It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - Jul 27

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. 

We are settling on the last Monday of July today. How is summer moving so quickly? Before we know it, the local kids will be back in school. 

Another zany week in real estate, but lots of good things too. This week might be more manageable. 

Here are a few recent photos:

Travis and Dwight 

Friday night out

Me preparing to record for the Bucket List Challenge

Theo finds grooming exhausting

Two gifts I bought from Modern Prairie to treat myself

In my reading world, I had finished The Ledger by Steven Manchester earlier. You can find my review here.

 Did not touch The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller, and I wonder if I will get to it. 

I didn't pick up The Eyes of River last week. 

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

Need to get moving on Staged by Caitlin Rother, which is the sequel to Hooked.

Massawa by Pam Weber is a book I have not yet started.

Also need to read:

• A Christmas Carol Devotional: 25 Advent Reflections from Charles Dickens's Beloved Classic by Rachel Dodge
• The Christmas Yes List by Melissa Ferguson
• Food is Medicine by Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DRPH
• Beginner's Guide to Using an AI Assistant by Hank Quense

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. 

This week, two hardcover copies of books I own on Audible arrived, both by Oliver Burkeman: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals and Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts. 

Upcoming Events

Staged by Caitlin Rother - TBD (Review)

Massawa by Pam Weber - TBD (Review)

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

Christmas Year Round

This week's Journey through Christmases Past post is about Christmas 1783, the first Christmas as an independent nation. You can find that here.

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

At The Children's and Teens' Book Connection, I reviewed In the Wide, Wild World by Natalie Horseman. You can read that here.

Laura's Little Houses

I am talking about the new Little House on the Prairie adaptation this week. You can see my comments here. No real spoilers here if you haven't watched it yet. 

That's it for me. I am feeling more accomplished, but still have a way to go if I plan to hit my reading goal this year. See you around the blogosphere!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - Jul 20

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 all had a great week. I'm still playing catch-up because I was living in real estate hell last week. However, I did have two closings last week that went smoothly. I also managed to get to the lab on Friday for my bloodwork to see if they can figure out what is going on with me. 

Today, I will start the day by taking Theo to his least favorite place on Earth--the vet. He gets a monthly allergy shot. Then I have a meeting, and in the afternoon, I follow up with my doctor. I'm still working on an issue for work as well. 

Saw this old restaurant booth in a house last week. It is always cool to stumble upon these treasures. 

In my reading world, I wrote a review of Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. I ordered a printed copy of this and Burkeman's first book, Four Thousand Weeks. You can find my review here.

Did not touch The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller, and I wonder if I will get to it. 

I am done with The Ledger by Steven Manchester, a companion to his novel The Menu. Look for my review soon. 

I didn't pick up The Eyes of River last week. 

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

I wrote a First Chapter Review of Staged by Caitlin Rother, which is the sequel to Hooked. You can read that review here.

Massawa by Pam Weber is a book I have not yet started.

I reviewed Max and Her Stacks by Joyce McCullough at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. Look for my review link below. 

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 was approved for these two books by publishers on NetGalley:

A Christmas Carol Devotional: 

25 Advent Reflections from Charles Dickens's Beloved Classic

by Rachel Dodge

The Christmas Yes List by Melissa Ferguson

Hank also sent me his newest beginner's guide for writers to review:

Beginner's Guide to Using an AI Writing Assistant 

by Hank Quense

Upcoming Events

The Ledger by Steven Manchester - TBD (Review)

Staged by Caitlin Rother - TBD (Review)

Massawa by Pam Weber - TBD (Review)

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

Christmas Year Round

This week's Journey through Christmases Past post isn't up yet. Hopefully, tomorrow. 

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

At The Children's and Teens' Book Connection, we celebrated 17 years of blogging. I also posted a review of Max and Her Stacks by Joyce McCullough. You can read that review here.

Laura's Little Houses

Still nothing new here. Maybe Wednesday. Depends on how this week turns out.

It's nice to see some books come off my list. I'm tired of sharing the same ones week after week. Looking forward to reading your posts. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - July 13

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. 

We are back! Our family arrived home early from vacation, which allowed us to see the Lil' Princess, who drove down from Maine. Over the weekend, I celebrated my 58th birthday with all the kids here. Now, I am back to work. Today will be filled with appointments. 

Happy birthday to me!

Hanging at the OBX house

Dinner at Miller's Waterfront 

Fireworks in Manteo

Girls at The Elizabethan Gardens

Mural at The Dunes 

Replica glider at The Wright Brothers National Memorial

I didn't read half as much as expected on vacation. Partially because we were dealing with some nonsense in getting the Lil' Princess' car picked up and dropped off in Maine, and also because I had an unexpected medical issue while there. Nothing too serious (I hope), but I will head to my primary care next week after some tests are done this week. 

I have less than 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 done with The Ledger by Steven Manchester, a companion to his novel The Menu. Look for my review soon. 

I didn't pick up The Eyes of River last week. 

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

Staged by Caitlin Rother, which is the sequel to Hooked. I need to get back to this one. 

My review of the second book of The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club, The Widow Murderess, appears here. 

Book three is The Sparrow and the Crow. I posted a First Chapter Review of this one on July 10. You can read it here.

Massawa by Pam Weber is a book I have not yet started.

Joyce McCullough sent me a copy of Max and Her Stacks 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. 

Got this great book that I saw in Downtown Books in Manteo for my birthday. I have already opened Andy Griffith's Manteo: His Real Mayberry by John Railey. 

Upcoming Events

The Ledger by Steven Manchester - TBD (Review)

Staged by Caitlin Rother - TBD (Review)

Massawa by Pam Weber - July (Review)

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

Christmas Year Round

Journey through Christmases Past talks about the origins of Christmas in July. You can find that post here.

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Nothing new. This blog celebrates its 17th anniversary on July 14. 

Laura's Little Houses

Nothing new, but I did watch the first episode in the Netflix adaptation of Little House on the Prairie. My thoughts will be coming soon.