inspiration

Bargain books March 17, 2023

/ For the Love of Books / 1 Comment

Here we are again. This day didn’t seem too promising, just the way the last few have been, until I stumbled over something that looked intriguing. Medieval is a nice change from our usual Regency fare. As far as I can tell this author is also unknown to me. I think it’s always a welcome gift to meet and experience another author.

The Secret Life of Lady Evangeline (Secrets Book 1)

If not for Lady Evangeline’s secret training in weaponry, her corpse would be rotting in a ditch. Instead, she finds refuge in a crumbling abbey—and new purpose. With her child dead and her husband lost to the lies of a devious plotter, Evangeline vows to fight for the starving widows and children in the villages surrounding the abbey. Masquerading as a nun by day, and an armed vigilante by night, she will free these people no matter what it takes.

Lord Henry Stanton still grieves the death of Evangeline. How can he ever shed the weight of guilt over not protecting his beautiful wife? She never even had the chance to know their precious baby girl, now healthy and thriving. Though he failed to keep Evangeline safe, he will stop at nothing to protect their daughter from the intrigue and corruption threatening not just the royal court, but the whole land.

When the worst happens, Henry must join forces with a nun—or is she Evangeline? They must overcome lies, treachery, and a broken marriage to save their innocent daughter—and the country—before it’s too late.

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Another book popping up for me today looks promising. I’m hearing that distressed young people are searching for meaningful connections with God. Max Lucado has been a popular and well loved author for years and has a way of making God real to us. One of his books is available at a special rate today. It talks about having hope in this turbulent and distressing world we live it. We all need a little of it, or maybe a lot of it, these days and I’m hoping this book will help with that.

Unshakable Hope Devotional: Building Our Lives on the Promises of God

What kind of life are you building?

Do you want to be unshakable in a shaky world?

You can build your life on the enduring promises of God.

If you have a problem, God has a promise. These promises stand the test of time, and they weather life’s biggest storms. In this special companion devotional based on the teaching series, Unshakable Hope by Max Lucado, Max will guide you through the powerful promises found in God’s word and show you how to make them your own. You can go from knowing God’s promises to believing God’s promises.

In this life, we will face trials and storms, but it is in our toughest moments that God’s promises prove themselves true. Because God’s promises are unbreakable, our hope can be unshakable. We have an airtight, holy contract with Him. When the world rages around you, you can stand with Unshakable Hope.

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It has been nice to be back with a few suggestions after yet another of my many breaks from daily blogging. I’ve often been absent from this site but haven’t stopped reading, and will be back soon to share some of the books I’ve finished.

I hope you are still reading as well. There are so many great benefits to be had from this enjoyable activity.

Happy Reading!

Bargain book December 11, 2022

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Since it’s 2 am I guess I’ll label this third post as December 11. I said I was done after #2 but it seems I lied lol.

I made the mistake of going back to verify the purchase of the last book (I hadn’t completed the purchase step, good thing I checked) and in the process found another one I had to say yes to. This is book #4 and I see we have had books 1 – 3 show up in 2021. They aren’t bargains anymore, sadly.

Rising From Ashes (Acts of Valor, Book 4)

Lt. Commander “Monty” Monteague hasn’t needed God since he was a boy. But now the accomplished, handsome SEAL is the only survivor of a rescue mission gone wrong. His men are dead; his face is badly scarred. Wounded and hurting, Monty seeks solace in all the wrong places, until his do-gooder neighbor intrudes on his isolation, heals him, and teaches him to reach for God, not a bottle.

Opal Bonheur isn’t just Monty’s neighbor; she’s his physical therapist. Having loved him from afar for years, Opal is determined to heal the warrior, physically and emotionally. What Monty needs is the faith that has sustained her through many a tragedy—and they aren’t over yet. As the past comes back to haunt Opal, Monty’s prayers for her protection might be the only thing to keep her alive.

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Maybe more will show up in the morning.

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Well it’s tomorrow afternoon and so far nothing else has shown up. Not that I’ve been looking all that hard aside from checking suggestion emails. (there were two with nothing we wanted)

The thing I have been doing today (and yesterday too) is spending time with one of my favorite inspiring podcasters. Carey Nieuwhof, he has a leadership podcast with the most interesting guests and amazingly insightful questions. I’m not in leadership but I love learning new things. I love walking away from the experience feeling deeply moved and fed.

It’s the mental equivalent of a well prepared healthy nutritious meal.

The subject of today’s choice of podcasts (I’m behind in watching so I’m binge watching to catch up.) was growing your audience. His guest for this video became a multi-millionaire helping clients with this aspect of their businesses. He has much to offer us as inspiration for developing a strategy for realizing our own hopes and dreams.

To be perfectly honest, I’m not that motivated to grow my audience even though I know I should be. I’m an introvert. I work hard at not being noticed. Which is pretty hilarious when you think about it. That’s why I don’t do emails (I did put an email address somewhere in my contact section but for some reason I didn’t bother to explore, it doesn’t show up.) It’s also why, generally speaking, I put personal thoughts etc at the end of posts rather than the beginning. Readers won’t see them without going to the end. Crazy I know, but this is who I am.

The question is why do I do this, and even hope for more readers, if I shy away from being seen?

It’s motivation. My passion is to inspire reading.

(If I can do it without drawing personal attention so much the better.)

Why this passion, you ask?

Because reading is a life giving, life changing experience. And statistics show that most people are not reading. A least not in any significant way. Many read less than one book a year. This is so much more than sad.

So, that is my deepest motivation, pushing you to fall in love with reading. Yes, fall in love. Avid readers are in love with books.

Falling in love with a book is like falling in love with a person — find the right one and it will happen.

For many their reading speed is a deterrent. Reading is like exercise, the more you do it the stronger you become. Keep reading, with practice your speed will improve. If you love a book, even better, your speed will automatically improve because you are in a hurry to find out what comes next.

So, bottom line, I want to inspire you to discover the joys of reading.

The discussion on why I promote books, without realizing any monetary compensation, will be the subject for another day.

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In case you enjoy teaching and inspiring podcasts I will share the link for this one here. Maybe you will discover useful tools and connections.

Happy Reading,

and maybe watching, too.

I could be preaching to the choir here as you are likely a reader if you frequent a blog site.

Maybe I can inspire you to inspire someone else in your life. That would be good.

Checking in November 14, 2022

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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.

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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.

This and that September 06, 2022

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I’m coming up empty on what to talk about tonight. We have no good book suggestions to get excited about. My head is not settled on subjects I could pursue. It’s probably because I’ve spent the evening listening to YouTube podcasts. There were a bunch of short ones related to the news of the day, not something I really want to talk about. They weren’t of the feel good type, more of a downer, life is like that sometimes.

The last one, though, has given me much to ponder. It was a long interview, 2 and 1/4 hours long, and in my mind it could have been longer. The interview was between two highly successful men. It was very interesting, mostly because they both got to the heart of the matter in a very real and candid way. It was relatable and left me feeling richer for the experience. I’ll be chewing on it for awhile.

The other unique aspect was that it turned into a double interview. Both of these guys have successful podcasts with huge audiences and of course the interviewee had to have a chance to interview his host. They both did an awesome job of switching roles. I will probably watch it again another day. There was so much to unpack that once is not enough.

I will include the link in case you are curious to see what it was all about. The original guest was inducted into a Canadian hall of fame for marketing genius. His name is Tony Chapman. The subject was marketing but they got into personal territory when they talked about their early life, their families, their jobs and how they got their start and how they progressed to where they are now. Fascinating.

The awesome thing was they wanted to be helpful. They left their egos at home and shared real down-to-earth things. I love this type of interview, it draws me in and touches my life in profound ways.

Anyway, that is where my head is tonight.

It was a good night.

Maybe we will have books to share tomorrow.

Happy reading and maybe even listening.

Free books May 02, 2022

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LPC Free books has two suggestions for us, both read and enjoyed several years ago. Stories with substance.

All The Way Home – Ann Tatlock

“Tatlock’s rich descriptions and characterizations are unusually fresh and inventive.”~Publishers Weekly

From a rough section of Los Angeles during the late Depression years, to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s in the South, this novel is a searing portrayal of one family trapped by alcoholism and another living the typical middle class life. A true American story told through the eyes of two girls, best friends, separated by the internment camps of World War II.

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Somewhere a Rainbow (Finding Love in the Low Country Book 4)

Brooke Haddon’s future looks gray… After her unfaithful husband is killed in an auto accident, she faces the challenge of rebuilding her life. With most of her money gone, she takes her five-year-old son to the honeymoon cottage on Hilton Head Island where her marriage began. As a single parent, she wonders how she will manage, and once she arrives on the island, she can’t imagine how she’ll be able to repair a cottage as broken down as her life.

When local carpenter Jake Randolph offers to help, Brooke immediately distrusts him. But as the months pass, she begins to think he may be different from the other men she has known. He begins to melt the emotional ice around her heart. Then Jake admits he’s concealing a secret past. Are Brooke’s hopes of a brighter future about to be destroyed. Or is there a rainbow beyond the storms of heartbreak?

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Two worthwhile reads. Awesome.

Happy Reading!

Love, love, love the harmony May 02, 2022

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Have to share.

The Sound musical group has come out with a new album and Mark Lowry is giving us nearly an hour long taste of their awesome sound. Amazing voices and memorable melodies. Connect with them at thesound.org

Fun fact:

Mark’s show is called Just Whenever and that’s because he goes live just whenever he feels like it. Which is pretty much everyday when he is home. He’s been on the road doing concerts the last couple of weeks and we all missed him. Tonight’s live made up for it, in spades.

Enjoy this toe tapping, can’t bear to sit still music.