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

Welcome to It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday.

 

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.

Welcome back to Monday. I hope any of you who celebrate Easter had a nice weekend. Mine was nice, but I really haven't gotten use to these smaller family gatherings. It was just the two of us and the kids; well, the Lil' Diva was working so we didn't see her until later. 

The funny thing is that I've been a mom since I was nineteen years old. Though our son got married ten years ago, I'm not sure if I have ever gotten used to him not being around the house. Now that the Lil' Diva is an adult, and the Lil' Princess is one year away from graduating high school, my role as mother is changing. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Coming up on the anniversary of my father-in-law's death probably isn't helping my mood any. I just want things to stay the same, but they can't ever be the same again. 

My work schedule has been full, so I am not reading as much as I planned. I am still reading these two books.  

I also started this one. 

These are the next few that I need to read. 

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

My physical mailbox was empty last week, but I downloaded this new Debbie Macomber collection with some credits I earned from Amazon.

A collection of three new short stories from beloved author Debbie Macomber, including a return to a favorite address in Cedar Cove. First published in Macomber's Digital Magazine, these heartwarming stories are now available exclusively in this collection.

A CEDAR COVE DAD’S ADVICE

Welcome back to Cedar Cove. When we last saw Zach and Rosie Cox in 311 Pelican Court, they had divorced and were awarded joint custody of their two children: Eddie and Allison. Now a grown man, Eddie Cox is experiencing marital problems of his own and turns to his parents for advice. Will Ed and his wife, Emma, be able to resolve their issues and find love again?

A FRESH NEW YEAR

At the beginning of every January, Elle always started off writing down her goals for the year. The usual ones were: Visit her parents more often. Lose ten pounds. Be a good aunt to her niece and nephew. Visit Venice. And of course, find love. This was a fresh new year and Elle was finally feeling ready to start dating again. She set up an online dating profile and before she knew it, she was going on a date. What she didn’t know was that she would be catfished. Is there any chance to salvage her dreams and achieve the one goal she’s always dreamed of: love?

DADDY’S GIRL

From the time she could remember, Molly had always been a Daddy’s girl. When she makes the shocking discovery her dad isn’t her biological father, her whole life is called into question. What's more, her biological father doesn't have long to live, and Molly has to decide whether she wants to meet him before it's too late. Will she make the right decision?

My hope is that I get some down time soon, so that I can enjoy this one. I look forward to hearing what you're reading these days. 

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Places In Books I’d Love to Live

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.

Welcome to Tuesday! Hope you are having a great day so far. This week's Top Ten Tuesday is going to be so much fun. Have you ever wished you could live in some of the places you read about? Now, you can share what those places are. Will my places remind you of your favorite books? Will our lists look the same? Let's find out.

Top Ten Places In Books I’d Love to Live

After reading Lucy Maud Montgomery's beautiful descriptions in the Anne of Green Gables series and other books set on Prince Edward Island, I would love to visit. Sounds like a lovely place to live.

Don't you think Hogwarts would be an interesting place to live? You never know what might happen there. You live in a castle. You can even cast spells on your friends when they make you angry and turn them into toads. 

Thinking about all the amazing things Laura Ingalls Wilder saw in her lifetime makes early America a neat place to visit. I wonder which of the towns on Laura's travels I would like to live best. Maybe Walnut Grove, Minnesota or De Smet, South Dakota. I visited both in 2014. I'm not sure, however, I could live without indoor plumbing, so this would need to be a modern day move. 

As a lover of history, I would love to live in Charleston, South Carolina. All the evil spirts that follow Melanie around, however, would need to be gone first.

Though I am not sure I could handle the Australian heat, if they could outfit a place like Drogheda with air conditioning, I would give it a chance.

The small town of Sweet River, Oregon sounds like a charming place to live... especially for the holidays. Think of any Hallmark Movie Channel Christmas story and you will get the picture.

Another fictional small town I would love to live in is Cedar Cove. On the Pacific coast, this friendly little town would be full of fun adventures. I think I would enjoy working at the library.

The Outer Banks of North Carolina is like a second home to us. We are so looking forward to this year's trip down the Atlantic coast to our favorite spot on earth. My hope is to retire down to the OBX one day. 

If I had to live on the west coast, a fictional town like Bear Creek, a small mountain community in the Southern Sierra, sounds like a fascinating place. Hiking would be a great pastime. Not sure I would want to run into the Hairy Man, though.

Considering that I am not Amish, this last one might be tough. Amish communities like Morning Star have always fascinated me. Hard work isn't an issue for me, but I think I would be happier in a more progressive community like Morning Star than some others.

So, what do you think of my list? Hope you will share your thoughts. 

Book Review: How to Overcome Insomnia All By Yourself by Antoinetta Vogels

Insomniacs searching for a way to help themselves will find How to Overcome Insomnia All By Yourself by Antoinetta Vogels a helpful resource.

Chapter by chapter the reader learns about the Sense of Self method that Vogels created based upon her own experiences and desire to cure herself of the inability to get a good night's rest. How self-image affects your sleep cycle, the importance of changing your behavior, how fear and anger impact our ability to fall asleep and stay asleep, and more are found within the pages of this book. 

For someone like me who has struggled to get a good night's sleep for decades, I was eager to read about this outside of the box approach. Not that doctors aren't helpful, but sometimes more needs to be considered than take melatonin, set up a sleep schedule, and turn off the screen one hour before bedtime. The last year suffering with tinnitus has only made my insomnia worse. I look forward to putting the advice in this book into practice. 

This thought-provoking self-help book makes you consider the psychological aspects of your life that can impact your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. Each chapter ends with a summary of the highlights, and the reader finds exercises and activities along the way. The various appendices explain different types of insomnia, psycho-emotional stress insomnia, and sabotaging your sense of self. 

Definitely a worthy read for insomnia sufferers looking for a different approach to tackle this issue. 

• ASIN : B08T5Y299B
• Publisher : Balboa Press (May 18, 2020)
• Publication date : May 18, 2020
• Language : English
• File size : 503 KB

I received a digital copy of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Mar 29

Welcome to It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday.

 

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.

We have come to the end of March. Most of it was mild, though we had some cold spots and a bit of snow. I finally took the driveway reflectors down. I have probably doomed us to a blizzard as a result, since it never fails that if I take them down or switch over my fall/winter wardrobe to spring/summer, the weather changes. 

My week was filled with appointments, a new listing, cleaning, and baking. The three-tier garden bed is now together. It rained this weekend, so hubby put it together inside the house. Theo (sitting in the chair in the background) supervised. 

This week I hope to get it placed in the garden and filled with dirt so that the potato tubers, carrot seeds, and bean seeds can go in.

I spotted the crocus in the mailbox garden on my walk with Theo today. Always nice to see first signs of spring.

I wanted to use up some fruit on Saturday, so I made banana bread and blueberry cake. I also opened the grill for the season and made steaks that night. 

As far as reading goes, look for my review of How to Overcome Insomnia All By Yourself later today. 

My review of Dog Band appeared at my children's book blog last week. 

I am reading these two. 

These are next. 

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

My physical mailbox has been a busy little place this week. All these are books for review. As you can see, I am not doing very well with my goal of not requesting virtual book tour titles. :) 

That is it from my neck of the woods. How are you doing? Are you ready for Easter? Are you celebrating with family? What's on your reading list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Funny Book Titles

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.

Happy Tuesday! I couldn't pass up this week's Top Ten Tuesday because given the last year we have endured, we all need a good laugh. Though I haven't read most of these, they qualify--in  my mind--in the funny book titles category. So, I give you...

Top Ten Funny Book Titles

Leave it to Judge Judy to come up with a title as clever as she is.

I really don't want to think much about the Zen of farting, but I can tell you that I once convinced my son he farted the color out of his boxers. Does that give you any indication of what motherhood has been like around here?

Growing old isn't for sissies. When I turned 50 and had to have my first colonoscopy, I figured I had suffered enough indignity for a decade.

I am not sure if this title is funny or just disturbing. 

I love cats. We have four, so what does that say? When we brought home Giggles, she decided it would be fun to pee on me in the middle of the night in my bed. Thankfully, she finally figured out the litter box. I couldn't resist sharing this one. 

Do we see a theme starting? Maybe the tennis elbow is making me feel older. 

I don't even care what this book is really about. The title is just funny.

There are so many things in my life I wish I could pretend never happened.

I used to read a lot of Erma Bombeck. One of the funniest authors I've ever read, she gave women someone who understood the often lackluster life of being a wife and mother and approached it with wit and humor. 

I have never before wondered how to run with a naked werewolf, but now I am a bit curious.

What did you think of my list? Do we share any of the same titles?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Mar 22

Welcome to It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday.

 

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 and happy spring! I hope you had a nice weekend. Mine was filled with real estate appointments; it's that time of year. 

We had some nice weather this weekend, which looks like it will continue through the week. Good thing, because my potato tubers are on the way and I need to set up my three-tier garden beds. I need to swing by Home Depot for some dirt as well. 

Not much to report in terms of reading. I've been so busy with appointments that I didn't have a lot of reading time. 

On Friday, I posted my review of this book. It is so neat to see Jon Land take over this series. There is a giveaway running. 

I am currently reading these three.

Then I need to read these two.

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Nothing new in my physical mailbox, but I did grab this cute romantic comedy anthology that I have been wanting to read.

Meet the sassy ladies and their hunky heroes in this free romantic comedy anthology.

Whether you’re in the mood for enemies to lovers, second chances, small town romance, billionaires, strong females or opposites attract, we’ve got you covered.

All novels are full-length standalones and first in a series. This anthology will be available for a limited time only. 

Go on ten first dates with these laugh-out-loud romantic comedies:

Loved You Once by Claudia Burgoa

What I’m Looking For by Karen Grey

Love Under Construction by M.C. Cerny

Mixed Signals by Mia Heintzelman

On The Rox by Kat Addams

Moonshine and Magnolias by Abigail Sharpe

Too Tempting by Bethany Lopez

Love, Lacey Donovan by Jill Brashear

Imperfect Chemistry by Mary Frame

Some Call It Love by Sarah Peis

Doesn't this one sound like fun? What is one of your favorite romantic comedies?