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. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Mar 16

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 weekend. We are expecting a wet and windy day, but at least we aren't in Wisconsin. Some areas had 20 inches of snow by midday on Sunday. I hope everyone there remains safe. 

My real estate schedule is filling up, and this weekend I worked most of Sunday. I had a speaking engagement on Thursday, which went well, and had a few appointments and showings. This coming week shows more red dots on my calendar, indicating things to do.

Here are a few photos from last week:

Dwight and Travis enjoyed the two sunny and warm days we had 

Bought myself some overalls

Vegetarian stir-fry during our Lenten fast

I finished listening to 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist's Guide to a Happy Life by Dick Van Dyke. Look for my review soon. 

I listened to Hazel Gaynor's Before Dorothy last week, and it is getting interesting. 

I finished Dream Facades: The Cruel Architecture of Reality TV by Jack Balderrama Morley. Look for my review coming soon. 

I started Agatha Christie, She Watched by Teresa Peschel, for an April review. 

I also started Murder, Local Style by Leslie Karst, which is for an April 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 received a digital copy of The Ledger by Steven Manchester for review, which is a follow-up to The Menu, which I mentioned here. 

Upcoming Events

Women's Freedom: The Dawn of Possibilities by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein - Mar (Review)

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

Christmas Year Round's blog has two new posts since last week:

"Journey Through Christmases Past - Christmas 1918" here, and "Journey Through Christmases Past - Christmas 2001" here. Next week's post will be lighter. 

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Nothing new. 

Laura's Little Houses

Nothing new.

I have appointments this morning, so I look forward to visiting you in the afternoon. Enjoy your day!

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books About My Favorite Topic

 

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! The middle of the workweek for some, and just another day for others. We are expecting a spot of rain today, but the temperatures are still nice. I will take any day I don't have to wear winter gloves. 

This week's Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge asks me to share books about my favorite topic. Narrowing down one favorite topic is tough, but I will go with writing. Here are a few great books about writing:

• Bird by Bird byAnne Lamott
• On Writing by Stephen King
• Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
• The Elements of Style by Strunk & White
• Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell
• The Well-fed Writer by Peter Bowerman

Have you read any of these? What are some books about your favorite topic? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Book Titles with Ordinal Numbers and Tell Me Something Tuesday: If you could have any celebrity be your best friend, who would you pick?

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! In honor of our springlike temperatures, I gave the blog an update. I'm done with winter, even though snow is likely in the forecast for next week. 

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is about titles with ordinal numbers. Ashamed to admit I had to look up what that meant, but math has never been my strength. Here is my list of...

Top Ten Book Titles

 with Ordinal Numbers

1. The First Fall by Erin Flanagan
2. The Third Girl by Agatha Christie
3. The First Actress by C.W. Gortner
4. The Fourth Grade Fuss by Johanna Hurwitz
5. The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall
6. The Second Chance Supper Club by Nicole Meier
7. The Fifth Avenue Story Society by Rachel Hauck
8. The Seventh Survivor by Rachel Amphlett
9. The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner 
10. The Sixth Lamentation by William Brodrick

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 today: "If you could have any celebrity be your best friend, who would you pick?" 

There are so many who would make wonderful choices: 

• Sandra Bullock for her honesty, 
• Kelly Clarkson because she is so sweet and kind, 
• Dolly Parton because she offers sage advice, 
• Donnie Wahlberg because he acts all tough but has a soft side. 

If I chose a celebrity I've met, I would go with Alison Arngrim. Yes, it's nasty Nellie Oleson from Little House on the Prairie. She is amazing in person; so sweet and funny and unbelievably smart. I try to connect with her at any reunion I attend, but sometimes I run out of time. Dean Butler's line is always incredibly long, and he is first on my list. She is coming to Massachusetts this year, and I won't be here. I'm so bummed. But I will keep my eye out for more appearances in my area. 

Who is a celebrity you would like as a best friend or one you have met in person? 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - Mar 9

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. 

Here we are again on Monday. Hope you had a nice weekend. As I am typing, it's late Sunday, and my eyes are blurry from reading and notetaking all afternoon, but it was a productive week. Here are a few photos:

Made vegetable broth 

The Lil' Princess was home for a quick trip

We visited the new Hobby Lobby, and I picked up a cross-stitch kit

It was nice to have the Lil' Princess home for a few days. She flew in late Thursday and headed back to school Sunday afternoon. I worked Friday morning, but I kept the rest of the weekend for her, and we went shopping for a graduation dress. We each bought an embroidery kit and worked on them Saturday night. 

In my blogging and reading world, I posted reviews of:

The Curious Life of Cecilia Payne: Discovering the Stuff of Stars by Laura Alary. You can read it here.

The Lost Hummingbird by Janice Blanchett. The review can be found here.

I also posted a First Chapter Review of ZigZag Girl by Ruth Knafo Setton. You can read that review and enter the giveaway here.

I listened to this one in the car this week. I have less than two hours to go with my listening of 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist's Guide to a Happy Life by Dick Van Dyke.

I didn't read Hazel Gaynor's Before Dorothy last week since I am still reading Van Dyke's book. 

I finished Dream Facades: The Cruel Architecture of Reality TV by Jack Balderrama Morley. Great book. Most of it was interesting, but it had a weak ending. 

Next up is Agatha Christie, She Watched by Teresa Peschel, for an April review. I am so excited to dive into this one. 

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 did not order anything new this week, but I downloaded a NetGalley copy of Murder, Local Style by Leslie Karst for my April review. 

Upcoming Events

Women's Freedom: The Dawn of Possibilities by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein - Mar (Review)

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)

Christmas Year Round

Christmas Year Round's blog has not gotten a new post yet, because I was busy reading. It should be posted today. 

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

My reviews of the two books I read were posted above. 

Laura's Little Houses

I finally finished my profile of Albert Quinn Ingalls. You can read it here. 

Netflix announced it ordered a second season of Little House on the Prairie ahead of the series' July 9 premiere. I shared that here. Are you planning to watch it? 

That's it for me this week. I have appointments this morning, so it might be the afternoon before I visit your blog. Enjoy your day!