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. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Bookish Wishes

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.  

Welcome back to Tuesday! Hope you're having a good week. REALTOR Day on Beacon Hill was fun. I'm glad, however, to be back home and concentrating on other things. At least I got some good exercise walking around the state house. 

This week it is time to look at books on your friends' wish lists to see if you want to grant any wishes. I've tried it once and received a book from my list, so I sent one in return. Here is how it works:

List the TOP TEN books you’d love to own and include a link to your wish list so that people can grant your wishes. Make sure you link your wish list to your mailing address or include the email address associated with your e-reader in the list description so people know how to get the book to you. After you post, jump around the Linky featured at That Artsy Reader Girl and grant a wish or two if you’d like. Please don’t feel obligated to send anything to anyone!

I put together my book list last time Bookish Wishes were done, but I've also added a few books since then. You can check out Cheryl's Book List here. These are my...

TOP TEN BOOKISH WISHES

Have you read any of these? What are some bookish wishes you are looking to have granted?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Romantic Comedies With Over 1,000 Reviews That I've Never Read

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.    

Welcome back to Tuesday! It's a snowy one here. I expected a love freebie this week for Top Ten Tuesday, so I was prepared early. Gasp! Try not to be too shocked. Keeping in mind I'm not overly creative, this week I will share some romantic comedies I've never read, despite their popularity. It's possible I'll give them a chance in the future, but they haven't made it into my TBR Pile yet.

Top Ten Romantic Comedies With 

Over 1,000 Reviews That I've Never Read

I should get a pass with this one because it just came out at the end of last year. Little known secret: I used to be a hockey mom and, through I rarely read them, I love sports romances. I will probably read this at some point.

This fresh take on When Harry Met Sally probably won't ever hit the TBR Pile. I haven't even seen When Harry Met Sally, but I know the plot. This book is a called a steamy enemies to lovers romance, which doesn't entice me at all.

This is one that might weave it's way into the TBR Pile. The like the twist on this trope with the female lead character as the bodyguard. Hannah Brooks is protecting Hollywood heartthrob Jack Stapleton from a stalker. When Jack needs to go home because of a family emergency, they pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend so nobody knows about his stalker. 

This will probably put me in some minority of readers, but misunderstood rich boy romances aren't my favorite; well unless they are rakes. In this novel, Henry Locke's mom wills her fortune to her dog, Smuckers. Vicky, who had agreed to take care of Smuckers after his owner dies, had no idea the pooch would inherit the woman's estate, which puts Henry and Vicky immediately at odds. We've also already discussed my dislike of enemies turned lovers stories. 

I recall wanting to read this book when it came out. I'm going to guess I skipped over how the male lead is kind of a jerk. It seems like fake romance is more of this book than enemies to lovers, so I might still give it a shot. 

This fake relationship romantic comedy involves being snowed in around Christmas. That means it is bound to make it into my TBR Pile at some point. I'm pretty sure I could simply read holiday romances for the rest of my life and be totally happy with that. 

August is a cynical young adult who has decided she is better off living alone. That is until she meets Jane on the subway. Then August discovers Jane doesn't just look like a an old school punk rocker, she's displaced from the 1970s. Time travel romance is something I enjoy, so this one could end up in my TBR Pile. 

This one is destined to join the other books in my TBR Pile awaiting my time. Shy and bookish Lily Greene has been corresponding with her favorite fantasy author, which turns into a friendship, until he ghosts her. Determined to find a date for her sister's wedding, she asks her new neighbor. Nick has always used a pen name for a reason, and he's fairly certain that Lily is the fan he's been emailing. Setting her up with someone else would be so much simpler if he could just get her out of his mind. 

The fact that I've wanted to read this book since it came out makes no sense based upon my earlier comments about enemies to lovers romances. Maybe it's the tropical setting. Maybe it has to do with the fact that there is a wedding. I'm really not sure. It seems like this would be as much fun as Nellie Oleson marrying Albert Ingalls if Little House on the Prairie were set in Maui during Willie Oleson's wedding to Rachel Brown. 

As I age, romances featuring more mature (at least chronologically) capture my attention. This one sounds like a blast. Evie Gallagher quickly regrets her hasty move into a care home, so she sets off on an adventure across Europe. Her son Brendan and his wife follow a trail of puzzling messages to bring her home, but it will become clear to them that Evie hasn't given up on life and love. I need to add this to my TBR Pile right now. 

Have you read any of these? Hope you had fun putting your list together. I look forward to seeing how you approached this week's freebie. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Mar 22

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.

Happy Monday and happy spring! I hope you had a nice weekend. Mine was filled with real estate appointments; it's that time of year. 

We had some nice weather this weekend, which looks like it will continue through the week. Good thing, because my potato tubers are on the way and I need to set up my three-tier garden beds. I need to swing by Home Depot for some dirt as well. 

Not much to report in terms of reading. I've been so busy with appointments that I didn't have a lot of reading time. 

On Friday, I posted my review of this book. It is so neat to see Jon Land take over this series. There is a giveaway running. 

I am currently reading these three.

Then I need to read these two.

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Nothing new in my physical mailbox, but I did grab this cute romantic comedy anthology that I have been wanting to read.

Meet the sassy ladies and their hunky heroes in this free romantic comedy anthology.

Whether you’re in the mood for enemies to lovers, second chances, small town romance, billionaires, strong females or opposites attract, we’ve got you covered.

All novels are full-length standalones and first in a series. This anthology will be available for a limited time only. 

Go on ten first dates with these laugh-out-loud romantic comedies:

Loved You Once by Claudia Burgoa

What I’m Looking For by Karen Grey

Love Under Construction by M.C. Cerny

Mixed Signals by Mia Heintzelman

On The Rox by Kat Addams

Moonshine and Magnolias by Abigail Sharpe

Too Tempting by Bethany Lopez

Love, Lacey Donovan by Jill Brashear

Imperfect Chemistry by Mary Frame

Some Call It Love by Sarah Peis

Doesn't this one sound like fun? What is one of your favorite romantic comedies?