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

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are, and are 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! Glad to have you here. Hope all is well. Can you believe that September is almost over?

I had a closing on Friday. Two closings are scheduled for Wednesday, and I just put a property under contract, which means I already have two closings scheduled for October. It is good to be blessed. 

I took part of Saturday and all of Sunday off because I am tired. The hubby has been sick, so I also wanted to keep him out of the rain and from walking the dog as much as possible. I made the mistake of going to the grocery store on Saturday and forgot how much the news scares everyone when bad weather is on the way. Granted, many areas of the Northeast were hit hard by this storm, but we live miles from the closest river. 

Here are some recent photos:

The Lil' Diva and the Lil' Princess at The Big E

My new book table from an estate sale

French toast with homemade

whipped cream and berries

Dwight boldly slept on Theo's bed

Theo and Paddy walking

Travis supervising me switching my

seasonal wardrobe

Lots going on in my reading world. 

I should be getting back to The Eyes of River soon. 

Finished Staged by Caitlin Rother. You can find my review here.

Finished Massawa by Pam Webber. Look for my review soon.

I enjoyed Cratchit: A Christmas Carol Continues by R.M. Bouknight much more than I thought I would when I started. Check out my review here.

Finished Beginner's Guide to Using an AI Assistant by Hank Quense. Look for my review soon.

I have also read the following children's books. Look for those reviews at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection over the next couple of weeks.

Luna and the Lost Cove by Aria Joy Prichard

Day in the Snow by Fiona Craig

Turkey's Fall Fumble by Wendi Silvano

Counting Winter by Nancy White Carlstrom

Upcoming Events

• She Forgot She Was Free by Giselle Mascarenhas - Oct 14 (Review)
• Still Wild: Poems from the Bear Shack by Suzanne Sunshower - Dec 14 (Review)
• Starry-Eyed for Christmas by Sheila Roberts - Dec 16 (Review)
• Sugar Sand Land by Patricia Leavy - Dec 17 (Spotlight & Giveaway)

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 downloaded two books from NetGalley recently. 

Harboring the Enemy: The Civil War Heroine History Forgot by R. C. Duffy

The TV MBA: Business Lessons from Popular Culture by Rhymer Rigby

I also received Still Wild: Poems from the Bear Shack by Suzanne Sunshower for review.

Christmas Year Round

Journey through Christmases Past dove into snowstorms that happened around Christmas. You can read that post here.

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Posted my review of The Boy Behind the Wardrobe by Suzanne Poulter Harris this weekend. You can read that here. Earlier in the week, I reviewed Evan's Stormy Voyage by Karen Charles. You can read that here.

Laura's Little Houses

This weekend, I posted the next chapter in my Season 9 rewrite of the first episode, "Times Are Changing." You can read that here if you are interested. 

Finally feeling like I am catching up. Remind me of that if you see me taking on too many more books to review. LOL! Looking forward to visiting your blogs today. 

NetGalley/Audible Book Review: Co-Created: The Cultural Strategy That Redefined PacSun by Brieane Olson

 

Discover the story of how PacSun embraced co-creation and transformed itself from a retailer of established brands to a purpose-driven retailer that collaborates and partners with a community that informs its approach in Co-Created: The Cultural Strategy That Redefined PacSun by the company's CEO, Brieane Olson.

Author and narrator Olson brings the reader through the challenges of what PacSun was and the excitement brought about by their shift to a purpose-driven retailer that listens to its collaborators, staff, and most importantly, its consumers. From its early collaborations with Kendall & Kylie to its more recent partnerships with the LA Rams and Formula 1, readers engage with the amazing transformation that the mindshift has brought to a company that filed for bankruptcy in 2016 amid burgeoning high mall rents, when mall traffic declined while online shopping increased. 

Olson discusses how embracing change in consumer habits and ever-evolving technology has allowed the company to increase its market share, and how listening to its community has allowed the company to make a greater impact and create new initiatives that support its mission and the community it serves. 

I will be honest: I have never stepped foot in a PacSun. My daughters did in their teens, but my only recollection of PacSun was walking by it in the now-demolished mall closest to us to get to another retailer, and the store closed way before the mall did. So, why did I request this book? 

• The title intrigued me.
• Purpose-driven leadership inspires me.
• Authenticity is one of the most important things I strive for in business. 

Co-Created: The Cultural Strategy That Redefined PacSun explores the company's new model that has made such waves that it is now a Harvard Business School Case Study. If you are in business and are determined to make an impact, this is a book you should read. 

Listening Length	5 hours and 36 minutes
Author	Brieane Olson
Narrator	Brieane Olson
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	May 12, 2026
Publisher	Forbes Books
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0GVPMZMCF

I requested this book from NetGalley and own it on Audible. 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 - May 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, 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. My work schedule, and therefore my blogging schedule, has been unpredictable lately. Hope all of you who celebrate enjoyed your Mother's Day. We had an early breakfast that morning and headed home from North Carolina later that day. Glad to be home, but also miss our girl. 

Here are a few recent photos:

The Lil' Princess and her dad

Our girls

The Lil' Princess and some friends

The family minus our son

Thought she might have gotten her arms stuck at the Battleship North Carolina

Recreating a One Tree Hill moment

I went to my first bar in over 30 years. It was not pleasant. 

Hard to believe these four years have passed so quickly. Luckily, when she relocates for work, she will be much closer to our place. 

In my reading world, my review of This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman appeared today. You can read it here.

I finished Scrap: Salvaging a Family by Luann Castle. This collection is emotional and raw. Look for my review on May 21. 

I continued The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller. I hope I don't run out of time on NetGalley before I finish it. 

I finished listening to Hi Honey, I'm Homo: Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture by Matt Baume. Great book! Look for a review soon. 

I started The Ledger by Steven Manchester, which is a companion to his novel, The Menu. It's a slow read for me so far. 

These are next:

Staged by Caitlin Rother, which is the sequel to Hooked

Co-Created: The Cultural Strategy That Redefined Pacsun by Brieane Olson is also a NetGalley download.

Love on the Shelf by Sheila Roberts comes out later this month. 

The Ghost and the Key, 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. 

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. 

Has anyone heard from Vicki? She hasn't posted since April 5. 

These were presents for Mother's Day, and two books I bought for myself aboard the Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington. 

Upcoming Events

Scrap: Salvaging a Family by Luanne Castle - May 21 (Review)

The Ledger by Steven Manchester - May (Review)

Fighter Pilot's Daughter by Mary Lawlor - June 10 (Guest Post)

Staged by Cailtin 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

This week's Journey through Christmases Past focuses on the year 1885. You can find it here. 

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

This blog is getting harder to update now that I don't read as many children's books as I used to, and because my writing is not as much as expected this year. Real estate, however, has been amazing. 

Laura's Little Houses

On Wednesday, I posted my "Most Favorite Episode from Each Season of Little House on the Prairie (Seasons 7 - 9). This brings us to the end of the series. You can read this post here. 

Looking forward to checking out your blogs today.