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

Welcome back to Monday! We are closing in on the end of March. Spring has officially started, which of course means it is cold and we are expecting a bit of snow tonight. LOL! Spring in New England is such a silly thing. 

Hope you enjoyed your week. I had more going on than planned, but all of it was good stuff. Here are a few photos from my week:

I made vegan Irish soda bread

Lobster Risotto from JRego's in Ellington

Boots is almost 16

Ran into a lender friend at our local real estate conference

In my reading world, I posted my review of 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist's Guide to a Happy Life by Dick Van Dyke. Check it out here.

I also posted my review of Women's Freedom: The Dawn of Possibilities by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein. You can read that review here.

I am almost finished with Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor. It started off slow for me, but I am loving it now. 

My review of Dream Facades: The Cruel Architecture of Reality TV by Jack Balderrama Morley should be posted this week. 

I continued Agatha Christie, She Watched by Teresa Peschel. Look for my review in April. 

I need to continue Murder, Local Style by Leslie Karst for an April review. 

Next, I will be reading the following:

Scrap: Salvaging a Family by Luann Castle

The Ledger by Steven Manchester, which is a companion to his novel, The Menu

Staged by Caitlin Rother, which is the sequel to Hooked

After that, I would love to get back to these two:

Old Flames, New Beginnings by Lea Schizas

Officer Erik and the Very Special Dad  by Erik Estrada and Steven Manchester

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. 

Since I have clearly proven I have no self-control where books are concerned, I've given up on pretending I am not going to request new books to review, and I am still going to buy them. :) 

How to Teach Adults by Dan Spalding is part of my real estate instructor's course. It arrived on Monday, and I have already started it.

A White Lie Christmas by Suzy Langevin was free thanks to a digital credit from Amazon. 

Upcoming Events

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

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

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

The Ledger by Steven Manchester - May (Review)

Staged by Cailtin Rother - June (Review)

Christmas Year Round

The Christmas Year Round blog has a new "Journey through Christmases Past" post. We travel back to Christmas 1986. You can read it here. As promised, this week's post is lighthearted and joyful.

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Nothing new. 

Laura's Little Houses

Nothing new.

I am still catching up from last week, but I will pop in and see you all later today. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - Jan 19

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 the middle of January. See how quickly that happened? Hope you had a great week. My schedule last week and this coming week is full, but I managed to take two half days off this weekend, and today I only have one appointment. 

Our Christmas decorations are officially packed away for the season... much to the dismay of Travis. I guess he will need to find something else to play with instead of ornaments. 

Snow arrived overnight on Friday and continued through part of Saturday. We had another coating or so on Sunday morning. 

I've taken to enjoying auctions over the last few months. I snagged this clipper ship table that is in the room where my office will eventually be.

After Christmas, Modern Prairie ran its annual mystery sale. You purchase from select categories at discounted prices. Well, my mystery gifts arrived yesterday: a sewing kit and cloth napkins. 

As far as reading goes, I've been loving the Christian short story collection, Chapters and Second Chances by Evelyn Grace Berry. 

I did not read I Heard the Bells, but I want to finish it this month. 

I read some of Hooked by Cailtin Rother last week. I need to finish this one soon.  

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. 

Two of these new books, Arthur's Cat by Johan Leynaud and The Curious Life of Cecilia Payne: Discovering the Stuff of Stars by Laura Alary, arrived on Sunday from Eerdmans Publishing. 

I Really Want to Be a Cat by Helen Hancocks (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky) and Creepy Kid by Caleb Roehrig are NetGalley downloads.

I grabbed It Shouldn't Be You by Jessica Wakefield during a promotion for newsletter subscribers.

Upcoming Events

Hooked by Catilin Rother - January (Review)

Tender Dreams, Harsh Reality by John Beilharz - Jan 26 (Interview)

Artsy Rambler by Evy and Rich Journey - Feb 3 (Spotlight)

Winter's Season by R. J. Koreto - Feb 13 (Spotlight)

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" finds us in 1982. You can read that post here.

The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

I shared the new children's books that I mentioned above, so not sharing a link here today. 

Laura's Little Houses

The sixth chapter in my Season 9 "Times Are Changing" rewrite is now available. I posted a link here.

I have a morning appointment, so I will be checking in with you throughout the day. Thanks for visiting!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - Nov 10

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.

Oh, my gosh! We are back on Monday again. How are the weeks flying by?

This was an exciting weekend. Three of my four buyers received the good news that their offers were accepted. I am waiting to hear back on the last one. I guess that means December will be another busy one for me. That's okay, sure beats being bored. 

The garden is now ready for winter. The garlic has been planted. I cut the last of the herbs. Cardboard and straw have been placed over the soil. The tulip and crocus bulbs have been planted. I invested in a composter this year, so I should have some compost to work into the soil next year.

Here are photos from last week:

The three cats hanging out in the Lil' Princess's bedroom

Saw a Patchy the Pirate (from SpongeBob SquarePants) portrait in a house this weekend

Christmas mugs at the local grocery store 

I made ham tetrazzini for supper on Sunday

In my reading world, I finished The Curiosities by W.H. Eatons. Check out my review here.  

I finished Ms. Pennypickle's Puzzle Quest by Chris Grabenstein. Loved it! Such a fun read. Look for my review coming soon. 

I continued with The Man Next Door by Sheila Roberts. Need to finish this week. 

Singing the Forge by G. H. Mosson will be done this week. 

I am not sure I will be able to read Old Flames, New Beginnings by Lea Schizas during the holiday season. Too much going on. But I will do my best.

Eager to read Crescent City Christmas Chaos by Ellen Byron for a November review. 

Will be posting a First Chapter Review of A Quarterback for Christmas by Linda West soon.

As I head into the new year, my TBR pile will be my focus. As much as I enjoy VBTs, I need to cut back. (We will pretend I didn't say the same thing last year.) 

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 world recently lost historical fiction author C. W. Gortner. I met Chris through Pump Up Your Book and have enjoyed reading his books for years. In his honor, I bought the second book in his Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles: The Tudor Conspiracy. 

Upcoming Events

• A Quarterback for Christmas by Linda West - Nov 13 (First Chapter Review)
• Singing the Forge by G. H. Mosson - Nov 25 (Review)
• Crescent City Christmas Chaos by Ellen Byron - Nov 27 (Review)

This week's Christmas... in the news post is up at Christmas Year Round. We covered stories from New York, Maryland, and Florida this week. Check it out here.

My review of The Curiosities was posted at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection this week.

Laura's Little Houses was quiet except for me writing that I am working on Part 6 of the "Times Are Changing" Season 9 rewrite. 

Looking ahead, there will be no day off on the calendar this week. I expect it will slow down a bit the week of Thanksgiving. Hope you have a great day!