The Restitution by M.L. Tyndall
After reading Blackbeard’s tales written by Paul Boone, I was feeling on a pirate and high sea kick. I had The Restitution sitting on my “to read” shelf for years and finally opened it’s pages and poured into the story before me. I am now so glad that I had kept it all this time. It did not disappoint. I feel as if I must put a disclaimer in here, for all the haters of course. It is the story of a young lady on board a pirate ship in 1669, who struggles with her faith in Christ and her adventure in retrieving her son who was kidnapped from some nasty pirates. Not a very convincing tale, especially after reading about the cruelty of pirates in Paul Boone’s book. None the less, it was a wavy ride and I enjoyed every bit of it. It was like reading a spin off of Pirates of the Caribbean. This book, by M.L Tyndall, was actually the 3rd in a trilogy. I was lucky enough to pick up where all the action was, quenching my thirst for sword fights and such. I found the characters fascinating and now want to go back and read the first two books. If you are looking for an escape, set sail with me and read The Legacy of the King’s Pirates series.
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by: Laurie Viera Rigler
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, the title alone is right up my alley. I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’m an addict but I do love me some Jane Austen and Regency England. And when a character gets transported back in time to Miss Austen’s very own London, Bath and countryside of course I’m right there along for the ride. What Austen fan wouldn’t be? Now if you’re a true lover of Jane Austen’s tales you know them to be wholesome and written from the very depths of heart and mind. This is a playful tale, not to be taken seriously but rather to sit back and enjoy on a sunny afternoon on a nice patch of grass. People write, and everyone wants to be a critic. Stop comparing this to that and appreciate it for its own work. With a title like Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict what truly did you expect? Of course it’s a silly romp of a tale so sit back relax and enjoy the ride. Seriously have a glass of wine I can recommend many of varietal. I chose to read confessions of an Jane Austen Addict as well as the author’s second novel in the confession series, Rude Awakenings. In Rude Awakenings, the Regency England woman gets transported into the blonde body of a California girl in 2009. I enjoyed going back and forth between these two texts and getting glimpses into what each character was going through. I enjoyed the story line to Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict more because it took place in a time and country I can only dream of. However, Rude Awakenings is hilarious and should not go overlooked. What would you do if you woke up in another body and another time and every day things such as cell phones, televisions, running water and the lack of horse-drawn carriages came as a shock to you? I know what I would do, but that’s a post for another time.
[Top]ThrowBack Thursday
I have decided to embrace this whole “Throwback Thursday,” or “TBT” ordeal, and make it a day for me to write about my travel experiences. I love to travel. I get my best ideas when I am in a completely new place, out of my day to day habits, sights and people.
What better way to kick start this Thursday blog post than to reach back and recognize traveling I was blessed enough to do as a child. I am referring to the fishing trips my dad use to take my sisters and I on during the weekends.
It was always a thrill to make the sandwiches and pack the snacks for my sisters and I. Mom would be there reminding me not to forget things. She was my walking, talking checklist. (This is probably why I must make so many lists in my life now.) The most important one was always, do not forget the sunscreen. Also, when you get to where you’re going, PUT ON the SUNSCREEN.
Most of the time, we did not know where we were going. I suppose my dad always knew, but when we would ask, he would tell us we were going to the Moon. Our silver fishing boat, just big enough for the four of us comfortably, was hooked up to our Chevy Astro van. This was a good indication we were going fishing. The poles were packed, the life jackets were in their place, and I was ecstatic we were going to spend the day on the water!
We would cross the New Jersey/ New York line and head up state a little ways to a reservoir called Monskville. It was a fun spot to be, and there were rumors of big fish there but we always got skunked at Monksville. (“Skunked” is when you fish all day and don’t catch a thing.) My favorite were our trips to Greenwood Lake. It was always easy to fish off the dock for Sunnys, and Blue Gills and hence avoid getting skunked. My sisters and I would remove our clothing we wore over our bathing suits (or “baby suits,” as Diana used to say) put on our life jackets and grab our poles. We would fish off the dock, while dad got the boat settled in the water. Most times, but not always we would put on the sunscreen. We often got in trouble when we didn’t
reapply after being out on the water all day.
One day in the 4th grade, I walked out of the school building with my friends and saw dad waiting there. He was right in front with our rubber fishing boat strapped down to the hood of our van. My first emotions were embarassment and panic. It looked really tacky to say the least. These emotions were soon overcome with joy and excitement as I realized we must be going on another fishing adventure. This time we were heading to the Delaware River, which runs between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The river is rocky and shallow in parts and there are restrictions for boats and motor sizes, hence the use of our rubber boat. It didn’t matter though, we went to the Delaware Water Gap park where we were surrounded by woods and wildlife. We were busy taking in the scenery, there was no need to tempt dad to race other boats on the water way.
The Delaware River and surrounding wood, was home to many different species. It was always exciting to spot a hawk, a bald eagle or even a Black BEAR. I tried to get a snap shot of it on the disposable camera and share it with my friends at school. This is when and where my love for taking pictures came from. I would take photos of dad steering the boat, baiting our hooks, untangling our lines. I would take photos of the greenery and of course any wildlife I spotted. Last I would take pictures of my sisters and I being silly, posing with our poles, meanwhile missing good bites. Even on days where we didn’t have any luck, or even when dad didn’t have time to fish for himself, in the van on the way home dad would ask us if we had fun. The answer was always YES!
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