It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - May 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, 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 on a Sunday. My work schedule, and therefore my blogging schedule, has been unpredictable lately. Hope all of you who celebrate enjoyed your Mother's Day. We had an early breakfast that morning and headed home from North Carolina later that day. Glad to be home, but also miss our girl. 

Here are a few recent photos:

The Lil' Princess and her dad

Our girls

The Lil' Princess and some friends

The family minus our son

Thought she might have gotten her arms stuck at the Battleship North Carolina

Recreating a One Tree Hill moment

I went to my first bar in over 30 years. It was not pleasant. 

Hard to believe these four years have passed so quickly. Luckily, when she relocates for work, she will be much closer to our place. 

In my reading world, my review of This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman appeared today. You can read it here.

I finished Scrap: Salvaging a Family by Luann Castle. This collection is emotional and raw. Look for my review on May 21. 

I continued The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller. I hope I don't run out of time on NetGalley before I finish it. 

I finished listening to Hi Honey, I'm Homo: Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture by Matt Baume. Great book! Look for a review soon. 

I started The Ledger by Steven Manchester, which is a companion to his novel, The Menu. It's a slow read for me so far. 

These are next:

Staged by Caitlin Rother, which is the sequel to Hooked

Co-Created: The Cultural Strategy That Redefined Pacsun by Brieane Olson is also a NetGalley download.

Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts comes out later this month. 

The Ghost and the Key, the first book in Bill Cusano's The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club series. I am reading this series this summer. 

The second book of The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club is The Widow Murderess. 

Book three is The Sparrow and the Crow. All of these are July reviews. 

Massawa by Pam Weber is a book that I will take on vacation with me in July. 

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. 

Has anyone heard from Vicki? She hasn't posted since April 5. 

These were presents for Mother's Day, and two books I bought for myself aboard the Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington. 

Upcoming Events

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

The Ledger by Steven Manchester - May (Review)

Fighter Pilot's Daughter by Mary Lawlor - June 10 (Guest Post)

Staged by Cailtin Rother - June (Review)

The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club: The Ghost and the Key by Bill Cusano - July 1 (Review)

The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club: The Widow Murderess by Bill Cusano - July 8 (Review)

The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club: The Sparrow and the Crow by Bill Cusano - July 10 (Review)

Massawa by Pam Weber - July (Review)

Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts - (Review)

Christmas Year Round

This week's Journey through Christmases Past focuses on the year 1885. You can find it here. 

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

This blog is getting harder to update now that I don't read as many children's books as I used to, and because my writing is not as much as expected this year. Real estate, however, has been amazing. 

Laura's Little Houses

On Wednesday, I posted my "Most Favorite Episode from Each Season of Little House on the Prairie (Seasons 7 - 9). This brings us to the end of the series. You can read this post here. 

Looking forward to checking out your blogs today. 

Audible Book Review: This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman

 

If you enjoy stories about dysfunctional families meandering through life, you will want to grab This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman. 

With a title taken from something one of the characters said, this story opens with many of the Rubenstiens huddled around Sylvia and Helen's youngest sister, Jeanne, who is dying of cancer. A misunderstanding over an apple cake after Jeanne's death leads to a decade during which Sylvia and Helen do not speak to one another. As life burbles along, some family members divorce, others rediscover lost passions, and some find love again. Filled with angst and conflict, This is Not About Us will tug at your heartstrings. 

This is Not About Us is the first book I've read by Goodman. I found it overflowing with so many characters that I didn't care for, that despite hearing that Isola is wonderful, I'm not sure I want to try again. Family drama is engaging. Dysfunction is okay, but some of these characters, like Helen, are insufferable. And because there are so many characters to keep track of, it made the book drag for me. I wonder if I would feel differently if I had a printed book than the Audible version. The narrator wasn't my favorite in the beginning, but she did grow on me. 

Out of all the characters, the only one that kept me reading is Violet, who receives a special gift from her aunt Jeanne. Watching Violet's transformation throughout the story was a true glimmer of joy and hope in a world filled with discontent. 

Goodman's This is Not About Us offers a family drama that might be too realistic for my tastes. Other readers have truly enjoyed it, so give it a shot if its premise sounds promising. 

Listening Length	12 hours and 11 minutes
Author	Allegra Goodman
Narrator	Kimberly Farr
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	February 10, 2026
Publisher	Random House Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0FKTPFNFT

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

Recent Reads/Listens on NetGalley and Audible

I had finished This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman a few weeks ago. Liked this much better than I thought I would, but there are so many characters that it is easy to get lost. 

I started Co-Created: The Cultural Strategy That Redefined PacSun by Brieana Olseon, PACSUN CEO, a while ago. In fairness to the author, it's not that I'm uninterested. The story sounds fascinating. I just overloaded my spring reading calendar. I added this to Audible because I think my NetGalley time will run out before I read it. 

I have 22 days to finish The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller. I have loved what I have read so far. 

I didn't make it far into Jesus Listens for Lent & Easter: Prayers for the Season by Sarah Young, but that's because it has a narrator I don't connect with. I've read and enjoyed other devotionals by Young, so I will need to order a printed version to appreciate it. 

Last week, I finished listening to Hi Honey, I'm Homo: Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture by Matt Baume. This was a well-researched and engaging account of queer representation in sitcoms and how this representation transformed a genre once thought to be headed for the television graveyard. 

I downloaded The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida after reading Jack Balderrama Morley's Dream Facades, in which he cited Florida's book. Not sure that it is what I expected, but I am intrigued so far. 

Five Things You Should Know about Sgt. Windflower by Mike Martin, Author of the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series

 

RCMP officer Winston Windflower’s rare afternoon off gets interrupted when a hit and run turns into murder and he must pull together a team of Mounties from Newfoundland to resolve the crime. Following the money and fentanyl— and bodies—Windflower and his team join forces with police officers in southern Ontario to take down an international drug-smuggling ring.

Windflower must face personal doubts and fears when fellow Mountie Fil Romano is kidnapped. While the higher-ups at HQ make plans to give safe passage to the drug lords in return for Romano’s life, Windflower worries Romano will get caught in the crossfire. Windflower again looks to his friends and allies for help in the difficult hours and days ahead.

PURCHASE A CHANGE IN PLANS HERE!

Five Things You Should Know

 about Sgt. Windflower

Hi everybody, and pleased to meet you. I’m Sgt. Winston Windflower of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The Mounties, as we’re better known. Here are five things you should know about me.

1. I’m a Cree from Northern Alberta who got assigned to a small town in Newfoundland, on the easternmost tip of Canada. Grand Bank has become home to me and my beautiful wife, Sheila. We have two adorable daughters, Lady the collie, and Molly the cat. 
2. I love living in Grand Bank. I fell in love with the place first, and then I met Sheila. That sealed the deal. I love almost everything about Grand Bank. But not the weather. If you read any of the Sgt. Windflower Mysteries, you will see why. 
3. I like to cook. My specialties are anything you can grill, especially meat. But I love to eat even more. Meat, fish, and whatever vegetables Sheila puts in front of me. My favorite dessert is chocolate peanut butter cheesecake. You can get it at the Mug-Up café in Grand Bank.
4. I have great friends. Eddie Tizzard has been a Mountie and assigned to the same area as me for the last eight years. He likes to eat even more than me. Herb Stoodley is a former Crown Attorney who co-owns the Mug-Up café. That really is friends with benefits.
5. I try to be a good person in the world. I have learned from my ancestors and family to always try and be kind. My Aunt Marie says that I should be strong like grass. It will lie down if you step on it, but when the pressure eases, it is resilient and rises up again. I am working on that.

Mike Martin was born in St. John’s, NL on the east coast of Canada and now lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario. He is a long-time freelance writer, and his articles and essays have appeared in newspapers, magazines, and online across Canada as well as in the United States and New Zealand.

He is the award-winning author of the best-selling Sgt. Windflower Mystery series, set in beautiful Grand Bank. There are now 17 books in this light mystery series with the publication of A Change in Plans. 

A Tangled Web was shortlisted in 2017 for the best light mystery of the year, and Darkest Before the Dawn won the 2019 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award. All That Glitters was shortlisted for the LOLA 2024 Must Read Book of the Year award.

Some Sgt. Windflower Mysteries are now available as audiobooks, and the latest Darkest Before the Dawn was released as an audiobook in 2024. All audiobooks are available from Audible in Canada and around the world.

Mike is the Past Chair of the Board of Crime Writers of Canada, a national organization promoting Canadian crime and mystery writers, and a member of the Newfoundland Writers’ Guild and Capital Crime Writers.

Visit Mike’s website at https://sgtwindflowermysteries.com. 

Connect with him on social media at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkerOnTheCapeReviewsAndMore 

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mike54martin 

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Something I Wish I Knew More About

 

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. 

Happy Wednesday! Hope you're having a great week. I have a closing today and a new listing coming, while  I'm also coordinating the Lil' Princess' move back to the Northeast. This makes me deliriously happy. I am blessed.

For this week's Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge, we are sharing something we wish we knew more about. Wow! That list is endless for me. As an eager learner, I am open to learning new things. In the short term, I wish I knew more about gardening. Not that I couldn't learn about gardening. It's just that it takes time, and time is in short supply around here. 

Real estate has truly exploded this year. We expected it, but it's always a blessing when people seek you out. Right now, the level at which I am working doesn't leave room for many leisure pursuits. I can barely dedicate time to reading, and my writing is collecting virtual dust. All is good, though. It will make that retirement date I set that much sweeter. 

How about you? What's something you wish you knew more about? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Flowery Books & Tell Me Something Tuesday: What's a skill you'd like to master?

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 back to Tuesday! This week, as expected, will be hectic. We arrived home yesterday, and I am playing catch-up from being gone. Here are a couple of photos from our trip to see the Lil' Princess:

Me, Hubby, Lil' Princess, Lil' Diva, & the Son-in-Love after Pinning

Together again the night of graduation. She is officially a UNCW alumna! 

This week, Top Ten Tuesday is celebrating May Flowers, the companion to April Showers. Here are my...

Top Ten Favorite Flowery Books

The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook by Kate Macdonald

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and narrated by Carrie Hope Fletcher

204 Rosewood Lane by Debbie Macomber

A Mother's Love by Charlotte Hubbard

Return to Tradd Street by Karen White

The Lost Hours by Karen White

Growing a Mother's Heart by Karen Whiting

The Madhatter's Guide to Chocolate by Rhett Devane

Juliet by Anne Fortier

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 an intriguing question this week: What's a skill you'd like to master? 

This is such a long list for me because there are days when I feel so... lacking. However, if I had to choose one, I would choose active listening. I am a talker, and not such a great listener. Bad thing for my job and life in general. People can't feel heard if they don't believe you are listening, but it's like my mind goes a mile a minute, and thoughts race through my head when people are talking, and they come out whether I want them to or not. I think my brain needs a chill pill. LOL!

That's it for me this week. I will be on the road most of the day, but I will check in with you all later.