April 16th's Sunday/Monday Post

 It's time to kick off another week with a 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?

Happy belated Easter.  Yes, I missed last week since I went up to visit my family for the holiday weekend.  It was a great visit.  I make it up just barely in time for the Good Friday service at the church my brother pastors.  Saturday, I got to hang out with family.  Sunday was church and then my parents hosted Easter dinner with more family and friends.  Yes, that included some Easter egg hunting with my niece and nephew.  I'm glad to say I did better than I did last year hunting for eggs.

I'm so glad I took the trip.  It was great to see everyone.

I might be paying for it the rest of the month, however.  I feel like I don't quite know how I am going to get everything done I'm supposed to this month at work.  I only took two days off, too.  Somehow, it will all get done, right?  Right?

Since I had so much out of my car, I got a car wash on my lunch hour Friday.  First one since I started paddle boarding last year, so it looks so much better.  I almost don't want to take it out of the garage now.  Almost.

I also picked up this year's Dreambook for Hallmark ornaments.  For those who don't know, this is the catalogue of what ornaments they will be releasing this year.  The first releases won't be out until July, with more coming the rest of the year.  This year, I am going to cut back.  No, really, I mean it.  You can stop laughing at me now.

Saturday, I was out at the lake paddling with my friend and another friend of hers.  I missed an 80 degree weekend for paddling while I was home for Easter, but this was upper 60's with hardly any wind, so it was wonderful.

I think just about catches you up on the happenings around here.

But before I move on, let's talk about...

Theme Week:

This coming week is a theme week I've been planning for a while.  I actually saved the third Grilled Cheese mystery (which came out at the end of January) to read and review the same week I read and reviewed the third Cheese Shop Mystery (which came out at the end of March).  I was actually going to do that with book two in both series, but it never quite worked out.  But this time, I made sure it worked.

Cheese, great theme for a week, right?

Turned out, there were more connections than that.  Both are set in late January and early February.  Both books find the main character catering a wedding shower where the groom winds up murdered.  Yes, that is where the similarities end, but I found those extra similarities pretty funny.  For more thoughts on them, you'll have to wait until my reviews, which are coming up Tuesday and Thursday.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Music Review: Heaven & Earth by Aaron Shust
Monday - Ornament Review: Gaston
Tuesday - Book Review: The Truth We Hide by Liz Milliron
Wednesday - Movie Review: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Thursday - Book Review: Knot on Her Life by Mary Marks
Friday - Friday Post featuring Curds of Prey
Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post
Monday - Disney Pin Review: Steamboat Willie
Tuesday - Book Review: Cheddar Off Dead by Linda Reilly
Wednesday - Movie Review: Blade Runner 2049
Thursday - Book Review: Curds of Prey by Korina Moss
Friday - Friday Post
Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

Settle in.  I've got quite a few books to tell you about.  After all, it's been two weeks.  (Actually, most of them came from the first of the two weeks.)

Let's start with the book I won.  Yes, I won again from Bookish Time.  This time, the book was Beauty and the Alchemist by Elle Hartford.  This is the first in a series that adds fantasy elements to cozy mysteries.  Obviously, it also has a fairy tale base. 
I think it sounds like a lot of fun.

The rest are books I bought, for something different.  I feel like I've been getting a lot of ARCs recently.

The hosts of the podcast Pod Meets World (yes, it is a Boy Meets World rewatch podcast) mentioned Murder in One Take by April Kelly and Marsha Lyons a few weeks back.  A mystery set in Hollywood?  Sign me up.

I am determined to get at least one of Annette Dashofy's Zoe Chambers mysteries read this year (I'm hoping for two, but the way the year is filling up, it isn't looking good).  But to do that, I needed the next in the series, so I bought Fair Game, which is book eight.

Death in a Pale Hue by Susan Van Kirk caught my eye when it came out last year.  In June.  I'm just now buying it, spurred on by the fact that the sequel is up for pre-order.  It sounds fun, and that cover is gorgeous.  (Yes, I do judge books by their cover sometimes.)

Finally, comes The Last Thing Clair Wanted by Karin Fitz Sanford.  Yes, the first in another series because I don't have enough series going.  Actually, the main thing that caught my eye here was that it is set in Santa Rosa, California.  Since I grew up there, I couldn't resist.

What I'm Currently Reading:

I'm going back in time to 1913 right now with Murder in Midtown by Liz Freeland.  This is the second in the Louise Faulk Mysteries about a rookie police woman in New York City.  I read the first a couple of years ago and enjoyed it.  I bought this one right away, but I haven't gotten to it yet.  I figured it was time to dust it off and revisit Louise.

That does it here.  Have a great week.