It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Oct 5

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

Happy first Monday of October! Hope you had a great week. We had typical New England weather, cool one day and summer temperatures the next. After my closings on Wednesday, I appreciated a few slower work days. On Saturday, I tackled my first fall cleaning task: getting my upstairs office in order. I'm still working on it. That room will become my writing room, away from the many distractions stealing my attention in my new downstairs office. 

Here are a few photos from the week:

Theo taking a breather after our walk

Travis invades Paddy's space if he dares to sit down

Leaves are turning in our woods

Last week was another decent week of reading and reviewing. I brought The Eyes of River by Cindy K. Sproles downstairs so that I can begin it again. Too much time has passed for me to recall the first few chapters. 

Posted my review of Massawa by Pam Webber on Monday. You can find that here.

Posted my review of Beginner's Guide to Using an AI Assistant by Hank Quense.You can find it here.

I posted short reviews of two books I listened to thanks to Audible: How to Train Your Mind by Chris Bailey and God's Purpose for Your Life by Charles F. Stanley. You can read those reviews here.

I haven't started Harboring the Enemy: The Civil War Heroine History Forgot by R. C. Duffy yet, but I will soon because of the time limit.

I am reading She Forgot She Was Free: Returning to the Girl You Were Before the World Got Loud by Giselle Mascarenhas. This is for a review on October 14. 

I started The TV MBA: Business Lessons from Popular Culture by Rhymer Rigby. 

I am also reading Still Wild: Poems from the Bear Shack by Suzanne Sunshower for a December review.

I am waiting for the arrival of Starry-Eyed Christmas by Sheila Roberts for a December review. 

Upcoming Events

• She Forgot She Was Free by Giselle Mascarenhas - Oct 14 (Review)
• Still Wild: Poems from the Bear Shack by Suzanne Sunshower - Dec 14 (Review)
• Starry-Eyed for Christmas by Sheila Roberts - Dec 16 (Review)
• Sugar Sand Land by Patricia Leavy - Dec 17 (Spotlight & Giveaway)

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books they added to their shelves the previous week. This weekly meme was last hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach. It appears to be on hiatus, but I keep sharing new books. 

I pre-ordered a new book by Jill Kemerer, which arrived last week. Isn't the cover for His First Country Christmas lovely? This is part of what attracts me to Jill's books. 

Christmas Year Round

My Christmas blog is getting busier as we head into the holidays. Recent posts include:

• Getting Ready for the Holidays - Desserts
• Journey Through Christmases Past - Christmas Television Specials From 1948 - 1978

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Recent reviews at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection include:

• Turkey's Fall Fumble by Wendi Silvano. Read the review here.
• Luna and the Lost Cove by Aria Joy Prichard. This review appears here.

Day in the Snow by Fiona Craig and Counting Winter by Nancy White Carlstrom are coming later this week. 

Laura's Little Houses

In honor of what would have been Michael Landon's 90th birthday on October 31, I am sharing Halloween episodes of Little House on the Prairie. You can read that article here.

Wow! That was a lot. Hopefully, these posts are still engaging to you. I'm looking forward to checking out your blogs today. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Sept 14

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

Happy Monday, everyone! How did your week go? Feels like forever since I posted one of these. I'm not sure how much I will post the rest of this week because my schedule is jam-packed. No day off for me this past weekend, but the Rick's Place Golf Classic is September 19, and the Lil' Princess will be home for The Big E on September 20, so I will have a day off. 

Lots going on in my world. Several closings coming up. More new listings. No real medical answers. Feel like a bit of a hamster in a wheel right now. However, I did get to spend some time in the kitchen this weekend and enjoy the outdoors for a bit before our very rainy Sunday when I had back-to-back open houses. 

Chilling at home after work

Bought myself a larger Crock-pot

Made butter (saved the buttermilk), sour cream, and whipped cream

Finally wrote my review of The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller. You can read that here.

I should be getting back to The Eyes of River now that some reviews are done. 

Finished Staged by Caitlin Rother. Look for my review this week. Fingers crossed.

Loving Massawa by Pam Webber. 

Wrote my review of Food is Medicine by Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DRPH. You can read it here.

Finished A Christmas Carol Devotional: 25 Advent Reflections from Charles Dickens's Beloved Classic by Rachel Dodge. Fabulous! You can read my review here.

Check out my review of The Christmas Yes List by Melissa Ferguson here. Loved this one!

I am listening on Audible to Cratchit: A Christmas Carol Continues by R.M. Bouknight. Not sure how I feel about it yet. It's dark. 

Up next is the Beginner's Guide to Using an AI Assistant by Hank Quense.

Upcoming Events

• Evan's Stormy Voyage by Karen Charles - Sep 24 (Review at TC&TBC)
• She Forgot She Was Free by Giselle Mascarenhas - Oct 14 (Review)

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books they added to their shelves the previous week. This weekly meme is now hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach. 

I ordered Stupid TV, Be More Funny by Alan Siegel last week. I've wanted it for a while. Right now, it is sitting on my coffee table. 

Not sure how often I share my Booktrovert shelf, but here are the latest additions:

Mark Twain for Book Lovers edited by R. Kent Rasmussen

In These Hills by Tamera Alexander

Chapter One Again by Keelia Clarkson

And Then We Saw the Bag by Emma Adbage.

Christmas Year Round

Journey through Christmases Past explores the Christmas of 1813, which was a tough one for many areas of the world. This post also shares some of the decorations and what you see now. You can check it out here.

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Shared some new book arrivals from Eerdmans Books for Young Readers that I will be reading soon. You can see them here.

Laura's Little Houses

Haven't had time to work on this blog lately. Maybe next week. 

That's it for me. It is now midnight, and I need to get Theo to the vet at 9, followed by a full day of appointments. Such fun!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Aug 31

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

Welcome to the last Monday and the last day of August. How quickly that happened. Hope you had a nice week. I worked and worked and then worked some more. No day off for me, but I'm looking forward to a day or two off this coming weekend. I did, however, get to spend some time in the kitchen.

Cookies!

Green beans and potatoes like my MIL 

used to make

Chicken cacciatore, which my MIL

 enjoyed cooking

Today is filled with medical appointments and work appointments. Would appreciate your prayers, as I have a suspicion based on recent bloodwork that I won't like what the doctor has to say. Hopefully, I am wrong. 

In my blogging and reading world, I still need to write my review of The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller. Amazing book! 

I didn't read The Eyes of River last week. 

Almost done with Staged by Caitlin Rother. 

Loving Massawa by Pam Webber. 

I still need to write a review of Food is Medicine by Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DRPH.

I am reading:

• A Christmas Carol Devotional: 25 Advent Reflections from Charles Dickens's Beloved Classic by Rachel Dodge
• The Christmas Yes List by Melissa Ferguson
• Beginner's Guide to Using an AI Assistant by Hank Quense

Upcoming Events

• Evan's Stormy Voyage by Karen Charles - Sep 24 (Review at TC&TBC)
• She Forgot She Was Free by Giselle Mascarenhas - Oct 14 (Review)

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books they added to their shelves the previous week. This weekly meme is now hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach. 

I am still pretending I have self-control by not ordering or buying anything new. Of course, I haven't done much other than work, so that has helped. 

Christmas Year Round

Journey through Christmases Past explores what might be the last analog Christmas in 1994. I will let you decide if that's true. You can read my post here. 

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

New feature alert! What Do You Think? will be reaching out to readers to ask their opinions on things. It might be very quiet, but we will see how it goes. Talking about author newsletters this week. Check it out here.

Laura's Little Houses

Nothing new this week, but ideas are always brewing. Season 2 of the new Little House on the Prairie is in production. I always have a hard time investing in a Netflix series because they cancel them so easily. I hope this series gets a longer run. 

That's it from me. I look forward to visiting you later today.