April 23rd's Sunday/Monday Post

Happy weekend.  Time to gear up for another Sunday/Monday Post, where I will be linking up to:

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

As I type this on Saturday night, I'm trying to recover from day 1 of the LA Times Festival of Books.  It was a warm day since the event is mostly outside and it was in the 80's.  It's supposed to be about 10 degrees cooler tomorrow, which I think will be nicer.

Yes, I'm going back tomorrow.  The friend I usually go with could only go on Sunday, but I decided there were some authors only going to be there today I wanted to see, so I'd go both days.

Honestly, I mainly hung out the Mystery related booths.  I know, I know not a shock at all.  I did wander around the rest of the festival, but I didn't see too much that caught my eye.  I'll explore them more tomorrow while there with my friend since she always enjoys looking in them.

The main exception to that was the outdoor interview I went to with Jennifer Garner and Laura Dave.  They were promoting the new Apple TV + series The Last Thing He Told Me, based on Laura's novel of the same name and starring Jennifer.  If I had Apple TV +, I'd be watching since it does sound intriguing, and I've been a Jennifer Garner fan since her days on Alias.  It was very much a mutual admiration society interview.  I get that this was publicity.  I get that they wouldn't have done it if they wouldn't have been a good promotional team.  But still, it was heart warming and made me want to read the book if not watch the show.  No, I didn't buy the book because I'm sure the line would have been super super long to get it signed and I didn't feel like standing around to do that.  But, as a Jennifer Garner fan, it was wonderful to hear her be so positive and warm.

I was wearing the shirt I got for my birthday a couple of years ago that says "Yes, I do Need All These Books."  Naturally, I got lots of positive comments on it all day.

This Past 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 featuring Murder in Midtown

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Disney Pin Review: The Haunted Mansion - Mickey Mouse the Main Attraction
Monday - Book Review: "X" by Sue Grafton

Tuesday - TV Show Review: The Mandalorian - Season 3

Wednesday - Book Review: Murder in Midtown by Liz Freeland

Thursday - Ornament Review: Count of Cozy

Friday - Novella Review: Arbor Day Can Be Deadly by Ryan Rivers

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul Part 1:

Yes, I'm doing my book haul in two parts this week.  I'm going to talk about the normal books I got (there were too many of them), then I'll talk about the books I got today at the Festival of Books (there were too many of them as well).  Seriously, how am I ever going to catch up on my to be read mountain range if I keep buying this many books?

This part starts out with an audio book from my library.  The Black Box is from Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series.  I'm still slowly trying to catch up.  This one came out 10 years ago, so I might eventually catch up on his books.

Devil's Trill by Gerald Elias has been on my wishlist for a while.  It went on sale for $1.99 on Kindle, and I debated for a while before finally caved and bought it.  A mystery in the world of classical music sounds interesting.  It's still on sale if it intrigues you.

On the blog Chicks on the Case this week, they had a guest post from Damyanti Biswas, author of a thriller set in Mumbai.  It sounded interesting, and only $2.49 on Kindle, so I snagged The Blue Bar.

Finally, I discovered that Kim Davis has a new Cupcake Catering Mystery coming in June.  Because I needed another blog tour/ARC to read in June (I will now only be reading one non-ARC in June), I signed up for the blog tour for Muddled Matrimonial Murder.

(Ironically enough, I don't have a couple of the books I plan to review in June yet because that publisher doesn't send out their promotional emails until the month before, so I will be getting those in a couple of weeks.)

Book Haul Part 2:

So, let's move on to today, shall we?

I was planning to get Entertainment to Die For, the new short story anthology from Sisters in Crime's LA chapter.  I always get these.  I can't remember the last time I read one, but I always get them.

The rest all came from talking to authors.  And not the authors I was planning to talk to today, either.

I started out buying A Killing at Cotton Hill by Terry Shames.  I've heard of the book before.  It is set in Texas and featuring a sheriff.

Slivers of Glass by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger is the first in a historical PI series set in the 1950's in California.  The authors are married, which is fun.  This particular book takes the sleuth up to Santa Rosa, which is where I grew up.  When I realized that, I couldn't resist.

Mike Befeler has been someone I've seen signing for years, but I bought one of his books this time.  Old Detectives Home sounds wacky as old fictional detectives (think Sherlock Homes and Poirot) are in a home with staff of class mystery writers (Dorothy Sayers, etc.).  A murder takes place, and everyone is investigating everyone else.  Seriously, how can I resist something like that?

I almost left but decided to go back and get Yesterday's Echo, the first in Matt Coyle's Rick Cahill series.  It's a very popular and award winning series, but I have thought it might be too dark for me.  Still, he was friendly, and I gave in and decided to give it a chance.

What I'm Currently Reading:

I'm sure it won't surprise you to find out I'm listening to The Black Box.  I got the audio to listen to this weekend.  Oh, I won't get through the entire thing, but I will make a good dent in it.  It's a 45 minute drive one way to the festival for me (an hour coming home tonight), so that gives me so good listening time.  I started it Thursday night, and I'm about 33% into the book right now.

I'm also working on Murder on the Home Front by Jessica Ellicott, my first May book.  It's set in Hull in England in 1940.  I'm about 2/3rd's of the way through it and really enjoying it.  Depending on how Sunday goes, I might even finish it.  I'm hoping so.

If that happens, I will be starting on #TagMe for Murder by Sarah E. Burr, the second in her Trending Topics Mysteries.  I enjoyed the first, so I'm looking forward to seeing what she has in store for the characters in this series next.

Have a great week.