Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: A Genre I Want to Read More of This Year

 

The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is hosted by Long and Short Reviews. They offer this blog hop as a weekly prompt to help you gain new friends and visitors. You don't have to participate every week, but if you decide to post and join the blog hop for a week, Long and Short Reviews requests that you share your link in their weekly post on their website (which will be the top post on the home page each Wednesday morning). The link list remains open for new links for 48 hours. Visit the other bloggers participating to see what they discuss that week. Comments are appreciated. 

Seems like Wednesdays always creep up on me. I guess it doesn't mean much for me since I often work weekends. 

Today's Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is all about genres we want to read more of this year. Now, in the past, I would set myself a goal of reading more in a genre I don't typically read: sci-fi, fantasy, dystopian, and steampunk. This year, I tossed that out the window. It didn't even make the bookish promises list. 

Why?

Because I want to read what I want to read, which boils down to mysteries and seasonal romances. That doesn't mean other genres won't catch my eye or that what I agree to review will be in those genres, but as part of seeking balance and setting boundaries, I'm being more intentional with everything, including reading. 

What is a genre you want to read more of this year? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Feel Like Spring & Tell Me Something Tuesday: What’s your go-to coffee/tea order?

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! Hope your week is off to a good start. 

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is on our spring 2026 to-read lists, but I opted to go in a different direction and add variety to the blog. These books will be ones that feel like spring, either because of their covers or their contents. Enjoy!

Top Ten Books That Feel Like Spring

This flowery cover of The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook and its colors make me think of spring. 

Spring will always be a big wedding season for us, so Weddings at Promise Lodge appears on the list. At one point, our immediate family had three wedding anniversaries in May. We have one now and two in June. 

Spring is prom season, making Prom Dates & Softball Bats a perfect addition. 

Mothers of the Bible Speak to Mothers of Today makes a lovely gift for our spring holiday, Mother's Day. 

I wish I had a porch swing so that in spring, when the evenings are warmer, we could exchange Front Porch Tales. 

Good, Clean, Murder with a main character who is a cleaning woman screams spring cleaning. 

With Earth Day coming up in April, I am reminded of Karen Cioffi's The Adventures of Planetman series. 

Love and flowers bloom in spring, making Ten First Dates a great book for our spring list. 

As temperatures have warmed up here, the birds are coming back. I've seen more than one robin the last few weeks. Spring is a great time to think of Red Tail Feathers. 

We are fasting during the spring season of Lent, which made me think of 'Twas the Season of Lent.

Thanks to Freepik for the image

Tell Me Something Tuesday (TMST) is hosted by Jen Twimom at That's What I'm Talking About. TMST is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Participation is optional, and you can leave your comments in the weekly post when you participate. Check it out if you're interested in joining.

Tell Me Something Tuesday is asking us to spill the tea, or more aptly put, what our go-to coffee/tea order looks like. Here is where I will prove how boring I can be. Flavored tea isn't my thing... unless I have no choice or am feeling adventurous. I want Lipton black tea with milk, preferably decaf. I enjoy English or Irish Breakfast as well. The one tea I definitely won't drink: Earl Grey. I also never drink coffee. Bleck!

That's it for this week. See you around the blogosphere! 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Mar 23

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, 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 back to Monday! We are closing in on the end of March. Spring has officially started, which of course means it is cold and we are expecting a bit of snow tonight. LOL! Spring in New England is such a silly thing. 

Hope you enjoyed your week. I had more going on than planned, but all of it was good stuff. Here are a few photos from my week:

I made vegan Irish soda bread

Lobster Risotto from JRego's in Ellington

Boots is almost 16

Ran into a lender friend at our local real estate conference

In my reading world, I posted my review of 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist's Guide to a Happy Life by Dick Van Dyke. Check it out here.

I also posted my review of Women's Freedom: The Dawn of Possibilities by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein. You can read that review here.

I am almost finished with Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor. It started off slow for me, but I am loving it now. 

My review of Dream Facades: The Cruel Architecture of Reality TV by Jack Balderrama Morley should be posted this week. 

I continued Agatha Christie, She Watched by Teresa Peschel. Look for my review in April. 

I need to continue Murder, Local Style by Leslie Karst for an April review. 

Next, I will be reading the following:

Scrap: Salvaging a Family by Luann Castle

The Ledger by Steven Manchester, which is a companion to his novel, The Menu

Staged by Caitlin Rother, which is the sequel to Hooked

After that, I would love to get back to these two:

Old Flames, New Beginnings by Lea Schizas

Officer Erik and the Very Special Dad  by Erik Estrada and Steven Manchester

Photo credit: Freepik

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. 

Since I have clearly proven I have no self-control where books are concerned, I've given up on pretending I am not going to request new books to review, and I am still going to buy them. :) 

How to Teach Adults by Dan Spalding is part of my real estate instructor's course. It arrived on Monday, and I have already started it.

A White Lie Christmas by Suzy Langevin was free thanks to a digital credit from Amazon. 

Upcoming Events

Agatha Christie, She Watched by Teresa Peschel - Apr 15 (Review)

Murder, Local Style by Leslie Karst - Apr 20 (Review)

Scrap: Salvaging a Family by Luanne Castle - May 21 (Review)

The Ledger by Steven Manchester - May (Review)

Staged by Cailtin Rother - June (Review)

Christmas Year Round

The Christmas Year Round blog has a new "Journey through Christmases Past" post. We travel back to Christmas 1986. You can read it here. As promised, this week's post is lighthearted and joyful.

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Nothing new. 

Laura's Little Houses

Nothing new.

I am still catching up from last week, but I will pop in and see you all later today. 

Book Review: Women's Freedom: The Dawn of Possibilities by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

 

Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein continues her novels that tackle women's issues with Women's Freedom: The Dawn of Possibilities. 

It is an exciting time for Madison and Ginger as they enter college in the fall of 1960. Both have dreams and ambitions during a time when society limited their rights and didn't consider them equal to their male counterparts. Still, it's a time for new adventures: meeting mysterious men and women, dorm life, jobs, and romance. For Boomers, this will likely be a trip down memory lane. 

In some ways, Ginger and Madison seem like any college-aged woman on the street. In others, you realize how precarious their situation was as love blossomed in an environment before contraception. How the lack of technology left them unaware of who the men in their lives were because there were no cell phones, apps, or Google. How unprepared they were to face some of the people and situations they encountered. 

Women's Freedom: The Dawn of Possibilities is filled with engaging characters whose stories you will want to know. Check it out if you enjoy stories for women filled with romance and a hint of mystery.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0G255V8D7
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Russell M. Holstein, Ph.D. LLC
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 12, 2025
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 346 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8218862565

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

Audible Book Review: 100 Rules for Living to 100 by Dick Van Dyke

If you have spent your life admiring the work of Dick Van Dyke, then you will want to grab a copy of his latest book, 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist's Guide to A Happy Life. With a career spanning decades, this centenarian has tons of stories and sage advice to offer us all. 

This audiobook opens with a message from the actor, but the rest is narrated by his good friend and television personality Tom Bergeron (America's Funniest Home Videos, Dancing with the Stars). Van Dyke sees his optimism as being a key to his longevity in life and his profession, with each themed section sharing a rule about living to 100. He dives deeply into his personal life and shares stories from the many acting roles he has been blessed to play. 

As someone who grew up watching reruns of the Dick Van Dyke Show, singing songs from Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and appreciating Van Dyke's more dramatic role in Diagnosis Murder, I loved getting to know more about Van Dyke's life, family, his fellow actors, and acting roles I never knew about. 

If you are looking for a book that embraces a nostalgic journey through life and Hollywood, with an abundance of kind-hearted humor and optimism along the way, you will find no greater choice than Dick Van Dyke's 100 Rules for Living to 100. 

Listening Length	7 hours and 27 minutes
Author	Dick Van Dyke
Narrator	Tom Bergeron, Dick Van Dyke
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	November 18, 2025
Publisher	Grand Central Publishing
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0F6YWZC24

I bought a copy of this book with an Audible credit. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Audiobooks I've Enjoyed

 

The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is hosted by Long and Short Reviews. They offer this blog hop as a weekly prompt to help you gain new friends and visitors. You don't have to participate every week, but if you decide to post and join the blog hop for a week, Long and Short Reviews requests that you share your link in their weekly post on their website (which will be the top post on the home page each Wednesday morning). The link list remains open for new links for 48 hours. Visit the other bloggers participating to see what they discuss that week. Comments are appreciated. 

Welcome back to Wednesday! What a week it has been: back-to-back meetings, two accepted offers in three days, and showings. I will be catching up on visiting your blogs today. 

This week's Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge asks us to share audiobooks we have enjoyed. I tend to listen to business books, self-help, and professional development books on Audible. Chirp has books I listen to for fun. 

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is one of my favorite Christmas stories. Hugh Grant's voice makes it all the better. 

Many years ago, when a group of Dean Butler fans suggested he write a memoir, we had no idea he would actually write one. Prairie Man: My Little House Life & Beyond by Dean Butler is a wonderful read for any fan of the show. 

I had never read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett until it turned into our first Modern Prairie book club read. What a wonderful story!

Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzenegger is filled with helpful advice. Such a great book!

Rob Dial, author of Level Up, allows his energy and charisma to shine through as he narrates his book. 

Have you listened to any of these books? What are some of your favorite audiobooks? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Green Book Covers and Tell Me Something Tuesday: Do you prefer single narrator, duet/dual narration, full cast, or "graphic audio" audiobooks?

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 St. Patrick's Day! We are celebrating by sharing our Top Ten Green Book Covers. This one should be fun!

Top Ten Green Book Covers

Anne of Greenville by Mariko Tamaki

The Messiest Monster on Mill Street  by Sarah Sparks

Love's Unending Legacy by Janette Oke

The Disappearance of Billy Moore by Aaron Paul Lazar

Hex the Halls by Mindy Kalsky et al.

The Mistletoe Inn by Richard Paul Evans

The Pirate Bride by Kathleen Y'Barbo

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein 

Currant Creek Valley by RaeAnne Thayne

Jo & Laurie by Margaret Stohl & Melissa de la Cruz

Thanks to Freepik for the image

Tell Me Something Tuesday (TMST) is hosted by Jen Twimom at That's What I'm Talking About. TMST is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. Participation is optional, and you can leave your comments in the weekly post when you participate. Check it out if you're interested in joining.

Tell Me Something Tuesday asks what kind of audiobook narrator we enjoy: single, duet/dual, full cast, or "graphic audio." 

I would have to say a single narrator, because if there are too many different voices or music and sound effects to go along with what is being spoken, I find it distracting. A single narrator has to be more creative and make the listener believe they are each character as they are reading. 

Looking forward to viewing your blogs later today.