they survive the evil people following them around. It’s unclear what the intent is but it’s evident that loss of life is part of the plan.

The Never List: Love Across Londons Book One

Victoria Smith’s life seems dreary until someone knocks on a sealed door inside her London bookshop. When Tori discovers it’s not a ghost but a journalist from 1854, she accidentally strands him in 2014. Intrigued by the dapper and crusading Charles Stratford, Tori offers to help him locate a pendant that will reopen the door to his century. Even when their treasure hunt across London turns dangerous, Tori finds herself wishing that Charles could stay. But after losing her family a decade before, can Tori risk loving someone again, especially a man from 1854?

Lured into the future by a mysterious pendant, Charles Stratford must track down its counterpart to unlock the door between Londons. When the winsome Victoria Smith volunteers to join his search, Charles becomes smitten with the intrepid bookseller. He also uncovers an ancient struggle between two underground societies and becomes entangled in their secret intrigues. If Charles fails to return both pendants to 1854, he places his own London at risk. But how can he succeed when it means saying farewell to Victoria in 2014?

From modern-day Soho to 19th-century Mayfair, The Never List takes readers on a whirlwind tour of Londons new and old, as its time-crossed heroes search for a way to love each other within two centuries. It is the first book in the Love Across Londons series which should be read in order.

*********************

This book is still a bargain if it appeals to you.

Happy Reading and Happy Holiday

Night all.

A PTSD conversation December 19, 2022

The conversation in my head tonight is the aftermath of a telephone call with an old friend this afternoon We have been through deep waters together and now we were updating each other on our current lives.

Both of us lived through relationships with sex addicts. Our main experiences were different. Mine was originally from childhood, her’s all from adulthood. The men were out of control, we had that in common.

I’ve spent the evening attempting to find access to books I’ve found helpful over the years and they seem to have disappeared.

One book was the personal story of someone living with a man addicted to pornography. His addiction was a secret but as it grew larger in his life that all changed. It was helpful to hear her findings about the start, the source, and the pathway to deep destructive patterns in a relationship.

That’s where our conversation was today. How does it start? Why does it start? From sources I’ve found, it can start at a very early age if material is available. The reason it will take hold is to fill an emotional need. Loneliness for one. It acts as a pain reliever and it is highly addictive to the unsuspecting.

One book I found helpful in the beginning of my search for help understanding seems to be out of print and I’m sad. I wanted to send the link for this book to my friend.

I can find a link on Amazon for the paperback which is unavailable and it appears a Kindle edition hasn’t been created.

I have other books that address this addiction too but I wanted this one. Oh well, I’ve started reading it again to refresh my memory maybe I can share useful bites with her.

Laurie Hall’s story reveals pornography’s subversive side and offers comfort, encouragement, insight, and a plan of action to women whose husbands are addicted.

There is so much more to think and say but we’ll leave it there for tonight

**********************

On a different note . . .

There were no good book suggestions today. Maybe tomorrow.

This and that December 18, 2022

This house makes a lot of startling noises. It’s worse in the winter when it’s well below freezing, like it is today. It’s probably expansion and contraction of the wood frame with the temperature changes but it’s scary sometimes. I want to run outside to see what hit the house or who could be doing who knows what. I don’t because it’s futile. There is never anything to see.

Except for one time, a time when I didn’t look but maybe should have. Although it wouldn’t have helped much. There was a long plastic downspout to keep rain runoff from the roof away from the house. It was 5 or 6 feet long running over to a flower bed. I think the horrendous noise I heard was a large dog chasing a little rabbit. It was quite a while before I noticed he had destroyed the pipe.

I’m assuming it was a he, who else would be chasing a rabbit in a flat out run? Actually I think it would have been one of the neighbor’s dogs that probably got out. I have it on good authority that they are guys.

A few summers ago I met one of them when I was out weeding in the front yard. He was on his own out for a visit, checking out the neighborhood. It wasn’t too long before his owner came looking for him. I have no proof it was that dog on one of his evening adventures but having met him that day it was a pretty good possibility, in my mind anyway.

I like dogs but they can be a handful. I’m more of a cat person, they don’t seem to get into as much trouble as a large energetic dog.

Aside from rabbits, dogs, and squirrels running through the yard, one day we saw deer. I was surprised, or maybe a better word would be shocked. It had never occurred to me that they would be in this area. Now I wonder how many other visits I’ve missed. I would have missed this one too if my kids hadn’t been here and noticed first.

I need to pay more attention to what goes on in my yard. The trouble is I can’t read and look outside at the same time, and reading takes hours of concentration. At least in the winter I have a better idea about what goes on and when. Foot prints tell the story of visits and chases. Some days seem to be busier than others.

The wild animals seem to have a routine about who they visit in the neighborhood and when. I think it depends somewhat on their needs. Shelter, food. The animal residents vary from year to year too. Some years there were a large number of cats. They’d spend more time in the yard, lounging in the flower beds or on the back deck. Maybe there was safety in numbers and they were bolder. Right now there are few, maybe one of two. and they are more cautious, I rarely see them. The rabbit population has been smaller too. I hear the eagles like to hunt rabbits and cats. I’ve never seen them do it but my neighbor has. They swoop down and carry them off.

The only eating I’ve seen in the backyard is done by the crows. They like to eat the eggs out of the robin’s nests. Horrible birds.

I guess they do have their good uses though. One day a small bird flew into one of my windows and was lying dead on my deck. I was going to put the body in the garbage as I did once before for a bigger bird found lying in the garden. This time I decided to leave it there to see if nature would take it’s course. Finally after a few days went by there were crows out there eyeing the bird. They flew off but the next day I noticed the body was gone. That is how it should be. Crows are scavengers, clean up crews keeping the world a healthy place to live. Amazing isn’t it. Except eggs waiting to hatch don’t qualify as needing cleanup.

OK, I’m talked out. We will discuss books another time.

Maybe I will just share the cover of my current read with you, Well, there were two actually.

The first one is suspense and so was the last one finished. Something lighter was needed for a minute which meant the mystery needed to be put on hold. The romance was an excellent change of pace and is almost finished. It was a god decision, my mood is much lighter than it was before.

*********************

Well, that conversation was a fun surprise. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

See you tomorrow.

This and that December 13, 2022

What are my favorite physical activities you ask? Hmmmm. Well, I like to walk and read since I discovered I could. I don’t do it outside very often because it wouldn’t be safe. Losing myself in a story is risky, for a number of reasons.

I do enjoy losing myself in a book while circling my long, oval, dining room table. It’s easy to find myself on auto pilot, forgetting I’m still walking. That’s what you call good muscle memory keeping me on track without killing myself.

The other thing I like to do in the spring to get back in shape after an inactive winter is dig in my flower beds and clean up the debris of winter. The added bonus to restored muscle tone is the pleasure of a job well done. Everything looks so much better and it gives me joy.

It takes a deliberate effort to pay attention, remembering to move around more often.

I’ve been considering getting a device to count my steps maybe that would be motivate me to do better.

So the reason for this little conversation was the story prompt that’s been appearing lately at the top of each new post. This is my first attempt to take a stab at it. I am out of ideas and could use a little help getting the creative juices. That’s what happens by reading all the time, your mind zones out staring at words floating by.

I’m trying to finish up with my current read. The tension is getting to me and I want to be done. I did go to the beginning of the second last chapter to see if I would be ok with staying there to finish up, skipping over the rest. Nope. Had to go back to where I left off. At least I know they will make it home so I’ve gone back to where I left off.

The tension is because it’s World War Two, they are acquaintances, both Americans living in occupied France where Germany has taken over but they are not yet at war with the Americans.

He is a widow with a four year old daughter, she is a single woman, a ballerina turned bookstore owner having left the ballet to help out a friend.

Over time a friendship develops as Paul and his daughter frequent the bookshop. Inadvertently, they each become a quiet part of the resistance movement. It would mean prison or loss of life if they were ever found out.

To make a long story short, with new discoveries about each other they knew they had to be ready with an escape plan. It wouldn’t be if it was needed, it would just be a matter of when.

Pearl Harbor has been bombed, the US has entered the war and it’s time to flee occupied France to avoid interment camps. A nerve wracking feat made worse by having to split up for safety reasons. Lucie and little Josie will pass in their disguise as French mother and daughter but Paul still sounds like an American. This fact could put them and everyone around them in danger. Not acceptable.

That’s as far as I’ve gotten, at least I know they eventually made it to America, at least the ladies did.

At the moment they are still having to face armed soldiers at the many checkpoints. I will be happy when they finally board a ship bound for America.

Here is the visual for what I’m reading.

Until Leaves Fall in Paris

As the Nazis march toward Paris in 1940, American ballerina Lucie Girard buys her favorite English-language bookstore to allow the Jewish owners to escape. Lucie struggles to run Green Leaf Books due to oppressive German laws and harsh conditions, but she finds a way to aid the resistance by passing secret messages between the pages of her books.

Widower Paul Aubrey wants nothing more than to return to the States with his little girl, but the US Army convinces him to keep his factory running and obtain military information from his German customers. As the war rages on, Paul offers his own resistance by sabotaging his product and hiding British airmen in his factory. After they meet in the bookstore, Paul and Lucie are drawn to each other, but she rejects him when she discovers he sells to the Germans. And for Paul to win her trust would mean betraying his mission.

*********************

I’m sure I have been guilty of spoilers, giving too much of the story away but hey, I doubt there are tons and tons of you waiting to read this book. Just a feeling I have, you know.

I’ve looked at the stats, I think we are safe.

Time is flying, must go. Morning comes early.

Not sure I’m awake enough to have avoided major editorial pitfalls.

No new books today but maybe tomorrow.

Happy reading.

This and that November 26, 2022

Photo by Tomas Anunziata on Pexels.com

Do you ever wonder why some people are thinking that the world will soon be over populated and it will be a bad thing.

I think about it often and even more so lately. The other day someone, I think it was Bill Gates but I could be wrong, was talking about the current world population of 80 billion or so and how it’s imperative we get that down below that threshold if we want our world to survive.

I’m perplexed hearing people talk like this.

It doesn’t sound like we live in the same world. (Bill Gates and I)

The only reason I can see for someone thinking that way is if their only experience is big city living. Very big city living. If that’s the case they have a very narrow way of looking at things.

It’s true that cities in Asia and other similar parts of the world are greatly congested. It’s a challenge, driving erratically, bumper to bumper, taking your life in your hands every time you venture out.

Walking is not much better as everyone scurries about, shoulder to shoulder, narrowly missing collisions.

We hear stories of culture shock, experiencing Canada for the first time. Wide open lonely spaces everywhere. They miss the jostling crowds.

Yes, there are moments of great congestion and traffic jams here in our handful of big cities but that’s all they are, moments, not a way of life.

In Canada there are thousands of miles of lonely roads. Small towns (never mind big cities) are few and far between.

This big city (in the US is my guess) is not crazy.

Photo by Nikita Igonkin on Pexels.com

Travelling the lonely miles across Canada, gazing across acres and acres of uninhabited land it is impossible to fathom ever being over populated. With an abundance of flat empty land that could be turned into farm land it’s unfathomable to think there would ever be a day we couldn’t feed ourselves and other parts of the world too.

Photo by Nextvoyage on Pexels.com

And Canada is not the only country with vast uninhabited areas. It’s a surprise to note that the USA has vast poorly populated areas too.

When we look closely we find that every single continent is the same. Vast underpopulated areas.

Even with the uninhabitable mountainous areas taken into account, there are still huge areas that could sustain thousand if not millions of new residents.

I think these people with wild ideas need to get out and experience the myriad of wide open spaces across the world and then try to tell us our world is in danger of being overpopulated. Not going to happen anytime soon, if they are honest.

This and that November 25, 2022

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

It’s Friday night and all is quiet on the western front, as they used to say. Probably because it is a holiday weekend in the US. There are reruns on the news videos, and not much showing up for books, or even blog posts for that matter.

Canada’s Thanksgiving was earlier in October so this is just a normal week for us.

It has been busy in my work space. There were government red-tape filing deadlines happening this month so the push was on to get it done. My part is finished and now there is just the paperwork cleanup, that will be a chore. It will be wonderful to have it done though.

So, I should have been here typing but I ended up finishing a book. It never fails, what was supposed to be a brief look always turns into so much more. Not that I’m sad about it or anything.

While I enjoyed the time spent reading, in some ways this book was hard to handle, especially in places, I’m never sure why that is exactly. Maybe it’s the voice of the story. Some books do that to me. I have to walk away at times, long enough for the emotions to even out so I can go back to it.

On the plus side though, what I loved most about the book was the construct of the story. I have not read another story that was framed the way this one was. It more than made up for the distressing tense moments.

There were red herrings and the ending was definitely a surprise. But not a shock. Between that and the great characters it was a good read.

I would happily recommend this to mystery lovers anywhere.

********************

Sarah: Cold Case Murder Mystery Series

Investigating cold case murders comes with a deadly price…

After a life-threatening home invasion, Ava Montgomery refuses to let her fear stop her from investigating cold case murders and she throws herself back into work.

Her next case: the murder of fifteen-year-old, Sarah Lewis.

This time, Ava has a connection to the case, a boy she grew up with: Elite performer and Olympic athlete, Jaxson Wells. Handsome, successful, and currently the lead suspect.

***********************

Book two in this series is next on the list (latest download) but I think for a new read I will start a book that was suggested several days ago and I noticed it came up again today. I think it is still a bargain too if you are interested.

Turbulence (A Kennedy Stern Christian Suspense Novel Book 5)

Facing doubts and terror at forty thousand feet …

Kennedy can’t wait to spend winter break in Alaska. Unfortunately, her vacation might end up cut short before her plane ever lands. As terror unfolds in the air, Kennedy stops worrying about reaching her destination. For now, her biggest challenge is just to stay alive

******************

I’m ready to flop on the couch and check out this new read. If I can manage to stay awake long enough. Relaxed and warm is a recipe for sleep.

************

I stared to say. . .

Have a good weekend.

Then I wanted to say remember even crappy weekends have bright spots in them but I thought I should find a less offensive word to use. I figured I would google the word looking for better sounding synonyms. I had to laugh at what instantly came up.

Crappy Tire. That’s what we loving use referring to Canadian Tire. An everything kind of hardware store that we love to mock. It was a shock to see it at # 1 spot in the search engine. Too funny.

A fun way to end the post. A good laugh.

Happy Reading y’all.

PTSD Conversation. November 21, 2022

Our body remembers and keeps track. This is a recently acquired piece of information that explains a whole lot of things for me.

Memory suppression is a coping mechanism our minds will use to help us survive life. That has been the truth of my formative years. I have to be intentional about allowing snippets of information to settle in my mind long enough to consider what they might mean. Doing this has been an enlightening experience and explained may things, but it didn’t start happening until I was willing to allow my mind to dwell on the visiting thoughts.

For many decades I refused to entertain the idea of abuse precisely because I had no concrete memories. I suspected but wouldn’t make an accusation I couldn’t prove. A decade or so ago my brother forced me to admit it was true. He used persuasive force so it was all good. I think he remembers more than he was willing to admit. His assertion came out of nowhere although I think he must have been thinking about it for quite some time. It was like he was on a mission to finally talk about it and now was the time.

So back to the body remembering thought. . . It’s kind of funny when I think about it because I have been on a quest for emotional healing for many decades. That would be proof of the body remembers where my mind doesn’t. Subconsciously I knew I had a deep need for healing in my life and over the years I’ve been driven to pursue it relentlessly. The motivation was I want to be well.

It’s something how books, conversations, lectures, stories, all sorts of things, cross my path just when I need them.

Like I said the body remembers concept showed up in the last year or so and it was so helpful. I had been paying attention before but now I was more intentional. Besides noticing physical responses, fight or flight, I started thinking more deeply about the reasons and implications of those reactions. I’ve known forever than I don’t have normal reactions or even interpretations to words or situations, but I want to.

The latest idea for me to explore builds on the last one. Your body remembers and is convinced that danger still exists and raises the alarm to protect you. That’s why we are triggered by anything remotely resembling past dangerous situations. I have many triggers and have yet to figure out what is behind most of them. There are so many because the worst of the abuse stretched over a decade and on top of that there were multiple people involved as well as multiple types of abuse. Both emotional and physical. Then there is the complication that the emotional abuse continued on much longer than a decade.

The idea today was that, to get past these reactions we have to face our triggers/fears, convince our internal memory that all is well and the danger is past. And mostly it is, that’s true.

For a while I have been thinking about changing thought patterns by laying down new memories over the old. Creating new neural pathways. I’ve been thinking about facing and figuring out what caused the triggers in order to understand the why of the triggers, by knowing what happened to me. Understanding what is behind the triggers helps us chase away the proverbial bogey man hiding under the bed or in the closet.

I can see now that finding a way to convince my body that the danger is past and I’m safe, is badly needed.

Easier said than done. But worth a try.

Today’s moment of revelation came in the form of a podcast. It was a valuable conversation between professionals, a clinical psychologist and a popular guest with several degrees in the mental health field. These two come at the conversation from different perspectives and it has given me food for thought that will be around for some time to come.

One more much needed building block on the journey.

Here is the link. They had so much more to say that is worth hearing.

https://youtu.be/B_373YVlnDA

Among many others they talked about answering the question – What do you want? a serious question that most of us cannot articulate. Possibly because no one has ever asked us that question. At least not in a serious, really wanting to know, kind of way. It’s usually more like – what do You want? That’s the first thought that popped into my head as I wrote the first question. Sad. Probably heard that version a lot as a kid.

I have to say they covered a lot of ground in the hour long podcast.

Anyway, their enlightening conversation was definitely worth the time.

Until next time

Hope this makes sense, didn’t leave enough time for needed rewrites.

Bargain books November 16, 2022

Distressed. That’s what I’m feeling at the moment. It was unexpected and disappointing. Disappointing because I was hoping for new sites to follow, replacing the old, slowly disappearing sites. What I found this time, and have before too, reading tastes among a number of book bloggers tend to fall on the dark side. I’m guessing you know what I’m talking about. Given that bent, today’s browsing experience was triggering for me.

Often I can handle honesty about the murderous things we do to one another. Maybe it’s point of view that makes the difference. Usually the stories I read are from law enforcement’s side of things. The titles in a reading list this morning were from the perpetrator’s perspective and that’s a whole new ballgame. It felt like pure evil and I couldn’t handle it. I’m guessing triggers from early childhood trauma are behind the issue.

I’m sad. I had high hopes for a new blogger friend or three to follow.

My luck hasn’t been all that great finding new friends, probably because I spend more time looking for books than I do looking for friends. A fatal flaw. Not. I love my books and the few friends I do still have.

***********************

So, back to the book search. . .

1531 Entertainment has a bargain suggestion for us. It’s Book 2 in a series. We read Book 1 a year ago and I see it is still Free.

Dead Broke: A Cozy Mystery

Why would someone kill Nathan King?

The peace of a perfect November afternoon is shattered when Agatha hears the frantic bleating of goats across the river from her B&B. Agatha kayaks over with retired detective Tony and two guests–Bishop Henry and his wife Emma. They find the goats huddled together in a terrified group and Nathan lying face up beneath the Live Oak trees, lifeless eyes staring at the Texas sky.

Then one of Agatha’s guests goes missing. She delves into Joey’s past and learns he was Dead Broke, so what was he doing vacationing at her B&B? And why was he pretending to be Amish when in fact his permanent address was Dallas, Texas? Most importantly, did Joey have anything to do with Nathan’s death? Agatha and Tony are at a dead end before the investigation has properly begun, but this time they receive help from unexpected places.

Bishop Henry has a gift, and he’s no longer afraid to use it, even if doing so may put them all in danger as they work together to catch a killer.

Dead Broke is a story about family secrets, rare gifts, and the joy of unexpected friendships.

************************

Another bargain book from 1531 Entertainment looks like it could be interesting.

All I Want for Christmas by Rebekah Pace

LOSING EVERYTHING MAY JUST BE THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL.

James sells toys. He’s a workaholic and he’s made a very good living, even if his wife and four children don’t appreciate it. Truth is, his marriage is falling apart and he barely recognizes his kids.

So when James’s youngest daughter, 7-year-old Reba, asks God for a Christmas miracle to “fix” her family, something most unexpected happens—unexpected and horrible. The Christmas tree catches fire and the house burns down, taking with it all of their possessions.

One bad thing leads to another as rock bottom gives way to new lows and the family is sent spiraling down a dark and unfamiliar path. Reba wonders if God decided to give her the very opposite of what she prayed for.

Finally, separated and destitute, James and the family are left with absolutely nothing—nothing but a brand-new understanding of what’s actually important in life.

Now James must rekindle his faith, learn what’s truly important to him, and find a way to win his family back. If he can pull it off, there may just be that Christmas miracle waiting for him.


“Likable, charismatic characters…compelling and emotionally impactful…modern-day Job’s tale.” – Screencraft

*************************

I’ve been digging myself into a deep hole just thinking about this post. For sure I won’t be reading the last book on this list.

I’m off to look through my TBR list for something light-hearted and funny.

Happy Reading y’all.

Checking in November 14, 2022

This is a no-book day. Not sure where the normal suggestion emails went to on this Monday.

I needed something to do so I spent some time browsing through Amazon. There were a few that looked interesting, at first anyway, but the interest didn’t last long enough to choose any of them.

On the bright side I did finish both books in the current series we talked about yesterday. I wasn’t sure about the second book but it did turn out well. Now I wish I had Book 3.

********

The other day I mentioned an experimental idea I had for maintaining interest in collections. Reading the 4 or 5 books of a collection all in a row can become boring. I was thinking if I read one book out of each (I have 5 on the go currently) and kept doing that until all five were done, maybe the experience would be more positive. So far it seems to be working. Sort of like taking a bit of salad in between bites of steak or potatoes helps keep the flavors from becoming boring.

Here are three I have been working on at the moment. Well the first two I have been, the third has been sadly neglected for months on end and needs to be moved on one way or the other.

I’ve moved up to Book 2 in the Prairie Brides collection and it’s good.

I may even just stay with these three, that may be enough of a change to get it done. Besides, I’m dragging my feet on two of them. I may decide to skip them altogether.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

That’s it for tonight.

Happy Reading.

A little of this, a little of that November 13, 2022

This is one of those days when I have nothing.

Although, it’s not strictly true in that while there is nothing structured, and filled with good content, there are still a few things on my mind.

Like how insanely frustrated I am with the recent changes to the stats page. I am sure someone loves the new feature but it’s not me. There are three little pieces of information that could fit in 1/2 inch horizontal space but no, it has to take up 3 inches, at least, meaning I have to scroll back and forth to see the information pertinent to me.

The irony in all of this is my recent decision to share only positive rather than negative thoughts and opinions. It didn’t take long for that good intention to fly out the window.

The whole negative-thoughts decision was related to my less than glowing assessment on several recently read books. My insecure mindset viewed the weak response to the post as a good indicator that I should stick to compliments. The old adage, if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all.

The thing is – not all books are created equal. In truth, there are probably fewer well written books than there are not-so-well written. Like anything else in life some of us find certain tasks easier than others do. There is nothing wrong with that. In the end though, talent is one thing but willingness to do the hard work is the magic key. So, while not all books are great, I don’t need to comment on them. I’ll just keep quietly removing them before sharing a recently read and enjoyed post. Besides it not like I have a large audience and my opinion matters to the masses.

I am envious of one blogger I follow, she can, and often does, declare loudly about hating a book. She says it and we smile. I don’t have that gift, wish I did (big smile.)

*************************

So, on to read and enjoyed.

Last night I finished Book 1 in a series and loved it. Kindle has a new feature that groups series together. It turns out, using this feature, I have Book 2 as well. I do remember starting it but having trouble making a solid connection. Now that I’ve read book one the beginning of book two is making more sense to me. Hopefully it will turn out to be as good as book one.

**********

Final thoughts on the rant we started out with.

Years ago we lived near a talented friend with an amazing voice. He loved to participate in community events singing solos of all kinds. We all thought he could have made it in the music industry if he wanted. He could have but he didn’t have the want to or the drive and dedication needed to make it happen. We’ve seen others with less talent who did make something special out of their gift.

We’ve seen it happen in other areas of life too, where the most talented weren’t the most successful.

It’s amazing how much of our success depends on the way we think and the way we act. A revolutionary thought.

*********************

Tomorrow is Monday. Up and at’em

In the meantime. . .

Happy Reading