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Sunday, November 20, 2022

November 20th's Sunday/Monday Post

Welcome to my weekly Sunday/Monday post.  As usual, I will be linking up to:

Sunday Post
Sunday Salon
Stacking the Shelves
Mailbox Monday
It's Monday, What Are You Reading

It was a fairly quiet week.  I got a lot done at work.  Not quite everything I had hoped, but enough that I'm not planning to work this weekend.

I didn't go paddle boarding today.  Shocking, right?  The reason is, it was way too windy.  We are finally getting the fall Santa Ana winds.  That makes it way too windy to enjoy paddle boarding.  Honestly, it was kind of nice to not set an alarm and enjoy a bit of a lazy morning around the condo.

Not completely lazy however, since I planned to get out and about.  I tried to run a couple of errands in the morning with mixed results.  I couldn't find what I wanted at Target, but did get what I needed at Lowes.  Then I drove down to a book signing.  Ellen Byron (aka Maria DiRico), Jennifer J. Chow, and Jesse Q. Sutanto were doing an event together.  It was lots of fun, and I'm glad I went.

I did get some progress in my Christmas decorating done this week.  My trees are up, my lights are on them.  Ornaments from 2022 are on as well.  I hope to get more ornaments on the trees before I leave for Thanksgiving, but we will see if that happens or not.  Meanwhile, I have the stuff I put out in my bedroom out.  One of my to do items for tomorrow is to put my outside lights up.  I decided to wait until after the winds blew through, not that it would really make any difference.

And yes, I do start "early."  I'm out of town for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.  If I am going to have time to enjoy my decorations, I need to start now.  Especially with how crazy work can be and everything else I have to do for Christmas, like present buying and wrapping.

I do mean trees plural.  As I talked about last week, thanks to my Hallmark ornament collection, I have more than enough ornaments for multiple trees, more than I put up.  I only put up two since that's all the room I have in my condo, and both are in corners, so I don't even get full 360 degrees on them.  They are on both sides of my sliding glass door.  It's a bit or work, but I love the result.

This Past Week on the Blog:

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Music Review: Always Only Jesus by MercyMe
Monday - Book Review: Blind Side by Penny Warner
Tuesday - Movie Review: Disenchanted
Wednesday - Book Review: Knot My Sister's Keeper by Mary Marks
Thursday - Happy Thanksgiving!
Friday - Novella Review: Yule Log Murder by Leslie Meier
Friday - Novella Review: Death by Yule Log by Lee Hollis
Friday - Novella Review: Logged On by Barbara Ross
Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

Strap yourself in.  I've got another long list of books to talk about.

I've gotten three ARCs from Kensington.  They come out in three different months, so it's funny I have all three ARCs to talk about this week.  Up first is Rum and Choke, the fourth Chloe Jackson mystery from Sherry Harris.  Then comes Irish Coffee Murder, the newest anthology with stories by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Barbara Ross.  If you look back at what I'm planning to publish this week, you'll see the individual versions of their stories from a previous anthology.  Honestly, I read these because of Barbara Ross.  Finally comes Four Parties and a Funeral by Maria DiRico (aka Ellen Bryon).  Sherry, Barbara, and Maria/Ellen are three of my favorite writers, so I can't wait to dig into their new stories.

Since I have a long drive up to visit my family for Thanksgiving, it was time for another audio book.  Thanks to my library, I downloaded "W" is for Wasted by Sue Grafton.  It's kind of hard to believe I'm almost finished with this series.  When I started, it seemed so daunting.  Granted, it's been several years, but I'm going to miss Kinsey when I finish.

I downloaded another ARC this week.  Where the Guilty Hide is the first in a new series from Annette Dashofy.  I always like getting in at the ground floor of a series, mainly because that means I don't have to catch up.  I seem to either start a series when it is new or when I am several books behind.

Finally comes the only book I bought.  Christmas Past by Brian Earl was the subject of a podcast I listen to a couple of weeks back.  A book about Christmas traditions?  Sign me up.  I'm looking forward to diving into it next month.

No, I didn't buy any books at the event I went to today.  I already have books by the authors, so I was there to support them and chat afterwards.

What I'm Reading:

I've always already started "W" is for Wasted.  It's a seventeen hour audiobook!  That's way more than I would get listened to just driving too and from my family.  Sadly, I won't be far enough into it to finish it up while driving Wednesday, which is what I usually try to do.  I like to listen to Christmas music on the drive home at Thanksgiving.  Oh well, I hopefully will finish up part way home after Thanksgiving.

On the reading front, I'm working on A Streetcar Named Murder by T. G. Herren.  I'm not too far into it (hopefully, I'll get some reading time in after I post this), and I'm enjoying it, although I feel like we are getting a bit too much backstory.  I'm ready for the next step in the story, but I think I'm to the point where that is going to happen.

I think that about does it for me.  For those in the USA, I hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving!  For everyone else, have a wonderful week!

28 comments:

  1. I think we all need lowkey mornings periodically. And the author signing sounds amazing! We finally got our main tree up. We replaced it as our old tree was old and all the lights were out so we had to string lights and it lost a ridiculous amount of needles. It was definitely time to retire it. I'm hoping I'll get motivated enough to put a tree up in the school room (I home school) but we will see. Have a great week!

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  2. I agree with how much pleasure there is in just having a pretty tree up and decorated. Be sure and share photos of your trees - I'm dying of curiousity! And I always love a Christmas photo. Once again it seems like you got a lot of books - hope you have time to enjoy them. Thanks for the visit.
    Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys

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  3. What fun to have multiple Christmas trees!

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  4. Thanksgiving always sounds so exciting! Although we see everyone at Christmas so probably don't need to overdo it 🤣

    We will do our decorations next weekend ready for the Elves to arrive on 1 December. My partner moans every year, but I encourage him to do it for our son (now 4 years old so hopefully will appreciate it more this year!).

    I hope you have a great week!

    Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
    My post:
    https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2022/11/20/sunday-salon-30/

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  5. I hope you share the photos of your trees when you are done.
    I’ll miss the Sue Grafton series too. I’ve been putting off reading Y for Yesterday because then it’s over.

    Wishing you a great reading week

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  6. I'd go to a book event every week if I lived a little closer to my favorite bookstores in Houston. I'm glad you had fun there.

    I hope you will take some photos of your trees. I'd love to see all those ornaments.

    Happy Thanksgiving! You should have a great drive up to family with that audiobook at the ready.

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  7. Ahhh I love the Santa Anas! Well, except when they churn up a wildfire, of course.

    Congrats on not having to work this weekend!

    Yay for a fun book signing! I think I've only been to two in my life and they were, indeed, fun! I would like to go to more of them.

    Enjoy your decorating and holiday prep!!!

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  8. That's great that you don't have to work this weekend. The book signing sounds like so much fun. I wish they'd have one in my area. Those cozies all look great and are on my wishlist. Hope you have a great week! Happy Thanksgiving!

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  9. Sounds like a fun week for you. How exciting that you got to go to a book signing. Unfortunatly there aren't many of those over here.
    Have a great week and happy reading.

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  10. I like having more than one tree, even though we don't always do it. Depends on the year lol. And paddle boarding sounds good since we got a snowstorm and it's 27 degrees here. CA weather sounds pretty good right now!

    Have a great Thanksgiving :)

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  11. Ooh, I'd like to meet Jesse Q. Sutanto. Fun! I was going to start decorating early this year, but haven't really started yet. But I have this whole week off, so I'll do it this week. My mom used to do two trees, because she collected the Hallmark ornaments so we always had one just for the Barbie ornaments, lol. Have a great Thanksgiving!
    Lisa Loves Literature

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  12. It was very windy here in Maryland today, too. Wow, what a powerhouse group of authors you met!! I am not decorating for the holidays this year because if I do I'm sure my kittens will undecorate. LOL. Have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving! :-)

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  13. The book signing event sounds wonderful!! I'm glad you decorate multiple trees, how festive. Have a great week, Mark

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  14. Nice that you got enough work done so you wouldn't have to work the weekend. No one wants to work on the weekend. Bummer about the winds. I can't say I miss that about Southern California. I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week and that the end of the year is close! Hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving!

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  15. Sound like you have fun at the book sgining.
    Have a great week.

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  16. Hallmark ornaments just seem to get bigger and heavier every year! We have a decent collection of them but they're all in storage. Since we stay in our RV while we're traveling, we end up with a skinny 3' tree and a handful of small, lightweight ornaments we've picked up on our travels. I'm glad you find time to decorate even though you aren't in your condo for the holidays!

    Enjoy your week!

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  17. We put our tree up yesterday - earliest ever! Now I'm hoping for a day above freezing to throw the outdoor lights on the shrubs, lol. We'll see. Have a good week!
    Mary @Bookfan

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  18. If my family would let me, I'd put the Christmas stuff up right now. I love it. They say no Christmas until after Thanksgiving. :( I hope you have a great week!

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  19. There's nothing wrong with starting early if that's what you enjoy. 😊 We are going to put ours up on the 3rd.

    https://hibernatorslibrary.com/

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  20. The author signing sounds great. I miss them now that I live in a small town about three hours away from anyplace that hosts signings. Enjoy all your holiday prep. Your trees sound lovely. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  21. I love the Sue Grafton books, and I was sad that she passed before she could write the final one. Enjoy your week.

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  22. Nothing wrong with kicking off the season early! I have a collection of the annual Avon pewter ornaments beginning with 2000. They seem to be getting smaller and more expensive, but I can't resist. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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  23. I usually decorate after Thanksgiving, but since it's supposed to rain this weekend I'll probably do it tomorrow.

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  24. I am looking forward to seeing your trees once you have them finished!

    I didn't get as far as Grafton's W yet. So sad that she passed away.

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  25. I treasure a morning I can sleep in. Lots of good looking books for you. I have read one or two Grafton. I should start at the beginning.
    I hope you are enjoying your decorating. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. And Happy Reading! MarthaE

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  26. I love the warm cozy feel of Christmas Past, also the cover.
    I read A in Grafton's series, but I was actually disappointed. Should I give B a chance?

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    Replies
    1. I have mostly enjoyed the series. Then again, I liked A. So if you didn't like A, maybe the series isn't for you.

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