Is There Anything Better Than a Cozy Mystery and Charcuterie?

 

Something about summertime always has me reading cozy mysteries, it might be because my library has an adult summer reading challenge with prizes? The Diva Goes Overboard is the seventeenth book in The Domestic Diva Series. I've read many of the books in this series, but not all of them. Once again, Krista Davis puts together a mystery where I almost have it figured out, but the total solution alludes me. The title of this is funny because there is a scene where someone goes overboard, and in the book there are all these scenes involving charcuterie boards. Well done, Ms.Davis!  

I borrowed this book from my library and since we are having a summer reading challenge, maybe I'll win a fun prize for this read! I would say it is a 4-star book. Enjoyable and not super easy to solve the mystery!

Even though some tiny bugs are still eating the heck of the leaves on my flowers. Look at this beautiful zinnia! 

The Sunday Post- Have you finished watching Bridgerton yet?

 

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news a

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. you can write about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Having finished my rough draft of Is This Love Fur Real, I watched the second half of Bridgerton yesterday.  It was very well done, I thoroughly enjoyed Penelope and Portia coming to a better understanding and healing their relationship.  Portia Featherington is one of my favorite characters. I read many a social media post about the season while scrolling and geez Louise people really go overboard on critiques. 

Readingwise, I finished The Diva Goes Overboard and am a third of the way through the latest Lucy Stone cozy mystery.  I'm also listening to a Kim Harrison audible exclusive. I'll be making a concerted effort to make my posts about these books and more this week. 

I've completed the first week of summer school and we only have two weeks left!  Summer school is only three and a half hours per day four days a week and we only go through June twenty-seventh, so it's nice. I'm working in a classroom of junior high kids. I was worried they would be a lot to handle, but I have found they are just wonderful and delightful!

In garden news, my zinnias have bloomed and we have cucumbers!  How was your week? 

Oh I almost forgot yesterday I ran a 5K for Imerman Angels!  Bonus was my middle kiddo ran it too! It was his first race!

The race is held at Montrose Beach (Lake Michigan) 

And here are my garden pics!

The Sunday Post! Am I Ready For Summer School?

 

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Before I get started here is a progress picture of my gardens. After this picture was taken my BIL pruned my zucchini plants. He is confident that within a day or two I should have a bunch of flowers and flowers mean vegetables!

I have just a few days left of drafting and then I'm on to revising so I can send my third book to my editor. I am also working as a pararprofessional (teacher's aide) for summer school! It is only three and a half hours a day, four days a week for the rest of June. 

I just finished listening to the Cozy Mystery Book Clue June book  Murder at the Lakeside Library. I am halfway through The Diva Goves Overboard  (which is about charcuterie boards, not boats), and The Scent of Dreams. 

 I need to get a post for the excerpt of T.J. Klune's upcoming book Beyond The Sea this week. I really cannot wait to read the whole book later this year!

Oh on the TV and Movie front, I watched the new Netflix movie Hit Man starting Glen Powell, it was very enjoyable! If you want a fun and funny movie, check it out!

How was your week? 

My Goodness Where Does the Time Go? #TheSundayPost

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme  

The second half of summer was busy with some fun travel, I went to the Tastefully Simple which was held at the Marriot Hotel in the Mall of America. I've never been to the Mall of America so that was a new experience. I like the Minneapolis area, if I had to move from Chicagoland, I'd move to Minnesota. I know that sounds bonkers because of winter, but the winters aren't as bad as they once were and I'd rather layer up than live where it is too hot to go outside. 

Then I had a nice birthday and it was time for school to start. This is my second year as a lunchroom supervisor and on Friday I realized I had learned all the kindergarteners' names--well I mean the ones I work with--. 

Recently I've been craving cozy mysteries, so I've been borrowing the audio versions of Krista Davis's Kitchen Diva series. I've completed listening to :

*The Diva Frosts a Cupcake

*The Diva Wraps it up

*The Diva Steals a Chocolate Kiss

and The Diva Serves High Tea

This series has mysteries that keep me guessing and I love the ability Krista Davis has to weave sleuthing while sharing literally mouth-watering recipes. I highly recommend this series. 

Right now I'm reading The Glida Stories which is about a black lesbian vampire, the story starts pre-Civil War
and right now it's the 1921s as I am reading.  It's a compelling read and one you should add to your reading list if you enjoy vampire stories and or supernatural books for spooky season. 

I'm also listening to The Diva Cooks Up a Storm and A Court of Wings and Ruin.  

How have you been?  Do you enjoy it when the calendar turns to fall? 

Who doesn't love food talk?

As you know I love to talk about food, today I tried a new recipe from Real Simple magazine.  This is a good entree salad.  The Hubs forget to get pita bread at the store so I made garlic bread instead with some leftover french bread that was in the back of the fridge and was probably a day away from going stale. I added fresh sliced tomatoes from the garden to the recipe and also some chopped scallions that were getting old--wanted to use those up.  Other than that, I followed the recipe.  The hubs liked it, and he is tough to please.  Overall I find that Real Simple recipes are relatively easy and don't need too much alteration to taste good.  Oh BTW I did add two garlic cloves instead of one.  I think if you like garlic you could do three or four cloves.  The cloves I used were really big. Yum!

If you are like me and you love food talk, and you really really love Thanksgiving food talk.  You will probably like this book!


The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the August book for The Cozy Mystery Book Club - a youtube book club- We will be talking about the book and getting to hear from the author! On 8/25/2020 at 7pm EST Join Us!

Here is my spoiler-free review. I completely enjoyed this quintessential cozy mystery. Ms. Davis does a fantastic job weaving cooking into the sleuthing. I stopped reading to take notes on how to make the pork tenderloin Sophie cooks.

Even with a pretty large cast of characters, Krisa Davis is able to give depth and personality to everyone--even Otis and Humphrey. Sometimes when you read the first book in a cozy series, so many characters are introduced that it can be hard to keep everyone straight. In this book, this is not a problem. We also get just enough of a taste of some of the side characters, that we are left wanting to read the next book not only to find out about Sophie--but also more about Bernie, Craig, and what about that Peeping Tom?

Each chapter starts with a little advice column content which is funny and connects to something in the upcoming chapter. I like this, it was a nice touch.

The book takes place over the Thanksgiving Holiday and the book is filled with the vibes of late fall, you can almost smell the turkey and pumpkin pie. Ms. Davis's writing kept me turning the pages and dreaming about fall cooking.


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