It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Oct 26

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. 

Welcome to the last Monday of October. Can you believe how fast we got here? Christmas is less than 60 days away! I will never be ready this year, but spending time with family counts the most. 

Hope you had a fabulous week. Mine flew by. It was filled with appointments, another visit from the Lil' Princess, training, and tossing around some business plan ideas for 2027. Here are photos of the other fun things: 

Our evening walk behind the house

Fall looks good from my driveway

Tweaked the Autumn Spiced Jam recipe I found on Insta

ChatGPT fun of asking the AI to put me in a TV show it thinks I should be in

Lazy Sunday morning for Theo and Travis

ProWritingAid is hosting Novel November (NovNov) again this year. I might do some writing, but I won't participate. Our local writers guild is also holding a November event. I will cheer from the sidelines. 

Have you decided on your books for the Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon? I will create a post for my list in November. Who knows how many I will get to, but it will be fun anyway.

This week's reading world looked like this:

Poor The Eyes of River by Cindy K. Sproles didn't get any attention this week. 

I still haven't started Harboring the Enemy: The Civil War Heroine History Forgot by R. C. Duffy yet. 

I read more of  The TV MBA: Business Lessons from Popular Culture by Rhymer Rigby. Such fascinating material. 

Look for my review of  Still Wild: Poems from the Bear Shack by Suzanne Sunshower in December.

Finished Building A StoryBrand 2.0: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller. Check out my review here. I also finished The Knot: Problems Can Be Solved by Seth Godin. You will find that review at the same link. 

Read more from Starry-Eyed Christmas by Sheila Roberts. This is for a December review.

 

I plan to read Shifta by Miles Joyner for a First Chapter Review coming November 2.

I am also looking forward to reading Soledad and the Curse of the Phoenix by Mindy Baker. 

Upcoming Events

• Shifta by Miles Joyner - Nov 2 (First Chapter Review)
• Yuletide Murder at Sea by Sue Stewart - Nov 4 (Interview)
• 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 was last hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach. It appears to be on hiatus, but I will keep sharing new books. 

Somebody, please stop me! I grabbed a few Kindle freebies and an audiobook since we last visited. I also ordered three used books and the latest from Sheila Roberts. That should be it for 2026, though I might have one more Audible purchase in me. 

I Once Knew A Guy Named Charlie by Jacklyn Smith

Blogging for Today's Writer by Edie Melson

Have Yourself A Merry Little Meltdown by Sheila Roberts

The Mistletoe Express by Tara Baisden

Montana Christmas Magic by Kaylie Newell

Once Upon a Christmas by Jane Porter

A Home in the West by Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith

Christmas Year Round

This week's Journey through Christmases Past looks into the tumultuous year of 1837. Find my post here. 

Authors are signing up for my latest idea. The Christmas Memory Collection will feature authors sharing memories, traditions, and other holiday stories. If you wish to participate, you can find the details here. Space is limited. 

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

This week, I posted a few Halloween books for kids and teens that were released this year. You can find that post here.

Laura's Little Houses

Thanks to some time off, I finished my character profile of Harriet Oleson. If you loved Katherine MacGregor's portrayal as much as I did, you can read that post here.

That's all from me this week. By the time we reconnect for next week's post, November will be here. Bring on the holiday season!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Sept 14

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, everyone! How did your week go? Feels like forever since I posted one of these. I'm not sure how much I will post the rest of this week because my schedule is jam-packed. No day off for me this past weekend, but the Rick's Place Golf Classic is September 19, and the Lil' Princess will be home for The Big E on September 20, so I will have a day off. 

Lots going on in my world. Several closings coming up. More new listings. No real medical answers. Feel like a bit of a hamster in a wheel right now. However, I did get to spend some time in the kitchen this weekend and enjoy the outdoors for a bit before our very rainy Sunday when I had back-to-back open houses. 

Chilling at home after work

Bought myself a larger Crock-pot

Made butter (saved the buttermilk), sour cream, and whipped cream

Finally wrote my review of The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller. You can read that here.

I should be getting back to The Eyes of River now that some reviews are done. 

Finished Staged by Caitlin Rother. Look for my review this week. Fingers crossed.

Loving Massawa by Pam Webber. 

Wrote my review of Food is Medicine by Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DRPH. You can read it here.

Finished A Christmas Carol Devotional: 25 Advent Reflections from Charles Dickens's Beloved Classic by Rachel Dodge. Fabulous! You can read my review here.

Check out my review of The Christmas Yes List by Melissa Ferguson here. Loved this one!

I am listening on Audible to Cratchit: A Christmas Carol Continues by R.M. Bouknight. Not sure how I feel about it yet. It's dark. 

Up next is the Beginner's Guide to Using an AI Assistant by Hank Quense.

Upcoming Events

• Evan's Stormy Voyage by Karen Charles - Sep 24 (Review at TC&TBC)
• She Forgot She Was Free by Giselle Mascarenhas - Oct 14 (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 ordered Stupid TV, Be More Funny by Alan Siegel last week. I've wanted it for a while. Right now, it is sitting on my coffee table. 

Not sure how often I share my Booktrovert shelf, but here are the latest additions:

Mark Twain for Book Lovers edited by R. Kent Rasmussen

In These Hills by Tamera Alexander

Chapter One Again by Keelia Clarkson

And Then We Saw the Bag by Emma Adbage.

Christmas Year Round

Journey through Christmases Past explores the Christmas of 1813, which was a tough one for many areas of the world. This post also shares some of the decorations and what you see now. You can check it out here.

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Shared some new book arrivals from Eerdmans Books for Young Readers that I will be reading soon. You can see them here.

Laura's Little Houses

Haven't had time to work on this blog lately. Maybe next week. 

That's it for me. It is now midnight, and I need to get Theo to the vet at 9, followed by a full day of appointments. Such fun!