Wondrous Words Wednesday #515

It's Wondrous Words Wednesday again. Join Kathy at BermudaOnion's Weblog and others to share or just highlight interesting and wondrous words.


I am slowly reading Beloved by Toni Morrison. I found this word.

coffle : a train of slaves or animals fastened together.

"Brandywine was leading him, in a coffle with ten others, through Kentucky into Virginia.

I knew what it was as used in the sentence and the entire paragraph, but I had not seen the actual word before. Beloved is a difficult read.


Not any other words. I just subscribed to a Word of the Day email, but the words have not been new to me yet. But I will keep getting it, because I will find a new one eventually.


Glad to be back here today,
Missed some of my other favorite memes due to travel.

Wondrous Words Wednesday #415

Wednesday on Kathy's blog, BermudaOnion's Weblog, is a great place to showcase words you found while reading or other wondrous words you want to highlight.  Post your words, then link up at Kathy's Blog to share your word or words. 

I did not find any words in my regular reading this week. So I went to the Merriam Webster website and perused their Word of the Day list.

On February 4th the word was:

quotidian:  adj.

1. occurring every day
2. belonging to each day: everyday
3. commonplace, ordinary

After weeks on the road, it felt good to be back to our quotidian routines.


On February 6th the word was:

inimical: ad

1. being adverse often by reason of hostility or malevolence
2. a) having  the disposition on an enemy: hostile
    b) reflecting or indicating hostility : unfriendly

The mayor's proposal received an inimical response from members of the town council.

These words were unknown to me. I hope to use them this week in my quotidian speech!


We will be gone the rest of the week and maybe through Monday. We are attending a family member's funeral in Iowa. Hopefully the roads and weather will cooperate with us. It is a 600 mile drive, so it will take these "old folks", 2 days. I will be reading and also stitching while I ride.



Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Into #515

Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea host this Tuesday meme. It is a a place to share the first paragraph of a book you are currently reading or hope to read soon. Come link up and take a peek at what others are reading. 

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

Beth Hoffman

Penguin Group 2010

Momma left her red satin shoes in the middle of the road. That's what three eyewitnesses told the police. The first time I remember my mother wearing red shoes was on a snowy morning in December 1962, the year I was seven years old. I walked into the kitchen and found her sitting at the table. No lights were on, but in the thin haze of dawn that pushed through the frostbitten window, I could see the red high-heeled shoes peeking out from beneath the hem of her robe. There was no breakfast waiting, no freshly ironed school dress hanging on the basement doorknob. Momma just sat and stared out the window with empty eyes, her hands limp in her lap, her coffee cold and untouched. 

I stood by her side and breathed in the sweet scent of lavender talcum powder that clung to the tufts of her robe.
"What's the matter, Momma?"

I am looking forward to reading this one. It has been on my TBR list for a while and last Friday, as I was wandering the library shelves, it jumped out at me. So I pulled it off the shelf !



Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading. #615

Each Monday, Sheila host this meme, as a place to share the book you are currently reading or hope to start soon. Join us at Book Journey, Sheila's blog, and tell us what your are reading.

This week I am reading Beloved by Toni Morrison. I am probably one of a handful of reader who haven't read it yet. It was published in 1988 and was a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner. 

We are traveling in the latter part of the week, so I will take one of the following books along. 

In this luminous prequel to her beloved Cobbled Court Quilts series, New York Times bestselling author Marie Bostwick takes readers into the heart of a small Texas town and the soul of a woman who discovers her destiny there. . .

Welcome to Too Much--where the women are strong-willed and the men are handsome yet shiftless. Ever since Mary Dell Templeton and her twin sister Lydia Dale were children, their Aunt Velvet has warned them away from local boys. But it's well known that the females in Mary Dell's family have two traits in common--superior sewing skills and a fatal weakness for men.

Dewey's Nine Lives offers nine funny, inspiring, and heartwarming stories about cats--all told from the perspective of "Dewey's Mom," librarian Vicki Myron. The amazing felines in this book include Dewey, of course, whose further never-before-told adventures are shared, and several others who Vicki found out about when their owners reached out to her. Vicki learned, through extensive interviews and story sharing, what made these cats special, and how they fit into Dewey's community of perseverance and love. From a divorced mother in Alaska who saved a drowning kitten on Christmas Eve to a troubled Vietnam veteran whose heart was opened by his long relationship with a rescued cat, these Dewey-style stories will inspire readers to laugh, cry, care, and, most importantly, believe in the magic of animals to touch individual lives.

Twelve-year-old CeeCee is in trouble. For years she’s been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille— the crown-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town. Though it’s 1967 and they live in Ohio, Camille believes it’s 1951 and she’s just been crowned the Vidalia Onion Queen of Georgia.

The day CeeCee discovers Camille in the front yard wearing a tattered prom dress and tiara as she blows kisses to passing motorists, she knows her mother has completely flipped. When tragedy strikes, Tootie Caldwell, a previously unknown great-aunt comes to CeeCee’s rescue and whisks her away to Savannah. Within hours of her arrival, CeeCee is catapulted into a perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricities—a world that appears to be run entirely by women.

Any recommendations?  I'm leaning toward Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt. It has been on my TBR list for a really long time.





Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Wondrous Words Wednesday. #315 from Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Every Wednesday Kathy hosts this wonderful meme. Join us at Kathy's blog, Bermuda Onion's Weblog to share new words you discovered while reading, or to highlight other words you wish to share. 

I found these while reading Still Alice by Lisa Genova. I loved it. 

1. concatenated: transitive verb - to link together in a series or chain.

"She enjoyed all of the concatenated moments of presenting in front of a listening audience --- teaching, performing, telling a story, teeing up for a heated debate."


2. saccade: noun - a small rapid jerky movement of the eye, especially as it jumps from fixation on one  point to another (as in reading) 

"Once they were outside, she meant to ask John what that awkward saccade was all about, but she became distracted by the gentle beauty of the cotton-candy snow that had begun to fall while they were inside, and she forgot."


3. meiosis : noun  -  the cellular process that results in the number of chromosomes in gamete-producing cells being reduced to one half and that involves a reduction division in which one of each pair of homologous chromosomes passes to each daughter cell and a mitotic division 

"What if she'd known that she carried this gene, this fate, in every cell of her body" Would she have conceived these children or taken precautions to prevent them? Would she have been willing to risk the random roll of  meiosis?"  

        I'm not sure I truly understand this term, but think it has something to do with the fact that a                 mother can pass the defective gene of the a disease on to her children. 

4. plenary: adj - a)   attended by all the people who have the right to attend.  b) complete in every way

"Speaking of the Alzheimer's Association, Alice, I just received their program for the annual Dementia Care Conference, and I see you're giving the opening plenary presentation," said Dr. Davis. 

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - #415

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea, hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros where she shares the first chapter (or a few) of a book she is reading or is thinking of reading soon. You can do the same. Just check out her blog and link up your First Chapter First Tuesday post.

My Sweet Valentine - The Pride Series- Sara and Allen
Jill Sanders
Published by Jill Sanders January 2014

Prologue

Allen struggled to hold the Blackhawk steady. He could hear the bullets flying by and, for just a second, he closed his eyes and prayed. Then he took a deep breath and pointed the nose of the chopper where he needed to be. Signaling his crew they were in position, he held his hand steady as his men extracted the marines from the site. 

Chapter One

Five years later.....
Allen was caged in again. Every time he turned to get away, there was another opponent. They were faster, smaller, and younger than he was. Even though they were well matched in numbers, his crew was about to get their butts whipped. He went in for the kill, only to get stuffed and served. 

Ok, the prologue doesn't match the cover, but I think it is setting up the character Allen. He is a Blackhawk chopper pilot, must be a good guy!   The first paragraph in Chapter One, doesn't tell us anything.  As we read on, we understand it is a  basketball game of  teenagers and some older, some married, some single guys who are friends. Then the story starts to lead us in the direction of a proper chick lit book. Boy meets girl, girl is smitten, boy is handsome, a tiny bit arrogant, but a nice guy none the less.
 I'm on page 44 of 234 and it has all the makings of a sweet valentine story. So, would you read on? Are you in the mood for a seasonal, love story?

I think it will be a fun and sugary read. I'm gonna sit down and grab a cup of peach oolong tea and a chocolate chip cookie and have a good time.


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #515

Join us at Book Journey to share what you are reading and to see what others are reading. This every Monday meme will most definitely add to your readings lists. I did finish Still  Alice by Lisa Genova, an amazing story. My short review on Goodreads is here.

Sara Lander was back in town. She had big plans for her inheritance along with her freshly printed business degree and years of experience in some of Seattle’s finest bakeries, she has a rich idea for Pride. Sara's Nook is going to be the next biggest thing to hit town. All she needs now is to steer clear of the hunky ex-Navy SEAL who is hell bent on taking all her focus away from starting her own business.

Reading this one this week, and still savoring 52 Cups of Coffee by Megan Gebhart.  I hope to get all three of the books read that I need for the February challenge from Love of Reading on Goodreads.  I need to read a book with a pink or red cover, a book under 300 pages, and a book with Love, Heart, Hope, Date, Kiss,Desire or Beloved in the title. Sounds like fun.

I also am working on my non-reading quilt challenge. See the progress here.



Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy