![]() ![]() ![]() Violet’s wits may protect her in the cutthroat court, but they can't change her fate. Violet faces her own choice: Seize an opportunity to gain control of her own destiny, no matter the cost, or give in to the ill-fated attraction that’s growing between her and Cyrus. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-not charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip Violet of her official role once he’s crowned at the end of the summer-unless Violet does something about it.īut when the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus's love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse, one that will end in either damnation or salvation for the kingdom-all depending on the prince’s choice of future bride. ![]() Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the royal court with her cleverly phrased-and not always true-divinations. ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() In no fewer than 36 passionate mini-sermons, Piper urges pastors not to professionalize their calling but to be purposefully devoted to Jesus Christ. This image of what it means to be a pastor is one of the reasons that John Piper (himself a household name) seeks to encourage his fellow pastors in his book, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. ![]() Some become recognized names in Christian households and spend much of their time traveling the world as celebrated pastoral celebrities. ![]() Pastors who are winsome speakers and world-class organizers can become the CEOs of their own kingdoms or the rock stars of their own venues. Modern Christian authors who have an intriguing ability to take the EKG of the church and discern its health have been warning for some time now about the tendency pastors have to become the local attraction of their churches. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The story includes both Apollo and Hyacinth’s POV, so the reader gets to follow both sides of the story. The romance that forms between Apollo and Hyacinth was a nice slow-burn where their chemistry and connection grew a lot over time. Apollo is sent by Zeus to spend a year with Prince Hyacinth to be mentored to help complete his ascension even though Apollo has no desire to ascend to be the God of the Sun. The story does begin with an introduction to Apollo and many familiar mythological characters, which may seem initially overwhelming to those with zero knowledge, however, I enjoyed how the author laid everything out as it gave a nice set up to the rest of the story. While I am familiar with the tale, I enjoyed how the author made it her own. As I love retellings and I greatly enjoy Greek mythology, this novel seemed like a perfect fit for me. A Veil of Gods and Kings is the first novel in the Apollo Ascending series, which is a retelling of Apollo and Hyacinth (Cyn). ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Dad’s theory is that life is rough, and I might as well get used to it. ![]() I would have yelled for him to make Patrick leave me alone, but it wouldn’t do any good. “You creep!” I screamed, trying to wriggle out of his grip. But that’s how things work in our family. You know how it is: you get upset, things build up inside you, and suddenly you BOP! someone. I would tell you why my big brother was beating on me if I could, but I can’t, because I don’t know. I said “OW!” instead of “out” because Patrick had just landed a major noogie on my skull. “Patrick!” I shouted, mad now instead of terrified. “Aliens!” But even as I was screaming, I saw in the mirror that the arm holding me was a strong human arm. “It’s not go-away time, it’s bopping time!”Ī strong arm wrapped around my neck. “Go away!” I yelled, spattering toothpaste foam across the mirror. “Hey, Duncan,” rasped a voice from behind me, “what time is it?”Ī wave of terror washed over me. I was standing in the bathroom, brushing my teeth, when I looked up and saw a horrible green face in the mirror. My Teacher Fried My Brains CHAPTER ONE First Day Blues ![]() ![]() ![]() Once he ‘possesses’ a woman, a man will find she has no mind, and, while she is obviously alive, she is, nonetheless, little more than ‘mummy.’ In this, Donne’s speaker is following a small group of (heretical) Christian writers who had argued that women do not possess souls.Īs in so many of Donne’s poems, his imagery is drawn from a wide variety of disparate sources: mining, alchemy, the bridal practices of his day. ‘Hope not for mind in women at their best,/Sweetness and wit, they are but mummy, possess'd.’ – ‘mummy’, here, refers to the purely physical, dried and dead form of the human body. You certainly couldn’t hear it during a ‘bridegroom’s play.’ As we always hear this chord, we are never aware of it. There were nine concentric spheres surrounding the earth, each of which produced a pure note, which combined to a perfect chord. The music of the spheres was regarded as reflecting the perfect harmony of creation. ![]() ![]() ‘Would swear as justly, that he hears,/In that day's rude hoarse minstrelsy, the spheres.’ – The ‘day’ is the day of the ‘bridegroom’s play’ which would have involved raucous music. ‘Which he in her angelic finds,’ – Not only is love between minds, but a woman’s mind can be ‘angelic:’ truly spiritual and intuitive, rather than material and rational. ‘That loving wretch that swears,/'Tis not the bodies marry, but the minds,’ – As is, on occasion, stated in the poetry of Donne himself. ![]() ![]() (“I had been replaced by a younger model. Out here, a dark-skinned woman’s traditional hair color is honey blonde.”) “Player” tells the story of Kaling being seduced and dumped by a female friend in L.A. In “How to Look Spectacular: A Starlet’s Confessions,” Kaling gives her tongue-in-cheek secrets for surefire on-camera beauty, (“Your natural hair color may be appropriate for your skin tone, but this isn’t the land of appropriate–this is Hollywood, baby. In Why Not Me?, Kaling shares insightful, deeply personal stories about falling in love at work, seeking new friendships in lonely places, attempting to be the first person in history to lose weight without any behavior modification whatsoever, and believing that you have a place in Hollywood when you’re constantly reminded that no one looks like you. ![]() ![]() “This is Kaling at the height of her power.”-USA Today ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() She is also determined to bring loved ones together, even if one of them is long dead. Vega is not scared to ask for help and advice. But he’s not the brother she once knew – now cold, distant, indifferent to his family. Consulting with her dead ancestors, travelling back in time, and listening to those who knew Necro when he was young, Vega battles the Maladons again and again.Īll is not lost for the people of Wormwood, and even John is found. She knows she is outnumbered by the Maladons and their elite force of Bowler hatted magical men, but refuses to give in. Vega is determined to stop him, and puts all her efforts into training all the folk from the villages of True and Greater True, then the villagers she saved from the evil train rides to slavery. Using her magical tools she visits Necro’s castle and discovers what he is doing to all the magical folk he finds. Did the Maladon’s take him to use against her?Īs Vega learns more about Necro – the leader of the Maladons, she realises she is up against an evil and powerful sorcerer that will do anything to rule the world. She can hardly bring herself to think where her brother John might be. His father is gone, along with everyone else they knew. Vega held him as he died in her arms.īack at her home that grows no matter how many need shelter and food there, she must tell Delph the news. The Maladon’s left only one Wug alive – so he could dig the graves for the citizens of Wormwood. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I am a life-long resident of Michigan, and I know Brigham lives in Michigan as well, so I was happy to see Sault Ste Marie, or The Soo, both Michigan and Canadian sides, used as a setting, with the cold and beauty of an Upper Peninsula winter captured perfectly. I could feel the longing between Noah and Simon, and was eager to see if they got to their HEA. Brigham Vaughn’s characters always feel like flesh and blood people the reader happens to meet and start talking with. While they finally get a chance to be together, they need to figure out if this day trip can actually turn into something more. Enriching the plot with some smoking hot angry sex, and embellished with nicely defined D/s roles, the gradual progression of Chris and Warrens attraction for each other really works. ![]() Both men are unattached and it’s clear the years between hasn’t dimmed the spark between them. Emma Alcott breaks through all the barriers with During the Flight. Now, a decade later, they run into each other on the Snow Train, a sightseeing day trip in Canada. Noah and Simon met in college, but the time was never right for them to get together as more than friends before Noah left to join a minor league hockey team. Secondly, I’ve discovered I really love a good second chance romance, and this story is a perfect example. ![]() ![]() Here’s a description from Amazon:įinally, after four hit novels, Carrie Fisher comes clean (well, sort of ) with the crazy truth that is her life in her first-ever memoir. The 76-minute special will play this Sunday night, January 1st, at 9PM on the primary HBO channel.įisher’s story was also published as a book in 2009. To help celebrate the life of Fisher after her untimely passing earlier this all-around terrible week, HBO has announced that they will be re-airing Wishful Drinking this weekend. HBO’s special combined the stage show with interviews with family and friends as well as archival footage. Back in 2010 HBO aired a filmed documentary of Wishful Drinking, the late Star Wars star Carrie Fisher‘s autobiographical one-women stage show in which she talks about her life and career. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() In They Came Before Columbus, we see clearly the unmistakable face and handprint of black Africans in pre-Columbian America, and their overwhelming impact on the civilizations they encountered. ![]() Guyanese born Brit, associate prof of Africana Studies at Rutgers U. Reveals a compelling, dramatic, and superbly detailed documentation of. OTD Ivan Gladstone Van Sertima joined the ancestors (Jan 26, 1935May 25, 2009). ![]() Combining impressive scholarship with a novelist’s gift for storytelling, Van Sertima re-creates some of the most powerful scenes of human history: the launching of the great ships of Mali in 1310 (two hundred master boats and two hundred supply boats), the sea expedition of the Mandingo king in 1311, and many others. THEY CAME BEFORE COLUMBUS: The African Presence in Ancient America. Examining navigation and shipbuilding cultural analogies between Native Americans and Africans the transportation of plants, animals, and textiles between the continents and the diaries, journals, and oral accounts of the explorers themselves, Ivan Van Sertima builds a pyramid of evidence to support his claim of an African presence in the New World centuries before Columbus. "They Came Before Columbus reveals a compelling, dramatic, and superbly detailed documentation of the presence and legacy of Africans in ancient America. ![]() |