Freda's Voice

Welcome to the December edition of monthly news! I turned 38 this month. Not sure how I feel about it yet. Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and I wish you the best for 2015 ! I am hosting the 100+ Book Challenge again in 2015, won't you join? Also my meme, The Friday 56 , celebrated 4 years! Check that out! BOOKS: Passing Through Perfect - Bette Lee Crosby (HIGHLY recommend) The Penguin Book of Witches - Katherine Howe Beautiful - Amy Reed (recommend) Balanced - Tricia Goyer (recommend) Joni Mitchell In Her Own Words - Malka Marom (recommend) The Young Elites - Marie Lu (recommend) An Amish Second Christmas - Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, Ruth Reid & Tricia Goyer (recommend) High Witch - Mona Hanna (recommend) The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater (recommend) Tomboy - Liz Prince (recommend) Upside Down In The Middle Of Nowhere - Julie T. Lamana (recommend) Far and Near On Days Like These - Neil Peart (recommend) Lamb to the Slaughter -

The story takes place in a small struggling mining town located in the foothills of the California mountains at the time of the gold rush. The camp is suffering from a long string of bad luck. With only one woman in their midst, it seems as though the miners have no future. However, the tide turns when a small boy is born. "Thomas Luck" is the first newborn the camp has seen in ages; things are looking up. The miners become cheerful, foliage begins to grow, there's talk of building a hotel to attract outsiders. Unfortunately, the hope is wiped out by the sudden death of Luck in a flood. Water brought gold to the gulches, giving miners their first glimmer of hope. And water takes away what seems their last glimmer—Luck. Print Length:  26 pages ASIN:  B004TS7C6E AMAZON US   |   AMAZON CA   |   AMAZON UK Read this short story for free. AUTHOR BIO: Bret Harte (1836-1902) was born in New York but moved to California at a young age, following the de

A family embarks on a fateful road trip, setting out for a vacation in Florida. The matriarch of the family, Grandmother, wants the family to head to Tennessee instead, and eventually manipulates her son into a diversion from their course that will soon lead them into danger. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is one of author Flannery O’Connor’s best known works. It is also, due to the story’s shocking and violent conclusion, one of her most studied and debated works. Kindle:  137 KB Print Length:  23 pages Publisher:  HarperPerennial Classics (January 1, 2015) ASIN:  B00QFPVKEO AMAZON US   |   AMAZON CA   |   AMAZON UK Read it free REVIEW: WOW! So dark. I liked it a lot. I was irked by it too though. You know how every horror movie has that chick that goes towards the guy with the knife? This story was like that in a sense. I just wanted to scream, 'Don't!!'. Still it was a very short but very wicked thriller. 4/5 **No comp

Now hosted by The Book Vixen. Even though the name of the challenge has changed, the goal remains the same: read those freebies!   Reading Challenge Details: Runs  January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2015  (ebooks read prior to 1/1/2015 do not count towards the challenge). You can join anytime before 9/30/2015.  Sign up on The Book Vixen’s blog . The goal is to read at least twelve (12) free ebooks.  While twelve is the minimum, there is no maximum limit. See the different levels below and pick the one that works best for you. You can move up a level as often as you’d like but no moving down. Remember, the idea is to  challenge  yourself. This reading challenge is for  LEGALLY obtained FREE ebooks . We do not condone ebook piracy. These can be ebooks offered through bigger sites, such as  Amazon  and  Barnes & Noble , or smaller sites, such as  Smashwords  and  All Romance Ebooks . Ebooks offered through author or publisher websites are acceptable as well, provided they are

I failed my own challenge last year, well, as I sit and write this post. Though I could post a couple more short stories that I have read and kept the review wrote down. I just haven't had time. So, as of right now, I have read 98 books. Just fell short. I'm not proud. How did you do? Did you meet your reading goal, even if less than 100? So in this wrap-up, instead of adding a Linky, put your final link in the comments below and add your name in the Rafflecopter form for a secret prize. You must do this to win anyway. If you would rather not have a prize and just want to add your final post for us/me to check out, then leave the url in the comments below and don't bother with the Rafflecopter. Either way, leave your link! Thank you for joining me in the challenge, and I hope you join in for 2015 if you haven't already! Happy reading and good luck! THIS GIVEAWAY IS OPEN TO 2014 CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS ONLY! a Rafflecopter giveaway **No compensa

Lamb to the Slaughter   is a short, sharp, chilling story from Roald Dahl, the master of the shocking tale. In  Lamb to the Slaughter , Roald Dahl, one of the world's favourite authors, tells a twisted story about the darker side of human nature. Here, a wife serves up a dish that utterly baffles the police . . . Lamb to the Slaughter  is taken from the short story collection  Someone Like You , which includes seventeen other devious and shocking stories, featuring the two men who make an unusual and chilling wager over the provenance of a bottle of wine; a curious machine that reveals the horrifying truth about plants; the man waiting to be bitten by the venomous snake asleep on his stomach; and others. Paperback:  86 pages Publisher:  Penguin Books (September 1, 1995) ISBN:  9780146000553 AMAZON US    |   AMAZON CA   |   AMAZON UK Read free online . AUTHOR BIO: Roald Dahl  (1916-1990) was born in Wales of Norwegian parents. He spent

Guidelines: The challenge runs from January 1 through December 31, 2015. You don’t need a pre-selected list of books. It’s okay to cross over with other challenges. Any book format is allowed (print, audio, ebook) SIGN UP Levels: Short-Order Cook: 1 to 3 books Pastry Chef: 4 to 8 books Sous-Chef: 9 to 13 books Chef de Cuisine: 14 to 18 Cordon-Bleu Chef: More than 19 I'm choosing Cordon-Bleu Chef: More than 19 Gluten-Free Cookbook Wedding Cake - Josi S. Kilpack The James Beard Cookbook Idiot's Guides: Baking Cupcakes and Mini Cakes Going Against The Grain - Nuccia Ardagna Illustrated Quick Cook Made With Love - Tricia Goyer & Sherry Gore Top Secret Recipes: Step-by-Step - Todd Wilbur Sweets and Treats with Six Sister's Stuff **No compensation was received for posting. This post is part of an annual reading challenge.

The Challenge:  Read any non-fiction book(s), adult or young adult. That's it. You can choose anything. Memoirs? Yes. History? Yes. Travel? Yes. You get the idea? Absolutely anything that is classified as non-fiction counts for this challenge.  Dilettante --Read 1-5 non-fiction books Explorer --Read 6-10  Seeker --Read 11-15 Master --Read 16-20 This challenge will last from January 1 to December 31, 2015. You can sign up anytime throughout the year.   I did this one last year and completed it. I chose Master then and will choose it again this year! Gluten-Free Cookbook Sinner's Creed - Scott Stapp The James Beard Cookbook Smash Cut - Brad Gooch Idiot's Guides: Baking When The Balls Drop - Brad Garrett Cupcakes and Mini Cakes Going Against The Grain -  Nuccia Ardagna Ringo With A Little Help - Michael Starr Chicken Soup for the Soul Here Comes the Bride Imagination Will Take You Everywhere - Samantha Snyder Illustrated Quick Cook Prayers That

Whether navigating the backroads of Louisiana or Thuringia, exploring the snowy Quebec woods, or performing onstage at Rush concerts, Neil Peart has stories to tell. His first volume in this series,  Far and Away , combined words and images to form an intimate, insightful narrative that won many readers. Now  Far and Near  brings together reflections from another three years of an artist’s life as he celebrates seasons, landscapes, and characters, travels roads and trails, receives honors, climbs mountains, composes and performs music. With passionate insight, wry humor, and an adventurous spirit, once again Peart offers a collection of open letters that take readers on the road, behind the scenes, and into the inner workings of an ever-inquisitive mind. These popular stories, originally posted on Peart’s website, are now collected and contextualized with a new introduction and conclusion in this beautifully designed collector’s volume. Hardcover:  312 pages Publisher:  E

The third edition of the “Women Challenge”! Rules: * anyone can join; * you don't need a blog to participate: if you are a non-blogger please leave a comment with a link (if you review elsewhere) to your review or with the list of the books you read and the level you choose; * audio, e-books, bound books and re-reads are ok; * create a sign up post on your blog and post the link in the Linky below (scroll down please, it's at the end of the Italian translation); * challenge goes from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015; *   here  you can link for your reviews. Levels: Level 1: BABY GIRL - read 5 books written by a woman author Level 2: GIRLS POWER - read 6 to 15 books written by a woman author Level 3: SUPER GIRL - read 16 to 20 books written by a woman author Level 4: WONDER WOMAN - read 20+ books written by a woman author I participated last year and read enough a 5th or 6th level could be added... lol. So obviously I am choosing Level 4: Wonder Wom