It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - June 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. 

Happy Monday, everyone! I am back, kinda, sorta. Life is probably going to kick my behind until we leave for North Carolina at the end of the month, but I will do my best to stay connected to all of you, whom I truly treasure. 

In the time since I've been away, I've co-taught my first real estate class, moved most of the Lil' Princess' things to her new apartment, and listed six properties with three more on the way. I have six pending sales, too, which is why my blogging time is so limited. I thank you for sticking with me as I caught up visiting your blogs and leaving comments. 

Here are a few photos:

Old Orchard Beach Inn

A Free Little Library down the street from the Inn

Moving day

The Lil' Diva's dance recital on June 13

Sunday with the zoo

In my reading world, I have two reviews that I need to write. I have an hour left of the audiobook, Digital Detox for Remote Workers: Reclaim Your Focus, Productivity, and Work-Life Balance in the Digital Age by Dr. Guenter H. Schamel. It's great, but it can be hard to follow some of the exercises and examples while driving. 

I didn't finish The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller in time, but I was able to download it again. Hopefully, I can finish it this time. 

I need to finish The Ledger by Steven Manchester, a companion to his novel The Menu. 

I didn't pick up The Eyes of River by Cindy K. Sproles, but it will come on vacation with us.

I started Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts, which came out in May. This will come on vacation with us. 

Staged by Caitlin Rother, which is the sequel to Hooked. Wanted to have it finished this month. Not likely, but will definitely keep reading. 

These are next:

The Ghost and the Key is the first book in Bill Cusano's The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club series. I am reading this series this summer. 

The second book of The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club is The Widow Murderess. 

Book three is The Sparrow and the Crow. All of these are July reviews. 

Massawa by Pam Weber is a book that I will take on vacation with me in July. 

Joyce McCullough sent me a copy of Max and Her Stacks and Look for the Pink Ribbons 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. 

Nothing new! I am trying to behave. Not sure what will happen once I am in North Carolina. We tend to visit bookstores. 

Upcoming Events

The Ledger by Steven Manchester - June (Review)

Staged by Caitlin Rother - June (Review)

The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club: The Ghost and the Key by Bill Cusano - July 1 (Review)

The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club: The Widow Murderess by Bill Cusano - July 8 (Review)

The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club: The Sparrow and the Crow by Bill Cusano - July 10 (Review)

Massawa by Pam Weber - July (Review)

Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts - (Review)

Christmas Year Round

Last week's Journey through Christmases Past was about Christmas 2020. You can find it here.

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

 Nothing new this week, but will be reviewing Joyce's books soon.

Laura's Little Houses

Nothing new this week. Likely won't be until vacation time in July. 

That's it for me. I will do my best to check out your blogs later this evening. I have inspections at a property an hour away, so not sure how quickly I will be back at my desk. Enjoy your day!

Audible Book Review: The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

 

Horowitz, co-founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, invites you to follow along his entrepreneurial journey--the highlights, the disappointments, and the challenges that left him and his team making decisions that could unleash success or lead to their company's demise. His resume features well-known companies in the technology space: Netscape, AOL, Loudcloud, Opsware, and Hewlett-Packard. He has had an amazing journey so far, and you can read his content here.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things came to me as a recommendation from Leigh Brown. It's not a book I would have grabbed from the virtual bookshelf. I am not a technology person. My husband was familiar with Loudcloud and Opsware, but this was the first time I had heard of them. Rest assured, however, that you don't need to be in the technology field or even aware of what those companies do to find value in this book. 

Rather than a step-by-step outline, The Hard Thing About Hard Things gives you a dose of reality. You will face tough choices. You might lose some friends to other companies. You could be a great founder and not a superb CEO. There will be sleepless nights in between celebrating successes.

• Horowitz shows you how to endure those sleepless nights by sharing the wisdom he has gained through decades of experience in prioritizing company culture and effectively hiring and training the people who help you drive results.
• He encourages you to embrace the struggle and to make the best move when there aren't any good ones.
• One chapter is dedicated to leading when you have no idea where you're going. Doesn't that sound like a lot of--if not all--start-ups?
• And in the final chapter, Horowitz humbly shares the lessons he learned during his entrepreneurial journey. 

If you're looking for real insights into what it takes to start a business, shift when needed, and make tough decisions, then The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz should be on your to-be-read list. 

• Listening Length ‏ : ‎ 7 hours and 57 minutes
• Author ‏ : ‎ Ben Horowitz
• Narrator ‏ : ‎ Kevin Kenerly
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 4, 2014
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Business
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00I0A6HUO
• Version ‏ : ‎ Unabridged

I used an Audible credit to purchase this book. 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 - Sept 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.

Happy Monday on a Sunday! I have a day of appointments on Monday, so I figured I would release this post early. Did you have a great week? Mine was good. Got into the kitchen on Sunday to make turkey soup. Reviewed some books. Here are a few photos:

Taco pizza

Turkey soup in the making 

Flowers add a nice touch to any room

This week, I will list a new property, have a closing for another property, have inspections at a property, and Theo will get his sutures taken out. Only three meetings this week, so hopefully my evenings will be mostly free. Also have a small editing project. 

In my reading world, my review of "Like Driftwood on the Salish Sea" by Richard Levine appears today.

Posted my review of Generating Business Referrals Without Asking by Stacey Brown Randall on Sunday. Loved this book! You can read that review here. 

I reviewed 364 Days Until Halloween by Allison Edwards at my children's book blog. You can read the review here. 

I didn't read Behind the Scenes by Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley on my Kindle this week. 

Look for my First Chapter Review of Ride a Dark Trail by Winter Austin coming toward the end of September. 

Wrote the reviews for these books. They are coming this week. 

Little Angel's Christmas Song by Kerstin Hau. Love the artwork on this one. 

Never Let a Unicorn Meet A Reindeer by Diane Alber. This one is funny!

These are review books I need to read.

Singing the Forge by G. H. Mosson is a poetry collection. 

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

Zigzag Girl by Ruth Knafo Setton is a thriller. 

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

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 first two books are freebies from authors whose newsletters I signed up for last month. 

Grabsenstein's book is a NetGalley download.

This poetry collection is for a November review. 

My review of Sheila Roberts' latest is coming on October 31. 

The last two I ordered because they were of interest to me. 

Upcoming Events

• Like Driftwood on the Salish Sea by Richard Levine - Sep 15 (Review)
• From Turmoil to Peace by Delia E. Hayward - Sep 18 (Guest Post)
• 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)
• The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts - Oct 31 (Review)
• ZigZag Girl by Ruth Knafo Setton - Nov 12 (First Chapter 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, I am talking about Amazon's Top 100 Best Christmas Decorations, a teen cancer and heart failure survivor who is starring in a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie, and a Christmas tree farm convention. Check it out here.

At The Children's and Teens' Book Connection, I posted the review of 364 Days Until Halloween, and two more will be posted this week. 

Laura's Little Houses has two new posts: "Top Five Favorite Episodes from Little House on the Prairie - Season 1," and the latest chapter in the "Times Are Changing" Season 9 rewrite. You can find those here and here. 

And that wraps up this Monday's posts. Looking forward to your comments.