Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Happy Pub Day, Karen White - The Shop on Royal Street

 


The first in a new spinoff series of Karen White's New York Times bestselling Tradd Street novels.

After a difficult hiccup on her road to adulthood, Nola Trenholm is looking to begin anew in New Orleans, and what better way to start her future than with her first house? But the historic fixer-upper she buys comes with even more work than she anticipated when the house's previous occupants don't seem to be ready to depart. Although she can't communicate with ghosts like her stepmother, luckily Nola knows someone in New Orleans who can--even if he's the last person on earth she wants anything to do with, ever again. Because Beau Ryan comes with his own dark past, a past that involves the disappearance of his sister and parents during Hurricane Katrina, and the unsolved murder of a woman who once lived in the old Creole Cottage Nola is determined to make her own whether or not the resident restless spirits agree...

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley (March 29, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593334582
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593334584
  • Purchase here!

Monday, March 28, 2022

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Mar 28

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 to the final Monday of March. Right now, spring is playing that elusive dance we find this time of year in New England: one day the temperatures are warm and you think you can put away the shovels, then the next it is so cold you're wearing a parka and seeing flurries. At the moment, any moisture we are expecting should be rain, but mornings are going to be in the high teens and low twenties. 

I just finished this long editing project and have two more to work on. This is one of my favorite things to do, and explains why I am not reading more lately. Since my time has been limited, I am reading to stay on track with my daily Bible plan instead of reading anything else. I also started all my Blogging from A to Z Challenge posts for April. 

The Lil' Princess and I are heading to Wilmington, NC this coming weekend for a college tour. I think UNC - Wilmington will be where she is headed in the fall. This trip will help her decide. Hopefully, I will get a little reading done while we are away.

I am in the middle of this one. 


I read and scheduled my First Chapter Review of They Called Him Marvin for next month's virtual book tour. I still need to read the first chapter of The Road to Me. 


I am also reading this book in between others. 



These have to be next:

Review coming April 29



Review coming May 27 at TC&TBC


Review coming June 7 at TC&TBC


Review coming June 22 at TC&TBC

Maybe by the time vacation rolls around I will get to these:











Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

My physical mailbox was empty, but I am glad since I am not keeping up with what I need to read. How has your reading been going? Are you staying on track? 

Sunday, March 20, 2022

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Mar 21

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 are back to Monday. It just so happens to be the first Monday of spring 2022. We are supposed to reach a high of 55 degrees. I can sure take that. I am so ready for it to be warm and sunny. I got a taste of good weather in Kentucky. 


The Seelbach Hotel



Opening day - National Anthem


Jade Simmons on Day 1


Magie Cook on Day 2


Visit to Churchill Downs to watch the horse races

My first Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices conference was amazing. Two fascinating and inspiring women of color shared their stories and their inspiration with us. We ate a ton of great food and had some entertainment--a visit to Churchill Downs on Monday and Lenny Kravitz in concert on Tuesday. I enjoyed my time in Kentucky, but I was thrilled to come home and see the family. The Lil' Princess spent a few days in Florida while I was away, and I picked her up on Thursday night. She goes back to school tomorrow. 

Reading seems to be the one thing I can't accomplish lately. I read some of this one on the plane. 


I read and scheduled my First Chapter Review of They Called Him Marvin for next month's virtual book tour. I still need to read the first chapter of The Road to Me. 


I have also started this one again. For whatever reason, business non-fiction doesn't always engage me these days. This book comes highly recommended. Have you ever read it?



These have to be next:

Review coming April 29



Review coming May 27 at TC&TBC


Review coming June 7 at TC&TBC


Review coming June 22 at TC&TBC

Maybe by the time vacation rolls around I will get to these:











Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

My physical mailbox was empty, but these three e-books arrived in my Inbox for reviews in May and June. 





That's it for me this week. Hope you have a lovely day filled with great books. 

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Blogging from A to Z April Challenge

 


It's that time of year again! The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge returns for 2022. You can learn more here.

The theme of the A to Z Challenge main blog this year is:

ACCOMPLISHING YOUR DREAMS, AND THE DUALITY OF 22


I have participated in this challenge more than once, but it has been years since I committed to it. I'm not sure how it will go, but I'll give it a shot. They have a great team coordinating the challenge and more than 70 bloggers already signed up to participate. They also have an extensive list of categories if you are looking to focus your posts.

For 2022, I have decided to participate in the category of women's interest. I could stick with something writing related, but I miss my mommy blog and hope you will indulge me during the month of April as I attempt to create 26 posts geared toward women. 

Will you join the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge in 2022? If so, what do you think you'll blog about?

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Books With My Least Favorite Tropes/Themes

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 we have a fun topic: favorite tropes or themes. I am definitely a reader of habit, who is drawn to certain genres and characters. Tropes and themes can play a part in that. Since I talked about my favorite tropes back in 2019 (see here), I've decided to flip this topic upside down and talk about my...

Top Ten Books With My Least Favorite Tropes/Themes


Love triangles - It is possible, and likely, that love triangles are my least favorite trope. Someone always gets hurts, which seems so against the whole concept of love. I like to live in my fantasy world where every story has a happy ending, especially if romance is involved. 


The hero dies - Heroes are constantly putting themselves in harm's way, but they are supposed to survive. It's like an unspoken rule of books and movies. Well, it's not, but it should be.


Totally evil characters - Because I enjoy exploring the psychology of characters, I am fascinated with sympathetic villains. That's why my brain has a challenge wrapping itself around characters that are pure evil. It by Stephen King isn't the best choice, because it is a creature, not a person who would have been born into this world innocent, but no one can deny It is totally evil. 


Bullies - Where would books and movies be without bullies? Is a protagonist really learning anything without the trials and tribulations they endure as a result of their antagonist? Would Harry Potter have grown into the young man he did without Draco? Possibly, he was fulfilling his destiny after all. But, Draco is not only an elitist, he is jealous of Harry, so he takes great pleasure in making the chosen one's life miserable as often as he can. As someone who was bullied from the day she entered elementary school until the day she graduated from high school, I struggle with literary bullies. 


Insta-Love - You know, the kind that makes you do silly things? Not a fan. 


Sexual assault - This is part of why I have moved to mostly cozy mysteries; I like unraveling a mystery, but can't stomach the details of a character's sexual assault. This is becoming an issue for me with true crime as well. 


Secret babies - Even when done well, a romantic story that involves a secret baby isn't one I am drawn to reading. The funny thing is I enjoy books with family secrets. Not sure how that computes. 


Moms portrayed as acting badly - So, I have to preface this one with saying I enjoyed this book. Jean Dixon is a mom of two college-age daughters and a five-year-old son, so dealing with all that is challenging. The reason I liked this book is because the character seemed more real to me than some other literary moms. However, she is often not a nice person. 


When an author's books are so similar, you feel like you're reading the same story over and again - Well, that was a long one. As much as I love White's books, for a while I had to stop reading new releases. I simply felt like I was reading similar plots with different characters. 


The lights go out and a character dies - In this novel, the storm makes it easy to work into the plot, but at least that helps it to fit into the storyline. I've just never been a fan of it. 

So, what do you think about my least favorite tropes/themes? Am I too picky? Are some of these your favorites?