It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - Mar 2

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. 

Welcome to March, everyone! Can you believe it? There are only 18 days until the official start of spring in our hemisphere. We are expecting rainy, but warmer temperatures this coming week. Maybe we will even get to see the grass one day soon. I'm sure the Lil' Princess will be disappointed with the warmer weather once she arrives on Friday for a quick visit. She prefers the snow.

Hope you enjoyed the past seven days. Last week, I appreciated a slightly slower pace than the beginning of the year, and even got to enjoy almost two days off. I attended a paint and sip event with one of my real estate friends, read, made great food, began the process of organizing thirteen pages of story ideas, and even submitted a manuscript to a literary agent. The exciting news is that our brokerage was named the Chicopee Chamber Business of the Year! We attended the awards gala on Friday. Then on Saturday, the husband and I attended the closing ceremonies of a local charity danceathon, which donated money to three local non-profits, including Rick's Place in Wilbraham. 

Here are a few photos from the week:

Travis is looking at who knows what

Paddy and I at the awards gala

Western Mass Charity Danceathon

Theo is adorable when he's playing coy

Thanks to the lighter load this past week, I was able to get reviews written. 

My review of Creepy Kid by Caleb Roehrig was posted. You can read it here. Such a great book!

My review of Chapters and Second Chances by Evelyn Grace Berry was posted on Saturday. You can read it here if you missed it. Love this one, too!

I also posted my review of I Heard the Bells on Saturday. You can read that review here. The authors did an amazing job of combining their various genres into one heartwarming collection. 

I listened to this one in the car this week. I have about two hours to go with my listening of 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist's Guide to a Happy Life by Dick Van Dyke.

I didn't read Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor last week. I will likely start it up again once I am done with Van Dyke's book. 

I continued with Dream Facades: The Cruel Architecture of Reality TV by Jack Balderrama Morley. 

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. 

As you will see below, I am not honoring my promise not to buy new books. I have to ask, does it still count if they don't cost me money? LOL!

I grabbed Love and Christmas Cookies by A. M. Heath as a freebie for my Kindle.

Then I used an Audible credit to snag Taming Lady Temperance by Karen Witemeyer, the first in her Secret Society of Spinsters series. 

Upcoming Events

Agatha Christie, She Watched by Teresa Peschel - Apr 15 (Review)

Murder, Local Style by Leslie Karst - Apr 20 (Review)

Christmas Year Round

Christmas Year Round's latest "Journey through Christmases Past" takes a trip into the food and confections from my childhood holidays. You can read that here.

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Only my review of Creepy Kid for this week, but I should be posting another review soon, and I hope to post here more regularly. 

Laura's Little Houses

Nothing new at Laura's Little Houses, but if I can complete my Albert Quinn Ingalls profile this week, that will be something to read. 

That's it for me today. I'm looking forward to visiting you and seeing what has been going on in your lives since we last connected. Wishing you a fabulous day!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - Feb 23

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 snowy Monday! Well, at least it is here anyway. Our latest weather event of winter 2025-2026 arrived last night. We are anticipating anywhere between 8 and 14 inches before it ends on Tuesday morning. Blizzard conditions with high winds and low visibility are expected. Thankfully, I rescheduled my appointment for today, and I expect our Tuesday office meeting will be canceled. Not quite sure where we will put all this new white stuff. We were just beginning to see over the mounds of snow to safely pull out of side streets. Please pray for all those who might lose power and those who still have to work in such a storm. 

Last week was a good one, with a decent balance of work and real life. However, I didn't get any writing done. Though I am looking over the thirteen pages of story ideas I've amassed over the last decade. My oldest sister and I spent Sunday together and took in some local theater. And exciting news: my nephew and his wife welcomed twins! 

Here are a few photos from the week:

In preparation for the Great Lenten fast, which starts today, I made Lagana, a Greek flatbread

My sister and I had breakfast at Reid's Corner on Sunday morning

I bought this colorful tunic top from The Scented Garden Gift Shoppe, 

which is my favorite local place to shop

My niece Bella delivered my Girl Scout cookie order 

I finished Creepy Kid by Caleb Roehrig. I loved everything about this book! Look for my review soon at my kid's book blog. 

I still need to write my review of Chapters and Second Chances by Evelyn Grace Berry. 

Also need to write my review of I Heard the Bells. 

I kept Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor on my virtual bookshelf. Instead, I continued listening to 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist's Guide to a Happy Life by Dick Van Dyke. It's such a great book!

I started Dream Facades: The Cruel Architecture of Reality TV by Jack Balderrama Morley. 

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 first book is by a local lender I know. I grabbed Get Moving! by Angela Tourville and Michael K. Tourville with my Amazon digital credits. 

The rest of these were free as a newsletter subscriber. 

A Surprise Harvest Bride by Wendy Klopfenstein

The Marshal's Surrender by Wendy Galinetti

Honor's Mountain Promise by Misty M. Beller

Leaving Waverly by Sra R. Turnquist

Upcoming Events

I Heard the Bells by Darlene L. Turner et al - February (Review)

Chapters and Second Chances by Evelyn Grace Berry - February (Review)

Hook, Line, and Murder by GG Calpo - Mar 2 (Interview)

Agatha Christie, She Watched by Teresa Peschel - Apr 15 (Review)

Christmas Year Round

Christmas Year Round's latest "Journey through Christmases Past" travels back to Christmas 1955. You can read my post here.

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Nothing new at my kid's book blog. My review of Creepy Kid and another book should be posted soon. 

Laura's Little Houses

Nothing new at Laura's Little Houses, but I plan to work on my Albert Quinn Ingalls profile today. 

I'm hoping to schedule reviews today, since I doubt I will have as much work as usual. The end of the week will be busier. Looking forward to visiting your blogs!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - Feb 16

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. 

Here we are on Monday again. Hope you had a nice week. I had meetings, appointments, and events last week, but I should be catching up with all of you today. The highlight of my week is that our Modern Prairie group sent Valentine's Day cards to each other, so I've had lovely thoughts throughout the week from online friends. And, for the first time in 37 years, the husband and I went out to dinner on Valentine's Day. 

Here are photos from last week:

Theo got a new headband

Real estate awards night

Homemade no churn vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce

My dinner on Valentine's Day

Switching to reading, I still need to write my review of Chapters and Second Chances by Evelyn Grace Berry. 

Also need to write my review of I Heard the Bells. 

I left Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor on my virtual bookshelf this week. Instead, I continued listening to 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist's Guide to a Happy Life by Dick Van Dyke. I like him more the longer I listen. 

I am reading Creepy Kid by Caleb Roehrig. Love it! 

I need to start Dream Facades: The Cruel Architecture of Reality TV by Jack Balderrama Morley soon. I only have it on NetGalley for 34  more days. It sounds fascinating! 

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. 

These two came from the author for review.

Agatha Christie, She Watched and International Agatha Christie, She Watched by Teresa Peschel

Upcoming Events

I Heard the Bells by Darlene L. Turner et al - February (Review)

Chapters and Second Chances by Evelyn Grace Berry - February (Review)

Hook, Line, and Murder by GG Calpo - Mar 2 (Interview)

Agatha Christie, She Watched by Teresa Peschel - Apr 15 (Review)

Christmas Year Round

Christmas Year Round's latest "Journey through Christmases Past" shares the toys of my childhood, one of which is now banned in the United States and Canada. You can find that post here. 

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Nothing new at my kid's book blog. 

Laura's Little Houses

Nothing new at Laura's Little Houses. 

Signing out for a couple of hours to visit with a friend. Check in with you this afternoon.