'LIve Loved' by Max Lucado

"Love comes in a myriad of incarnations. We can love parents, siblings, children, extended family, friends, spouses, teammates or those with a similar interest. Author Max Lucado looks at the various forms of love in a series of short essays entitled “Live Loved.”

Each essay includes scripture references and prayer thoughts. Lucado lends his “over the back fence chat” style to a series of snapshots on love. His powerful images touch readers with the commonality of the situation. "

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Book Review - 'Did the Resurrection Happen...Really?' by Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett

"Christian apologist Josh McDowell displays a deep commitment to bringing the message of Jesus Christ and salvation to young people. In 'Did the Resurrection Happen…Really?' he approaches the mission from a fictional standpoint. 

On a modern college campus, a debate between an instructor, representing the historical Christ, an atheist and an agnostic leads to tension and questioning among the student body. The school hosts an atheist club along with faith-based groups and seems an unlikely place for violence. Yet a shooting occurs and the survivors search for answers."

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'Daughter of the Caribbean' by Norma Jennings

"Olivia invites you to visit Jamaica and her childhood home, Twickenham, in Norma Jennings’s debut novel, 'Daughter of the Caribbean.'

A young girl of mixed race parentage, Olivia spends much of her childhood in Jamaica in the company of her grandmother, Edith. Miss Edith, known to locals as Sedith, has known good times and difficult ones. As custodian of the family history, she passes the information down to her grandchildren. Little Olivia takes in the information even as it helps to shape her."

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Placerville Hardware, Inc. -- Home Improvement in Old Hangtown Comes with History

"When I received an assignment to write an article about a local home improvement store, I didn't have to wonder which store to use. I fell in love with Placerville Hardware the very first time I stepped through its doors. Join me for a visit and see if you feel the same way."

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'The Pirate Queen' by Patricia Hickman

"How does one go from a suburban matriarch to a pirate queen? Saphora Warren makes the transition in Patricia Hickman’s contemporary novel 'The Pirate Queen.'

Saphora has what might be considered 'it all' by some. Her husband Bender has a thriving plastic surgery practice. Her three children are grown and on their own. She lives in a magazine showplace of a house in an upscale lakefront community. Yet she plans to leave because there is one aspect of her life she can no longer tolerate: her husband is a philanderer and many of his women are in her own social circle."

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Remembering Elizabeth Taylor - Amazing Talent in a Petite Package

"As long as I lived in or just outside of New Orleans, my mother and I had subscriptions to the stage productions at the Saenger Orleans. In September of 1981, we were treated to an unforgettable performance by Elizabeth Taylor in Lillian Hellmann's 'The Little Foxes.' Up until that time, I was more familiar with the lady as fodder for movie magazines than as a performer. But oh, that changed in a hurry!"
For more on Elizabeth Taylor's impact on me, click here.

"Mine is the Night" by Liz Curtis Higgs

"Scotland, spring, 1746 has proven to be a dangerous time for those with Jacobite leanings. Elizabeth Kerr knows only too well how deadly the world can be. Her husband, Lord Donald Kerr and his brother Andrew have perished in battle, fighting for the Jacobite cause. Lady Marjory Kerr, her widowed mother-in-law, has been stripped of title, land and income. Now Elizabeth and Marjory flee Edinburgh, seeking sanctuary with a distant cousin in Selkirk.

So opens “Mine is the Night,” Liz Curtis Higgs’ follow-up to “Here Burns My Candle.” The gripping story spins the story of the two women as they struggle to survive under the constant threat of exposure as traitors to the Crown. Such an event would lead to dire punishment, possibly even death. With no income and no trade, how can two gentlewomen make a way under such conditions?

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