It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - July 6 (Happy 19th Blogoversary to TBC!)

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 from the Outer Banks! We have started our second week of vacation. Sadly, we said goodbye to the Lil' Princess early Sunday so that she could start her new job today. It is different without her here, but we are so thrilled for this new adventure she has embarked on. I will share photos from our trip once we are back.

Happy Independence Day to all who celebrated this weekend. July 4 also marked the 19th anniversary for me here at The Book Connection! I thank each and every one of you for your loyal readership, your comments, and your online friendship. 

As I had planned, I am doing my best to catch up with my reading. I also might have bought a couple of new books. Shocking, I know! 

I reviewed Digital Detox for Remote Workers: Reclaim Your Focus, Productivity, and Work-Life Balance in the Digital Age by Dr. Guenter H. Schamel. You can find that review here.

I reviewed Hi Honey, I'm Homo!: Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture by Matt Baume. You can read that review here. 

I have about an hour left with Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. Loving so much about it.

I  have not picked up The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller while here, because other books need to be read first. 

I am almost done with The Ledger by Steven Manchester, a companion to his novel The Menu. 

I didn't pick up The Eyes of River yet either. 

I read some of Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts since our arrival. 

Staged by Caitlin Rother, which is the sequel to Hooked. I haven't cracked it open so far, but it is on my list. 

The Ghost and the Key is the first book in Bill Cusano's The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club series. I reviewed this book on July 1. You can read the review and enter the giveaway here.

I finished the second book of The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club, The Widow Murderess. My review will appear on July 8. 

Book three is The Sparrow and the Crow. I will post a First Chapter Review of this one on July 10, the last day of the tour and giveaway. Then I will post a full review later. 

Massawa by Pam Weber is a book I have not yet started, but it is with me if I get to it. 

Joyce McCullough sent me a copy of Max and Her Stacks and Look for the Pink Ribbons to review. 

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. 

I always buy books on vacation. These were two used ones I grabbed from Downtown Books in Manteo. 

Upcoming Events

The Ledger by Steven Manchester - TBD (Review)

Staged by Caitlin Rother - TBD (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 (First Chapter Review)

Massawa by Pam Weber - July (Review)

Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts - TBD (Review)

Christmas Year Round

Sunday's Journey through Christmases Past spent Christmas with the Ingalls family, discussing some of my favorite Christmas chapters from the Little House books. You can find that post here. 

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

I reviewed Look for the Pink Ribbons by Joyce McCullough at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. You will find that review here.

Laura's Little Houses

Here are the latest posts at Laura's Little Houses:

• Little House on the Prairie Netflix Premiere Coming July 9 with a link to the trailer. See here.
• Favorite Little House on the Prairie Movie, which I talk about here.
• This weekend's post is about the role of adoption on the show. You can read about Adoption on Little House on the Prairie here. I learned something new about adoption law while performing research for this post. Hope you find it interesting. 

Not sure what is planned for today, so I will check in with you as I am able. Looking forward to connecting with you now that I am caught up on old posts. 

Audible Book Review: Digital Detox for Remote Workers by Dr. Guenter H. Schamel

 

Looking to break away from the remote working world? Are you burnt out by Slack and Zoom and that constantly on feeling? Then Digital Detox for Remote Workers: Reclaim Your Focus, Productivity, and Work-Life Balance in the Digital Age by Dr. Guenter H. Schamel. 

Schamel's helpful resource is a good first step in making a change. For those of us who work remotely, it's so easy to spend more time than the standard workday at your computer. It can be so hard to put down the phone and step away, feeling like you aren't fulfilling your clients' needs or that the one time you break away and attempt balance, you must sacrifice productivity. Meanwhile, your productivity and focus suffer from trying to juggle it all unsuccessfully. 

Digital Detox for Remote Workers is about setting healthy boundaries, avoiding burnout, and resetting your mental energy. Though narrated by Virtual Voice, I did not find it distracting. I feel this is one of those books that is best used in printed format because of how the strategies are outlined and put into practice, but I found it useful in getting me started. Definitely worth the listening time.

Part of series	Thriving in Remote Work
Listening Length	6 hours and 19 minutes
Author	Guenter H. Schamel
Narrator	Virtual Voice
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	November 21, 2025
Publisher	Independently Published
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0FXDPYCRX

I purchased 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.

Audible Book Review: Hi Honey, I'm Homo!: Sitcoms, Special, and the Queering of American Culture by Matt Baume

 

If you enjoy well-researched, engaging pop culture books as much as I do, Hi Honey, I'm Homo!: Sitcoms, Specials, and The Queering of American Culture, authored and narrated by Matt Baume, should be on your list. 

From Bewitched to Modern Family and everything in between, Baume guides readers on an engaging journey through television history and its evolving portrayals of the LGBTQ+ community, including how these characters have helped shape broader social understanding.

As a Gen Xer, I now realize how often television in my youth portrayed people who didn’t fit the perceived “norm” in ways that were unkind or limiting. Either that, or I was simply too young to recognize how groundbreaking and controversial sitcoms like Soap were when they first aired. I barely remembered characters like Beverly LaSalle on All in the Family or Officer Zatelli’s coming‑out moment on Barney Miller. I’d like to think that’s because I didn’t view them as anything other than part of the larger cast of characters simply existing within the story. Moments from The Golden Girls and Ellen were likely the first times I consciously recognized that a show was making a deliberate point about inclusion and representation.

Hi Honey, I'm Homo! is thought-provoking, and the research and commentary are placed alongside what was going on in the country at the time. Truly a great read!

Listening Length	6 hours and 41 minutes
Author	Matt Baume
Narrator	Matt Baume
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	May 23, 2023
Publisher	Dreamscape Media
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0BZ1GGJ4J

I purchased 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.

Book Review & Giveaway: The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club: The Ghost and The Key by Bill Cusano

Bill Cusano introduces readers to The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club with his debut novel, The Ghost and the Key. 

Our story opens in 1832, with Elcria Cranberry and Deborah Townsend, two women who clearly had motive to murder Elcria's husband, Chester H. Cranberry. But who truly committed the heinous act remains a mystery 192 years later. 

In the current day, Cranberry family matriarch Mildred dreams of the day her granddaughter Maggie inherits Cranberry Farm, but when Maggie gets engaged to Sam Castleby, son of a developer, Mildred worries what that might mean for her family's beloved farm. And when a descendant of Chester's illegitimate child uncovers evidence about his murder, Mildred will need all the support she can muster to fend off a challenge to claim the title of Cranberry Farm. Can the ghost of Elcria help her solve a family mystery and reveal the secret history of the Ladies Garden Club of Old Cranberry?

For fans of cozy mysteries with unique and engaging characters, The Ghost and the Key will certainly fit the bill. From Mildred to Aunt Sylvie to Jacqueline Hudson and more, this book is filled with fun and eccentric characters. Having two characters with M names and two with E names was a bit confusing at times, but the author does include a "Cast of Characters" page to help you keep it all straight. 

The Ghost and the Key is told in present tense, which I find challenging as a reader and a writer. It's not my first choice,  but Cusano makes it work. Though I felt there were extraneous details an editor could tighten up, this was an enjoyable mystery from beginning to end. 

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0F7CVTVFJ
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ 4610 Publishing
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 15, 2025
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 342 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8992542608
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.01 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.76 x 9 inches

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

Tour Participants:

Click through the other tour stops for can’t-miss reviews, insider interviews, exclusive guest posts, and more chances to win!

Click here to view the Tour Schedule

  

When Crows Circle… It’s Time to Enter to Win

This giveaway is hosted by Partners in Crime Tours for Bill Cusano. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.

The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club by Bill Cusano | Surprise Gift Box w/ Gift Card

Can't see the giveaway? Click Here!

Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Tours

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Have You Ever Attended Your High School Reunion? Why?

 

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 from the overly tired, rather cranky real estate agent. I will be on the road early this morning, but will likely check in with you later as we talk about an interesting subject this week: Have you ever attended your high school reunion? Why?

Like some of you, high school was a time of terrible bullying and loneliness for me. Actually, I was made fun of from the day I entered first grade until the day I graduated high school, so one might think I don't attend these events. 

Lo and behold, one of the least popular kids ever to walk the face of the planet coordinated our very first high school reunion ten years after we graduated. All by myself, I might add, because again, I was unpopular. Also because our class officers were no longer local, and someone asked me to. I gladly turned the reins over to the popular kids, who have coordinated all the others. 

This summer, our class will gather for our 40th high school reunion at a classmate’s home. We’re still deciding whether we’ll go (the husband and I graduated together), but here’s what I’ve realized: life has a remarkable way of leveling the playing field. Somewhere along the way, it stops mattering who was popular or invisible, who fit in or who didn’t. Adulthood redistributes confidence, success, and happiness in ways childhood never could. In some ways, I am still that shy, unsure kid. In others, I have outgrown the desire to feel anything less than equal to my former classmates. I no longer feel the pain of their past judgment. I don't allow my worth to be defined by anyone but me. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Make Me Think of Summer & Tell Me Something Tuesday: Do you have any summer plans? If not, what would you like to do?

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. 

Dropping in to say hi and attempt to participate in this week's Top Ten Tuesday. Though we are supposed to share books on our summer to-read lists, I have been in such a reading lull that there seemed to be no value in talking about the same books again. However, I would love to share something I heard while listening to a book yesterday that will forever change how I approach reading. 

While listening to Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman in my car, my ears immediately perked up when he said that instead of seeing the unread books in our TBR piles as sitting in some collection bucket to be emptied, we should treat our TBR piles like a river-- a flowing stream of possibilities you can dip into and choose what you feel like reading, letting the rest float on by. Why have I not thought of this before? Just think how freeing that would be. 

In honor of this new enlightenment, I am simply sharing books that make me think of summer, because vacation is inching closer to reality, and these books make me want to embrace summer even more than I did a week ago.

Top Ten Books That Make Me Think of Summer

1. The Beach Trees by Karen White

2. Sunset on Moonlight Beach by Sheila Roberts

3. Summer of Secrets by Charlotte Hubbard

4. Beach Read by Emily Henry

5. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

6. A Summer to Remember by Mary Balogh

7. The Summer of Lost and Found by Mary Alice Monroe

8. The Summer Cottage by Viola Shipman

9. The Bookshop by the Shore by Jenny Colgan

10. The Secret Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams

Photo credit to articular on Magnific (formerly FreePik)

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: Do you have any summer plans? If not, what would you like to do?

My goal this first week of summer is to stay out of jail if someone’s chewing is so loud I might commit a felony. Do I sound stressed? 

In all seriousness, I am looking forward to our annual family trip to the Outer Banks. We leave Friday evening, will stay in a hotel, and then finish the trip to the OBX Saturday. That is the joy of taking two weeks off--well, as off as a totally connected real estate agent can pretend to be. But working from the beach house is definitely different. Now, if I learn how to carry back home some of those vacation boundaries and implement them here, I will be much better off. 

How about you? Any plans this summer? Any day trips? Those can't be overrated. They can often be just what we need. Any family reunions in the plans? Inquiring minds want to know. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - June 22

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! Hope you had a nice week. Ours was busy. In addition to work, we drove to Maine to get the rest of the Lil' Princess' things set up for when she arrives there in July. We did that all in one day, so at least we know that it's a manageable one-day trip. Thankfully, we will get about a week with her in North Carolina before she flies to Maine to start her new job.

Speaking of jobs, real estate broke me last week. Too long to get into, but I am in the process of regrouping and wondering if I really can do this until I retire. Time will tell. 

Hope all the dads and dad figures enjoyed their Father's Day. My heart goes out to anyone who is missing their dad. We went out with the Lil' Diva and her husband for a few hours. Then we hung out at home. The Christmas lights finally came off the front of the house. I am sure my neighbors will be thrilled. Lil' Diva has had our ladder since last year. We finally got it back so we could reach the lights. 

Here are a couple of photos from last week:

Rick's Place had the grand opening of our new space

Theo on the road to Maine

In my reading world, I now have three reviews to write. I finished Digital Detox for Remote Workers: Reclaim Your Focus, Productivity, and Work-Life Balance in the Digital Age by Dr. Guenter H. Schamel.

Then I started listening to Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. This book is probably the only reason I didn't go homicidal last week. 

I picked up The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller again, but I really need to stick to my review schedule, which is a total mess right now. 

I need to finish The Ledger by Steven Manchester, a companion to his novel The Menu. 

I didn't pick up The Eyes of River by Cindy K. Sproles, but it is in my backpack for vacation.

I started Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts, which came out in May. This is also in my backpack. 

Staged by Caitlin Rother, which is the sequel to Hooked. Wanted to have it finished this month. Not likely, but will definitely keep reading. 

These are next:

The Ghost and the Key is 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 also take on vacation. 

Joyce McCullough sent me a copy of Max and Her Stacks and Look for the Pink Ribbons to review. 

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. 

Thanks to last week's blogging wishes on Tuesday, I received this book in the mail.

Jaime Jo Wright is one of my favorite authors. Thanks to the person who gifted me Tempest at Annabel's Lighthouse. I truly appreciate that you thought of me. 

Upcoming Events

The Ledger by Steven Manchester - June (Review)

Staged by Caitlin 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

Last week's Journey through Christmases Past celebrated TV dads through the decades. You can read it here. 

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

 Nothing new this week, but will be reviewing Joyce's books soon.

Laura's Little Houses

Nothing new this week. Likely won't be until vacation time in July. 

I will be honest and say it will likely be tonight before I visit your blogs. I have appointments starting at 9:00 and ending at 3:30. Then I need to come home and do family stuff. Say a prayer that I last until we leave on vacation Friday evening.