It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - June 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 almost to the end of the month. By this time next week, we will be on vacation. I think God took pity on me and my potential burnout. All the listings I thought were coming before we left are waiting until after we return. Though I will have things going on, with any luck, I will squeak out more of a vacation than usual. Maybe I can even catch up on my reading. 

Here are photos from this week:

The Lil' Diva's dance recital. She just finished 21 years. 

Don't let their cuteness fool you. Right after this, they attacked each other.

Theo is hanging out with me as I go through his vacation supplies. Packing makes him very anxious. 

More success with reading this past week. I posted three First Chapter Reviews. Here they are in case you missed them:

Click here to read the review.

Click here to read the review and enter for your chance to win.

Click here to read the review and enter for your chance to win. 

I reviewed this NetGalley download at TC&TBC.

I also read more of this book. Caitlin Rother is one of my favorite true crime authors. She does a spectacular job of in-depth research. 

I have a First Chapter Review of this book coming up on Friday. 

These two are next. 

I'm not sure how many books I am bringing on vacation with me yet, but I have already packed my Kindle, and I have my NetGalley app on my phone. 

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 is a NetGalley download that I will review soon. It is coming out in September.

Before we leave for vacation, this book should arrive. I will likely take it with me to North Carolina. 

Upcoming Events

• Soul Stirrings by Anita Hackley Lambert - June 25 (Book Spotlight) 
• To Murder a Marquis by Arabella Sheraton - June 27 - (First Chapter Review)
• My Bully, My Aunt, and Her Final Gift by Harold Phifer Jul 8 (Book Spotlight)
• Shooting Stars Above by Patricia Leavy, PhD - Jul 24 (Author Interview)
• Arabesque by M G da Mota - Jul 31 (Book Spotlight)
• Like Driftwood on the Salish Sea by Richard Levine - Aug 12 (Author Interview)
• Like Driftwood on the Salish Sea by Richard Levine - Sep 15 (Review)

Christmas Year Round has a new Christmas... in the news post that talks about a Christmas pop-up in Texas coming in July, an animated special starring Nathan Kress (iCarly), and an article from Travel & Leisure about celebrating in Florida. You can find that all here.

Other than my review of Rosie's Ranch Rescue, I featured 10 Nesting Swallows by Tammar Stein at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. You can check that out here.

Laura's Little Houses has nothing new. Probably won't until we are on vacation. I have ideas, just no time to dedicate to them right now.

I will be catching up on comments from last week and this post today. Hope you have a great week!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on My Spring 2024 TBR List

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! I haven't participated in this meme for a couple of weeks. Too much going on and not overly inspired lately. While I might do some switching around of this list, here are the...

Top Ten Books on My Spring 2024 TBR List

Have you read any of these? Do any of these catch your eye?

First Chapter Review: Death on Ocean Boulevard by Caitlin Rother

 

Investigative reporter Caitlin Rother sent me a copy of Death on Ocean Boulevard to review. I have fallen behind in my reading due to unexpected health issues, but wanted to be sure I posted something about this book as soon as I could.

BLURB: "I got a girl, hung herself in the guest house."

The call came on the morning of July 13, 2011, from the historic Spreckels Mansion, a lavish beachfront property in Coronado, California, owned by pharmaceutical tycoon and multimillionaire Jonah Shacknai. When authorities arrived, they found the naked body of Jonah's girlfriend, Rebecca Zahau, gagged, her ankles tied and her wrists bound behind her. Jonah's brother, Adam, claimed to have found Rebecca hanging by a rope from the second-floor balcony. On a bedroom door in black paint were the cryptic words: SHE SAVED HIM CAN YOU SAVE HER. 

Was this scrawled message a suicide note or a killer's taunt? Rebecca's death came two days after Jonah's six-year-old son, Max, took a devastating fall while in Rebecca's care. Authorities deemed Rebecca's death a suicide resulting from her guilt. But who would stage either a suicide or a murder in such a bizarre, elaborate way?

Award-winning investigative journalist Caitlin Rother weaves stunning new details into a personal yet objective examination of the sensational case. She explores its many layers-including the civil suit in which a jury found Adam Shacknai responsible for Rebecca's death, and the San Diego County Sheriff's Department bombshell decision to reconfirm its original findings. As compelling as it is troubling, this controversial real-life mystery is a classic American tragedy that evokes the same haunting fascination as the JonBenet Ramsey and O.J. Simpson cases.

COVER: Love this cover. Picture of the mansion with the orange font and dark colors is perfect for the genre. 

FIRST CHAPTER: Details the 911 call that lead the police to the Coronado Mansion in July 2011.

KEEP READING: Definitely. Rother has a talent for drawing the reader in. After a moving prologue, the reader is captivated by the details of the 911 call placed to the Coronado Police Department at 6:48 that summer morning, and ends with numerous questions officers must have had upon the discovery of Rebecca Zahau's body.

Publisher : Citadel (April 27, 2021)

Language : English

Paperback : 368 pages

ISBN-10 : 0806540893

ISBN-13 : 978-0806540894

This first chapter review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way. Look for my full review coming soon. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Apr 19

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.

Here we are close to the end of a crazy April. After sunny, warm weather, we ended the week with four or so inches of snow. Welcome to spring in New England. It was still an awesome week with two accepted offers, a coming soon listing, and a listing appointment. 

On Tuesday, we will honor my father-in-law on the first anniversary of his death. Our family will be getting together, but I pray one day we will be able to spend some time with the rest of the relatives. I am still waiting on my vaccine appointment. 

On a related note, the MA House passed Bill H.3701 (160-0) to finance the construction of a new Soldiers' Home in Holyoke. This is where my father-in-law resided when he caught COVID. A total of 77 veterans died as a result of the outbreak there. We are cautiously optimistic that the bill will also pass in the MA Senate.

In my reading world, I am happy to report that I finished this book. My review will appear at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection on April 30. 

I also finished this book. I uploaded my review to Goodreads and Amazon. The review won't appear here until June 8. 

I am reading one of my new books.

I am also reading these. 

I just started this one.

These two are next.

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.

My books from Christianbook.com arrived on Thursday. Each of these cost me only 99 cents. That's why I like shopping there: they often run great sales. I also bought two bookmarks for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day and picked up ten packs of different bookmarks for my office.

That's it for me this week. I hope all is well with you and that you are getting a lot of reading accomplished.  

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Mailbox Monday - Apr 12

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 back to Monday. How was your weekend? I took a rare weekend off of real estate--well, mostly. I needed to get some things done around the house. The cleaning of the bonus room has now been started so that we can convert it into an exercise room, and the garden bed is finally in the yard. I probably should have ordered two, but I will see how this one goes first. 

I finished this cute book, perfect for Earth Day, over the weekend. You can find my review at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. 

I am still reading these two. 

I also started this one. 

These are the next few that I need to read. 

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.

This week my physical mailbox was empty, but I just ordered some books from Christianbook.com. They have a 99 cent sale going on through tomorrow. I will share these books once they arrive. 

I found one of my favorite books on the list if you're interested.

In Beyond Me, readers will have ten chapters of thought-provoking text that helps them see clearly the distinction between their ever-increasing clash of cultures―the clash between life and death or, in other words, you and me. Written in a warm, personal, and easy-to-read-and-understand style, Beyond Me is an invitation to pursue true discipleship. In poignant, humorous, but always vulnerable and meaningful examples, readers will find current, historical, and biblically documented insights and teachings to support this call to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.

That's it from my neck of the woods. Hope you have a great week.