Summer Reading Challenge

My local library is having a summer reading challenge, not just for kids, also for adults. Adults earn tickets for gift card drawings. There are some pretty good gift cards this go round  including Imperial Oak Brewing and our local independent coffee shop: Strange Brew . I'm doing my best to get as many entries as possible before the challenge ends on August 1st. 

Here are the two books I finished this week-

The Museum of Desire by Jonathan Kellerman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One in a long, long series of psychological crime books staring Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis. As is usually the case, the murder is really weird. I have read many of the books in the series. This was alright, not my fave. I listened to it on audible.com. I find the reader for this series is perfect and enjoy listening to these books when I run or when I am cooking. I found during this installment my mind tended to wander away from the story more than usual. I have no idea how writers manage to get 30 plus books out of a series, that's a lot of creepy murders. In any case, I was glad that Milo was still hanging in there, he really doesn't do a great job taking care of himself.


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Sweet Talkin' Lover by Tracey Livesay

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A fun contemporary romance! Lots of fun reading as Calia fell in love with not just Wyatt but also the town of Bradelton. You can't read this and not want to go stay at Sinclair House and go to the Harvest Ball. Tracey Livesay did a nice job of raising the stakes and making it seem harder and harder for our couple to find their HEA. I enjoyed that the issues between them were not other people but the expectations of others. Very well done. I am looking forward to reading all future installments of the Girls Trip books! 

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Wanna Get Away? Escape Without Leaving Your Lawn Chair!

Live and Let Chai by Bree Baker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This first book left me wanted to spend more time in Charm!

I read this book for Esme Addison 's Facebook Cozy Mystery Book Club. This was my first book from Bree Baker and I enjoyed her writing style. Everly Swan is back in her home town and as tends to happen to our Cozy Mystery heroines, she is quickly accused of possibly murdering someone. How will she clear her name?

Ms. Baker has done a lovely job creating the most magical of islands. I don't know how you could read this book and not want to head out to vacation in Charm. Everly has an interesting back story that I am sure we will learn more about in future books, she also has a family curse. I very much enjoyed the eco-conservation focus in the book. Everly doesn't own a car and she is very good a reusing and repurposing items so she doesn't have to buy more stuff. Her beloved aunts are bee keepers and I hope we get to hear more about that in the next book.

The only point I did not really like, is that to give one character depth and a tragic backstory that character has a spouse who died very young from cancer. Ugh. Can't we just have divorces instead of moms dying of cancer? It just happens too much in my opinion in cozy mystery books and all Hallmark movies. It's the trope I don't like.

Anyway this book is a perfect summer weekend read, esp if you are stuck inside! Travel virtually to Charm and get a nice glass of ice tea from Everly- heck add a little vodka to that tea if you'd like!


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Who eats that many cookies?

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book for an online Cozy Mystery Book Club. It's held on YouTube each month after we vote on twitter to pick the book of the month. The book is always the first book in a series. You can check out the book club here: https://youtu.be/yCUtspQsQd4 There are book giveaways and good discussions for fans of Cozy Mystery. So I highly recommend joining us if you like Cozies!

So here is what I thought of this book, and I can't believe I am about to say this but, too many cookies. Like the whole town of Lake Eden needs to be checked for type 2 diabetes. People just don't really eat that many cookies that often. Will Hannah branch out and make anything! anything besides cookies? Maybe a scone? or a nice muffin?

This was the mystery I wanted to be solved in this book; will Hannah's The Cookie Jar, branch out to various baked goods? Or will she just stick with cookies, which seems like a business model destined to fail?

The book was written in 2000, but I felt like the overall mood of the book was stuck in *maybe* the 80s. Sometimes it felt like it was the 1950s. Overall I didn't like Hannah, and I didn't understand why she was so involved in doing her BIL's job. Like Why? I have BILs and I am not going to do all sorts of things to help them get a promotion.

In general, I was annoyed that often Hannah's actions were to protect or promote a man. Bah. I found the supporting characters in the book were really underdeveloped esp. the last minute mention of a future suitor. Lots of scenes w/Hannah and her cat could have been used to tell me more about the people in the book. But really, who am I to talk? This is a very successful, beloved series of books. It's just not my scene!


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Cozy Mystery Online Book Club May Review- Penne Dreadful!

Penne Dreadful by Catherine Bruns
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Good stuff! A very enjoyable read. The pacing is great, we watch the main character grow, and we meet some very interesting supporting characters.

I read this book as part of an online Cozy Mystery Book Club run by the author Esme Addison. It's free to join the group which is on Facebook. Check it out! I was very pleased that this was our book of the month. Tessa is a widow who is trying to navigate her way through tremendous grief. Her sadness is relatable to anyone who has lost a loved one. We get to see her find her way to begin healing as she reassesses her life and her relationship with her husband. Sounds kinda heavy for a Cozy right? But it's not, Catherine Bruns does an amazing job balancing Tessa's loss and all the elements that make Cozies so satisfying. We have an outspoken smart best friend, we have a big bunch of nefarious nare-do-wells, a quaint town in upstate New York and food talk!

Yes, Tessa's secret sauce recipe is in the back of the book! This is one recipe from the back of a book I might actually manage to make myself!

If you are looking for a weekend or a summer read, pick this up today and then pre-order the second book in the series which comes out next month. It Cannoli Be Murder


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Jamie Quinn Mystery Collection - A Great Escape!

Jamie Quinn Mystery Collection: Box Set Books 1-3 by Barbara Venkataraman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Spend some time with Jamie Quinn, esq., you will thank me! This collection includes the first three of Jamie Quinn's adventures in Hollywoood, FL. The books are novella length and fast-paced. I really enjoyed Jamie Quinn our protagonist, she is great with the one-liners and down to earth. The books are told in a conversational style where you feel like you are sitting in a coffee shop while Jamie regales you with what has been happening in her life. At any moment you hope that Jamie's best friend Grace, a smart stylish lawyer or Duke, a PI with a heart of gold, will walk in and join the coffee talk.

Jamie is smart enough to use her resources and her researching skills as a lawyer to solve crimes without putting herself in physical danger. As you read you will hope for all good things for Jamie, and you will literally laugh out loud at some of her commentary.

The books take place in a real town, Hollywood, Florida. Many of the places she talks about in the book are real places. I had fun looking up the Broward County Parks and seeing where Jamie was going!

If you like cozies, make sure to check this one out, it's great summer or weekend reading!

As soon as I finished the third book in this series, I went right to the Amazon app on my phone to get the next book because I wanted to know what happened next in Jamie's life (of course, you can't purchase Kindle books on the app so that was annoying!)

I received a copy of this from the author to review. It is available as part of a Kindle Unlimited collection or is currently only $1.99.


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Today is a Weird Day

Hello! Happy May.  I really enjoy the month of May, it's one of my top 3 favorite months. :-) However, last year the universe decided to play a little trick on me and now this time of year is not just the glorious May flower fest and sunny days of old. 

Yes, you guessed it, on this day, May 6th,  last year  I got one of the crummiest phone calls a person can get- ie your biopsy results have come back and you have cancer. Not what anyone wants to hear, ever.  Another reason I'm glad to have an Imerman Angel (Margot) who I can contact anytime to talk is on a not great anniversary day like today.   Everyone who gets a crummy cancer diagnosis should have someone in their corner they can talk to who gets it--especially now!

May 6, 2019, what a crap day, but I can imagine how much more anxiety-producing it would be if I was being diagnosed now during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are able to donate any $ toward my marathon run this month you are helping those people out there right now who just found out they have cancer. 

Here is the good news for today!  During May a big foundation is double matching all the funds us runners raise.  So if you are able to donate $20 to me this month,  you are actually making a $60 donation to Imerman Angels. How cool is that!

The sun is shining today and the cancer that I had with me last year is gone.  I get to go for a nice run today, How wonderful to have that going for me!  During the stay at home order I have been out there running, my only issue right now is a persistent blister on my toe that is healing- but also annoying.  

Each day I run because I can. Thank you for giving what you can to help raise money for Imerman Angels!

If you are on Instagram, I post a run picture each day- @Victoria7401

Here is my link if you would like to know more about Imerman Angels or donate to my run! 

May is Here! Let's Stay Home!

I mean really, I don't see any of my constitutional rights being taken from me. I can go places if I need or want to, now I can't eat in at a restaurant, but that isn't in the constitution so I'm cool with it.  Also, I'm a big fan of people getting to live as long as possible.

I'm running every day, I made a few neck gaiters/buffs out of a pair of fleece-lined tights. Running with a face covering is difficult so what I do is I keep it down unless I am getting close to other people. Since I run around my neighborhood it is easy to avoid getting w/in 10 feet of other people. It also helps me to vary my runs because if I see someone headed my way I turn around or turn a corner to avoid them. Mind tricks help distract esp when I am doing my weekly long run. With the rest of the tights, I made ties for my garden stakes this summer. To celebrate each run, I take a daily post-run picture. Above is one of those pictures. I post my daily pics on Instagram.

Just a few weeks until it's officially garden planting time!  I've got my scrap garden growing and in a couple more weeks I'll be transplanted the lettuce, scallions, and celery!

I am celebrating this new month with Day Pajamas. I highly recommend the Day Pajama lifestyle.

The PJs are short sleeves and 3/4 length. Perfect for May.

Enjoy your Day!
xoxo

On One Hand, I Had To Go To The Hospital

On the other hand, I got to see and speak to people who aren't my immediate family members! I work a mask, they checked my temperature before they would let me go to the medical infusion floor. I wore gloves to sign papers saying  I would pay my bill and used the gloves to press the elevator buttons, then I threw out the gloves in a trash can. I  used hand sanitizer after taking off the gloves. I wore my coat and mask the whole time I was in the hospital and then after I hand sanitized. I took off my mask and coat threw them in the trunk and hand sanitized again. Then I drove home took my shoes off and put all my clothes in the wash and took a shower. 

I did everything I could think of and stayed as far away as possible from everyone. My visit was to get my port flushed.  It was already really overdue for flushing. 

What is a port? A little medical device implanted up by my neck that can be used to take blood or administer IV drugs right to my jugular. They use it to give you chemotherapy drugs so your veins in your arms don't get trashed from all the sticks and medications. I should be getting the port removed, but that is an outpatient procedure and it's not essential right now.  The flush is to help avoid a potential infection so I needed to get that done. 

How was your Monday? My celery plant is coming along! Look at that! 

 Here we have my future bookshelf. I am going to try and talk BMO and Dear Daughter into putting it together for me. Wish me luck.  They are very busy with all the laying around in their rooms sleeping all day because they stay up all night long. It's only 11:27am, way too early to ask them to do it now. LOL (To be fair, they are doing school work right now, I think.)

Last picture for today,  weedy flower on my Sunday run.

Happy Tuesday!

Throwback Thursday

Remember the good old days when there wasn't a global pandemic?  Good times. Good times.  Happy Thursday to you!

I'm trying to grow celery from a celery stalk. I think it has started growing. If you look close you can see some little leaves starting inside on the lefthand side. I'm not sure what I am doing, so I turned to the internet and found this blog post: Regrowing Celery We will see how it goes.  While it is solidly Springtime, the forecast is calling for a bunch of snow tonight.  Up to 6 inches of snow, ugh!  We are still a month out from thinking about planting outside. Hopefully, I can get this celery going and transplant it outside right around Mother's Day. I am also trying to regrow lettuce, my fingers are crossed. 

Thursday is my short run day. I run in the morning and then I participate in a virtual journaling class.  It's good for reducing anxiety during this weird time. It's a group for people who have had cancer and I think everyone in the group has commented that the pandemic has triggered stress and emotions bringing one back to the uncertain days of cancer treatment.  We are all working through some things. these days. 

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life

My decision last week to order our whole Easter Dinner from Boston Market was a great decision. The family all enjoyed the food, no complaints at all about my recipe decisions ( I like to try recipes from Williams-Sonoma and my family doesn't appreciate trying new things) and it was much less work for me.  The hardest part was done by The Hubs who put on a mask and gloves and picked up our order. I'm glad it was an option because I was worried about whether or not I'd be able to get all the ingredients from the store - esp. a good ham. 

Today the weather is windy and cold.  My plan was to run about 2.5 miles, I was going to cut myself slack and have an easy day. However, I was feeling good and it wasn't super, super windy so I ran 5 miles.  

As I ran, I noticed how blue the sky was and how vibrant the flowers and grass looked.  I mean, look at this picture how crystal clear is that air?!?  The reduction of cars on the road has made the air cleaner!  Do yourself a favor and go out and grab a nice deep breath of this newly improved air. (Just do that heavy breathing away from other people please).  When we get COVID-19 figured out and are able to move forward, I hope we can plan out a way to keep the gains of this time.  It's easy to see that people staying home more means less pollution = fewer fossil fuels= a reduction in climate change. 

A better environment could be had for all. I'm happy to do my part and avoid driving as much as possible. 

Made some potato salad today and since I have a bunch of parsley in the fridge, I went a little garnish crazy. Tomorrow I have a plan for dinner - it's called Taco Tuesday. I'm trying to stick to an intermittent fasting schedule of eating from 10am-6pm daily.  It's easy to do since I am at home. If I am working downtown I  can't get home in time to start making dinner before six. 

Since the teenagers stay up till all hours of the night my Early Bird Dinner Specials are more like their lunch!

Hopefully the wind dies down more overnight and tomorrow it is as beautiful and sunny as today, w/o a wind blasting from the West.

Tomorrow night I am going to get out of my comfort zone and join a Zoom workout for runners, so that will be ...interesting.

xoxo