It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Sept 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! And for some of us... Happy Fall!!! We have now entered my favorite season: cinnamon and apples cooking or baking, cooler weather, the smell of wood-burning fireplaces, and pretty colors. 

Life is pretty much work, work, and work some more, but I did make time to grab breakfast with my sisters on Sunday morning. It's so nice having both of them living in Massachusetts again. My oldest sister always has, but my middle sister lived in other areas of the country for decades. She moved home last year. 

The Lil' Princess is planning a trip home at the end of this coming week, which will be nice. 

In my reading world, I didn't get to Behind the Scenes by Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley. I don't want to remove it from my list, because it's a book I really want to finish. 

Look for my First Chapter Review of Ride a Dark Trail by Winter Austin coming on Tuesday.

Check out my reviews of these two books. 

The review of Little Angel's Christmas Song by Kerstin Hau can be found here.

The review of Never Let a Unicorn Meet A Reindeer by Diane Alber can be found here.

I started this poetry collection this week, Singing the Forge by G. H. Mosson. 

I also started Eleanor Roosevelt's Nightly Prayer by Donn Mitchell, which is a NetGalley download.

The Man Next Door, another romantic comedy by Sheila Roberts, is next.

I want to read Old Flames, New Beginnings by Lea Schizas during the holiday season. 

Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest by Chris Grabenstein and The Curiosities by W.H. Eatons are middle-grade NetGalley downloads I need to read. 

I am awaiting the arrival of The Bell Tolls at Traeger Hall by Jaime Jo Wright for an October review. 

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 grabbed Sacred Trust by Hannah Alexander last week as a Kindle freebie.

I also bought The End of Treachery by H. B. Berlow. Loved the first book in the series. Need to read the second book before diving into this one.

Upcoming Events

• Ride a Dark Trail by Winter Austin - Sep 23 (First Chapter Review)
• The Bell Tolls at Traeger Hall by Jaime Jo Wright - Oct 29 (Review)
• One Foot in the Ether: Whispers of the Pendle Witches by Kayleigh Kavanagh - Oct 30 (Spotlight)
• The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts - Oct 31 (Review)
• Singing the Forge by G. H. Mosson - Nov 25 (Review)

The latest Christmas... in the news post is up at Christmas Year Round. This week, you can watch a video about what to buy now and what to buy later, see a year-round Christmas mural, and discover a new holiday rom-com. Check it all out here.

At The Children's and Teens' Book Connection, I posted the reviews mentioned for the children's books above.

Laura's Little Houses didn't get my attention this week. I'm thinking about my next post on favorite episodes from Season 2. 

I am waiting on news at the end of the month. Would appreciate some good vibes and prayers. That's it for me this week. I am on the road part of today, but I will visit your blogs and comment as I am able. Enjoy your day!

Book Review: The Sea Captain's Wife: A True Story of Mutiny, Love, and Adventure at the Bottom of the World by Tilar J. Mazzeo

 

All aboard the Neptune's Car, where a young, pregnant sea captain's wife takes charge when he falls gravely ill, navigating their clipper around Cape Horn and on to San Francisco to the amazement of all. 

Mary Ann Brown was barely out of childhood when she married Captain Joshua Patten. Though sea captains' wives were often considered unlucky, the smart and quick-witted Mary devoured books in the ship's library and learned all she could about the maritime life as she traveled with her husband, including how to navigate.

At the age of 19, and pregnant with their first child, Mary finds herself fearing the worst for her husband, who has fallen ill while sailing from New York Harbor to San Francisco in 1856. With the first mate imprisoned for insubordination, followed by trying to get the crew to mutiny, it is up to Mary and her dedicated crew to see the ship safely to port.

The Sea Captain's Wife: A True Story of Mutiny, Love, and Adventure at the Bottom of the World by Tilar J. Mazzeo is a detailed account of Mary Ann Patten, the first American woman to command a ship. Mazzeo provides background on the families of Joshua and Mary and the journeys the married couple embarked upon. While this is certainly a gripping account, the reader is over 100 pages into the book before Joshua's illness and Keeler's lack of respect develop, and Mary takes charge. I found myself skipping ahead to get to the heart of what I wanted to read about. Mary was a woman ahead of her time, who displayed courage in the face of challenging odds. Her story cannot be considered overall a happy one, but she left her mark in maritime history, which Mazzeo has captured for modern readers.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Press
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 9, 2025
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250352584
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250352583

I downloaded this book from NetGalley. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Apr 29

Welcome to It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday.   

 

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 the last Monday of April! Hope you had a great week. I am posting early because I have a busy Monday morning. 

After a frustrating and crazy week, this weekend was filled with charity, home, and work. This Saturday was the annual Run for Rick's Place. Over 170 people signed up to walk or run in support of our organization. We had an amazing group of sponsors, volunteers, and staff coordinating the event. 

I walked in memory of my mother and my in-laws. 

The rest of Saturday was showing houses and catching up on laundry. I spent most of Sunday in my car, holding an open house and showing houses. After supper, I packed up the books I am donating to the Wilbraham Friends of the Library Book Sale that starts later this week. I will drop them off Monday morning. 

Despite the busyness of the week, I felt productive on the reading/blogging front. I've returned most of the books about historical homes to the library. I have two more to go. 

My review of this middle grade graphic novel appeared at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. You can read it here.  

I posted my review of this Laura Ingalls Wilder biography here and at my Laura's Little Houses blog. 

Look for my review of this book coming this week.

This review is coming May 17th. 

I am enjoying this book for our Prairie Pages Book Club.

I am about halfway through my Audible version of this book.

I bought a Kindle copy of this one because I can't find the paperback anywhere in my house. This review is scheduled for May 31st. 

I need to start this historical mystery this week. Reading via PDF always takes me longer. 

I would really like to continue with this series after I catch up on review books, but I just added more books for review this week. I think it will be coming on vacation with me. 

New post at Christmas Year Round. Sharing Christmas News from Around the Country.

Upcoming virtual book tours:

• My Career Journal by CareerTuners - May 1 (Review) 
• Be Resilient in Your Career by Dr. Helen Ofosu - May 16 (Review)
• Mastering Your Scenes by J. A. Cox - May 17 (review)
• I Will Ruin You: The Twisted Truth Behind the Kit Martin Murder Trial by Emilio Corsetti III - May 31 (Review)
• Royally Arranged by Amber Malloy - June 4 (First Chapter Review)
• Rock, Crush, and Roll by Hunter Snow - June 12 (First Chapter Review)
• Is Truth Stranger Than Fiction? You Decide... by JB Miller - July 3 (Review)
• The Righteous Arrows by Brian J. Morra - July (Review)

 

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

This mailbox was filled with new e-books that I bought or received for review. 

Ellie is a local author. I had the pleasure of editing this novel. 

This was available on NetGalley.

This and the book below are for First Chapter Reviews in June. 

I will review this book in July. 

I think that is it this week. Looking forward to visiting your blogs. Hope you have a blessed week!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books with Names/Character Names In the Titles

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.

Welcome to February! Hope you are happy to be in month two of 2022. I know it will be a busy month for me. My first meeting starts at 8:30 this morning, so it will be afternoon time before I visit any blogs. 

Today's topic sounds like a lot of fun. I'm not sure I read many books with names/characters in the titles, but I guess we will see. Let's see if I can make it to 10. 

Top Ten Books with Names/Character Names In the Titles

So, as I went along, I discovered I own or have read more books with names/characters in the title than I realized. Guess there is always something to learn about your reading habits. 

Looking forward to visiting your blogs to see what books made your lists.