Anna Tan's Blog, page 35

#AtoZChallenge: Hermeneutical

Theirs was a friendship built on enmity, founded on hermeneutical arguments that led only to agreements to disagree. They were people of the Word, yes, but words were flimsy and open to interpretation, the way people used the Bible both to justify and condemn slavery.

She believed in the Living Spirit, in the miracle of the now. God was moving and alive, making all things new. Life was lived in the present, with fresh anointing for each new day, each new season. Revival was within grasp, redem...

#AtoZChallenge: Generous Gallah

George didn’t earn much as a pastor at a small town church. He lived well within his means, saving enough money every year to visit his brother in the big city. So when he and his brother, Greg, inherited a small fortune from their father, George didn’t quite know what to do with it. Greg, a high-flying financier, had his portion in investments and stocks immediately, earning interest within days.

Since George knew that many of his parishioners were facing financial difficulties in the poor ec...

#AtoZChallenge: Faithful

Felicity wasn’t unfaithful. She wasn’t. She was a fairywren, sticking to her partner through thick and thin. Thick, in this particular case; Harold had put on so much weight, she’d started calling him Fatso. True, she’d been eyeing several handsome, young men that crossed her path, but here she still was, faithful to her boyfriend, discussing marriage plans that bored her to tears.

~ 
“Let’s just elope,” she said, after the 398th argument on wedding venues.

Fatso looked shocked. “My mother...

#AtoZChallenge: Eglantine Rose, Eleanthus Orchid

It wasn’t quite the war of the roses, although it did involve a rose.

Emily wanted to deck the halls with the Eglantine Rose whilst Edward insisted that the Eleanthus Orchid would really make the place stand out. They argued all the way to the florist and all the way back, each adamant that their choice was the better one. It didn’t help that the florist said they could get both flowers if needed. Neither Emily nor Edward cared about the cost so they didn’t even look at the prices. All they ca...

#AtoZChallenge: Dormouse

Dora Dormouse dozed. It was late March, still too cold out for comfort, but almost time to awake. She turned over and snuggled in her little nest in the hollow of a tree, tail wrapped around her head, dreaming of nuts and fruits and flowers.

The growling of her stomach woke Dora on the fourth of April, sounding loud in her round ears. Eyes still closed, she ran a paw over her ears, smoothing down her golden fur, and scratched at her cheeks. A slight frown formed on her face. Her cheeks felt to...

#AtoZChallenge: Card, Orson Scott -- #bookreview of Lost and Found

Lost and found by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ezekiel Bliss finds lost things and returns them, a compulsion that has gotten him into trouble with the police so often that he drives himself to distraction to ignore it. Beth Sorenson is a proportionate dwarf too smart for her own good, who can pretty much get anyone to do what she says just by talking to them. Beth wiggles her way into Ezekiel's "shunning bubble", they agree to take part in a research group that studies their microp...

#AtoZChallenge: Bunyip

Bethany sat by the billabong, waiting. Her brother, Barry, said he’d seen a bunyip there yesterday and she wanted to see one too. It had been raining recently, which was why the billabong was half full—and probably why the bunyip had come. At least, that was what Barry said. Bethany wasn’t so sure she believed everything he said anymore. Older brothers were good at protecting you from bullies but not so good at not bullying you, and Bethany had borne the brunt of many a prank from him. Just y...

#AtoZChallenge: Agog

All the Mahan palace servants were agog with the news. King Simson was going to marry Queen Layla. The bridge across the channel was going to be rebuilt, trade reestablished between Maha and Bayangan… Yosua would finally be able to see Bayangan after hearing his parents reminisce about their homeland all his life.

“It’s not going to happen,” Garett, his father, said with a grunt, not bothering to look up from where he bent over the washboard and the large, steaming tub. “He has to get the appr...

#bookreview: The Winter Road | Adrian Selby

The Winter Road by Adrian Selby
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What does an ex-soldier, newly rich merchant want with a road through the Circle? But Teyr is hungry to prove herself to the family she left behind in the Circle and to the family she has gained in Hillfast: Aude and his boy Mosa, who calls her Ma. The Winter Road is the tale of Teyr Amondsen's ambition, pride, and folly as she pursues her goal, only to be pursued in return by war and death.

It's not often that you find a fantasy book as gr...

#musicmonday: Slow Your Breath Down | Future of Forestry

This chest is full of memories, of gold and silver tears
I'll give you more to own than all of this
And I'll give you more than years
For you were once a child of innocence
And I see you just the same
Your burdens couldn't win or lose a thing
Oh, I'd tell you once again
But you're always on the run

Slow your breath down, just take it slow
Find your heart now, oh
You can trust and love again, oh
Slow your breath down, just take it slow
Find your smile now, oh
You can trust and love again, oh

If you leave I'...