Happy Thanksgiving to all!

 

I'm going to repeat the image and wish that I shared last year for Thanksgiving.  This is truly my hope for each of you, even if you're not having an 'official' holiday this year.  Take care, dear friends!  And know that I am grateful for each of you.

Here's an update (finally, right?)...and there will be more to come in upcoming days...I promise!!

Hi there, book friends!  Hope you are doing well and enjoying whatever fall looks like in your area.  We are doing well here and looking forward to hosting all our family for Thanksgiving this Thursday.  It will be a fun day.  Not all will be able to attend, but we'll welcome those that can come.

I know it's been a bit of time since I updated my blog here.  I go through these periods where I mean to share things and then something else comes along and updates get pushed aside.

Let's see, it was midsummer when I took a break and we've been busy.  I have a couple of specific posts that I will share in the next couple of weeks.  One of our area libraries where I used to volunteer has a new building and it is truly lovely.  I went there recently and took a few pictures and will share those.  We also took a vacation in August to Colorado - drove to Colorado Springs and then to Durango and I have a few pictures of that trip.  Plus I was able to visit several independent bookstores that I also want to tell you guys about.  Lots of fun!

In September we had a big 90th birthday party for my mother-in-law.  She wasn't sure she wanted everyone to do that, but she ended up having a really good time and a bunch of relatives from out of town were able to attend, as well as friends and family here.  So glad we were able celebrate that big milestone with her.  

September and October also seemed to be the time when both my husband and I had a bunch of our annual or semiannual doctor/dentist visits.  Always fun!  I especially 'like' some of the older adult questions that they seem to have to ask like 'when was the last time you fell?' - ha!  I mean, I know people do fall and medical people have to check these things, but my aim is not to fall if possible.  Reminding myself that continuing to work on my health journey through good eating and movement helps, right?  I do enjoy my 'walks' at the rec center on the indoor track and continue to do those.  Plus stretching, yoga, a bit of strength training - it's all good.

Reading life - oh, yes, this is a book blog - ha!  I haven't had much to share in that regard because I have been making my way through J.D. Robb's Eve Dallas and Roarke mystery series this year.  I love rereading favorite series and this is one that I decided I'd do again in 2024.  Well, there are 59 books in this series - #60 will be published in February, 2025 - and I'm currently reading #58 - Random In Death.  Only one more and then we'll see what else catches my eye.  No, I haven't just been reading these, but they have taken up a lot of time.  I have still been attending two book groups that I have been part of for many years.  I'll talk about what those groups are reading for the first half of 2025 and also what we've been reading this fall soon.  See, I do have some ideas for posts to share - ha!  I also have a few books that I'm 'waiting on' and will let you guys know about those as well.  

Mostly, I want to say that I've missed writing these posts, so here I am again.  I love hearing about what you've been reading and what's been going on in your lives.  I know that several of our blogging friends are no longer posting.  We all have to do what works for us, but I hope they know they are missed.  Take care all!  Hope you have a good week!  I have a little Thanksgiving Day post and then I'll be back with more 'talk' after that.            

And I'll take an 'official' late summer break...back in late August or early September...

 

Hey book friends!  Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the summer.  I've been doing fine and reading and walking and getting new landscaping and going to book groups.  As I often do at this time of year, I'm going to take an 'official' summer break for a few weeks.  We've got some travel planned and some family stuff going on.  I'll see you all in late August or early September.  Take care and read some good books please.  I'll try to do the same.

An early July update...

Hello there, book friends!  Hope you are having a good start to July and enjoying whatever weather you are experiencing.  We have been having the hot, hots, but Texas has also had the visit from Hurricane Beryl.  The forecast went back and forth as to what impacts Central Texas might have, but our area was on the 'dry' side and so not much here.  The Gulf Coast however was inundated with rain, flooding, wind, etc., and this was a storm that arrived as a Level 1.  Kind of gives you a sense of what a Level 5 might bring.  Certainly not the first time for this, nor will it be the last.  However, I hope that all get the help they need and can recover soon.  I do know that there are several of our blogging friends that live in that area and I am thinking about them.

Another area to be thinking about is pictured above.  Ruidoso, New Mexico has been a favorite vacation spot of ours for many years.  I used a Ruidoso area picture as my header photo for a long time.  Anyway, they have experienced wildfires in the last few weeks.  Two fires started on June 17th and the whole area was under mandatory evacuation.  Tens of thousands of acres were burned and the fire came very, very close to the town itself including the central part.  Then there were heavy thunderstorms that dropped a lot of rain very quickly.  This helped the fires, but there was a lot of flash flooding and that was in the central part of town.  We have friends who live there and they evacuated to Roswell for over a week.  Their house was not burned, but many, many more were.  I know there are other parts of the country that experience these fires, people in California especially.  So, so sad.  The whole region is quite popular with tourists in the summer, but it's been complicated whether this is the best time for people to visit or not.  We have chosen 'not' for this year.

We had a quiet July 4th.  My husband played golf and I just enjoyed a 'reading day'.  Other family were on trips and so we didn't get together with anyone.  We'll be taking a vacation later in the summer hopefully and possibly also in late fall.  We shall see.  Reading is good.  I had a great time talking mysteries with my favorite Mystery Book Group and hearing what everyone had been reading as well as discussing Fiona Barton's Local Gone Missing.  There will be another book featuring the protagonist of this one coming out in late August.  I'll probably share that one next week for my 'Waiting On Wednesday' post.  One of the group members was telling me that she had recently read Ruth Ware's first book, In A Dark, Dark Wood, and enjoyed it very much.  She knew that I liked Ruth Ware's writing.  Made me think I might want to reread it and so I've been doing that.  Yes, it's a good one.  Have you tried it?  And Linda Castillo's new Kate Burkholder book, The Burning, came out today.  I shared about anticipating this one here.  Am I excited to try it?  Yes, yes, I am!  Ha!  

Think that's about all I have to share.  I think I mentioned that we would be having some new landscaping done on our yard and that got started last week.  Hopefully, I'll have some finished pictures to share in a few weeks.  What have you been reading lately?  I'd love to hear.  Take care!     

Waiting On Wednesday - The Wilds

 

'Waiting on Wednesday' is an event where I feature an upcoming book that I am extra excited about.  I used to do this in the past and am making it a priority to do again.  Seriously, who among us doesn't have a book or two or twenty that we are excited about reading?  Plus, it lets us 'spread the word' about authors and series that we personally enjoy.

This week's book I want to mention is the third in Sarah Pearse's series featuring Detective Elin Warner.  I have read the previous two books and enjoyed both.  The first one, The Sanatorium, is set in the Swiss Alps at a hotel that was once a sanatorium.  The second book, The Retreat, takes place on an island off the coast of England and involves a wellness retreat.  The new book, which will be out next month, takes place at a Portuguese national park.  As you can probably surmise, setting plays a big part in these books.  Have you tried this series or might this encourage you to look for these books?  Do tell!

The Wilds

by Sarah Pearse

Publication Date:  July 16th

Detective Elin Warner unravels the mystery behind the disappearance of a young woman in a propulsive new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Sanatorium

Since the dark events that scarred her childhood, Kier Templer escaped her hometown to live life on the road. She and her twin have never lost contact until, on a trip to a Portuguese national park, Kier vanishes without a trace.

Detective Elin Warner arrives in the same park ready to immerse herself in its vast wilderness – only to hear about Kier’s disappearance, and discover a disturbing map she left behind. The few strangers at an isolated campsite close ranks against Elin’s questions, and the park’s wild beauty starts to turn sinister.

Elin must untangle the clues to find out what really happened to Kier. But when you follow a trail, you have to be careful to watch your back...

Sarah Pearse brilliantly introduced readers to Elin Warner in The Sanatorium, with her exploits continuing in The Retreat; here, the series concludes with The Wilds, where the unanswered questions plaguing Elin are finally resolved.

Waiting On Wednesday - The Dark Wives

 

'Waiting on Wednesday' is an event where I feature an upcoming book that I am extra excited about.  I used to do this in the past and am making it a priority to do again.  Seriously, who among us doesn't have a book or two or twenty that we are excited about reading?  Plus, it lets us 'spread the word' about authors and series that we personally enjoy.

The book I'm extra excited about this week will be the latest in Ann Cleeves' series featuring DI Vera Stanhope.  It's #11 and I'm really looking forward to reading it.  I've enjoyed not only the book series starring DI Stanhope but have also watched all the seasons of the TV adaptation - which is called 'Vera', of course.  Ha!  There are 13 seasons and I'm fairly certain the show is finished.  Brenda Blethyn announced that she is retiring from the role and honestly, no one else could play 'Vera'.  The book series will continue though.  And 'yay' for that.  

I have met Ann Cleeves at more than one book conference and talked with her a bit.  She's very friendly and is a big supporter of libraries.  When I met her the first time and she found that I had worked in that environment, she asked a lot of questions and it was very apparent that she loves libraries.  Have you read any of Ann's books or watched 'Vera' or 'Shetland'?  I recommend her works highly.

The Dark Wives

by Ann Cleeves

Publication Date:  August 27th

As New York Times bestseller Ann Cleeves's beloved Vera series explodes in popularity in print and on TV, this stunning eleventh book explores the web of secrets surrounding a young man's death.

The man’s body is found in the early morning light by a local dog walker in the park outside Rosebank, a home for troubled teens in the coastal village of Longwater. The victim is Josh, a staff member, who was due to work the previous night but never showed up.

DI Vera Stanhope is called out to investigate the death, with her only clue being the disappearance of one of the home’s residents, fourteen-year-old Chloe Spence. Vera can’t bring herself to believe that a teenager is responsible for the murder, but even she can’t dismiss the possibility.

Vera, Joe and new team member Rosie Bell, are soon embroiled in the case, and when a second connected body is found near the Three Dark Wives monument in the wilds of the Northumberland countryside, superstition and folklore begin to collide with fact. Vera knows she has to find Chloe to get to the truth, and the dark secrets in their community that may be far more dangerous than she could have ever believed possible.

Waiting On Wednesday - This Is Why We Lied

 

'Waiting on Wednesday' is an event where I feature an upcoming book that I am extra excited about.  I used to do this in the past and am making it a priority to do again.  Seriously, who among us doesn't have a book or two or twenty that we are excited about reading?  Plus, it lets us 'spread the word' about authors and series that we personally enjoy.

I have enjoyed Karin Slaughter's Will Trent books for many years.  This newest one will be #12 in the series.  I'm a bit behind in my reading here so the August publication will hopefully let me catch up on the ones I haven't read as yet.  Some of you may know that there is an ABC series entitled 'Will Trent' and it is indeed based on the protagonist here.  I like it well enough.  I will warn you that the book 'Will Trent' and the TV 'Will Trent' are very different in many ways and yet, the adaptation has included a lot of characteristics that make Will himself.  Other characters from the TV series are extremely different from the books, but not all.  I'm probably confusing you.  I've read that Karin Slaughter herself is satisfied with the adaptation.  Me - well, I honestly just have to kind of think of them as different characters completely.  I don't say this to discourage you from trying the series if you haven't read it or visa versa.  In any case, I'm going to be looking forward to the new addition.  Have you read any of these or watched the TV show? 

This Is Why We Lied

by Karin Slaughter

Publication Date:  August 20th

Everyone here is a liar, but only one of us is a killer…

A secluded cabin retreat

For GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton, McAlpine Lodge seems like the ideal getaway to celebrate their honeymoon. Set on a gorgeous, off-the-grid mountaintop property, it’s the perfect place to unplug and reconnect. Until a bone-chilling scream cuts through the night.

A murderer in their midst

Mercy McAlpine, the manager of the Lodge, is dead. With a vicious storm raging and the one access road to the property washed out, the murderer must be someone on the mountain. But as Will and Sara investigate the McAlpine family and the other guests, they realize that everyone here is lying….Lying about their past. Lying to their family. Lying to themselves.

Who killed Mercy McAlpine?

It soon becomes clear that normal rules don’t apply at McAlpine Lodge, and Will and Sara are going to have to watch their step at every turn. Trapped on the resort, they must untangle a decades-old web of secrets to discover what happened to Mercy. And with the killer poised to strike again, the trip of a lifetime becomes a race against the clock…

A beginning of summer reading update...

Hello and Happy Saturday to all!  Hope this is a good weekend for everyone and includes fun things.  I've been up early and made my bigger grocery shop already and am now washing clothes.  Decided it's a good time to share a bit about what I've been reading lately.  I'm going to try to get back to sharing my 'Waiting For' posts on Wednesdays.  I like to do that so you all know what's coming (if you're interested) and also to remind myself as well.  

OK, my reading has been going well.  I've been making my way through a reread of J.D. Robb's Eve Dallas series on audio for my walks and times alone in the car.  I've read them all before, but I do enjoy visiting with Eve and Roarke.  If you can believe it, #59 in the series will be published in September.  And I still like these.  Go figure!  LOL

I attended my two book groups recently and enjoyed a nice discussion of Circling The Sun by Paula McLain at the 'Afternoon Book Group'.  This is a historical fiction book that tells of Beryl Markham's life and includes other characters from the Out Of Africa movie as well.  We also talked quite a bit about other historical fiction authors and those who had read Kristin Hannah's new book, The Women, shared some of their experiences.  My come-away with that part was that The Women seems to inspire quite varied opinions.  Have you read it?  I have not as yet.

I also got to take part in the June meeting of the 'Mystery Book Group'.  This month has traditionally been the one that we read 'Books that won or were nominated for Mystery Awards in the previous year'.  It's always a fun one because everyone reads different things and then comes and shares what they thought.  Plus, we get a list of the books talked about and that's helpful for summer reading in the mystery realm.

I read Carol Goodman's The Bones of the Story and enjoyed it.  It was nominated for the 'Mary Higgins Clark' Award for this year.  Carol Goodman's books are most often standalones and are usually set in upstate New York or the New England area.  She also uses a school or university setting a lot of the time.  They are almost always a bit spooky and I guess would fall into the new-ish theme of 'dark academia'.

Next month, we will be reading Fiona Barton's book, Local Gone Missing.  I have read it before a while back, but will probably do a reread to refresh my memory.

In other reading, I decided that I might do a bit of 'Summer Reading' before a couple of my favorite mystery series authors have their next book published.  Then I'll be diving into a new 'Lady Sherlock' book (by Sherry Thomas) and also visiting 'Kate Burkholder' (by Linda Castillo).

Since this post is getting quite long, I'll just share the two summer-ish books I've finished and also the one I'm currently reading.  All fall into the rom-com or family life area.

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren - I've only read one other book by this author (who are actually two friends) and liked it.  This one was fun.

Look On The Bright Side by Kristan Higgins - I read several of this author's books a few years ago and enjoyed them.  This one is sweet and poignant and has a woman who is trying to get past a loss and deal with things as best she can.  She's stronger than she knows though and all is good in the end.

Right now, I'm reading The Best Life Book Club by Sheila Roberts. - I think I've only read one other book by her and it was a Christmas-themed book a long while back.  Anyway, the 'book club' angle caught my eye and the setting is the Pacific Northwest.  So far, so good.  A woman with a young daughter moves to a new town after a divorce and she meets a couple of neighbors and the sister of one of the neighbors.  They all could use a 'refresh' and so start a book club to help them with that.  As I said, I'm liking it so far (19% in).

Think that's about it for now.  What are you reading these days?  Have you picked up any good 'Summer Books' or what else do you recommend?  I always love to hear.  Take care!      

Hey, it's June!!

Hello book friends.  I'm glad to say 'welcome to summer' to all of you.  Hope you are doing well and enjoying the seasonal things in your part of the world.  Here at my house - well, it's June - it's hot and muggy.  No surprise there.  However, our part of Texas has had a lot more rain this year than in recent years and so the grass and wildflowers and especially the lakes are in better shape.  Our lakes have been way, way down for several years and so even though the rain can bring thunderstorms and wind and hail at times, the downpours are very welcome.

We've been a bit busy with some things and though I've been reading (and will update with some book thoughts later this week), I just haven't felt the blog post writing vibe for a bit.  That happens with me, but I do so much enjoy reading what all of you have been up to.  As I said, I'm planning on doing another post later this week and will share some book stuff.  I recently attended an author event in our area and will also tell about our mystery book group meeting tonight.  The June meeting is always a fun one as everyone reads 'Mystery Award-winning or nominated' books and one always comes away with a great list of books to try. 

I am going to share a few pictures today of the bluebonnets we had in our yard earlier in the spring.  I had promised to do that and I also have a couple of shots of cactus blooms.  And I have a sweet picture that I took today of a couple of fawn twins that were in the area behind us.  There were actually three fawns out there, but I could only get two in the shot without actually going outside and startling them.

Here are the lovely bluebonnets.  Two pictures below.  We have been working on getting a new plan for some updated landscaping at our house, so this will be the only year we'll have these exactly like this.

  

  

This has been a banner year for flowers in Texas this year.  Even the cactus have been blooming profusely.  Love this!

Lastly, here are the cute and precious little fawns.  Don't you love them?  Not everyone understands about letting the deer (and their fawns) be wild.  Many people worry when the mother deer tuck their babies away and go forage for food.  People think that the mothers have abandoned them.  Don't think that ever happens.  We always tell people to leave the fawns alone.  The moms will come back for them.

  I'll post again soon.  Enjoy your reading!!

Just a little break....back in a few weeks...

 

Hey everyone!  Hope all is well with my reader friends.  I haven't disappeared, but have been busy with some things.  And I've been walking and yoga-ing and admiring the wildflowers and planning a bit for what we might do in our back yard area.  Oh, yes - I've been reading - ha!  I have some flower pictures to share with you and will report on my books and book group attendance, etc.  See you in a while!