It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book Date.
Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kid-litfocus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle-grade novels, young adult novels, or anything in those genres – join them.
Personal
Last week, I spent hiding out in the AC. It has been too hot to go outside (the temps, with humidity, were around 105-106). BK did take a vacation day on Friday, and we went to Lake James for a couple of hours. Even there, in the mountains, it was super hot. I can’t wait for the cooler weather!!
Here’s what happened the rest of the week:
- Miss R had her last lesson at her current barn on Wednesday. Long story short, the lease ran out where her lessons were being held, and they had 3 weeks to move to a different barn. Thankfully, the owner’s mother had a barn with a huge ring close to where I live, and we will be having lessons there from now on.
- BK and I have been watching Foundation (on Apple TV) and finishing up GoT on Max. I have gotten into Foundation, which surprised me. As for GoT, I don’t exactly like it, but I hate leaving things unfinished. I think we have a couple more episodes left before it ends.
- I have started back-to-school shopping. We took the kids to get new shoes on Saturday and also went thrifting (which is Miss B and Mr. Z’s favorite thing to do). Miss B and Mr. Z got a bunch of clothes and jeans. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything for Miss R, but I promised her we would go online to buy her clothes. I also ordered Miss R a new backpack, and we got her a new insulated cup at Walmart. All that’s left is school supplies for Miss B and Mr. Z. Miss R’s school has an opinion where you buy a box of school supplies at the end of the previous school year, and it is waiting for the kids on the first day of school. We did that. It cost $65 but also means I don’t have to do that shopping.
- We have switched Vinnie to sensitive stomach food (dry and wet). The vet thinks he has IBS but wants to try dry/wet food before we start medication. He is doing great on the dry food, but the wet food is an issue. So, I ordered some from Chewy, and it should be here today.
Because of the heat, I only made one dish last week which was the shepherd’s pie. Only one kiddo liked it, with the other two eating it because they were hungry, and I wasn’t making anything else. I also made the banana pudding last week, and the kids loved it.
I am trying not to cook this week (super hot), so I still have the tater-tot casserole and chicken parm to make. I am also not making a dessert this week because of the weather.
So, that’s my catch-up.
Anything exciting or different happen this week? Make anything good this past week, or plan on making it this week? Read anything new? Read anything on this list? Let me know!!
What I am Reading Now:
Catherine Sterling thinks she knows her mother. Ruth Sterling is quiet, hardworking, and lives for her daughter. All her life, it’s been just the two of them against the world. But now, Catherine is ready to spread her wings, move from home, and begin a new career. And Ruth Sterling will do anything to prevent that from happening.
Ruth Sterling thinks she knows her daughter. Catherine would never rebel, would never question anything about her mother’s past or background. But when Ruth’s desperate quest to keep her daughter by her side begins to reveal cracks in Ruth’s carefully-constructed world, both mother and daughter begin a dance of deception.
Books I plan on reading later this week:
Tis the season to solve a murder—and innkeeper Holly White knows she’ll have to make her list and check it twice if she wants to catch the killer in the fourth Christmas Tree Farm mystery from bestselling author Jacqueline Frost.
For inn keeper Holly White, Christmas time in Mistletoe, Maine, is the ultimate holiday gift. Business at the Reindeer Games Inn is booming, her wedding to Sheriff Evan Gray is nearly here, and the annual parade is about to begin. The town is lucky to have another gift this year with the state’s ballet company staying for several performances of The Nutcracker. But disaster strikes when Tiffany, the lead ballerina, shows up dead on a float during the parade, the Rat King’s mask nearby. Holly will have to spruce up her sleuthing skills if she wants to catch the killer before Christmas—and her wedding day.
Immediately, Holly discovers that Tiffany had more than a few secrets. She finds out that the star of the show had a super fan that no one knows anything about. And the show’s understudy slips some other intriguing information Holly’s way: not only was Tiffany secretly seeing someone romantically, but there seems to be more than one rat in this company. When Holly discovers a secret passage leading to Tiffany’s dressing room, with footprints leading out; she wonders if this is evidence of a secret lover—or a stalking killer.
With an impending snowstorm and the ballet company on the way out of town, Holly must act quickly if she wants to find the person responsible for this terrible murder. Will she be able to save Christmas—or will her investigation turn cold like the weather?
Carrie Singleton has a wedding to plan, a killer to catch, and a conspiracy to uncover in this charming seventh novel of Agatha Award-nominee Allison Brook’s Haunted Library mysteries.
Carrie Singleton has more than her fair share on her plate: her job at the Clover Ridge Library, preparing for her wedding to Dylan Avery, and hoping that the local art gallery doesn’t steal away one of her part-time employees. Her fiancé Dylan accompanies her to the beautiful home of Victor Zalinka—art collector and successful businessman—to select paintings for an art show at the library. While Carrie muses that Victor’s home would be the perfect wedding venue, Dylan spots a forgery among the paintings in Victor’s collection.
Then Martha Mallory is found murdered in her art gallery. With the assistance of Evelyn, the library ghost; the resident cat, Smoky Joe; and the office manager of Dylan’s private investigation company, Carrie comes up with a suspect list long enough to rival the size of an encyclopedia. During her investigation, Carrie stumbles across a terrible truth: Martha’s murder was part of something far bigger and more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. And it all leads back to the art gallery.
How far will Carrie go to find the killer and uncover the truth? If the killer finds her first—will Carrie finally be taken out of circulation?
Milly McTaggart leads a double life: competent doctor of psychology by day, deluded hedonist by night. A drug bust at a sex orgy forces a life change and a chance to start again in a new place where nobody knows her. But will her inner demons drive her back on a path of self-destruction? Like Milly Siobhan Russell is pretty and smart. Unlike Milly, she has all the advantages of a loving family. But is she too about to risk everything?
From Perth, Western Australia, to a love story in Scotland and a vicious murder in a cheap motel in London; no relationship is safe, most are troubled. Lies and half-truths are told, the truth often far away, until a startling revelation reveals everything. You will never see it coming.
This is the only crime thriller you will need to read this year.
Winter, I know your ex hurt you, but I’m not him. I can love you; let me…
Winter Bennett is on the worst date of her life, so she decides to bail and go home to her true loves: take out and Netflix. On her way out of the door, she spots her ex-boyfriend with his hot, new girl. Horrified at the thought of being seen, Winter does what any sane woman would do; she bolts into the bathroom and out the back window.
Falling smack-dab in the middle of a sting operation wasn’t part of the plan, but that’s exactly what happened. And now, bullets are flying overhead. Thankfully, a sexy NYPD homicide detective by the name of Wyatt Hunter saves her. He is furious with her for ruining his operation but he’s even more upset when he can’t get her off his mind. Soon he falls for her — hard. Unfortunately, Winter’s heart has been broken and she’s too afraid to let anyone in. Does Wyatt have what it takes to get Winter to give love one more try?
This steamy romance is a roller coaster ride that will make you hot, make you laugh, and even shed a few tears. It’s a full-length standalone novel. NO cheating, NO cliffhangers, and a guaranteed Happily-ever-after! This book has adult content for ages 18 and over.
