EBook Challenge 8 of 10 CD Level

What Matters Most by Bette Lee Crosby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this story. It kind of hit home in a lot of ways. We are retired, my husband has selective hearing and I tend to be a worrier. Not to the extent that Louise is, but somewhat. We almost moved to a different part of the country at retirement, but luckily we visited the area first and discovered that we would not be happy there.

I think Louise and Clay both learned to give a little during their relocation and find that happiness is what you make it. That friends can be found in new places too, that sometimes what seems to be perfect is not, and love is the most important.

I have enjoyed Bette Lee Crosby's other titles and will continue to choose and read them.


View all my reviews

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros 8-13

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph or maybe two of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph (or2) of the current book you are reading.

"The first thing you need to do in Vegas is get laid."  Zoe Ambrose choked on a gulp of water. Her sister-in-law, Melanie, pounded her on the back. "Cough it up!"

First paragraph from Twice Tempted by Valentine Marquita on my Kindle. Granted it doesn't really tell you  what the book may be about, you can tell it is a chick-lit read.

Would you read on or would you be turned off by the rather crude language?  I'm an old lady but I am not a prude. I would read on, I already like Zoe!.  This month I am also reading Winter of the World by Ken Follett, so I needed a light fun easy read.

Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

WRAP UP What's in a Name 6 and Quilt for Little Prince - Saturday Snapshot

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at West Metro Mommy Reads To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky (at West Metro Mommy). Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

This is a wrap-up finally done picture of the Winnie the Pooh baby quilt I made for my oldest granddaughter and her husband's new little guy. He is due the first week in September and the quilt is done before he is born. Almost a first for me. I am a bit of a grandiose idea but procrastinator type finisher!  I tried to get a picture of the whole quilt, it is very colorful, the pictures are from a panel I bought online, the interior sashing frames are a brown and cream dot, and the outer border is a large aqua  check. It is backed in chocolate brown minkee. Soft, soft and cuddly.


This week I also finished the What's in a Name 6 Challenge at Beth Fish Reads. I read the following books since the start of 2013 for this challenge. You can check the button link on the right hand side of my blog.
1. Book with UP or DOWN in the title:  The Mountain and the Fathers: Growing Up on the Big Dry by Joe Wilkins
2. Something you find IN THE KITCHEN in the title:  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.
3. A PARTY or CELEBRATION in the title: Steps to the Alter by Earlene Fowler ( ok, this was a reach but it's about 2 weddings._
4. A book with FIRE or an equivalent in the title:  Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan.
5. A book with an EMOTION in the title:   Joy School by Elizabeth Berg
6. A book with LOST or FOUND in the title:  The Lost Wife by Allyson Richman.

I have participated in this challenge 2 years and always enjoy searching out the titles


Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Steps to the Altar - a review

Last week I finished #9 in the Benni Harper Mystery series by Earlene Fowler. I so enjoy this series. They are fun easy reads, great to intersperse between books more thought provoking or even dark as is my current read, Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. Next is my review that appears on Goodreads. And I am using this as the final entry into the What's in a Name 6 challenge on

Beth Fish Reads  .         

Steps to the Altar by Earlene Fowler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one is one of my favorites of the series so far. Benni is having some real feelings in this one. Gabe is being a jerk, which makes me sad. And Elvia and Emory are finally getting married.

Usually Benni seems to go looking for a mystery to solve, but in this story the mystery sort of falls in her lap. Or is at the very least thrust upon her by an associate. And this murder is an unsolved cold case, so not so very pressing to find the murderer.

As always, Grandma Dove has words of wisdom for Benni when she "just knows" that Benni and Gabe are having problems. And as always, Dove makes me laugh as she prepares for her own "perfect" wedding to Issac.

This story is really a love story more than a mystery. I enjoyed it a great deal.


 I think it fits the book with a party or celebration in the title. It is a bit obscure, but I have been looking and looking for another and even the ones that other participants have read do not speak to me as titles I might want to read. So Steps to the Altar means a wedding and celebration to me.

Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Saturday Snapshot 8-3-13 Summer Storms

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at  http://westmetromommy.blogspot.com/. To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky (at West Metro Mommy). Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

We have been experiencing late afternoon thunderstorms lately. Lots of lightning, thunder and heavy rain that only lasts 30-45 minutes.   We had just returned home and did not notice this beautiful cloud until we noticed that two riders on Harley motorcycles had stopped just across the street and were taking pictures of this cloud. I used my camera on my cell phone, because it was handy and the sky  was changing quickly. This cloud was to the east of us, so this is the beautiful side of a rather large thunderhead that was moving toward the Black Hills of SD. It really was much more spectacular in person. The moon was just rising over the left 1/3 of the cloud, just above the middle group of trees. If you look closely at the third photo you can barely see the tiny moon.  So special!








Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Wondrous Words Wednesday 7-31

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love.  Feel free to get creative! Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by BermudaOnion each week.    If you want to play along, grab the button and link up at Diana's blog. 

I am reading Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. As always, Ms. Brooks uses words that are new and unfamiliar. 

1. croft – “When you have been raised in a bare croft, eating with wooden spoons and crude platters, there are a hundred small and subtle pleasures to be garnered in the smooth  slipperiness of a fine porcelain cup under your hands......"

 noun 

Chiefly British

1. A small enclosed field or pasture near a house.
2. A small farm, especially a tenant farm.

2. damascene - "Sometimes, as I polished the Mompellions' damascene chest, I would study its delicate inlays...."

I had trouble finding a definition for the adjective form of this word. The dictionaries just kept repeating the word in the noun form and verb form. I think I understand that it is a piece inlaid with damask or some other material. I did find an image, the link is below. To me it seems very ornate for anything used in the time of this book, the mid 1600's. 

http://images.yourdictionary.com/images/main/A4damasc.jpg

Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

ps: I am very unhappy about the look of the blog today. I did some cutting and pasting of the definitions, but not all and it looks very "scrapbooky".  I apologize. I almost "scrapped" it completely and did not post, but I really like to participate in this meme. It is one of my favorites. 

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Into 7-30-13

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph or maybe two of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph (or2) of the current book you are reading.

"I used to love this season. The wood stacked by the door, the tang of its sap still speaking of forest. The hay made, all golden in the low afternoon light. The rumble of the apples tumbling into the cellar bins. Smells and sights and sounds that said this year it would be alright: there'd be food and warmth for the babies by the time the snows came. I used to love to walk in the apple orchard at this time of the year, to fell the soft give underfoot when I trod on a fallen fruit. Thick, sweet scents of rotting apple and wet wood. This year, the hay stooks are few and the woodpile scant, and neither matter much to me. "

This is the first chapter, first paragraph of my current read this week.

Title:     Year of Wonders
Author:  Geraldine Brooks
from our local library


Have you read this book?  Are you interested enough to keep reading?  I have read 2 other titles of Geraldine Brooks and they were both very good. This one has my interest too. Ms. Brook's research is amazing and her prose is so descriptive, almost poetic.

Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy





ps: this title will help fulfill the challenge of reading book titles that spell my name for the Mega Mix Challenge in the Love of Reading group on Goodreads.. This is the "Y"   SCORE!!!!