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Sunday, October 15, 2023

The Sunday Post, Finally Fully Staffed

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

Hi All! Did you live where you could see the eclipse yesterday? We should have seen some of it, but it was a gloomy rainy day so we couldn't see anything! A real bummer. There is a lunar eclipse at the end of this month, so hopefully, it won't be cloudy and we will be able to see that event.

This week we got a new employee in the lunchroom. We've been short-staffed since last Thanksgiving, so this is a major development in my work life. I hope she enjoys working with the kids and us at the school and decides to stay a long time!

This week I'm planning to make a nice beef stew, I don't have a recipe in mind, I think I might wing it, we will see!

In the books department, I finished listening to Holly and will discuss that tomorrow and I am reading an ARC for a holiday romance novella that will be released on October 24th. Lastly I'm finishing a paranormal romance, this one is a MM (Male/Male) pairing and not my typical read.

How was your week?

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Wednesday Check In! Less than 3 weeks til Halloween!

A little bit of my fall decor. The gnome is a repurposed air freshener I bought from a craft show. It's super cute and I love that it's reusing something that goes in the trash. The candle is also from a craft show, it's a really nice fragrance, perfect for fall, the little striped pumpkin was a library craft and the tray is a cake plate that my mom gave me. Tiered trays with seasonal displays are BIG, so this is my take on that decorating trend.

I've been working very hard on my passion project. So far so go, I think I'll be ready to spill the beans by Halloween. Right now I don't want to say much because I don't want to jinx myself.

I haven't finished reading my books for this week. I have a few more hours left to listen to Holly by Stephen King, and I'm about halfway done with Much Ado About You which is good, it's just long. I flipped ahead a few chapters to see if they ever have sex. Looks like they do, hopefully, so far they've almost kissed but been interrupted a few times and that is a fine line. You know? Like I'll allow it once or twice, and then I start rolling my eyes.

How about you? How's your week going?

Mushrooms I saw while walking!

Saturday, October 7, 2023

The Sunday Post, Fall is here for real!

This week I started working on a passion project, I just finished week one of said project and I am very happy to say I'm on track. I don't want to say more because I don't want to jink anything. More details to come by Thanksgiving.

This weekend, the temperatures are finally feeling like sweater weather, in fact, today for the first time since early April, I'm wearing a sweater! I got it back in August for my birthday from Stitch Fix and have been waiting patiently to wear it.

I like that it has color blocking and button detail on the sides- and it's all the fall colors!

I'm currently reading Much Ado About You, it's fun but for a romance, it's pretty long.

And I'm listening to Holly by Stephen King. I hope to prioritize finishing it ASAP.

I really like the cover, it feels so Halloween. I hope you are having a great day! Any fun plans this week?

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

House of Vampires and Exciting News for Me (Hopefully)

It was a dark and stormy night, and there I was scrolling Facebook or was it Twitter (RIP) when I was served several times with an ad for House of Vampires --a highly-rated vampire paranormal romance. According the the ad, loads and loads of people apparently love this series and I would be missing out if I didn't download it and start reading ASAP.

The Algorihim knows me, how could I not give this series a try? I made room on my KU shelf and added House of Vampires. A couple of days later, I'd finished it and was on to the next book. Here are some things you should know about this series.

If you like a young scrappy heroine who is down on her luck and open to trying new things, you'll like Lorena. If you are looking for a book with a conclusion at the end, this is not it. The book ends with all the plots wide open; however, the books in this series are short and there are fifteen books in the series. The book is told from Lorena's POV. When you start to read this book, you may think that there is going to be a polyamorous relationship between Lorena and the Vampires, but that is quickly dispelled so if you come into the series looking for poly, you'll be disappointed--at least in the short term, maybe it chances?

I rate this book a 4. I wanted a Vampire story, that was an easy read, and this is, it's a real slow burn, not much happens in this book, but I'm thirsty for more.

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Word in the school halls, is that they may have finally hired someone for the open Lunchroom Supervisor position. Keep your fingers crossed for me, we've been down a person since last Thanksgiving and we could really, really use the help! I hope you are having a great week! I'm going to get back to my reading now!

Monday, October 2, 2023

Beth's Absolution and a How Do You Feel About Question to Start the Week

I picked up the Kindle version of this book and read it over about three days. It's a fast-paced read of less than 250 pages, which is nice for when you want a book you can read in a day or a weekend. This isn't the first book in the series, but it works well as a stand-alone, and you can go back and read more if you like the people and town in this one.

For those of you who enjoy Motorcycle Club books, this book has that. It's a romantic suspense, so it's pretty non-stop. The male main character is Doug, and I have to say I don't recall reading a book with a male main character named Doug! I appreciated that in this book our leads communicate well and there isn't a bunch of drama created because of miscommunication.

Four Stars from me. Motorcycle Club books aren't my thing so this book was a stretch read for me, if you love MC books, add it to your TBR for sure!

CW- discussion of drug overdoses

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When you are reading romance or mysteries do you like books that have a hint of magic in them?

Sunday, October 1, 2023

Spooky Season is Officially Here- #TheSundayPost!

Boy did September fly by, and here we are October! Such a fun month and really hasn't it become the unofficial start of the holiday season? In just a few weeks Hallmark will begin the Countdown to Christmas with loads of new Christmas movies! But back to Spooky Season, I love seasonal reading so this time of year I'm usually found reading witchy cozy mysteries or fun paranormal romance. Speaking of Hallmark and Cozy Mysteries, did you see that the book Murder in G Major is now a movie? I have not seen the movie yet, because I havne't restarted my subscription to frndy TV; but I'll be restarting that in a couple of weeks.

I made my Harvest Moon Soup Friday and it turned out well, I couldn't find fresh sage for the soup, so I substituted thyme for the sage and it was delicious. Do you have a favorite herb? Thyme is mine, especially in the fall and winter, it's perfect with any root vegetables.

Happy October, do you have any season fun planned for this month?

Books I'm currently reading:

Thursday, September 28, 2023

Slight Hiccup, "Murder Most Fowl" by Donna Andrews

Murder Most Fowl by Donna Andrews is the 29th book in her long-running cozy mystery series. Isn't that amazing? The Meg Laslow Mystery series is one I enjoy popping in and out of as the mood strikes. I picked it up to listen to because I was looking for books with witchy and/or Halloween vibes and this book delivered.

If you like Shakespeare and cozy mysteries, you really have to read this book because so much of it revolves around an ill-fated production of Macbeth. In this series, it can take so long before someone is murdered that you might think this is the book where she doesn't have a murder--and just when you've given up on the Murder part of Murder Mystery, Donna will knock someone off.

The cast of characters in this series is very eclectic and I am sure that is part of what makes the series so popular. This book is a solid 4 stars. Give it a try!

The slight hiccup is that I am not writing about any of the books I was planning on finishing and writing about this week. Yesterday I had my annual physical and as part of it I was asked by my doctor if I wanted to get the shingles vaccine. This is the only shot I have not gotten around to getting, I even had my flu shot already. I explained that I have a strong immune response when I get vaccines and would this vaccine leave me with flu-ish symptoms. The doctor said no, there should just be maybe some pain around the injection site. So I said sure, let's do it.

Joke is on me! I'm exhausted, achy, and my nose is stuffy. Sigh. I'm not complaining too much, partly because I'm too tired to complain and also I'd much rather have this than actual shingles.

I'm too tired to read today, my fingers are crossed this is the worst of it, and also it's good to have a strong immune response for the most part!

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Finders Keepers and the Harvest Moon

I was about to resume listening to A Court of Wings and Ruin, when I saw Hoopla was recommending this book to me. I was intrigued and downloaded it. I've not read anything by Natalie Barelli before, but based on this book, I'll read more of her work.

The main character in this book is a bit of a mess and she is not a very reliable narrator, I listened to the book on 2x speed and that really played up her manic thoughts. This is a psychological thriller, it moves fast and you don't know who to believe. The ending could have gone a few different ways, and I really liked what Natalie Barelli decided to write. It's a good ending for a thriller and all questions are answered.

4.5 stars

The Harvest Moon is this week! On 9/29 the big beautiful full moon will rise--and it's a great time for making a tasty Harvest Soup or Stew. I'm going to be trying a new recipe from a book I've had for a while.

Harvest Moon Herb Soup from The Book of Kitchen Witchery by Cerridwen Greenleaf

3 large leeks, thinly sliced

1/4 cup (60ml) virgin olive oil

2 fresh garlic cloves chopped

8 cups or 2 liters of water

1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and coarsely grated

1 carrot, thinly sliced

4 large floury potatoes such as Idaho or sweet potatoes peeled and cut into small chunks

1/4 cup (5g) fresh sage, finely chopped

1/4 cup (10g) fresh chives, finely chopped

Salt and pepper

1/4 tsp celery salt

In a large iron skillet fry the leeks in olive oil until they are soft and translucent, add the chopped garlic, and cook until soft. Then transfer all to a soup pot, add water, and bring to a boil, add the vegetables and herbs lower the heat, and simmer for 45 minutes--make sure the potatoes are done, and then add salt and pepper to taste and add the celery salt last!

Sunday, September 24, 2023

It's Good, But Why is this Book So LONG- A Court of Mist and Fury

After listening to A Court of Thorns and Roses, I was in no hurry to continue the series because I didn't like Feyre and Tamlin as a couple. I didn't like Tamlin and Feyre was so boring with him. She goes from being a warrior to a princess flouncing around in gowns and painting.

But a podcast I listen to sang the praises of this book, so I said, fine I'll give this a shot. And yes, much better. HOWEVER, the book is ridiculously long and too repetitive, and so I rated it a 3. It's good but if it was 200 pages shorter, it would have been fantastic. Why are the books in this series so long, I'm listening at 2x speed and it's still taking forever--and the ending isn't the ending it's the end til the next book starts, so shorten it up!

Have you read this series? Did you think this book could have been edited down?

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We are still enjoying amazing September weather in Chicagoland, temps are in the 70s (low 20s Celcius) during the day and 50s (mid teens celsius) at night. Just the best. For my birthday I got myself a Stich Fix and it included two cute sweaters and it hasn't been cool enough to wear them, but I figure we only have a couple of weeks --at the most before it will truly be sweater weather.

My Goodness Where Does the Time Go? #TheSundayPost

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?

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