Top Ten Tuesday: Books to Read By the Pool/At the Beach

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

I'm of the opinion that any book can be read by the pool or at the beach. That said, some books inspire reading in that setting more than others.

Nothing screams summer like a beach house.

If you like emotional roller coaster rides, this might be one to pack in your beach bag.

Tuck this one in your tote bag if you want to read about friendships and betrayals.

I've never read a bad book by Karen White. She blends past and present, secrets and looking for love in this unforgettable story. Setting it on St. Simons Island off the coast of Georgia gives it that beach read feel.

Many people I know take off for beach weekends. This book by Mary Kay Andrews is for those who enjoy a nice mystery where personalities clash. 

A summer on Nantucket is just what the doctor ordered. This main character wants to experience the summers from her childhood one more time. This is a good choice if you're looking for romance, laughter, and ties that bind.

How about a little bit of intrigue this summer? Mercer Mann is a young novelist offered a reward to locate F. Scott Fitzgerald’s manuscripts that have just been stolen from a secure vault. Set in an island resort town in Florida, there's also a character who owns the local bookstore. Hmm....

If you like emotional books that unfold as a result of something posted on social media, this might be one to tuck in your suitcase. One photo is all it takes to throw these people's lives into a tailspin. 

Paula McLain's The Paris Wife was an amazing read. McLain returns to Hemingway's life with Love and Ruin, a story of his third wife, Martha Gellhorn. It sounds just as intense as her first book. Have you read it yet?

Summer romances can be so much fun, especially when the main characters are traveling across the country recording their views of a single American summer.

Hope you'll find something on this list to add to your beach bag. Anything else you can recommend? 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - June 18

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.

Happy Monday! Always great to be able to connect with readers at the beginning of the week when we are all fresh. I finally made it out to the garden and got everything planted. Hopefully the animals don't eat it all.

I finished It's Messy: Essays on Boys, Boobs and Badass Women by Amanda de Cadenet last night. Can't say it was my cup of tea. She's done amazing things with her life and had to deal with some tough stuff, but who hasn't. Her ideas on how you feel after becoming a mom are fairly spot on, but I couldn't really connect with her other than that. This simply wasn't a book I felt was worth my time reading. It was for Amazon Vine, so I felt determined to make it as far as I could. Finally bailed at page 143. I'm sure if my feminist Lil' Diva read it she would love it from beginning to end. I'm simply past the time in my life where I feel I have to stand up and say, "I am woman. Hear me roar." I've experienced discrimination because of my gender, but that's the other person's problem. Not mine. The back cover of this book says it addresses "the issues, concerns, and experiences relevant to women today." That might be true for some women who read this book; just not me. I wanted to relate to the author's experiences, but found it a challenge.

I've begun packing up the paperbacks I'll take with me to North Carolina. I usually bring seven to ten, but this year I'm going with four and both of my devices. I'll have some books to read for upcoming reviews, so want to focus on the e-books this year. Here's my list of beach books:

There are eight new books that I added to my Kindle Fire since the end of May, so maybe I'll get a chance to read a few of those too. 

What have you been reading lately? What's up next for you? 

Coming This Fall: Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy

A bold, heartfelt tale of life at Green Gables . . . before Anne: A marvelously entertaining and moving historical novel, set in rural Prince Edward Island in the nineteenth century, that imagines the young life of spinster Marilla Cuthbert, and the choices that will open her life to the possibility of heartbreak—and unimaginable greatness

Plucky and ambitious, Marilla Cuthbert is thirteen years old when her world is turned upside down. Her beloved mother has dies in childbirth, and Marilla suddenly must bear the responsibilities of a farm wife: cooking, sewing, keeping house, and overseeing the day-to-day life of Green Gables with her brother, Matthew and father, Hugh.

In Avonlea—a small, tight-knit farming town on a remote island—life holds few options for farm girls. Her one connection to the wider world is Aunt Elizabeth “Izzy” Johnson, her mother’s sister, who managed to escape from Avonlea to the bustling city of St. Catharines. An opinionated spinster, Aunt Izzy’s talent as a seamstress has allowed her to build a thriving business and make her own way in the world.

Emboldened by her aunt, Marilla dares to venture beyond the safety of Green Gables and discovers new friends and new opportunities. Joining the Ladies Aid Society, she raises funds for an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity in nearby Nova Scotia that secretly serves as a way station for runaway slaves from America. Her budding romance with John Blythe, the charming son of a neighbor, offers her a possibility of future happiness—Marilla is in no rush to trade one farm life for another. She soon finds herself caught up in the dangerous work of politics, and abolition—jeopardizing all she cherishes, including her bond with her dearest John Blythe. Now Marilla must face a reckoning between her dreams of making a difference in the wider world and the small-town reality of life at Green Gables.

Pre-order here!

My Favorite.. Thing To Do Next To Reading

My Favorite.. is a weekly meme hosted by Maureen’s Books. In this meme we share every week something we love with each other. Because let’s face it.. The world can be a dark place and it’s time to share something positive. For more info and the upcoming subjects visit the My Favorite Meme.. page.

What a neat topic. Very tired and a month shy of 50 (gasp), I should probably say sleeping. LOL! It used to be cross-stitching. Who has time for that anymore? It really should be writing too. I mean, shouldn't writing be my favorite thing other than reading? I've published four books so far.

Alas, it is none of those things.

My all time favorite thing to do next to reading is...gardening. I am so awful at it, you would think it would be a source of frustration. I drive down the street and look at all the pretty, well-manicured landscapes. Then you get to our yard.

• There's the Blue Festuca Grass that is now hiding under some ground cover that took over one of the flower beds.
• There's the mulched ring around the lamppost that one year had tulips and other early spring bloomers. For some reason, only the green leaves appear and then they wither away. Too much sun, maybe? Who knows? Certainly not the girl with the brown thumb.
• On one side of the house are the hostas, which the voles attacked two years ago. They started to come back this year, but there are gaping holes left by those that did not survive.
• On the opposite side is a half dead lilac bush that took a wallop when a large tree fell during a storm (missed the house by about 6 inches). On that same side is the mint that I planted to keep the varmints out of the generator box. It has spread EVERYWHERE! Note to self: never plant mint anywhere other than a container.
• The flower boxes fell off the shed two years ago. Sadly, they remain in pieces. I need to buy new ones.

The one thing I usually have success with is the vegetable garden. Not great success, but I can usually grow potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, and herbs. This year I planted those plus sweet peppers, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce (which I usually kill), blueberry bushes and a blackberry bush. I put the lettuce toward the back of the garden this year so it won't get as much sun. That should help.

Silly me bought strawberry supports and then forgot to buy strawberry plants. I might buy container ones to see how it goes. Potatoes grow great in bags. I'm trying carrots in bags this year too. 

Do you enjoy gardening? What are some of your favorite things to do? 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - June 11

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.

It's Monday again. My, that goes so quickly. I totally missed blogging all of last week. Work. Work. Work. Pretty much all I do lately. Still planning to get out to the garden one day.

Here's what I'm reading right now:

This is a book overdue for an Amazon Vine review. Not my typical read, but I like to stretch my wings from time to time.

Also working on finishing this one...

Do I really want to know all this stuff about Miss Beadle?

Up next is hard to say. There are so many on my list. Here's what I need to accomplish for reviews over the next few months:

What are you reading? Any good ones you're looking forward to? 

Book Review: Who the Bishop Knows by Vannetta Chapman

Who the Bishop Knows by Vannetta Chapman is a stellar end to a superb series.

In the final installment of Chapman's Amish Bishop Mysteries series, Henry Lapp and Emma Fisher are attending the rodeo when Jeremiah Schwartz is fatally injured. In the past, Henry's special gift has helped the local authorities solve mysteries. This time, however, he wasn't in the arena when Jeremiah was killed, so drawing what he saw won't work. When other members of his community are threatened, Henry will need to rely on his keen sense of human character and observation to crack the case.

I'm sorry to see this series end; but if it must end, I am so glad it went out in such a spectacular way. Beloved characters blend with new characters and a plot filled with twists and turns to create an engaging mystery. Chapman has always been talented in creating that vital sense of community that is indicative of the genre. Her books highlight the challenges and blessings of working alongside the Englisch members living nearby. This series has been as much about building bridges between the two worlds as it is in solving the mysteries.

Though this is a stand alone novel, I highly recommend starting with the first book, What the Bishop Saw. It's nice to watch the relationships evolve throughout the three books. Faith, friendship, and learning to accept our talents are recurrent themes. If you like Amish fiction and enjoy mysteries, you won't want to miss Who the Bishop Knows by Vannetta Chapman.


Series: The Amish Bishop Mysteries (Book 3)

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (March 6, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 073696651X
ISBN-13: 978-0736966511


I purchased a copy of this book from Amazon. This review contains my honest opinion, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

My Favorite..Children's Books

My Favorite.. is a weekly meme hosted by Maureen’s Books. In this meme we share every week something we love with each other. Because let’s face it.. The world can be a dark place and it’s time to share something positive. For more info and the upcoming subjects visit the My Favorite Meme.. page.

I've been wanting to participate in this meme for a while, but had no brain power to do it. Tired moms have a very limited supply of that. Today I am sharing my favorite children's books. I'm sure there are many more favorites considering all the reading I did as a child, but these ones stick out.

I can still recite some of these rhymes by heart.

Didn't you just feel bad for this little guy?

Taught me to persevere. 

Best book ever! 

Who doesn't love Pooh and friends?

Couldn't this crazy world use some Rhyme and Reason right about now?

Anne with an E has captivated many young girls. I appreciated the Anne books more as a young adult, but they will always be special since they were a gift from my sister for my eleventh birthday. 

What are some of your favorite children's books?