LadyD Books: December 2010

Friday 56: Unto The Hills

Come join LadyD Books, as we celebrate The Friday 56 meme together.

Here's how to play along...

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

It's that simple.

Here's Mine: (not really listed by pages but daily dates)

"For peace, for strength, for courage and inspiration, to look UNTO THE HILLS."

Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional

You might want to visit a few blogs participating in Friday 56 meme:

Freda's Voice

Laurel-Rain Snow

Katy Bennett

A big "thank you" to all my readers and fellow bloggers who stopped by in 2010.
Wishing you a warm and bright New Year 2011!

Love, LadyD

P.S. I Tweet, You Tweet, We All Tweet! http://twitter.com/LadyD_Books

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Wordless Wednesday: Catnapping

Wordful Wednesday:

–noun

a short, light nap or doze.

–verb (used without object)

to doze or sleep lightly.

Origin:
1815–25, Americanism ; cat + nap

You may want to visit these blogs participating in this meme: (there's so much more!)

Seven Clown Circus

Woven by Words

Shibley Smiles

Wisdom Begins in Wonder

To all my readers, wishing you a peaceful New Year 2011!

Love, LadyD

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Book Review: Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor

Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor by Chuck Black

Product Details

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Multnomah Books (October 5, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1601421281
ISBN-13: 978-1601421289

Product Description

Two friends face the Dark Knight’s deadliest scheme, but only one knight has the courage to overcome.
Sir Quinlan leaves his boyhood friend to serve the Prince, fighting a battle darker and more intense than any he’s ever known. The mysterious Sir Baylor recruits him into the ranks of an elite unit of knights known as the Swords of Valor, but when tragedy strikes and everyone blames Quinlan, the Swords of Valor disband, ending a legacy of heroic deeds.

Alone and despairing, Quinlan wanders the kingdom, fleeing his past. His providential encounter with Taras, a mysterious Silent Warrior and former trainer of Valor Knights, offers Quinlan a chance to redeem himself and learn the ways of the secret warriors.

The training is grueling, and just when Quinlan seems to have left his failures behind, he receives an impossible challenge from the Prince—one that will force him to face his past…and the mighty men who blame him for the tragedy that ruined them.

Can Quinlan reunite the Valor Knights in time to save the people from the Dark Knight’s evil plot to rule the Kingdom of Arrethtrae, or will the Valor Knights lose the most important battle of all?

About the Author

CHUCK BLACK, a former F-16 fi ghter pilot and tactical communications engineer, is the best-selling, award-winning author of the Kingdom series and the Knights of Arrethtrae series. He has received praise from parents across the country for his unique approach to telling biblical truths. His passion in life is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and to love his wife, Andrea, and their six children. He lives with his family in North Dakota.

My Thoughts:

I received the fifth book in the Knights of Arrethtrae series and finished reading it in 2 days. The young fiction, action packed novel written in allegory (conveying meaning other than literal) will hold your interest to the very end. Starting with a cool map of the Kingdom of Arrethtrae, including 24 chapters and 176 pages, plus discussion questions towards the back of the book and concluding with a great music score, "Ride of the Valiant" by Emily Elizabeth Black, you are holding in your hands a great adventure story filled with detailed battle scenes that are woven with Biblical truths, themes of morality and virtue and courage to follow truth. This is a great visual symbolic representation.

The story begins with the main character, Twitch (his given name is Quinlan) named for the twitch in his cheek when his nerves took over. When his parents died, he went to live with Tav (his very best friend) and his relatives. It seems the young lad was loved a great deal but never really respected much so he just followed along with Tav.

One day when Tav's uncle, Sir Baylor, comes to visit with important information about a mission for the Prince, Twitch feels a deep pull, perhaps a calling deep in his soul. He knows that he does not need to spend his life in the same place doing the same things all the time on a regular basis. He chooses to follow Sir Baylor.

This is an unreasonable decision according to Tav and his relatives, so it’s with much difficulty that Twitch leaves them behind. When he does, he leaves behind the name Twitch and takes on his given name, Quinlan.

On the road with Sir Baylor, Quinlan becomes a member of Baylor’s elite group of soldiers though he’s untried in battle and not very trained well enough for everyone’s tastes. When Baylor dies while on a mission, Quinlan accepts the man’s dying words, a trinket from him, and full responsibility for the death of his leader. This guilt weighs him down and drags at him from every angle until he’s unable to run away from it anymore.

A seemingly chance encounter with an amazing soldier named Taras leads Quinlan in a direction they never expected. He trains with Taras until one day, he takes over the leadership of the very team of soldiers from which he’d been running.
Whether tween or adult, you will want to read this exciting book and purchase the set for gift giving as well because Black's word crafting is over the top. You will be inspired and renewed with purpose and direction. In fact, Black says that he wrote his first book “to inspire his own children to read the Bible with renewed zeal”.

This book was provided for review by a Christian Publishing Company, WaterBrook Multnomah.
Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor (The Knights of Arrethtrae)

You can find out more about the series and the author on the Perfect Praise website. You can also purchase books from all the series, autographed copies, audio books, and even posters on the site. While you are there, let your kids see the Kingdom Fun page. They have beautiful art for desktop wallpaper, coloring pages and more. Soon they will have a Book Club, as well.

-- LadyD

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Wordless Wednesday: Merry Christmas!

How blessed am I to have these dear ones in our family!

Wordful Wednesday:

The Nicest Present Under the tree the gifts enthrall,
But the nicest present of them all
Is filling our thoughts with those who care,
Wanting our Christmas joy to share. To you dear readers, whom I am often thinking of,
I send holiday joy and love. From LadyD Books, Merry Christmas!
“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Quote It: German Poet

Image via Wikipedia

"O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
Your branches green delight us.
They are green when summer days are bright;
They are green when winter snow is white.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree,
Your branches green delight us!"

-- Ernst Anschutz (German Poet)

This is one of my favorite songs to play on the piano. Whether it's an easy version or a jazzy one to play, I love listening to everyone join in and sing along. It is so very cool that this poet captured the tradition of bringing an evergreen into one's house to celebrate this wonderful season.

Best,
LadyD

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Friday 56: Little Women

Image via Wikipedia

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

It's that simple.

Here's my page 56:

"Then Jo hugged Amy, who stirred in her sleep and hugged her back."

From: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

About The Book:

Little Women is the lively and warm story of the March sisters... Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. They share their secrets and dreams, and help each other be strong when beloved Mother must leave to nurse Father, who is wounded in the Civil war.

The passing years bring more adventures and romance-the first wedding, a broken heart, a trip to Europe-and the girls are young women. This book shows vividly the joys of growing up in a loving family.

Have you read this one before? I remember the book as a little girl and loved it! How about you?

Happy Friday,
-- LadyD

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Wordless Wednesday Meme: Poinsettia

Wordful Wednesday

The poinsettia is a beautiful flowering shrub native of Mexico. The poinsettia is the most popular and best-selling potted plant in the U.S.A. The global popularity of the plant was actually spread by an American who introduced the plant to the U.S. and it is named after him: Joel Roberts Poinsett.

December 12th is National Poinsettia Day. I love this wonderful children's book. If you are interested, you can purchase this one and others at http://ladyd.barefootbooks.com

Don't forget to stop by these wonderful folks and have yourself a marvelous Wednesday!

Woven by Words

Freda's Voice

A Beautiful Mess

My Organized Chaos

Shibley Smiles

Best,
-- LadyD

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Book Review: Life With Lord Byron (Gentle Giant Who Finished Strong)

About The Book:

In Life with Lord Byron: Laughter, Romance, and Lessons Learned from Golf’s Greatest Gentleman, Peggy Nelson writes and shares with us her personal memories of their 19+ years of marriage with her special friend and pro golfer husband, Byron Nelson.

Who is Lord Byron?

Byron Nelson's accomplishments include several world records; eleven PGA wins in a row and eighteen wins for that year (1945). He won a total of fifty-four tournaments during his career. Thirty times he placed in the top ten of golf players and also received a Congressional Gold Medal for his humanitarian services.

My Review:

After reading all the lovely praise notes from others about Byron for the things he had done, I was amazed that so many had recognized his efforts as seed planting in their lives. As a believer, we should do everything for His glory but that’s not always easy to do. Byron made it his aim in life. In my book, Byron was a gentle giant who finished strong!

For His Glory
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. ~1 Corinthians 10:31

For His Name
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. ~Colossians 3:17

God’s word tells us that both our words and deeds are to be done not for our own name but for the name of the Lord Jesus. Byron's life was all about this.

Working For Him
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. ~Colossians 3:23-24

Golfing is fun yet I can't imagine how difficult it would be to turn pro and keep up with the pace of the tournaments and the pressure of the sport itself. But no matter our occupation, our work is ultimately for Him. We’re not on this planet to serve ourselves, but Him.

Peggy's warm approach in sharing her day-to-day friendship with her life partner who was 30 years older than her, will inspire and encourage you with faith in God, hope to dream and connections with family and friends that encourage with lasting support when your loved one is gone.

To Make Him Known
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. ~2 Corinthians 4:7

This wonderful book was provided for review by Kathy Carlton Willis Communications. ***** stars!
Life with Lord Byron: Laughter, Romance, and Lessons Learned from Golf's Greatest Gentleman

I loved the book. I plan to give a copy of the book to my wonderful father-in-law for a gift this Christmas. He also is a gentleman and continues to love the game of golf at 82! I highly recommend this one to the believer and the golfer. I spent many days of my youth to be my daddy's caddy. I loved the game of golf back then and still do. What great exercise to be outdoors but what left me with a lasting impression of Byron's life was that he remained balanced throughout his career and had his priorities right:

Love God, Love Family, Love Golf!

Bless him for sharing His faith in Christ with so many and his loving wife for telling us about it!

5/5 stars!

Life With Lord Byron

-- LadyD

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Quote It: Henry Adams

Welcome to Quote It!

Please feel free to grab the button and create your own post.

Add as many quotes as you wish, from whomever you wish. It can even be lyrics to a song.
Just tell us who it is. Anonymous welcome too.
And please leave your link.

Here's Mine:

"A teacher affects eternity:
he can never tell where his influence stops."

Henry Adams

If you want a morning chuckle, visit Freda's blog! She has an excellent quote for the day!
http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com

Best,
LadyD

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Friday 56: The Robe

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

It's that simple.

Here's Mine: from The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas

" I have no home, Princess Arnon. I am glad to leave Rome. I shall be happy in Arabia."

"But you were never in Arabia," said Arnon, amused.

"No, Princess Arnon," said Ione, "but I know I shall be happy - if you are there."

Great book... have you read it or seen the movie?

-- LadyD

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Wordless Wednesday: If You're Going to San Francisco

Wordful Wednesday:

"If you're going to San Francisco, be sure and wear some flowers in your hair!"

I had a quick flight on Virgin Airlines. It seems to me, an easy way to fly is between the 2 biggest holidays! It's always a pleasure to spend some time with "The Princess."

"San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" is a song, written by John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, and sung by Scott McKenzie. It was written and released in 1967 to promote the Monterey Pop Festival.
The lyrics of the song tell the listeners, "If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair". Due to the difference between the lyrics and the actual title, the title is often quoted as "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)". "San Francisco," released on 13 May 1967, was an instant hit. By June 1967, it commanded the number four spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Meanwhile, the song rose to number one in the United Kingdom and most of Europe. The single is purported to have sold over 7 million copies worldwide. The song is credited with bringing thousands of young people to San Francisco, California during the late 1960s.
In Central Europe, young people adopted "San Francisco" as an anthem for freedom, and it was widely played during Czechoslovakia's 1968 Prague Spring uprising.
The song has been featured in several films, including Frantic, The Rock and Forrest Gump. It was also played occasionally by Led Zeppelin as part of the improvised section in the middle of "Dazed and Confused". U2's Bono also led the audience in singing this song during their 1997 PopMart performances June 18th & 19th in the San Francisco Bay Area."

Wikipedia.org

Best,
-- LadyD

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Quote It: Alice Walker

Welcome to Quote It!
Please feel free to grab the button and create your own post.
Add as many quotes as you wish, from whomever you wish. It can even be lyrics to a song.
Just tell us who it is. Anonymous welcome too.
And please leave your link.

In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful. – Alice Walker

Love, if it is love, never goes away.
It is embedded in us,
like seams of gold in the earth,
Waiting for light,
Waiting to be struck.

Alice Walker

Alice Walker's Garden

-- LadyD

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis

Friday 56: Perfect Greek

LadyD Books invites you to The Friday 56 meme! It's so simple!

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

It's that simple.

Here's mine from Perfect Greek: a collection of over 100 essential recipes.

Page 56: Chilled Cucumber Soup

"Peel the cucumbers and chop the flesh into small dice. Beat the yogurt with the chicken stock, the walnut oil, garlic, and dill, reserving a little garnish. Stir in the chopped cucumber and season with salt and pepper."

Oh, my gosh... sounds like a game of Clue!!! (Who beat/chopped the cuke with a knife in the kitchen?!)

Seriously, I found this cookbook to be true and genuine when it comes to Greek cuisine!

-- LadyD

“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.” — C. S. Lewis