Reading, Editing & Life

We will be traveling to North Carolina today, so I won't be participating in this week's typical post. Here's a general update. 

Life was hectic this week, but filled with many fun memories as we spent our final days with the Lil' Princess before she returns to college this week. We also celebrated the Lil' Diva's birthday. I completed the editing project I had been working on, as well as the reading project that was overdue. I've also identified two potential publishers for my completed and edited 2023 NaNoWriMo project. The query letter is finalized, so hope to have that submitted by the end of the month. 

Here is an update on my reading world. 

Read a bit from this one. Look for my review on August 22.

My review is scheduled to appear on August 23. It is already on Goodreads. You can check that out here.

My first chapter review of this contemporary romance appeared last week. You can read it here.

My review of this organic cooking book appeared at the blog last week. You can find it here. 

My review of this one will appear here today.

My post for this one is scheduled for August 14.

I have a couple more hours of listening to this Audible book left. 

This was a new arrival for an upcoming review.

Upcoming events:

• The Righteous Arrows by Brian J. Morra - August (Review)
• Affiliate Marketing for Beginners by Audrey K. Andado - August 12 (First Chapter Review)
• Dishing Love Daily by Susanne Clark - August 14 (Book Blast)
• Knowing by Mark Cox - August 22 (Review)
• Death in St. George's by M. A. Monnin - August 23 (Review)
• Hollywood Underworld by Lindy S. Hudis - August 30 (Review)

You can read the latest Christmas news at the Christmas Year Round blog. Click here!

Hope you have a great week!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Dec 5

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 December! It is so hard to believe we are already heading toward the end of 2022. Didn't it just start? Am I old? LOL! 

Though I had hoped for a slightly less hectic week, plans changed quickly. But that's okay. I ended the week with accepted offers on two of my listed properties. I presided over our holiday luncheon for the real estate board on Thursday; one of my last two official membership meeting duties before the new president takes over in January. 

At home, we finally decided to upgrade the last TV. Of course, the animals felt the need to help or supervise. I am also working on numerous editing projects. Oh, and the best news this week was that my short story, "Little Shepherd Boy," was published in Parables, an online magazine for kids. You can find the Christmas 2022/Winter 2023 issue for purchase here.

Twenty-three years old and still going strong.

I will miss this piece of furniture, since I often display my angel collection on top during the holidays.

Travis is lucky we didn't shut the door on him.

Theo wasn't sure we were putting the new TV stand together the right way.

I am still working on this one. Not because it isn't interesting, but because it's on my Kindle and my only reading time has been bath time lately. 

I started this one to get ahead of my January 13 review. 

I am listening to this book on Audible. 

I hope to read and review this one this week.

After that, I really need to read this book because its review is so overdue. 

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.

My physical mailbox was empty, but I am expecting a couple of books soon. I also downloaded this Kindle freebie on Sunday.

That's it from my neck of the woods. Hope you have a great week. I look forward to visiting your blogs today.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Oct 24

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.   

Well, here we are closing in on the end of October. Halloween is just a week away, and stores and Instagram reels have been sharing winter holiday inspiration, décor, and DIY ideas. Here in New England, we are watching the leaves change and fall. 

Snapped this as I walked through a new construction area in Hampden County. 

Speaking of winter holidays, Hallmark Channel started their 2022 Countdown to Christmas this past weekend. Great American Family also began their holiday line up titled, Great American Christmas. Good Housekeeping shared their "15 Best Movies to Watch During Hanukkah with the Whole Family" list here. 

I remain optimistic I will get some down time to deep clean the house and get the bonus room organized, but the last few weeks have been a mad rush of listings, open houses, traveling to see the Lil' Princess, outings with her while she was home, completing the extra content for my next children's picture book coming out in 2023, and meetings. 

Now, let's talk fun stuff...books and reading!

My review of this great young adult novel, the first in a new series, appeared at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. 

My review of this historical novel, second in the series, appeared here on Friday. 

I highly recommend both of these books and look forward to more from these talented authors. 

Look for my review of Stephanie Ziebarth's spiritual mentorship book this Friday, October 28.

I opened this Sheila Roberts book over the weekend because I have a review coming in November.

I also will be reading this time travel novel for a November review. This is the second in a series. I read the first and loved it. When that happens with a genre I don't read often, that is a plus. 

I need to read this one next. 

Though I had others on my list, I've removed them for now. The last quarter of the year is a time for me to go through my shelves and decide what I am keeping and what I will give away. That might change what I want to read.  

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 book arrived in my mailbox and is now available for purchase. I've enjoyed Karen Whiting's books in the past and look forward to reading this one. 

I also grabbed these two Kindle freebies over the weekend. The Lightbound Saga will be going on a virtual tour in November and December with Pump Up Your Book. You can check out the tour page here.

That's it for me this week. I plan to dedicate time to the two editing projects on my desk. Maybe I will sneak in a couple of first chapter reviews. Hope you have a fabulous week! 

Top Ten Tuesday: Unpopular Bookish Opinions

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.

Can you believe it has been four months since I participated in Top Ten Tuesday? Shame on me. This is one of my favorite memes and I haven't posted anything since February. Well, when I saw this week's topic, I figured it would be easy enough to share some thoughts. Here are my...

Top Ten Unpopular Bookish Opinions

1. Unexpected cliffhanger endings. I've paid for the book. Don't make me wait (and spend more money) to see how it ends.
2. Reading a book or series because it is wildly popular. I'm just not a very good follower. I remember the Harry Potter craze. Standing in line for a midnight launch would never be for me. I didn't even read the series until 2015. Still haven't read the Twilight series or The Mortal Instruments series. I haven't even cracked open the first book of the Outlander series, and I promoted the book for its twentieth anniversary.
3. Does it grate only on my nerves when someone says YA historical isn't popular? I knew a multi-published author whose agent wanted her to rewrite the whole book because YA historical doesn't sell. Is that really true? The BNTeen Blog came out with this list of YA historical novels they were looking forward to this year. There are a variety of lists from previous years too. 
4. Can we abolish the third person omniscient point of view? Give me a deep point of view from a character or characters. I don't want to see it all and know it all. I want to experience a story through its characters' eyes.
5. When all of an author's books seem the same. I have had to stop reading an author from time to time because every one of her stories seemed the same with different people. I'm not talking about knowing a genre well and writing to form. I'm talking not enough difference in the plots to distinguish book number one from book number six. 
6. Prologues that are more than one page shouldn't exist. We've heard people don't read prologues (well, I do). If that is true, why would they read a prologue that is multiple pages? 
7. Claiming authors are racist or prejudice when they are writing about their experiences during a certain point in time. In 2018, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award was renamed because the Association for Library Service to Children was opposed to Wilder's depictions of Native and African Americans. News flash: we can rename every award, we can topple every Confederate statue, and change the name of every street and building in America that bears a slave owner's name or the name of a member of the Confederacy, but it won't change America's history. There are dark parts to American history. Evil has existed since the beginning of time. It will exist despite our best efforts. Instead of trying to eradicate our past, teach the past to our youth, and teach them to be kinder, more loving, and more tolerant than those who came before them.
8. There's a lot of talk of empowering girls and young women. I support it and search it out for our daughters. But, boys and young men are the ones who now seem left behind. How about we focus on books that empower kids and young people.
9. Bad editing. No editing. I am the worst self-editor. I can't even imagine trying to edit my own work before it is published. It should never happen. Get references before you pay any money, but please have a professional editor polish your book.
10. Book descriptions that don't match the contents. Thankfully, I've only read a few of these. When you dive into a book expecting one thing, yet, get another, it's disappointing. 

What are some of your unpopular bookish opinions?