A short break...back soon...

 

Thought I would share this pretty fall picture just because of the lovely colors.  Not that it was taken in my area - ha!  I'm fairly certain that I took it some years ago in New Mexico on one of our trips there.  Anyway, I am going to take a short break - just a couple of weeks.  We are going to be busy with a number of things including some family time, etc.  Don't have too much fun without me.  I should be back around soon and will update on my reading, my book groups (attended a new one that was interesting), and whatever else I can think of.  Take care!  Happy Halloween!    

Waiting on Wednesday - The Seven Rings

 

'Waiting on Wednesday' is an event where I feature an upcoming book that I am extra excited about.  I love doing this, letting the 'word' spread about authors and series that I enjoy.   Hope you'll stop by often and see what I'm 'waiting' on.

This week's selection may seem a little odd in some ways.  It is indeed the 3rd book in a trilogy written by the very, very prolific Nora Roberts.  I have read this author's books for a really long time.  I am especially fond of her crime novel series under her J.D. Robb name.  However, I have also loved many of her trilogies that feature magic, romance, and also some suspense.  This week's book is the completion of the 'Lost Bride Trilogy'.  The first two books are Inheritance and The Mirror.  I own both of these, but have not read them as yet.  I've found that these trilogies make me really anxious for the next book so this time I decided to wait until all three were available so I can move right on to the next.  Have you read any of this trilogy as yet or have you enjoyed other 'magic' trilogies by this author?  Do tell!  

The Seven Rings: The Lost Bride Trilogy, Book 3

by Nora Roberts

Publication Date: November 18

The #1 New York Times-bestselling author Nora Roberts concludes her compelling Lost Bride trilogy as two women—one dead, one alive—prepare for a terrifying final showdown…

Long ago, Arthur Poole built a grand house overlooking the turbulent ocean, in a Maine village that bore his name. Today, Sonya MacTavish lives in that house—a manor that has been cursed for generations. Within its walls, she has witnessed the deaths of seven brides and the thefts of seven wedding rings. And now, to break the curse and banish a malevolent spirit once and for all, a difficult task must be completed.

After Sonya, her boyfriend, Trey, and their friends are forced to hear, see—and feel—the suffering of the house’s many ghosts as their torment is reenacted by the evil presence, their bond only strengthens and their anger is renewed. Refusing to let her spirit be broken, Sonya searches each room for clues to her ancestors’ hidden story, putting the picture together, unearthing small treasures, and uncovering the moments of joy that existed among the sorrows. She’s determined to bring light to this haunted place—to fill it with people, with life and hope, once again.

But the enemy in the black dress continues to hover, to come at her in frightening forms. They may be illusions—but illusions can be powerful enough to wound and kill. She feeds on fear, and lies are her weapon. This dark-hearted witch wants to be mistress of Poole Manor, at any cost. And Sonya will need to fight a battle across two realms to finally take possession of the house on the clifftop—and of her own future…

A few pictures from our trip to Yellowstone Park...

I wanted to share a few shots of our trip to Yellowstone Park and so here they are.  We went the last week in August and that seemed to be a good time to visit.  Less people because most schools had started, but there were quite comfortable temperatures.  It was our first visit to the area and we went with another couple that we've been friends with for a long, long time.  We did have a lot of fun.  

I will say that I am a person who tends to have motion sickness.  Always have had.  It's the reason that cruises don't sound fun to me and, though I love mountains, the windy up-and-down roads affect me as well.  I didn't take as many pictures because I had to take meds (happily the lower-dose so that I was actually awake - ha!) for 9 of the 10 days we were gone.  Have to have them when I fly as well.  So, I was a little 'off', but still able to enjoy.  

If you haven't been to this part of the world, I think it's worth it. 

 

I shared this photo in an earlier post, but wanted to say that the mountains here are the Tetons.  This was actually outside the boundary of Yellowstone in the southern region.

There are lots of grand vistas and you can see in the lower part the edge of where we stood and then how far down the Yellowstone River actually was.  Just beautiful.

Another picture of the Yellowstone River.  The house where we stayed actually backed up to the river and there were canoes and kayaks and other boats going by.  Lots of ducks, swans, birds of all kinds.  My husband and his friend did a bit of fishing, but they didn't catch anything.  Fun though anyway.

This is 'Old Faithful' erupting.  Turned out that the day we visited Old Faithful, it rained most of the day.  We ended up wearing some 'lovely' yellow ponchos as we waited for the eruption.  There were a lot of people waiting, even though it was pretty much pouring.  Ha!  Afterwards, we were glad to go to the visitor center and learn more.  There were several visitor centers to stop and see all over Yellowstone.  Well worth walking through.

This was the 'Mud Caldron' area.  There were walkways and trails all around that visitors can stop and experience.  One does want to stay on the walkways, etc. because the steam is serious.  The park rangers have signs and warnings all around.  Some people though don't seem to want to follow the rules.

The 'Devil's Thumb' area.  It's really fascinating to see and also, as I said above, to go to the visitor centers and see the exhibits about how and why this happens. 

Can you say, 'Hello, Mr. Bison?' - ha!  There are many, many of these creatures in Yellowstone.  You can see them on the hillsides, in the valleys, and just walking down the road - usually right in the middle.  I took this shot out the car window.  

Another creature that I wasn't quite as anxious to say 'Hello' - a bear.  We got several shots of this one, but you can understand why the visitors that have tele-photo lenses get the better pictures.  After seeing Mr. Bear (guess he was a Mr., maybe a Ms.), I jumped back in the car.  There were a bunch of people that didn't do that though.  Some were close on the right side of the picture.  A couple of the photographers with those tele-photo lenses started shouting at the people to get back in their cars - the bear was coming.  Some did and some did not - silly people!

The last two pictures I'll share are of some wildflowers.  I think we were a little late in the season for flowers, but I enjoyed getting a couple of pictures.

Last wildflower picture.  And last picture I'll share.  As I said, hope you get to visit this area at some point if you haven't.  It's definitely a wonderful and picturesque place.

Waiting on Wednesday - A Box Full Of Darkness

 

'Waiting on Wednesday' is an event where I feature an upcoming book that I am extra excited about.  I love doing this, letting the 'word' spread about authors and series that I enjoy.   Hope you'll stop by often and see what I'm 'waiting' on.

Since this is October, I felt like I should feature a book I'm 'waiting on' that contains some 'spooky' or 'Gothic' aspects.  And you can always count on Simone St. James for those.  I have read several of her books and enjoyed them.  My favorite of those is still The Broken Girls.  I wrote about that one here.  However, I also enjoyed another book by this author that was set in Fell, New York.  It was The Sun Down Motel and I shared my thoughts about it here.  St. James' new book is also set in Fell and I think 'spooky' is a good description.  It won't be available until January, but I'll be looking forward to trying it.  What do you think?  Spooky enough?  Have you read any books by Simone St. James?  

A Box Full Of Darkness

by Simone St. James

Publication Date:  January 20th

Simone St. James, the New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel, returns with her scariest, most shocking novel yet in this pulse-pounding story about siblings who return to the house they fled 18 years before, called back by the ghost of their long-missing brother and his haunting request: Come home.

Strange things happen in Fell, New York. A mysterious drowning at the town’s roadside motel. The unexplained death of a young girl whose body is left by the railroad tracks. For the Esmie siblings—Violet, Vail, and Dodie—the final straw was the shocking disappearance of their little brother. It started as a normal game of hide-and-seek. The three closed their eyes and counted to ten while Ben went to hide. But this time, they never found their brother—he was gone and the ongoing search efforts turned up no clues.

As their parents grew increasingly distant, Violet, Vail, and Dodie were each haunted by visions and frightening events that made them leave town and never look back. Violet still sees dead people—spirits who remind her of Sister, the menacing presence that terrorized her for years.

And now after two decades running from their past, it’s time for a homecoming. Because Ben is back, and he’s ready to lead them to the answers they’ve longed for and long feared. If the ghosts of Fell don’t get to them first.

A Box Full of Darkness is another propulsive thriller from the author of The Broken Girls and The Book of Cold Cases, a surprising horror story from a writer who is “particularly gifted at doling out twists” (The New York Times).

A bit about my September reading and a thank you to all...

Hey everyone!  First of all, thank you so much for being so kind and supportive with my post last week regarding the passing of my friend, Nan.  It's hard to think you won't be able to share things with a friend who has been your friend for such a long time.  However, she would be so, so touched by how many people in the blogging/reading world loved her, remembered her, and will miss her.  She was a good, good soul.

The picture I've posted here is from our trip to Yellowstone recently.  I'm planning on having another post on Friday with more pictures.  We had a great time and I'll share just a few of these.  A couple of animals, some wildflowers, and some other places that we stopped and looked and were amazed.  

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I read 6 books during the month of September.  Three of these were rereads and three were new to me.  I'm not going to write reviews of them, but I will say a little bit about a few.

My favorite of the bunch was the new addition to the Cormoran Strike mystery series by Robert Galbraith.  It's called The Hallmarked Man and is the 8th book in that series.  A long, long book with over 900 pages.  Took a bit of time to read (and listen to as I did a read/listen), but I did enjoy it a lot and loved catching up with Strike and Robin.  Who knows when the next one will come out?  I'll be waiting though.

I also read the book that the mystery book group that I attend will be discussing for our October meeting (which will be tomorrow evening).  That one was The Art Thief by Michael Finkel.  I will admit that I'm not a big reader of non-fiction and also not a big fan of 'true crime' books.  However, this one was interesting.  I did get a bit weary of hearing about how the thief's mother enabled him in many ways to go on 'acquiring' his art for years and years.  He was a talented thief.  Will be curious how our discussion goes. 

I also read the first two books in the Inspector Lynley mystery series by Elizabeth George.  The titles are A Great Deliverance and Payment In Blood. These were both rereads, but it had been a really long time since I read them for the first time.  The latest book in the series, the 22nd I think, was published in September.  It's A Slowly Dying Cause.  I'd been thinking about whether to reread the series (I've only read 6 of the books so far) or whether to jump in to the latest.  Still on the fence a bit about that.  I have watched the two TV adaptations.  The newest one of those came out recently with a new cast.  As one might expect, it's a bit different from the previous adaptation.  And both are a bit different from the books.  I actually like both, so I think I'll continue to watch if there are more TV shows and I might think about reading one a month in the series.  Have you read any of these books or watched either of the TV adaptations?

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And now we are into October.  This year is passing quickly or so it seems.  This time of year I usually tend to read some 'spooky' books, so we'll see how my reading goes in that regard.  Hope all of you have a good week and I'll have a 'Waiting on Wednesday' post that will indeed include a 'spooky'-sounding book that I'd like to try.  Will probably have my Yellowstone pictures up on Friday.  Take care and enjoy your 'Fall' reading. 

  

My friend Nan of Letters From A Hill Farm...

I learned a few days ago that one of my dearest friends, Nan, had passed away.  Nan was the author of the blog Letters From A Hill Farm, which I know several of you have visited and enjoyed over many years.  I have been so sad the last few days and will miss her more than I can really communicate in words.  She had not been posting for several months, but she has been missed tremendously.  I wanted to let people who check in here know what had occurred.

Nan and I met on a book site many years ago (like over 25 years).  There were others that we talked with, one of them Les who authors Coastal Horizons, and also Teri who does not write a blog.  The four of us just connected and we have kept up with each other through many years.  We've shared our book love, our love for our families and our children, and the ups and downs of our lives.  Our kids are all grown.  The other three have grandchildren.  Stuff has happened - wonderful things and sad things.  We supported each other through all that life tossed at us.  We have seen each other in person only a few times because we live spread out across the US.  And we have remained close friends.  Nan will be missed so, so much.

Les has written a wonderful, touching post about Nan on her blog here.  I encourage you to read it.  She said so many great things about Nan and has some lovely pictures as well.  Please do read it.  Nan and I met in person 3 times - once in 1998 at a bookstore in my area, once in 2017 in her part of the world that I wrote about here, and the last time in 2018 when she travelled again to Texas.  My thoughts on that are here.  Some may wonder how friends could know each other so well without being together face-to-face.  Well, it can happen.  For sure.       

I'll leave you with a quote from A.A. Milne that describes my feelings for Nan in the past and for the future.  And I'll encourage you to reach out to old friends, make new friends, and practice gratitude every day.  You won't regret it.  Take care, book friends!

Waiting on Wednesday - The Girl From Devil's Lake

 

'Waiting on Wednesday' is an event where I feature an upcoming book that I am extra excited about.  I love doing this, letting the 'word' spread about authors and series that I enjoy.   Hope you'll stop by often and see what I'm 'waiting' on.

The book I'm 'waiting on' this week is the 21st in one of the mystery series written by J. A. Jance.  I read the first book in the series, Desert Heat, back in 1995.  Since that time, I've read 6 or 7 others and then, after a gap of quite a while, have read the latest two books.  These books are set in Arizona and the main protagonist is Sheriff Joanna Brady.  Joanna comes to that profession after her husband, Andy, who had been the sheriff, is killed.  In the first book, Joanna and Andy have a daughter who is 9 years old.  This latest book relates that the daughter, Jenny, is graduating from the police academy.  Time has past for sure.  As you guys know, I love mystery series.  I have not been able to keep up with all the ones that I sample though.  Lately, I have been trying to catch up on several.  Some I've reread the previous books and am now current.  Some, like this one, I'm just skipping ahead in order to get current.  Have you ever read any books by J.A. Jance?  As I said, she has more than one series.  See what you think about this one.  

The Girl From Devil's Lake

by J.A. Jance

Publication Date: September 30

Arizona County Sheriff Joanna Brady solves her biggest case yet, from a body in the desert to crimes spanning decades and countries, in the thrilling latest installment in the New York Times bestselling suspense series.

Sheriff Joanna Brady is looking forward to the holidays with her busy family, and to celebrating her daughter Jenny’s graduation from the police academy. But the family is interrupted when a body is discovered beneath a flooded bridge in the Arizona desert, and Joanna is called onto the case. A young boy was murdered, and the details of the crime scene tell Joanna two things: This was not the killer’s first murder. And it’s only a matter of time before he kills again.

As Joanna digs deeper into the case, she begins to understand this murder is just one piece of a much, much bigger puzzle. She uncovers unlikely connections between cases of mysterious deaths and missing persons, having long since gone cold, that extend far beyond the confines of her small town and include the discovery of a body near Devil’s Lake, North Dakota. To get justice for the victims and to save the town of Bisbee from a predator, Joanna must chase down every dangerous lead.

Meanwhile, as a dogged journalist is circling the case and privileged information is leaked, Joanna can’t be sure who to trust. Could a prolific killer be hiding in plain sight? And how far will that person go to keep his many crimes hidden?

Vacation shots in Ruidoso, New Mexico - did you know that bears read?

Good morning all!  Hope you have had a nice weekend and are looking forward to fall.  We don't have any 'fall-ish' things in our area as yet, but honestly, we don't get a lot of lovely turning leaves, etc.  Too far south.  Just happy that the 100-degree temps seem to be done for this year. 

I thought I would share a few pics from our July vacation to New Mexico.  We have loved visiting the Ruidoso area of that state for many years.  We were in that part of the world just after the 4th and unfortunately heard about the flooding in Central Texas during our trip.  Put a bit of a damper on things.  Also, this area of New Mexico had big fires and flooding in 2024 and it was our first time visiting since that.  They have worked so hard to get things mostly back to normal, but are still struggling with flooding exacerbated by the burn scars and debris that continues to flow into their river.  In fact, we ended leaving a couple of days early because there was severe flooding during that July week.  I'm afraid their recovery will be slow for quite a period of time.  

However, on to happier notes.  The picture below was one I took on a walk around the outside of the golf course that is in town.  It's called 'The Links'.  It was a lovely morning and my husband was enjoying the golf and I was loving my walk. 

This next shot is of the golf course at The Inn of the Mountain Gods resort.  Another lovely course with walking trails all around.  And another lovely morning.  Crisp and cool.  

The Ruidoso Public Library can be found along the walking trail that I shared in the first picture.  I, naturally, stopped by that library on my walk and also took a couple of pictures to share.  It's a lovely little library with some cute sculptures outside of it.  Those pictures are below and I ask you - did you know that bears can read?  No?  Well, they certainly can in Ruidoso.  Thought those were very sweet.  

Yes, bears can read!  Think both of these are fun and I had to wait a bit because there were kids around playing with the bears and getting their pictures taken with them.  LOL

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back later in the week with a 'Waiting on' post and also, hopefully, a post to share a little about what I read this summer and hope to read this fall.  Have a good week!!

Waiting on Wednesday - The Librarians

 

'Waiting on Wednesday' is an event where I feature an upcoming book that I am extra excited about.  I love doing this, letting the 'word' spread about authors and series that I enjoy.   Hope you'll stop by often and see what I'm 'waiting' on.

I wanted to especially feature this new book by Sherry Thomas, The Librarians.  I had attended an author event back in the early spring where I got to see Sherry and hear her speak.  I shared that experience here.  She talked about her writing, especially her 'Lady Sherlock' mystery series (which I love).  She also told us about this new standalone book that she had been asked by her publisher to write.  Sherry lives in the Austin area and she visited my former workplace, one of the branch libraries of the Austin Public Library, for inspiration.  I had been told about her visit by one of my former work colleagues and he said they took her all around and let her discover the 'secrets' - ha!  I asked him, what secrets??  Anyway, Sherry used the Spicewood Springs branch as her setting in the book and I've gotten to read a bit of the beginning of the book.  The description of the library - yep, she's got it right - ha!  The mystery book group I attend is at this library and as we talked about 'waiting' on this book, it was suggested that we not have a 'mystery-themed' game night.  After all (if you read the description below), you never know what might happen!!  Ha!

The Librarians

by Sherry Thomas

Publication Date:  September 30th

Sometimes a workplace isn’t just a workplace but a place of safety, understanding, and acceptance. And sometimes murder threatens the sanctity of that beloved refuge....

In the leafy suburbs of Austin, Texas, a small branch library welcomes the public every day of the week. But the patrons who love the helpful, unobtrusive staff and leave rave reviews on Yelp don’t always realize that their librarians are human, too.

Hazel flees halfway across the world for what she hopes will be a new beginning. Jonathan, a six-foot-four former college football player, has never fit in anywhere else. Astrid tries to forget her heartbreak by immersing herself in work, but the man who ghosted her six months ago is back, promising trouble. And Sophie, who has the most to lose, maintains a careful and respectful distance from her coworkers, but soon that won't be enough anymore.

When two patrons turn up dead after the library’s inaugural murder mystery–themed game night, the librarians’ quiet routines come crashing down. Something sinister has stirred, something that threatens every single one of them. And the only way the librarians can save the library—and themselves—is to let go of their secrets, trust one another, and band together....

All in a day’s work.

It's September and I'm back...

Hello book friends!  I have missed all of you and sharing my reading journey, but I also have enjoyed time away.  We've been on a couple of vacations (and I'll share about those later this week and next) and I've had a good summer of reading.  Mostly rereading books, but I've caught up on a couple of mystery series and attended some book group meetings.

We went to Ruidoso, New Mexico in July and I have some pics of their library and the 'bear' reader statues that welcome patrons to that nice facility.  We also went with another couple to Yellowstone National Park in late August and enjoyed that very much.  Our first time there.  We saw amazing sights and amazing animals.  The picture I've shared below is of a 'Little Free Library' that's located outside a cafe/coffee shop in Gardiner, Montana.  Gardiner is located just a short bit from the North Entrance to Yellowstone (which is all in Wyoming, by the way).  I was delighted to see this little library and so naturally took a picture of it. 

 

As I said, I'll be back later this week with a new 'Waiting on Wednesday' post and also some pictures of the Ruidoso Library.  I'll also try to share a bit of what I've read this summer and do a couple of Yellowstone posts.  Missed you all.  Tried to comment fairly regularly, but I'm back to 'normal' now.  What have you been up to?  Any 'can't miss' book suggestions?