Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Ah Yes More Leslie Meier...
Sunday, February 6, 2022
Sugar and Vice-- The Second Book in the Cookie House Series-
Saturday, February 5, 2022
The Sunday Post! Love is In the Air?
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
Valentine's Day and the big Football game are coming up! Are you ready for some football? I'm ready for snacks and chocolate! This week I'm hoping that the forecast is correct and that we will have some temps over freezing, too many sidewalks are deeply covered in snow and I don't like it! I do like that the days are getting longer little by little!
I finished up my 2 week no dairy, no grains, no white potatoes or flour diet. I could use a medal for that achievement. Now I'm trying to see how I can incorporate that moving forward. I have to say I need to find a balance because the two weeks without any grains, cheese or potatoes was really really hard.
Today's compromise was a burger, but it was a turkey burger and I added mushrooms to the ground turkey and I had the bun so I didn't have any potatoes chips or make french fries to go with it.
I also figured out my phone has a portrait mode where I can take a picture and the background is out of focus!Thursday, February 3, 2022
Fries and Alibis! First in a Fun Paranormal Humorous Cozy!
I received a digital copy of this book for free because I joined the Cozy Mystery Tribe. For more info on that click here. This was the second free book for the month of January. Fries & Alibis is the first book in Trixie Silvertale's Mitzy Moon Mysteries series.
Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Seasonal Winter Reading Means I'm Reading Leslie Meier!
As you know, I love to read the cozy mystery genre. In reading cozies, I find that there are some amateur sleuths that I just really like. Leslie Meier's Lucy Stone is one of those characters. Sometimes she is cranky and sometimes I disagree with her, but I feel like if she was an actual person I would enjoy her company.
I mean, I like this series so much that I'll read them out of order, this is really saying something since I have a very strong preference to read a series in order. However, when it comes to Lucy Stone, I know her and the family well enough that I don't mind. What I have found is that I really like the books that take place during Winter in Tinker Cove, so I read the Winter books in the Winter and it's a comfort. The other reason I return to this series is that, especially in the first twenty or so books, the stories give me double nostalgia. Life for Lucy reminds me of when I was a kid and also the days when my kids were smaller. St. Patrick's Day Murder which is book 17, is no exception, all the double nostalgia I could want and plenty of talk of slush on the streets and cold winds blowing.
Sunday, January 30, 2022
Buy Yourself The F*cking Lilies: And Other Rituals to Fix Your Life, from Someone Who's Been There
Saturday, January 29, 2022
Another January is Almost Over #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
Happy end of January! We had some lake effect snow on Friday, so now our backyard is good and covered with about six inches of snow. A mere pittance of snow compared to what has been hitting the East Coast this weekend!
Today is the final day of my 14-day reset, this is the first time I have gone grain and dairy-free. And potato-free, and processed food-free. I don't think I can keep it up though. I really miss cheese and potatoes. My thought is I'll do my level best to continue to avoid processed food and grains, but I will have a moderate amount of cheese and potatoes. I did make mashed cauliflower that tasted amazing as well as a pork stir fry w/riced cauliflower where the stir fry was tasty enough that I didn't miss actual rice. Also if I could share one more virtuous moment, not that this really should count since I didn't put any effort into it. I'll have had a Dry January come Tuesday when the month is officially over.
Last Food Comment! I posted about a Gluten-Free Pie Crust the other day, I got it from imperfect produce. I worked out really well and I hope I'll be able to find it again. Mmm pie. I could go for a pie.
How was your week?
Coming up this week on my blog:
Thursday, January 27, 2022
#MagicLiesandDeadlyPies #NetGalley Cozy or Not a Cozy?
Here is a description of this book from the publisher:
"Daisy Ellery’s pies have a secret ingredient: The magical ability to avenge women done wrong by men. But Daisy finds herself on the receiving end in Misha Popp’s cozy series debut, a sweet-as-buttercream treat for fans of Ellery Adams and Mary Maxwell.
The first time Daisy Ellery killed a man with a pie, it was an accident. Now, it’s her calling. Daisy bakes sweet vengeance into her pastries, which she and her dog Zoe deliver to the men who’ve done dirty deeds to the town’s women. But if she can’t solve the one crime that’s not of her own baking, she’ll be out of the pie pan and into the oven."
So you see from the description that our prortagonist bakes murder pies. This is not how a typical cozy works even paranormal cozies. So if you are someone who prefers the classic formula of a cozy, this is not likely to work for you. This book also include swearing and dark themes (most specifically domestic abuse).
I enjoy reading all sorts of genres and I've always loved books with magical elements. So this book worked well for me. It felt like more of a thriller than anything else, a magical realism thriller? Well in any case, I don't think it really needs a label. The concept was interesting, the first few pages drew me in and the story had a nice resolution and room for growth.
4 out of 5 Stars. I hope the series continues, I look forward to book 2!
Oh the pie baking scenes made my mouth water--and there are recipes in the back.
Thanks very much to #NetGalley for the ARC of this book! All the opinions are my own!
Here is a Gluten Free pot pie I made recently! Premade dough is key for my pie making skills (ie I don't have any pie making skills!)
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Finally Able to Borrow This Book! Under The Whispering Door!
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I wish I had known that this book has a HEA. I read without hope all the way to like 93%. I'm still having a sadness hangover.
Sunday, January 23, 2022
And Then There Were Crumbs #TheCozyMysteryBookClub January Book!
I am glad that The Cozy Mystery Club is kicking off 2022 with this book, the last couple of books we read were more miss than hit for me, so it was nice to start the year with this solid cozy. You can join us on YouTube tomorrow for the live stream. Ben and Angela are always fun when they talk about cozies!