Wordless Wednesday

Teaser Tuesdays - April 2nd

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"When Allah told them to do things, they didn't listen. Instead of doing what Allah wanted, they did what they wanted."

~ page 216, American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar

Blogging from A to Z April Challenge (Letter B)

This is the second day of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. 

Today, we're going to talk a bit about the Boston rocker. Prior to the Boston rocker, rocking chairs were simply small, straight-backed armless, low-seated chairs. The Boston rocker, however, took comfort into consideration. Its design featured a high back with six to nine curved spindles and a large crest rail. The seat was curved up in the back and down in the front, which provided a more comfortable, relaxed sitting position. It could be stenciled with gilt and colored designs.

The Boston rocker was introduced in 1840 and was the first mass-produced rocking chair. For more information on the Boston rocker and the history of rocking chairs, you can visit this article from American Heritage.

Oh, if someone tells you that you are "off your rocker," then you are acting crazy, out of control, or nuts.

CFBA: The Guardian by Beverly Lewis

This week, theChristian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducingThe GuardianBethany House Publishers (March 26, 2013)byBeverly Lewis



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Beverly's first venture into adult fiction is the best-selling trilogy, The Heritage of Lancaster County, including The Shunning, a suspenseful saga of Katie Lapp, a young Amish woman drawn to the modern world by secrets from her past. The book is loosely based on the author's maternal grandmother, Ada Ranck Buchwalter, who left her Old Order Mennonite upbringing to marry a Bible College student. One Amish-country newspaper claimed Beverly's work to be "a primer on Lancaster County folklore" and offers "an insider's view of Amish life."

Booksellers across the country, and around the world, have spread the word of Beverly's tender tales of Plain country life. A clerk in a Virginia bookstore wrote, "Beverly's books have a compelling freshness and spark. You just don't run across writing like that every day. I hope she'll keep writing stories about the Plain people for a long, long time."

A member of the National League of American Pen Women, as well as a Distinguished Alumnus of Evangel University, Lewis has written over 80 books for children, youth, and adults, many of them award-winning. She and her husband, David, make their home in Colorado, where they enjoy hiking, biking, and spending time with their family. They are also avid musicians and fiction "book worms."


ABOUT THE BOOK

When schoolteacher Jodi Winfield goes for a morning run, the last thing she expects is to find a disheveled little girl all alone on the side of the Pennsylvania road, clad only in her undergarments, her chubby cheeks streaked with tears. Jodi takes the preschooler home with her, intending to find out where she belongs. But Jodi is mystified when no one seems to know of a missing child, and the girl herself is no help, since she can't speak a word of English. It's as if the child appeared out of nowhere.


As the days pass, Jodi becomes increasingly attached to the mysterious girl, yet she is no closer to learning her identity. Then an unexpected opportunity brings Jodi to Hickory Hollow--and into the cloistered world of the Lancaster Old Order Amish. Might the answers lie there?


If you would like to read the first chapter of The Guardian, go HERE.

Blogging from A to Z April Challenge (Letter A)

Today starts the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. This year, they added categories to help bloggers theme their posts. You don't have to choose one, but you can. I opted for history, since I enjoy it so much.

Before we get to today's post, however, I would like to take a moment to thank Arlee Bird, the founder of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. I'm thrilled to be able to participate in this great event with over 1700 other bloggers. This is fun way to commit to blogging and a wonderful way to network. You can find Arlee at http://tossingitout.blogspot.com.

For today's post, I have chosen Appomattox. This is where Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865. Lee is quoted as saying, "There is nothing left for me to do but go and see General Grant and I would rather die a thousand deaths." Though Grant believed the Confederates fought for a terrible cause, he was still saddened and depressed "at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly..."

Approximately, 620,000 soldiers died during the Civil War.

Did you know that before and during the Civil War, the town now known as Appomattox was actually called Nebraska, VA? You can read more Appomattox history at http://www.townofappomattox.com/government/history/

Lowell Christensen's The One-Minute Zillionaire Book Blast and Giveaway

Pump Up Your Book and Lowell T. Christensen will be giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card during his The One-Minute Zillionaire Book Blast today! This promotion ends at midnight. To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter form below and good luck!

ABOUT THE ONE-MINUTE ZILLIONAIRE

Like any good success book, The One-Minute Zillionaire will get you so crazed with principles, keys, goals, affirmations, and profound and poetic platitudes that you’ll want to dash to Alaska to search for gold and taunt grizzly bears. Christensen delivers a very funny yet sensible message with help from a wide cast of characters, including Shakespeare, Freud, Pamela Anderson, Dante, Greek goddesses, Chewbacca, Charles Manson, Saint Peter, and Pancho Villa. He pondered the powerful achievement techniques and heat-resistant feet of Anthony Robbins, the paradigms of Stephen R. Covey, the excellence of Thomas Peters, the mind power of Napoleon Hill, the brazen squint of Donald Trump, and the fudge-making ability of Martha Stewart. He consequently discovered the number one key to success, “The best way to achieve success is to write a success book.”

Christensen covers financial success but adds advice on wooing, weight loss, time management, travel, and other topics with the goal in mind of making the book thicker. Go to TheOneMinuteZillionaire.com for national and international reviews, excerpts, free bonus offers, and articles.

Praise for The One-Minute Zillionaire:

"The author has a light touch and the ability to laugh at himself and his own ideas. Without a doubt, Christensen is funny."

-- Foreword Reviews

"Lowell Christensen is the author of “The One-Minute Zillionaire,” a new humor book about success. In a press release, Christensen writes that he hopes his advice about “how success requires quite a bit of formal and practical education, hard work, and falling on your face a few times” will resonate with readers."

-- Albuquerque Journal

Purchase your copy:

AMAZON| BARNES and NOBLE

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ABOUT LOWELL CHRISTENSEN

Lowell T. Christensen has kept himself busily occupied as a writer, engineer, rocket scientist, musician, backhoe operator, outdoorsman, chef, rancher, and international traveler. His previous books include Coping with Texas and Other Staggering Feets and Beginning Farming and What Makes a Sheep Tick, and he has written magazine articles that feature presidential elections through the theme of Shakespearean plays.

Christensen also writes articles for his local newspaper about public education, cheesy television shows, Scout camp misadventures, and the county library’s resemblance to a dead rhinoceros. With a degree in chemical engineering, he has worked for DuPont and the University of California.

His latest book is The One-Minute Zillionaire: Achieve Wealth, Fame, and Success in an Instant, Give or Take a Hundred Years.

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK

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~ ~ ~ $25 AMAZON GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY ~ ~ ~

a Rafflecopter giveaway


The One-Minute Zillionaire Tour Page:

http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2013/02/25/pump-up-your-book-presents-lowell-christensens-the-one-minute-zillionaire-book-blast-%E2%80%93-win-25-amazon-gcpaypal-cash/

You've Got Mail Monday

It's another busy Monday. I'm off to the dentist this morning to finish off my root canal. Yuck. On the upside, going through labor three times means visiting the dentist isn't as bad as it used to be.

I didn't work the postman quite so hard last week. My mailbox was a mix of bills and catalogs, with some books--expected and unexpected.

New catalogs arrived from Mary Kay, L.L. Bean, Frontgate, and Land's End. Plow and Hearth also sent a catalog to me last week. There are so many lovely things I could buy. My wallet tells me I should hold off a bit. We have some major bills coming down the pike in the next couple of months. Besides, the Lil' Princess needs a new bed and dresser.

The dwarf spruce plants I ordered through Amazon arrived. Thought they would ship later in the month, but I'll work around it. Hopefully the landscaper can come and help me remove the bushes that are there now, so I can plant these instead.

Circle and Square by Sally O. Lee showed up on Saturday. The girls and I have read many of her children's books. I'll be reviewing that one at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection, so keep an eye out for it. We also received a second shipment of books from tiger tales for review. I was surprised by the small shipment we received the other week, but when a publisher is sending you books, you don't complain. I'm thrilled I'll get a chance to check out more of their authors' work. They are a wonderful publisher of books for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.

That's it from my neck of the woods. Hope you had a lovely Easter. My in-laws and my brother-in-law and his wife came over for dinner. It was a nice time had by all.

Have a great week!