Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

12 December 2017

In the Mood for a Romance Novel?

She started it! There are those who say that Kathleen Woodiwiss pioneered the historical romance genre. No matter who gets credits, just be glad there are thousands of romance novels to get lost in!  They make for good reading on a rainy day, a winter's day, late at night … practically any time that you want or need some quality “me” time. Agree?






18 September 2017

Book Suggestions: Mystery , History or Ghost Story?

Peter Ackroyd is a writer, in more ways than one: biographer, historian, poet, novelist. People like to describe him as eccentricMr. Ackroyd is a bit of a recluse, likes to drink, and still writes longhand. Some people consider that type of behavior somewhat peculiar. But he is without a doubt a prolific writer and has written so many books you may not know where to begin. 




Suggest you start with The Trial of Elizabeth Cree; it’s a murder mystery set in 1880 Victorian London.


Or … you could try to tackle his voluminous works of the History of England or his retelling of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.


If you like horror or spooky stories or you want to get into the spirit of the Halloween season, maybe his collection of English ghost stories might be fun!



Amazon product image


 


11 September 2017

Support Rural Communities in India : Gift a Book, Support Artisans (Reblog)

Ever consider that books you throw away might be of value to a little child? Learn more about this program.  'Aham Bhumika' is an NGO, a group of like minded people based in Bhopal, a city in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. Striving for the betterment of the underprivileged in rural areas of India, they frequently run "Donate a Book" campaigns. They also support the works efforts of the rural women to help them support their families.  (See embedded tweet below.)  I first learned of this initiative in 2014.




Follow them on Facebook or Twitter.









28 August 2017

The Pendant - A Gothic Romance Novel (Reblog) | History and Women

Sharing a link from one of the most gorgeous and informative blogs about women and for women on the worldwide web! The blog publisher writes book reviews but is also an author. This is one of her books.


A lost ancient treasure. 
A 100 year family feud. 
And a woman with a passion richer than the bloodstone pendant she wears around her neck!


Related Articles:




17 August 2017

The Black Girl in Search of God and Some Lesser Tales

The Black Girl in Search of God and Some Lesser Tales


The title piece in this anthology is a parable on the nature of religious belief. When first published in 1932 it caused quite a stir and I wondered whether the intervening 75 years might have rendered it something less of a shocker. I found that, apart from one violation of current political correctness and a few inevitable stylistic issues, the message had lost none of its poignancy and perhaps little of its ability to shock.




"The Black Girl in Search of God" (free eBook) is not a novel or a novella. It is not really a short story either. I choose to describe it as a parable because others have, but equally, it could be classed alongside Plato's symposium as a vehicle for examining a philosophical idea. It's not a discourse, but it could be a meditation, albeit a rather energetic one. The idea in question, of course, is the nature of religious belief.

The Black Girl of the title is only cast as such, I think, to provide Bernard Shaw, the author, with a literary vehicle to convey his otherwise naĂŻve questions about Christianity. To this end, The Black Girl is presented as a "noble savage", and thus a tabula rasa. It is here - and only here - that Shaw violates current correctness. The character could have been cast as a child, but then she could not have threatened to wield her knobkerrie, her weapon, and nor could she have been portrayed as bringing no tradition of her own. We must accept, therefore, that there remains a functionality about the role of this character. She does not represent anything, except her ability to ask the questions she is required to ask.

The Black Girl has been converted to Christianity by a young British woman who has taken delight in amorously jilting a series of vicars. She then becomes a missionary, despite her clearly thin grasp of the subject matter. She is, perhaps, an allegory of colonial expansion. She goes abroad to teach others despite not having achieved fulfillment or knowledge in her own life. It might be important that the teacher and the taught are both women.

When her convert starts asking questions, fundamental questions that the missionary herself has never heard asked, never mind answered, she reverts to invention, not scholarship. Shaw's intention is clear. She invents myth to mystify myth. And this cloak satisfies the curiosity of the average Christian, but not The Black Girl, who thus goes off in search of God.

And, guided by snakes, she finds Him. And not just once, because there is more than one God in the Bible she carries. There is the God of Wrath, who demands the sacrifice of her child. When she cannot comply, He demands she find her father so he can sacrifice her. A good part of the Bible thus disappears from her new-found faith.

She meets an apparent God of Love, but he laughs at Job for being so naively and blindly devout. More of her book blows away.

She meets prophets who, one by one, deliver their different messages, most of which conflict and communicate individual political positions or bigotry rather than personal revelation.

On the way, she belittles Imperial power and male domination. She learns that most "civilized" countries have given up on God and hears a plea that people like her should not be taught things that the mother country no longer believes.

Scientists offer her equally conflicting opinions. They are careful only to describe, never to conclude or interpret. In a way, they are just modern prophets, each with their own interested positions.

There is an amazing episode where a mathematician implores her to consider complex numbers, the square root of minus x, which The Black Girl hears as Myna sex or perhaps its homophone minor sex, and is clearly a reference to feminism. Along with economic power and male dominance, The Black Girl sees guns as the highest achievement of white society. This anticipates the description of colonialism's trinity in Ngugi's Petals of Blood.

Then, in a strange section, an Arab discusses belief with a conjuror. These appear to be a pair of major prophets in thin disguise. But their discussions merely confuse the girl and their words skirt her questions.

And so she meets an Irishman, marries and settles down. She devotes herself to him, their coffee-colored children and the fruits of their garden. Note that she does not devote herself to herself. She projects out, does not analyze within. And in this utterly humanist universe she finds not only personal happiness, but also fulfillment and, with that, answers to her own metaphysical questions that religion per se could not even address.

And so, as the parable closes, we ponder whether the Irishman she marries is Shaw, and whether The Black Girl is the questioning, non-racist, non-sexist, socialist and humanist vision of the future he has personally espoused.

And as for the Lesser Tales, they are generally lesser. Don Giovanni explaining himself was fun and the Death of an Old Revolutionary Hero was prescient of the role of the Socialist Workers' Party adopted in maintaining Margaret Thatcher in power in the 1980s. A great, historical and fundamentally contemporary read.



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Author Bio
Philip Spires
Author of "Mission", an African novel set in Kenya
www.philipspires.co.uk

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content


24 July 2017

Like to read autobiographies or biographies to glean inspiration?

Like to read autobiographies or biographies? Reading about the lives of other people has always been a source of inspiration for me and no doubt it is the same way for other people too. In fact, if a person is suffering from depression one of the suggested activities to uplift their spirit and pull them out of the dark black hole is reading life stories. Not trying to sound corny but we are all ordinary people and it is encouraging to know that the majority of us endure the same trials and tribulations and most of us overcome or rise above our difficulties and get on with our lives.



But clearly you do not have to be depressed to draw motivation from reading about the achievements of someone else. For one of my friends it was the life of Malcolm X. The first biography which influenced my life was about Sammy Davis Jr. It was titled Yes I Can. (I could just kick myself for not keeping the book as it is now considered a collectible. He also published a sequel called Why Me?) The first autobiography written by Mr. Davis is also the book that peaked my curiosity and got me interested in reading more and more biographies about anybody – celebrities, men and women in history, people in political circles, etc. Turned this fascination into a hobby and created a Pinterest board called BIO-Snapshots, a collection of trivia, information and articles about people. Some of my most recent pins link to mini-bios of: Nora Baker, Robert Smalls, and Huma Abedin.

Do you get inspired by reading
biographical accounts or personal memoirs?

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Suggested Reads (press play to view)




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The Pack – Art Print Poster
David Cowles
Available at AllPosters.com
and Amazon.com
  • David Cowles is a full-time freelance illustrator whose work has appeared in such publications as: Rolling Stone, Newsweek, Fortune, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, and The New York Times. One does not have to convince others that this guy has tremendous talent. If you see an art piece like “The Pack”, you know want to go see some of his other stuff!

David Cowles – Art Posters and Prints

http://astore.amazon.com/cns05-mvdc-20/detail/B005F3PA02

 

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08 July 2017

The Death Game: Book Review by Chris Longmuir

Found the link below because it was shared in a Writers, Readers, Researchers & Reviewers Group on Facebook.  I prefer historical romance novels myself but the reviewer seemed to be really enthusiastic about this historical mystery.  It has peaked my interest in exploring other historical mysteries.

The Death Game by Chris Longmuir | wendyhjones





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26 June 2017

Character Study: Ruth: The Beautiful Gleaner

RUTH

How many stories have you heard of a woman begging to live the rest of her life with her mother-in-law?

Image credit: Debby McCann on Flickr.com

   the  



Ruth is a shortened version of ‘retut’, which means “lovely friend”. Ruth was a Moabitess, who married into a family of Israelites. She was subsequently widowed. The Book of Ruth is a short book in the Old Testament that tells the story of this “beautiful gleaner”. She is remembered for her loyalty to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and her conversion to Judaism. The earnestness of her plea and her sincerity was expressed almost in the form of a prayer.


Ruth in Boaz's Field
Ruth in Boaz's Field (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
They were both destitute and Naomi tried to convince Ruth that she could offer her nothing but bitterness. Yet to Naomi she pleaded: “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God.” (Ruth 1: 16) Ruth’s steadfastness ultimately resulted in her marriage to her deceased husband’s wealthy kinsman Boaz, who was the father of Obed, who was the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David, the shepherd boy who became an anointed king of Israel.


Bible References:  RUTH – RUTH 1: 1 – 4: 22; MATT 1: 5








Beautiful | Forward this Image


Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter



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