Sunday, October 1, 2023

October 1st's Sunday/Monday Post

Welcome to October!  2023 is 3/4 done.  Hard to believe isn't it?  But that's where we are, and, since it's the weekend, it's time for a Sunday/Monday Post.  As usual, I'll be linking up to:

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

My laptop acted up again last Sunday.  But I was ready for it that time.  I had every blog post for the week scheduled and files saved where I could get to them.  I think the problem is plugging in my external hard drive, which doesn't have it's own source of power, causes something to short out.  At least that's the theory I'm going with.  So I've got to figure out what to do about a new laptop.  Any suggestions for something that will last me longer than two years?  So you know, I currently have a Dell.  And my last laptop was an HP.

In other news, I went to a wedding on Saturday.  A couple of friends I met at my monthly game days got married.  It was a good ceremony and reception.  Nothing super elaborate or fancy, but fun, and they are happy.

Blog Spam Comment of the Week:

Quite often, the spammers hope to evade detection by hitting an older review.  In this case, they hit a more recent book review.  All I'm leaving out of the comment is the link at the end:

It was so good to see you acknowledging this topic, it really feels great. Thanks for sharing such valuable information which is very hard to find normally.

As always, it's so great that my book review had provide such valuable information for them.

This Past Week on the Blog:



This Coming Week on the Blog:


Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post
Monday - September Reading Summary
Tuesday - Book Review: Nine Lives and Alibis by Cate Conte
Wednesday - Movie Review: Mystery Island
Thursday - Book Review: Sugar Plum Poisoned by Jenn McKinlay
Friday - TV Show Review: Quantum Leap - Season 4
Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

There's one book that should be on this list that isn't.  It was a preorder that UPS delivered to my local post office on Wednesday.  But it's just sitting there.  I could have walked over and gotten it and returned home by now.  It's so frustrating.  Especially since another preorder that hit my local post office at the same time was delivered on Thursday.

Not that I don't have plenty of new books to tell you about.  No need to worry on that front.

Let's start things off with The Body in the Garden by  Katharine Schellman.  This historical mystery was on sale for Kindle a couple of weeks ago, and I decided to snag it.  I don't know much more about it, but I just can't resist the call of a good sale.

Next up is Keep Your Family Close, the second in Annette Dashofy's Detective Honeywell series.  This is an eARC since the book comes out in December.  I love her books and enjoyed the first in the series, so I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to the characters here.

I did get two preorders this week despite my earlier complaining.  It helped that one was a Kindle ebook.  Murder Under the Mistletoe by Erica Ruth Neubauer came out this last Tuesday.  It appears to be an ebook only novella, so I bought it.  And, since I bought it, I'll be saving it to read during December.  If you aren't familiar with the series, it's a historical series set in the 1920's.  The characters are always traveling, and it looks like they will be in Scotland for this one.

The physical preorder that did arrive is Case of the Bleus by Korina Moss.  This is the fourth in her Cheese Shop Mysteries.  They are set near where I grew up, so I always get a kick out of my virtual trip home.  I'm aiming to get this one read in November.

Finally, I snagged a digital audiobook from my library to listen to this week.  Mint Julep Murder is the ninth in Carolyn Hart's Death on Demand series and was next in my audiobook rotation.

What I'm Currently Reading:

I'm sure it's no surprise that I'm listening to Mint Julep Murder right now.  That is my typical pattern, after all.  I rarely get an audiobook without starting it right away.  We are at a literary festival, and a publisher was just poisoned.  I'm curious to see where we go from here.

In the reading with my eyes books, I have an unplanned theme.  Both the book I just finished and the book I'll be reading next are new books in series where the previous book came out in 2019.  It just so happens that they are both coming out this month, and it works best for my schedule that they will be reviewed next week.

The book I just finished is Brush Up on Murder by Sybil Johnson.  This is book six in her Aurora Anderson Mysteries which features a decorative painter as the sleuth.

The book I'll be starting next is Hunters of the Dead by Steve Hockensmith.  I've made it through the prologue so far, which was quite enjoyable.  Just haven't had much time to read.  This is the seventh in his Holmes on the Range series featuring brother detectives in the 1890's old west.

That wraps things up for me.  Have a great week.

19 comments:

  1. I love the spammer comment, it must be nice that you've been so helpful. Have a great week!

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  2. I need to catch up on ahsoka. And good luck with the laptop search. I wish I had some good advice. I mainly use my PC and Chromebook so I'm not even sure what laptops are best these days, although I might need one soon

    Mint Julep looks good.

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  3. Spammers really have mastered the totally generic compliment that fits nothing and has no meaning! How can it possibly do them any good? My understanding is that links in comments to blogs do not affect google’s algorithms for one’s website.
    Your idea of collecting and reproducing the spam (minus link) is so neat!
    best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  4. I switched from PCs to Macs about ten or so years ago, and I've never looked back. No problems with viruses like I had with my PCs. Everything is intuitive. It was a big adjustment at first, but now I am a committed Apple-phile.

    I hope the book you are waiting for arrives soon! Very frustrating.

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  5. I had a beautiful desk top Dell and it lasted exactly that long, 2 years. It was not cheap either. I don't trust Dell anymore. I went with HP on both of my laptops, one I have had for about 16 years and it's still working fine, a bit slow butit works. And my new HP I have had for about 4 years and still working wonderfully. I went for gigabytes, and graphics specs when I got mine. I hope you figure it out, Mark. Getting a new laptop can be a real headache and a big uncertainty. Happy Sunday!

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  6. Since all I do is blog and social media, I moved to a Chromebook several years ago and have never looked back. I do have the laptop I bought for my sister a year or so before she died. It's a Lenovo. It's plugged in and ready to go should I ever need anything more than a Chromebook, but so far I haven't needed it at all.

    I hope the post office sends somebody out to deliver your book soon! What are they doing? Reading it before they give it to you??? Ha ha.

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  7. All those cozies on your list look really good. Good luck with the laptop. I've had a Lenovo for years, but it's slowing down too much lately. I hope you have a great week!

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  8. I use a desktop computer. I've never had a laptop, so I can't offer any insights on that. I hope you find something that will last you a while. I have got to get back to posting reviews more consistently. I watched Murder in G Major and I really want to get a review posted for that one, as well as for some books I've read or listened to. I haven't watched Mystery Island yet. I'm planning to watch it tomorrow. Have a great week and keep sharing all of that valuable information!! :-)

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  9. You certainly go through a lot of books! I highly recommend a Mac. We still have mostly THE OTHER SORT at our office. And you can't expect much of a life expectancy on them.

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  10. We usually get Lenovo laptops and desktops and have largely had good experiences. They fixed the one problem that we had with a bit of pushing on our end. Good luck and happy reading!

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  11. I hope you are able to completely get your laptop issues sorted out. Nice book haul again this week. Have a great week, hopefully with lots of reading!

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  12. Dealing with laptop issues is no fun. I have a Mac but it's 7 years old and going strong so, yes, they cost more, but they last pretty long. For one of my jobs I have a Dell which seems to be good too. Good luck!

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  13. Spammer comments are so funny sometimes. I see some holiday books in your list. I will keep an eye on those. Glad you outwitted your fickle computer.

    https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2023/10/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-and.html

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  14. Keep Your Family Close caught my eye. Enjoy your reading this week!
    Mary @Bookfan

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  15. Thanks for sending me to my blog to check out what got caught in my Spam folder. Two were mistakes and two got deleted. You certainly have a nice assortment of mysteries here including some I've read. Enjoy this week and good luck computer shopping. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  16. The spam comments really do crack me up sometimes! I got to the point where I moderate all comments so they don't just appear on the blog...

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  17. Good luck with your laptop search. I've been happy with my HP which I bought in 2018. I made sure to get good speed (at the time), extra ram, and storage and it is still serving well. My office IT guy was impressed by the laptop and its speed five years later. I did replace the battery this past year.

    I am always drawn to stories with Mistletoe... even a murder mystery. I think I need to seek out a Carolyn Hart mystery.
    Have a good week and Happy Reading!

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  18. This is a great wrap up of your week! I love the sound of Murder Under the Mistletoe, and am off to check out your review of Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas, as I read and reviewed that one recently too! Have a wonderful week!

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Thanks for stopping by. In order to combat spam, I moderate most comments. I'll get to your comment as soon as I can.