SparksAudio

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Paste

Posted on 5:56 AM by Unknown

I had so much fun shopping this site and picking out images to share with you in this post! I love to find unusual artwork and that it has a book theme is a BONUS! So, enjoy some of my favorites and take a minute to visit Paste. Don't forget that the Holidays are upon us and these would make great gifts.

XOXO-

beachbrights

(guest blogger)

*via BluePrintBliss

Posted in Ideas and Suggestions, Spotlights | No comments

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Book Review Party Wednesday (giveaway!) - Starts NOW!

Posted on 6:10 PM by Unknown

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have written to the below MckLinky.

A couple of things to remember while you're linking.

1. Add a permalink to your specific post, not the main page of your blog (only one review per blog).
2. Add my Book Review Wednesday Badge or a link-back to the party at the end of your review post.
3. List the name of your blog, Title of Book or Genre. Be sure to use spaces and limit characters to 50. For example: The Lost Symbol, thriller

4. Become a follower of my blog, pretty please (not mandatory).
5. Visit the other linked up reviews and leave comments....it's a party, have fun!
6. I will announce the winner in a weekend post. The winner is chosen from the linked up reviewers using Random Number Generator. All included.

I am so excited to be reading all the reviews! This is always so much fun and gives me the opportunity to add new books to my list (& now check out book covers).

-CYM

Posted in Book Review Wednesdays | No comments

Monday, November 8, 2010

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Posted on 5:01 AM by Unknown

imgTeam of Rivals- The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln4

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Simon & Schuster Paperbacks 2010, originally in Blithedale Publications 2005

This wonderful history is the story of Abraham Lincoln from the time he began seeking public office, to his election in 1860, through the Civil War, and to his death in by assassin’s bullet in 1865.

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a phenomenal historian, able to meld the letters, diaries, and other data into the well documented story. This 916 page tome is complete. It is a historian’s history. At each stage of Lincoln’s life in these times, as well as those of his Cabinet members and their families, Ms. Goodwin is able to put personal flesh on the bones of the events.

If you want to learn of the details of Lincoln’s life, challenges, marriage, contemporaries, rivals, and enemies, this is the encyclopedia for your study.

On the other hand, this wonderfully told story is also far more. It provides a fascinating portrait of how each of us should lead our own lives. None of us faces the cataclysmic challenges as did the “rail-splitter” as Lincoln was often derisively described. But each of us faces challenge, insult, diminution, opportunity, and quandary in our lives on a daily basis. We all have to sort our way through these elements to find our own way. Do we follow the lead or demand of others? Do we succumb to fear of confrontation? Do we find buoyancy no matter how often we are dunked under the water?

In this fascinating story of President in crisis, there is instruction in how to lead our own lives. Lincoln’s example is that patience is required to let the events of our lives evolve around us, taking our own counsel to find the way forward. When others intrude on our own space, take our time to determine whether response is appropriate or to allow the intrusion to find its own reward as we step out of the way of the approaching freight train.

As I read these pages, I found myself wondering about the counsel that Abe would offer on the challenges and mysteries of my life. His advice seemed to be clear many times over: “be patient, let the events evolve as they will, always keeping your feet grounded in your own principles.”

This is a phenomenal work of art. I encourage you to read it as I did, and as I do on Sunday mornings in church: what is the meaning of these words for my life. I think that you will find, as I did, meaning beyond whatever you may have imagined.

Thank you Doris!

Warms, Cym

Posted in Book Reviews | No comments

Sunday, November 7, 2010

A Weekend at the Lake

Posted on 6:01 PM by Unknown

In early November, East Texas can be wonderful.

It is this weekend, a grandson who loves to swim and play football (and in bed early after hunting gorillas and snakes, swimming, riding a 4-wheeler, and playing catch). Bliss!

Warms-CYM

Posted in Personal Info | No comments