What Are You Reading???! - 'Choose Life, Choose Words'

Glad to see that my homie Leidy is still reading :). But this time she's sharing an article with us!

Magazine: Victory
Article: Choose Life, Choose Words

Cherished Quotes:

God's kingdom is not a place. It is literally the King's domain (King-dom), the reality of His dominion. It's a divine system of government.

When we speak negative words or words that align with the curse (such as "I'm broke," "I'm sick," or "I'm a failure"), we activate the death cycle in our lives. When we speak God's Word about ourselves, we activate the life cycle of THE BLESSING.

God and His WORD are one. They cannot be separated. As John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

I learned from the Scriptures that everything in this universe was created by words. The heavens and the earth, the plants and animals, the race of man --- all came from what God said. This planet is a word-governed system."

---

Thanks for sharing Leidy :).

I'm going to add some lyrics from one of my favourite songs, 'I Speak Life' by Auldwin Johnson:

"I speak life over problems,

life over fears,

life over my pain - my body is healed,

life over circumstance - I'm no longer down,

I will not be bound,

I'm turning my frown upside down."

What Are You Reading???! - 'The Go-Getter'

Featuring another book from Ninnera's parent's library, but this book is being read by Dennis. He and I actually raided their library at the same time a few months ago, and we're very soon due for a repeat offence!

The Go-Getter - by Susan M. Fenton Willoughby

from: 1985

pgs: 96

- Adventist Author

Enjoy a bunch of quotes from the book as we figure out what it's about!:

What you will be, you are becoming.

No matter what your circumstances of life, courage will bring you closer to your goal.

Most people apply for and get jobs with an organization, but then it is up to them to turn those jobs into positions.

'If' IS NOT a part of a Go-Getters vocabulary.

Don't wait for an opening, make one for yourself.

Genius is one percent inspiration, and ninety-nine percent perspiration.

For the Go-Getters, 'Never' is not a word.

Even a clock that does not work, shows the correct time twice a day, stay positive. [<< my favourite :)]

Many people fail because they expect immediate results.

Diamonds are only chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs.

Success is like a ratio: it's measured by what you are, against what you might have been.

Your best is enough, which is defined by fulfilling what you set out to accomplish.

Many people hide behind the fact that the Lord called uneducated men to be Jesus' disciples, these usually forget He was their teacher for three years."

This sounds like a Christian version to 'See You At The Top' - the book I posted about previously that Adriel was reading.

What Are You Reading???! - 'Eclipse'

So Sunday evening during break at work, I had slouched myself on two chairs and was starting to doze off. I heard Maggie behind me pull her purse closer to her, open it, and take something out. Then I heard what sounded like pages turning! I opened my eyes, turned my head around, I couldn't see what was on the table in front of her. "Are you reading!?" I asked. Her response was a pleasure to my ears, "Yaaa," with a *curious face* .. Lol.

Maggie was reading:

- Eclipse - by Stephenie Meyer
- the 3rd book in the Twilight Series

Maggie is an avid reader! She started the series on Wednesday July 18th, and by Sunday the 22nd she was halfway done the third book! Eclipse is 629 pages! She said it's a testament of how interesting the books are and how easy of a read they are.

Maggie says that it doesn't get annoying that the book is about vampires and werewolves. She says you get annoyed of certain characters at different times, but it seems as though that is due to the authors intentions.

I don't know much about Twilight but I know its known for it's love story. :)
Maggie highly recommends the series as a read!

(I took a couple pictures of inside the book just because I liked the different fonts that they used to portray hand written letters).

What Are You Reading???! - 'See You At The Top'

So on my overnight shifts Adriel is the second guy who is always faithfully reading. I swagger jack Rowan and Adriel once in a while but I'm usually sleeping.

Recently Adriels been reading - See You At The Top - by Zig Ziglar

This time around I didn't fail to capture some of the books artwork. I'll spell out for you the text with the pictures just in case you can't make it out.

Parents feed children: love, obedience, faith integrity, etc.
Teacher feeds child: honesty, patriotism, persistency, attitude, etc.
Professor feeds: goal setting, character, cooperation, etc.
Employer feeds: loyalty, total effort, dedication, etc.
Proper dieting is a lifetime proposition.
(I like that :p)

1. Start with total effort.
2. Prime the pump (put 'you' in whatever you do).
3. Persistence with perspiration before production.
4. Life returns so many rewards 'after' you do your part.

I asked Adriel if he had any favourite quotes, he said, "yea, everything in bold is pretty good."

if you expect to make it big, you must work toward your objectives every day.

Others can stop you temporarily - you are the only one who can do it permanently.

go as far as you can see and when you get there you will always be able to see farther.

Don't forget the little guys when you're at the top Adriel. :p

Local Alert!! - 'What We All Long For'

FYI! I am SO pro-Toronto!!!
This book that my friend Trish is reading, is a MUST READ for me!! (Eventually, lol). I'm so excited!! A book about Toronto written by a Toronto Author on a subject I'm so interested and passionate about!!! Who's the author and what's the subject? You'll find out soon! This is a GREAT find! And would you believe? Trish didn't want me to do a post on her book, because she thinks her review of it doesn't do the book justice. KMT! Good thing I asked her for everything I needed before I told her I was going to do a post! Lol.

What We All Long For - By Dionne Brand

In the words of Trish -
"Its about four friends who are joined together by family circumstances. The parents of one of the four came from Vietnam and had lost a son on the journey, during the war, and are still sorrowful. The book shows that people struggle, immigrants coming into Canada struggle with their own identity, with what has been placed upon them by the society that they have now come to live with. They struggle to preserve the culture that they had, living how they once lived. It talks about us as humans, how we long for acceptance, we long to be free from biases and stereotypes placed upon us from society and even family members."
- That's an excellent review in my opinion.


One of Trish' favourite parts from the book:
(transcribed from a voice note)
"Richmondhill is a sprawling suburb outside of the city. It is one of the suburbs where immigrants go to get away from other immigrants, but of course they end up living with all the other immigrants running away from themselves. Or at least running away from the self they think is weak, helpless, unsuitable, and always in some kind of trouble. They hate that self that keeps showing attention, the one that can't fit in because of colour or language, or both. And they think that moving to a suburb will somehow eradicate that person once and for all. And after all the humiliations of being that self, after they've worked hard enough at two or three jobs and saved enough by crowding their families in small dorm rooms, cobbled together enough credit: immigrants flee to rangy, look alike, desolate suburbs like Richmondhill, where the houses give them a sense of space and distance from the troubled image of themselves."

SCREAM!!!!
Excellent review Trish!!!
I MUST have and read and keep this book!!!!
I looooooooove it already!!!!!
Yummm!

Hey Stranger!! - 7/18/12

Sooo... :) When I see random persons with a book, I will ask them if I can take a picture of it for my book club blog, and then I'll post all the pictures from that day under a 'Hey Strangers' post with that day's date! :))


Here we go! These books are all books that random patients had yesterday evening at work!


Ace Frehley - No Regrets
- from KISS - Coool!
- talks about his experiences with the band and so fourth
- the patient reading this said it was something different from what he normally reads so it was pretty interesting

Robert Ludlum's - The Bourne Dominion - by Eric Van Lustbader

- A New Jason Bourne Novel - Cooooooooooool!!!!!!

- I love Jason Bourne movies!! I didn't even know there are Jason Bourne Novels!! Cooool!

- I wouldn't read this by myself though, but I would read it with a group of people.. Takers? 

Run For Your Life - James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge
- The lady who was reading this book was very excited to share.
- She asked me if I was in school, and she got nervous when I told her I just graduated with a psychology degree.
- "Ohh! Blush* Do the books that people read tell you about who they are? I'm nothing like this, I just really like the stories, he's such a good author, have you read him?"
- lol, so sweet
- 'A calculating killer who calls himself The Teacher is taking on New York City , killing the powerful and the arrogant. His message is clear: remember your manners or suffer the consequences!" << Snippet from Indigo
- I don't think I've read Patterson before but I would be interested in reading this book, I used to read crime mysteries when I was in grade nine or ten. There was a series I used to read, I don't remember what it was called though, I wonder if Toronto Public Library has a record of the books I checked out.. I would be so interested to look at those crime books again. They were good, and it was so new and unusual for me to be reading those times. It was fun to read books that were from a series. That was also a new experience for me.
- But ya, these types of books would be fun to read as a group, I wouldn't care to read them by myself anymore. But I would rather read this book over the Jason Bourne book.
- And the lady had a cool butterfly bookmark, I tried to get it in the picture.

What Are You Reading???! - 'Half-Blood Blues'

You guys are in for a Real Treat!! This post is completely from Ninnera !! starting....>>>NOW! >>

"Today i begin my read of "half blood blues" the author is a black woman named Esi Edugyan who is both married and has a child (yes its possible to have a fantastic home life as well as a blossoming writing career).

since i spend 3 hrs a day on the subway..(and spend almost 130$ on my subway pass -___-)  Ive decided to put this time to good use...that being said i am committing to ONLY use my subway time to read this book and see how long it takes me...3 hrs a day in reading? A challenge im going to take on LOL.

This book is about a young, brilliant trumpet-player, Hieronymus, is arrested in a Paris cafe. The star musician was never heard from again. He was twenty years old. He was a German citizen. And he was black. 
Fifty years later, Sidney Griffiths, the only witness that day, still refuses to speak of what he saw. When Chip Jones, his friend and fellow band member, comes to visit, recounting the discovery of a strange letter, Sid begins a slow journey towards redemption. 
From the smoky bars of pre-war Berlin to the salons of Paris, Sid leads the reader through a fascinating, little-known world, and into the heart of his own guilty conscience. 
Half-Blood Blues is an electric, heart-breaking story about music, race, love and loyalty, and the sacrifices we ask of ourselves, and demand of others, in the name of art. 

 

"Folks think a lifetime is a thing stretched out over years. It ain't. It can happen quick as a match in a dark room." 
― Esi Edugyan, Half Blood Blues

 

"It's like that, I guess, when the past come to collect what you owe." 
― Esi Edugyan, Half Blood Blues

 

"I guess mercy is a muscle like any other. You got to exercise it, or it just cramp right up." 
― Esi Edugyan, Half Blood Blues

 

"It ain't fair. Gifts is divided so damn unevenly. Like God just left his damn sack of talents in a ditch somewhere and said, "Go help yourselves, ladies and gents.Them's that get there first can help themselves to the biggest ones. In every other walk of life, a jack can work to get what he want. but ain't no amount of toil going get you a lick more talent than you born with. Geniuses ain't made, brother, they just is. and I just was not." 
― Esi Edugyan, Half Blood Blues

 

Winner of the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize

Winner of the 2012 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize

Winner of the 2012 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award

Shortlisted for the 2011 Man Booker Prize

Shortlisted for the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction

Shortlisted for the 2012 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction

Finalist for the 2011 Governor General's Award for Fiction

Finalist for the 2011 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize

<<<< Cooool!! Let us know how long it took when your finished!! :) This book, along with the sixteenth round, seems like it would have a good history lesson in terms of what other parts of the world were like, and a little bit about how black people were treated, and how black people were treated by the law, early 20th century.

What Are You Reading???! - 'Hammer's Slammers'

If he's not sleeping, I can always count on my boy Rowan to be reading while he eats during our breaks on our over night shifts. So I knew when I asked Arthur this morning who was working in frozen and he said Rowan, that come break time, I would have a new victim, the first male. Evil laugh.* :)

The Complete Hammer's Slammers: Volume 3
David Drake
[a book with three books inside of it :)]
- The Sharp End (1993)
- Paying the Piper (2002)
- The Darkness

Cooool, the book has artwork too! I should have taken pictures of that. Oops. X_X

Rowan was a little nervous for me to take a picture of the book because of it's condition. It was just a little tattered, but it's because Rowan rereads all his books, so this is the fourth or fifth time his reading this volume.

So from my understanding, the book is about a mercenary unit, a group of soldiers who get paid to fight wars.
It's a science fiction book, but Rowan says it's a little darker than most, because the book is reflective of the authors experiences fighting in Vietnam.
One of the author's experiences that was shared with me was as follows:

Some scouts from the author's unit were sent to spy out a village. There ended up being enemy gun turrets that took out two of the unit's vehicles. The surviving scouts returned but they did not know where exactly the gun turrets were situated. So they sent tanks to flatten the entire village, no one knowing for sure but assuming civilians, women and children were killed.

The book focuses on the emotional experiences of the soldiers having to deal with the moral dilemmas that they are forced to deal to with.
Sooooo interesting!

738 pages, not bad for three novels.

What Are You Reading???! - 'Pure'

So one of the first things my good friend Leidy shared with me when we recently reconnected was that she had just started an awesome new devotional.

Pure - by Rebecca St. James
- A 90 Day Devotional for the Mind, the Body, and the Spirit

One of the many quotes Leidy likes so far, one that really made her smile is:

If he thinks highly enough of you and me to put His fingerprints on us, we can be assured that He has a purpose for every one of us."

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:16-17

Thanks Leidy :) encouraging to know God has a purpose for us all :))

What Are You Reading???! - 'The Sixteenth Round'

So last Sunday when we were at the finale presentation of the G.I.A. Productions 'Do You Remember Me' my homegirl Katherine shared with me and my friend Alisha an autobiography that she's reading.

The Sixteenth Round - by Rubin "Hurricane" Carter

The book seems to be about his trip from the boxing ring to a prison cell, and it seems like racism paid for the ticket.

To put it simply. The book looks like a good read, and two copies are currently on their way to my house from Amazon!

I'm interested in learning from this book about worlds I'm not familiar with; the black mans struggle in America in the earlier 20th century; the boxing world; and the American prison system.

I'm excited to read this book! I LOVE when people share what they're eating with me!

WHAT ARE YOUUUU READING???

Let us know! :)

Looks like Katherine has some other books to share as well :)

Quote: "I then began to realize why this cop was beating on me since one of my eyes had already been completely closed by my father's belt when he first saw me, the man probably thought that if my own father didn't give a damn about me why should he?"

Quote: "That began my first real awareness of my existence. I imagine such a blatant event was necessary to prod the faculties of my brain into full consciousness."

What Am I Reading? - 'The Joy of Marriage God's Way'

So also from www.twitter.com/naughty_ninjah 's dad's library, I'm reading 'the Joy of Marriage God's Way' featuring Beverly LaHaye and others. I'm not in love with it so far, but I haven't read much yet.

Quote: There is always help and healing available from God, the restorer of love and life."

What Am I Reading? - 'I Kissed Dating Goodbye'

So I'm reading 'I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris for the second time and I'm reading it with my 'Willy Wonka Nerds' BBM Bookclub. Shoutout to Blackberry. Shoutout to bellajovenxo and aigentay :) I'm enjoying this book just as much as when I read it the first time a few years ago. A lot of golden truths in this book that have taken root in my perspective and have blessed me thoroughly.

Quote: "When we make God's glory and other people's needs our priority, we position ourselves to receive God's best in our lives as well." pg 24

What Am I Reading? - 'To Have and To Hold'

To Have and To Hold - A Guide to Successful Marriage - by Nancy Van Pelt. This is an amazing book I borrowed from my homegirl www.twitter.com/naughty_ninjah 's dad's library. I just finished reading it personally, and I'm currently going through it with a couple of friends who are preparing for marriage. Great book which portrays practically what marriage should look like. We don't have a lot of real life examples of that, so I think it's important we crowd out a lot of the negative examples we've witnessed with pleasant, successful images of what family life is supposed to be. :)

Quote: "We're not two lonely competing individuals. We are one, and nothing else in life can compare to it." pg 14

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Greetings & Salutations

:) Hi. I don't love to read. But I love the benefits of reading good material. :) The purpose of this blog is for you to be blessed from what I read, and for me to be blessed from what you read. Hopefully we can do a lot of reading together, a lot of sharing, and a lot of building each other up. :) Stay tuned, stay in touch, and keep reading. :)