Chillin'
I know, I probably complain about the hot weather in Florida a lot. Some people probably wonder why I moved here (had to, I was 14 and parents insisted) or why I stay (have to, not leaving my grown children and grandchildren).
Today I went to an outdoor book signing and was convinced I'd melt into a puddle. Fortunately, I didn't because we were under the bookstore roof and there was also a nice breeze. It didn't feel over-warm until about the last half hour and that was still not unbearable. I remember years ago doing an outdoor book signing and it was July so you can imagine I was a little nervous.
Today I was glad I went in spite of the predictions for a hot day. I met some very nice new people and we authors were treated so well by Cheryl, the owner of the Book Rack in Edgewater. She kept us fed, hydrated, and appreciated as we signed. I love her shop and appreciate the people like her who love books like I do and strive to serve the book lovers who need a place to buy books. I wish her great success.
If you are someone who didn't get to the signing today just leave a comment here on AmishHearts.com about your favorite book or some special memory about a book to win an autographed copy of my latest, A Time to Heal, Book 2 in the Quilts of Lancaster County series. I have loved books and sought refuge in them since I shared a room with a sibling and used to hide on the upper bunk bed and read. Whenever someone wanted me, they knew all they had to do was look there. Reading material? Everything from my then-favorite beautifully illustrated book of Robert Louis Stevenson poetry to the latest issue of Life Magazine with some crime story. Yeah, my dad used to worry about my macabre reading material...but it helped when I later covered crime stories for the local newspaper.
Happy reading and have a great week! I'm going back to edits now on the first story of the next series after the Quilts books.
Blessings,
Barbara
My favorite book of all time is "Come Spring" by Ben Ames Williams. It is out of print now, so I treasure the copy I have. It is the story of the founding of a small town in Maine called Union. A wonderful story of the founding families of that town.
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I love books and have many favorites.I guess a special memory would have to be back when I was in elementary school and I would get out all my books and play school.I would be a reading teacher and all my dolls and stuffed animals would be my students....I have always loved to read.I would love to win your book.Thanks....
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Hi, Barbara! It certainly is hot and humid here in SC! I feel your pain.
I had to go into surgery last year about this time and a couple of days after surgery I found out my mom who lived in AZ (about 2000 miles away ) had passed away. I was totally grief stricken and was determined to make that trip in spite of my surgery! I ended up passing out and couldn't go say my goodbyes to the lady who had brought me from crayons to perfume; my best friend.
I was so overwrought and during this time, I received Courting Morrow Little in the mail. It was such a good book and what a pleasure to stick my nose in it and forget my sorrow for awhile. I read it out in my flower garden (it wasn't as hot last year as it is this year)and received blessed respite for my wounded soul. The book really ministered to me and showed me that God truly does know what we need when we need it. Such sweet solace...
So I will always look upon that book with fondness. Along with it and the loving support of family, friends, and FB friends, I made it through my midnight of the soul. So that is my special memory of a book...
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I am in Texas visiting a friend and weather is hot here too and I LOVE it....Was 98 today.. I am from Michigan and also love Fla. too.. I would love to get your books as need to read 1 & 2..Betty Ann
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I LOVE all the Amish books!!
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I have loved to read since I was a little girl. Every Christmas until my teens my grandmother and granddaddy always gave me two books many were Trixie Belden or Donna Parker. Such a wonderful memory for me. Today I love all Amish fiction. I get such a joy from reading the.
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My favorite book is the bible but my second favorite books are Amish books. It is as close to being Amish as I can get.
God bless you
Debbie Feavel
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I have been reading ever since I can remember. The first book my mother ever gave me was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I continue to love it to this day and have reread it until the pages are worn.
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I love Little House on the Prairie. When I took care of my sick grandma we would read them together, and enjoyed talking about them, I know read them out loud to my kids and even my son loves them
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enjoy autobiographies and cookbooks--
ready all the books about Laci Peterson, reccomend "For Laci"
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I have a hard time picking a favourite book because my favourite genre is anything Amish. I find when I read books about the Amish, whether by you Barbara or by Beth Wisheman, Kelly Long, Kathleen Fuller or Wanda Brunstetter, (I could go on), I find myself learning so much more about God and myself through the characters in the books. My favourite books, anything Amish!
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Nice msg. my favorite Amish book so far has been by Beth Wiseman ...."SEEK ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART " but would love to win this book......maybe this one could be my favorite
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Anything Amish. I absolutely love to read about them and their lifestyles. The books written by you and other Amish fiction writers have truly made me a better Christian. Please keep on inspiring us !!
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I would love to win a copy of this, Barbara.
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I LOVE TO READ and books about the Amish are my favorite.
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I love to read and many times a book has help me to slip away for a little while from the stress of everyday life. I don't usually go anywhere with out a book you never know when you can slip in a few pages. Of course I love many kinds of books but the Amish ones are a favorite and my 80 year old mom can not wait for me to buy one to read so she can have it next. So if you get to hot please please sit in front of a fan and keep writing. Thank you and always God Bless you and our country.
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Books are my constant companions, through illness, tragedy, good times & bad. Books take me places I'd never be able to visit otherwise & have taught me so much about so many different things. I love to read & cannot imagine my life without it. I've been a voracious reader all my life. My mom read to me as a child & gave me a life-long love of books. Mom gave me so much but I think one of the gifts I'm most thankful for is the love of reading.
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I would love to win your book...I love the Amish stories.
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I could sooner pick a favorite book than I could pick a star in the heavens. One book that really made an impact was "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" by Harold Kushner. I was going through a rough time in high school and it really helped.Thank you.
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Barbara, like you (when I was young) I holed up in my room and read, read, read. I'd get seven books from the library each week - one for each day - and read them through.
But my favorite memory was one hot summer day when I was reading "Prairie School" by Lois Lenski. I looked up at the end of a chapter I was surprised that there was no snow on the ground!
Stay cool in Florida - we lived in KY for 5 years, and I melted in that heat!
Jan
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I would love to win the book so I can read while I "watch tv."
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I absolutely love to read almost anything. Cookbooks, Amish fiction and non-fiction, mysteries, general fiction, etc. I love being around books so much that I go to different libraries twice a week and also the book stores. I would love to open my own book store selling new and used books but was told from an expert that it takes a lot of work and money to keep the store going especially in my area because taxes are high and most small businesses do not get help from the town or city so they ended going out of business. I probably could built a little shack on my property and start from there - don't have to worry about paying rent to someone else!
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My favorite memory of a book was when I went to go visit one of my favorite authors for my birthday (it was a month later because my real birthday was spent in the ER waiting room). My mom and dad wanted to make my birthday extra special because my mom had to have an emergency surgery done, so they drove 7 hours so I could go to a book signing by an author I liked. The author knew I was coming, so she gave me a signed copy for my birthday, and I didn't have to pay for it. That is one of my best book and birthday memories.
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My favorite book memory is trying to locate a copy of Kendall Second Reader, published somewhere around the 1930's. I had no clues whatsoever as to what this was except the characters John and Mary and that they had a club called The Good Times Club and that I seemed to remember a picture in the book of people picking apples. We had had some pages of this particular book in our attic while I was growing up, but the pages were long gone. And I always thought there was something special about that book. To make a long story short, I don't know how much research I did trying to figure out what that book was, how many emails I wrote, how many readers I looked for at an antique mall. And prayed I'd find it. This was in a winter, and I decided that it would be a winter project and that March 31 (which I consider to be the last day of winter here in PA) would be the final day of my search and I would then stop until the next winter or whenever. Well, March 31 happened to be the used booksale at IUP's Newman Center. I began looking through the old readers they had without too much hope. But I opened the Kendall Second Reader and there in the introduction it said about John and Mary and their Good Times Club! The book was only 50 cents, so I bought it - no doubt about that!! No wonder no one was able to help me with my search previously. That's such an obscure set of readers that they wouldn't have heard of them and neither would we. My husband and I believe the Lord put that reader at that booksale that day just for me to find! What are the odds on locating something that obscure and with the scanty details I could recall??!!!
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I have MANY favorite books and absolutely love all books about the Amish. Many of my best memories were when I would read to others. I read to my daughter as she was growing up, to my best friend when we were on road trips, to my mom when she was bedridden and later on to my grandmothers when they were ill. I would read books, cards, articles and letters to them all. Those hours of taking care of them were spent reaping the blessings of the many stories and memories we shared together.
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My favorite memory is with the book "Come Spring" by Ben Ames Williams. My mother and I would read the book at the end of every winter, while waiting for Spring to come. It is the story of a small town in Maine and the families that first lived there. I looked forward every year to my annual reading of the story!
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