It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - Dec 2

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 December! Can you believe it? I sure can't. Hope those who celebrated had a nice Thanksgiving. We hosted and got a chance to meet the Lil' Diva's fiancé. He has been deployed for most of their relationship. Here are a few photos from the long weekend.

Homemade bread from the bread maker

The Lil' Diva put together a charcuterie board

The Lil' Princess and I visited Tandem Bagel Saturday

Dwight is already contemplating how to get into the tree

The Lil' Princess heads back to North Carolina this afternoon. She will return home for semester break on December 14, the day of our company's annual gala. It will be nice to have her home for longer than a few days.

I did not complete NaNoWriMo this year, but I wrote just over 14,000 words for the new novel. With any luck, I can finish the first draft in December. With four closings before the end of the year and Christmas preparations, that might be a lofty goal. 

I updated what I am selling on eBay. If you want to take a look, you will find my active listings here.

I read some of this historical romance during the week.

Reviewed this picture book at my children's book blog. Check it out here.

My review of this one appears on Goodreads. You can read it here or check in with my blog on December 11th. 

I posted my review of this one on Goodreads. You can read it here or check out The Children's and Teens' Book Connection today. 

My first chapter review of this one will appear on December 18th. 

I started this devotional on Sunday.

These are the books I am looking to read before starting any new ones.

Upcoming events:

• Princess Sophie and the Christmas Elixir by Mike Martin - December 2 (Review - TC&TBC)
• Jingles by D.F. Jones - December 11 (Review)
• Scandalous in Huntington Beach by Melody Deblois - Dec 18 (First Chapter Review - TBC)

You can read the latest Christmas news at the Christmas Year Round blog. For this week's in the news segment, we talked about Kate Middleton's annual Christmas letter, the special stop for the Santa Train going through the Appalachian mountain towns, and NORAD's annual preparations. Check all the news here.

I will do my best to visit your blogs today. I'm driving the Lil' Princess to the airport, which means a three-hour ride. Then I have appointments. I look forward to seeing what's going on in your lives and what books you've read. Enjoy your day!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - Nov 25

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.    

Happy Monday! Hope you enjoyed your reading week last week. Posting this early since I have appointments tomorrow morning. 

Curious to know if you are celebrating Thanksgiving this week. If you are, what's your favorite side dish?

Real estate will be slower this week. I have a listing consultation, a closing, and a buyer consultation, but hopefully won't be showing anything. NaNoWriMo is slow going, but I am still writing each day. Some outside decorations are up. The main tree is in the family room--unlit and undecorated--but I should have lights on it by Tuesday. We want to decorate it while the Lil' Princess is home. She arrives late Tuesday and will be home until next Monday morning.

Here are a few photos from my week:

Bought a new bread basket for the pantry (Isn't my life exciting?)

Theo has decided it is sweater weather

Travis and Dwight trying to avoid the vet 

At this point, other than a First Chapter Review that is due on December 18th, I have read and reviewed the books to which I had committed dates through the end of the year. So, I decided to take a short break and dive into the next book in the Love Comes Softly series.

I posted my review of this one last week. You can read it here and still have a few days to enter the giveaway.

My review of this one appears on Goodreads. You can read it here or check in with my blog on December 11th. 

I posted my review of this one on Goodreads. You can read it here or check out The Children's and Teens' Book Connection on December 2nd. 

My first chapter review of this one will appear on December 18th. 

I need to start this devotional on December 1st.

These are the rest of the books I want to read before tackling any other new ones. Fingers crossed. 

Upcoming events:

• On this Christmas, I Thee Wed by Virginia Barlow - Nov 26 (Spotlight - TBC)
• Princess Sophie and the Christmas Elixir by Mike Martin - December 2 (Review - TC&TBC)
• Jingles by D.F. Jones - December 11 (Review)
• Scandalous in Huntington Beach by Melody Deblois - Dec 18 (First Chapter Review - TBC)

You can read the latest Christmas news at the Christmas Year Round blog. For this week's in the news segment, we are talking about using AI to figure out gifts for the hard to buy for person and sharing two upcoming events. You can read the latest here!

Other than today and Tuesday, not sure how much I will be online and blogging. I am hosting Thanksgiving. Hope all who celebrate that day enjoy time with family, friends, and a bunch of good food. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - Nov 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 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.    

Here we are again, back at Monday. As they say, time flies when you're having fun. In eight days, the Lil' Princess will be home for Thanksgiving break. I can't wait!

So much going on in our world. We just bought our first investment property in Wilmington, NC. It is up on Airbnb if you are interested in taking a look. It sleeps seven and is pet friendly. I leased a rental last week and had a closing. Three more closings are scheduled through the end of the year. Might add one more to it if tonight's offer gets accepted. I also sold seven children's books! That makes waiting to hear back from the agent easier to handle. Finished an editing project on Saturday. 

Here are a few photos from my week:

Boxing up books to send to MO

Dwight likes when I move the cat tower into the other room to make space for the Christmas tree

Saw this fun movie thanks to FrndlyTV

Check out the festive vest the Lil' Princess bought me

Not much reading getting done with all I have going on. Look for my review of this one on the 20th. 

Still need to write the review for this cute one. 

Posted my review of this one last week. You can check it out here.

These are the books I'm planning to read through the end of the year:  

Not sure if I will make reading all of these, but I added them to my list.

I visited a holiday bazaar this weekend at my former pastor's church. While there, I ran into an author friend of mine, so I had to say hi and grab one of his books. If you like horror, mystery, sci-fi, or young adult novels, you need to check out Kevin's website.

Upcoming events:

• A Celtic Yuletide Carol by Jennifer Ivy Walker - November 20 (Review)
• Princess Sophie and the Christmas Elixir by Mike Martin - December 2 (Review - TC&TBC)
• Jingles by D.F. Jones - December 11 (Review)

You can read the latest Christmas news at the Christmas Year Round blog. This week, we are talking about Dwayne Johnson's new movie that released over the weekend, the best artificial Christmas trees, and the planned Christmas day opening of Boardman Christmas Cafe. Check it all out here!

With any luck, the next two days should bring a lighter workload, so my goal is to clean the house, get some Christmas decorations put out, keep writing my novel, and move my office furniture around. Fingers crossed. 

Looking forward to visiting your blogs. Enjoy your day!