Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: What I Wish for My Blogging Friends

 

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 asks that you share your link on their weekly post on their website (it 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.  

Though the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is on hiatus until the new year, I created my own for today. Hope you will still visit Long and Short Reviews to see what they are reading and writing about. 

Today, I am sharing...

What I Wish for My Blogging Friends

For close to twenty years, I've been blessed by the support of and conversations with my blogging friends. I've met so many wonderful people and made numerous connections that, decades ago, would never have been easily possible. So, for you, my blogging friends, I wish...

• An abundance of creativity inside and outside of the blogosphere;
• Overflowing amounts of love and community near and far;
• A world filled with kindness and peace;
• The ability and motivation to meet your goals and obtain your dreams;
• A new year brimming with hope, joy, good health, family, and friends.

Thank you for your loyal readership. Happy holidays!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Hope Santa Brings/Bookish Wishes & Tell Me Something Tuesday: What's a Song That Always Makes You Want to Dance?

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! It's almost Christmas Eve. Are you ready for the holidays? I am not, but no matter how much I get done between today and tomorrow, it will be wonderful to have all the kids together. 

For this week's Top Ten Tuesday, we are talking about books that we hope Santa brings or our bookish wishes. I think I will do five and five for this post. So, here are...

My Top Five Books I Hope Santa Brings

 &

My Top Five Bookish Wishes

Under the Mistletoe by Penny Zeller

Stupid TV, Be More Funny: How the Golden Era of The Simpsons Changed Television--and America--Forever by Alan Siegl

From Little Houses to Little Women: Revisiting a Literary Childhood by Nancy McCabe

The Santa Claus Girl by Patricia P. Goodin

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

Bookish Wish #1: The inspiration and energy to set up a home library in the spare bedroom. 

Bookish Wish #2: The self-control to buy fewer books in 2026. 

Bookish Wish #3: The discipline to finish writing Sheltered Hearts by the summer.

Bookish Wish #4: The motivation to continue submitting Home for the Heart if the two current agents considering it do not offer a contract.

Bookish Wish #5: The determination to carve out more regular writing time in 2026. 

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 leave your comments in the weekly post when participating. Check it out if you would like to join.

What a neat topic for this week: What's a song that always makes you want to dance? As a former ballerina and a person who loves music, that is a lengthy list. Here are choices from each decade I've been alive:

1960s - "Honky Tonk Woman" by The Rolling Stones

1970s - "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire

1980s - "Celebration" by Kool & The Gang 

1990s - "This is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan

2000s - "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)" by Beyoncé

2010s - "Uptown Funk" - by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars

2020s - "Dance the Night" by Dua Lipa 

What are some songs that make you want to dance? 

What Happened to Monday's Post?

Happy Monday, now that it is almost over. We made a trip to NYC on Sunday, so I did not post anything for It's Monday! What Are You Reading? or Mailbox Monday. I will catch up on those posts next week. Here are a few photos from our trip.

Met up with our unofficially adopted daughter for brunch at Lilly's Craft & Kitchen

Rockefeller Center was crowded 

We had dinner at John's of Times Square (pizzeria in a converted church)

After dinner, we made our way to Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes. In honor of their 100th anniversary, they refreshed the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. 

We had a blast, but we didn't arrive home until 3:00 a.m. Monday morning, and I am still working through tomorrow. Hope you had a nice weekend!

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Something I Wish I Were Better At Doing

 

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 asks that you share your link on their weekly post on their website (it 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! I'm still catching up this week, but I will visit my blogging friends once I have time.

Today, we are talking about something we wish we were better at doing. Oh my, that is a very long list for me. I will stick with the top three:

1. Drawing/painting/crafting in general
2. Gardening
3. Self-care

As a creative person, I wish I had more skills in the art department. Writing will have to be it for me. 

I love, love, love to garden. However, I am dismal at it. I can recreate a garden plan with instructions, but have no ability to know what goes well where otherwise, and struggle to keep some things alive.

Self-care is such a struggle for me. I need to be better at it for everyone's sake, but it's the thing that goes out the window first when I get busy.

How about you? What is something you wish you were better at?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on My Winter 2025-2026 To-Read List & Tell Me Something Tuesday: Have you been disappointed by the end of a series? If so, did you read that author again?

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. 

Another day of express posts. Our annual Adopt-A-Family program is coming to a close, so I will be away from the computer for a day or two. I will catch up on visiting your blogs later this week. 

Today, we are sharing books on our Winter 2025-2025 TBR list. At least one of them may look familiar. 

Top Ten Books on My 

Winter 2025-2026 To-Read List 

I grabbed Christmas on Reindeer Road by Debbie Mason as a reward from Thriftbooks.

Chapters and Second Chances by Evelyn Grace Berry was a recent giveaway win. 

Lea Schizas sent me a copy of Old Flames, New Beginnings when it first came out. 

I've owned Bright Lights, Prairie Dust by Karen Grassle since it first came out. 

Story by Story by Wendy Lou Lee is her latest book. 

I picked up Dick Van Dyke's 100 Rules for Living to 100 thanks to Audible credits. 

I was on the launch team for I Heard the Bells by Darlene L.Turner et al. 

Christmas at Whispering Creek by Barbara M. Britton is a Kindle freebie I grabbed a while ago. 

I bought a Kindle copy of The End of the Treachery by H.B. Berlow to continue this series. 

I was on the launch team for The Christmas Book Flood by Roseanna M. White. 

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 leave your comments in the weekly post when participating. Check it out if you would like to join.

Today, we reflect on book series. Have I ever been disappointed by the end of a series? Likely, only because there are no more books. Such was the case with Charlottte Hubbard's Promise Lodge series and Karen White's Tradd Street series. It was also a bummer when Duffy Brown's Consignment Shop Mystery series ended. Perhaps the saddest series endings for me were the following: Marilyn Meredith/F.M. Meredith's Tempe Crabtree and Rocky Bluff P.D. books and the Left Behind series. If these authors wrote new books for any of these series, I would definitely read them. Heck, if Charlotte or Marilyn came out of retirement, I would read any of their books in a heartbeat. 

Looking forward to reading your answers.  

First Chapter Review: Christmas in Newfoundland 3: Sgt. Windflower Holiday Tales by Mike Martin

 

Christmas in Newfoundland 3: Sgt. Windflower Holiday Tales by Mike Martin is on tour with Pump Up Your Book. This is a collection of Christmas stories. 

BLURB: Sgt. Windflower loves Christmas and we’re happy to share what he and his family and friends do at Christmastime in Grand Bank or Marystown or Ramea, Newfoundland. Some of the stories feature Windflower and Sheila’s adorable daughters and of course Eddie Tizzard and his family make several spotlight appearances. Other stories take you back to Christmas seasons of many years long past and there’s even a return of a fabulous Newfoundland tradition, the Mummers. Christmas is a time to celebrate but it is also a time to reminisce and remember. We hope that it will bring back pleasant memories for you and your family to share at Christmas and throughout the year. Come celebrate Christmas in Newfoundland with Sgt. Windflower Mysteries.

 

COVER: I love the colors on this cover and the Christmas scene. You see that this is a coastal area, and the snow makes it feel seasonal. 

FIRST CHAPTER: Since this is a story collection, I read the entire first story. Sgt. Winston Windflower and his growing family have relocated to St. John's thanks to a new job opportunity. Having taken in young Stella after her mother passed away, in this story, she takes a liking to a new activity, which leads to a special request from Santa Claus. 

KEEP READING: I've already read a couple of books in this series, so I knew what to expect. Martin delivers a charming, relatable tale of the season with "Waiting for Santa." The third-person narrator maintains a lively tone as they guide the reader through the story of a girl who is confident that her wish will be granted. Such a special story. I look forward to reading more from this collection. 

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0FXYFHGX8
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ottawa Press and Publishing
• Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 27, 2025
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 3.1 MB
• Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled 
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled 
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 161 pages 
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1990896330

I downloaded this book through my Kindle Unlimited membership. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - Dec 15

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 to the middle of December! The month is moving swiftly along. This will be the express version of my weekly post because I haven't had much time to read. The good news: the Lil' Princess is home for the holidays! Here are photos from the week:

RAPV Holiday Luncheon

The Author Stroll (sold many books)

Never leave a cabinet open around Dwight

The Lil' Princes is home!

Look for my First Chapter Review of Christmas in Newfoundland 3: Sgt. Windflower Holiday Tales by Mike Martin today. 

I am behind with this Advent devotional by Cynthia Ruchti, but I'm still reading. 

I need to get my review of Captain LOL and Rubber Chicken by Craig Yoe posted soon.

Need to finish The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts. 

I also need to finish  Crescent City Christmas Chaos by Ellen Byron.

Still want to read  Old Flames, New Beginnings by Lea Schizas.

Do you think I can focus on my TBR pile in 2026, or will new books tempt me?

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. 

The only new books that arrived were free gifts from authors whose newsletters I read. 

The first is Christmas Cold Case by Sarah Hamaker, and the second is The Night Everything Changed by Tripp Berry and Evelyn Grace Berry, which is a collection of two Christmas stories. 

Upcoming Events

Taking a break for the holidays. Be back with more fun in 2026! 

This week's Christmas... in the news post is up at Christmas Year Round. We are discussing binge-watching 2025 films, best Christmas movies to stream this season, and what makes a great Christmas song. You can find that here. 

I posted about the Little House on the Prairie Christmas Reunion, which took place this past weekend in Simi Valley, California, over at Laura's Little Houses. Check it out here. 

Looking forward to visiting you today!