Still Picking up the Pennies

   The Healing of Natalie Curtis by Jane Kirkpatrick Classically trained pianist and singer Natalie Curtis isolated herself for five years after a breakdown just before she was to debut with the New York Philharmonic. Guilt-ridden and songless, Natalie can't seem to recapture the joy music once brought her. In 1902, her brother invites her to join him in the West to search for healing. What she finds are songs she'd never before encountered--the haunting melodies, rhythms, and stories of Native Americans. But their music is under attack. The US government's Code of Offenses prohibits American's indigenous people from singing, dancing, or speaking their own languages as the powers that be insist on assimilation. Natalie makes it her mission not only to document these songs before they disappear but to appeal to President Teddy Roosevelt himself, who is the only man with the power to repeal the unjust law. Will she succeed and step into a new song . . . and a new future? ...

  Present Day. After tragedy plunges her into grief and unresolved anger, Sarah Ashby returns to her childhood home determined to finally follow her long-denied dream of running Old Depot Grocery alongside her mother and grandmother. But when she arrives, her mother, Rosemary, announces to her that the store is closing. Sarah and her grandmother, Glory Ann, make a pact to save the store, but Rosemary has worked her entire life to make sure her daughter never follows in her footsteps. She has her reasons--but she'll certainly never reveal the real one. 1965. Glory Ann confesses to her family that she's pregnant with her deceased fiancé's baby. Pressured into a marriage of convenience with a shopkeeper to preserve the family reputation, Glory Ann vows never to love again. But some promises are not as easily kept as she imagined. This dual-timeline story from Amanda Cox deftly explores the complexity of a mother-daughter dynamic, the way the secrets we keep shape our lives and...

Pasty Fest 2021 I very rarely take selfies and just about never post them but here is the most recent photo of me. I am on a mission of self-care, love, and acceptance. I have let my hair grow and used a curl enhancer on this day. Most everyone that reads my blog knows we are from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We chose to live here. Winters are long and severe. The natural beauty and nice people are unlike anywhere else. This past weekend my hubby and I set out to experience the Calumet Pasty Fest 2021. We have never actually attended before, which is amazing due to the enormous love he has for pasties. We had a free day (but the cost of the pasty we share). We were even given free bottles of water.  We made it but only the tail end of it. Most of the pasty vendors were sold out or only had frozen pasties for sale. We walked the length of 5th street, we were able to see the cars that were left from the car show.  I saw the old-style tray on the Corvette's window so I had t...

Five years in a New York state reformatory have left a blemish on Hazel's real name. So when she takes a job as Doctor Gilbert Watts's lady in attendance in 1898, she does so under an alias. In the presence of her quiet and pious employer, Hazel finds more than an income. She finds a friend and a hope that if she can set her tarnished past in order, she might have a future after all. As Gilbert becomes accustomed to the pleasant chatter of his new dental assistant, he can't help but sense something secretive about her. Perhaps there is more to this woman than meets the eye. Can the questions that loom between them ever be answered? Or will the deeds of days gone by forever rob the future of its possibilities? Rachel Fordham pens a tender tale of a soft-spoken man, a hardened woman, and the friends that stand by them as they work toward a common purpose--to expunge the record of someone society deemed beyond saving--and perhaps find love along the way. My Review: I loved thi...

  After a rough mission in Rome involving the discovery of a devastating bioweapon, Company spy Ben Calix returns to Paris to find his perfectly ordered world has collapsed. A sniper attack. An ambush. A call for help that brings French SWAT forces down on his head. Ben is out. This is a severance--reserved for incompetents and traitors. Searching for answers and anticipating a coming attack, Ben and a woman swept up in his misfortunes must travel across Europe to find the sniper who tried to kill him, the medic who saved his life, the schoolmaster who trained him, and an upstart hacker from his former team. More than that, Ben must come to grips with his own insignificance as the Company's plan to stop Leviathan from unleashing the bioweapon at any cost moves forward without him--and he struggles against the infection that is swiftly claiming territory within his own body. About the Author James R. Hannibal  is no stranger to secrets and adventure. This former stealth pilot f...

 At the beginning of 2021, I knew this was the year for change. I did not know what the change was going to be, then I read Crystal Paine's blog MoneySavingMom's post on her Word of the Year. I don't remember what her word was, but I chose the phrase Follow Through, I posted about it here. I updated a few times monthly here and here., but then being the procrastination Queen I fell off the bandwagon for monthly updates, so here is my mid-year update.  I did fall off the bandwagon for monthly updates but I did not stop working hard at following through with things I started. One of the projects I have wanted to work on is going to art/craft fairs as a vendor. I have been researching local events and have a few in mind. I have been also working on making a good inventory. Here are a few products I have been working on. I am trying my hand at many differnt type of crafting with my Silloute Cameo 4 Cutting machine. I have been making a numerouse different styles of wine classes...

  Former CIA sniper Kadance Tolle possesses a special set of skills and a rare pedigree. She comes from a family of assassins, and by saving Lyndon Vaile's life she risks being found by them. Despite the danger, Kadance feels compelled to help Lyndon discover who is after him--and his research that seems to prove that the Ebola virus was manmade and is about to be weaponized. With shadowy figures pursuing them and a Mastermind watching their every move, Kadance and Lyndon must scramble to stop an impending bioattack at the State of the Union address. But their warnings fall on deaf ears, and it becomes increasingly clear that there's no one they can trust--except perhaps each other. Strap in for a breakneck story that will have you up all night, hurtling toward the last page as the clock ticks and time runs out. Editorial Reviews From the Back Cover She saved his life. Now they're in a race to stop a deadly attack. Former CIA sniper Kadance Tolle possesses a special set of ...