Time for this week's 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?
It's been a week. Work was one of those weeks where every day brought too much I wasn't expecting, keeping me from getting done what I needed to do. It was frustrating. I thought at one point I was going to need to work this weekend, but I managed to get enough done on Friday that I should be okay with not working until Monday. Hope I'm right.
In better news, I did get my Christmas decorations down last Sunday. It's amazing what the proper motivation can do. I told myself there were a couple of fun things I wanted to do that I couldn't do until the decorations were down. I do miss them, but it is nice to have that chore done. It sure is less fun that decorating, isn't it?
One of those things was going to be getting my new laptop filled with my files so I could start using it. But after a couple of days using it, I think I've decided I don't like it. So now I'm in the process of it setting so I can return it Sunday after church.
Saturday, I did get out of the condo. I went down to Santa Monica. I was going to read for a while down there, but I wound up walking instead. Walked down to the pier from where I had parked and wandered around the pier. It had been years since I was out on it. No, I don't feel like I was missing much, but it was fun to be a tourist for a while. I needed to get out of the condo, but it's hard to pass up a day in the mid-70's in January. (And that's all I will say about the weather for those dealing with the cold.)
Pun of the Week:
This Past Week on the Blog:
This Coming Week on the Blog:
Book Haul:
Although I might not wind up reading much of this first one. We'll see. On impulse, I bought The Lucy Book by Geoffrey Mark Fidelman. I'm a huge I Love Lucy fan, so I thought a book about her life in TV would be interesting. Once I got it and thumbed through it, it looked like it was more episode summaries for all her series than just behind the scenes stories. I would have enjoyed behind the scenes stories about all her shows, but this looks drier than I was hoping for. At least I bought a cheap used copy since it is out of print, so I'm not out much money. And maybe it will surprise me. We will see when I take a little more time to look at it.
The other books I'm more excited about. I snagged a couple of last minute ARCs. Both are from the same small press that doesn't usually offer much lead time. One of the authors had approached me months ago, so I was holding a place for her book. The other is a book I'm very much looking forward to, the third in a series. The books? The Secrets We Keep by Liz Milliron and DM Me for Murder by Sarah E. Burr.
I also decided it was time for another audio book, so I got Yankee Doodle Dead by Carolyn Hart from the library.
What I'm Currently Reading:
Yes, I've started Yankee Doodle Dead already. I'm not too far into it. It's obvious who the victim will be, but he hasn't been killed off yet. This is the tenth in the Death on Demand series. The main character owns a mystery bookstore in a fictional resort community in South Carolina.
I've also just barely started The Secrets We Keep. This is the fifth in the Homefront Mysteries, set in Buffalo during World War II. Betty, the main character, as gone from working in an airplane factor to becoming a PI. Her case in this book is helping a private about to go back to the front find out who is mother is. Again, I haven't gotten much further than that, but I know at some point there will be a murder. At this point, I'm not sure who, but I have my suspicions.
What's interesting about both of these books are they are set around the 4th of July. Different years, different things going on, but I still found that a fun coincidence. I didn't plan it that way.
Have a great week!
I always miss the decorations when they come down, although it's nice too when it's done. Sounds nice getting out to Santa Monica.
ReplyDeleteNo spam phone call of the week? We got a call telling us we won Publisher's Clearinghouse and all we had to do to get our $7000/week was call with the winning number they gave us over the phone. Only problem, it is was a robo-call. Ha!
ReplyDeleteYou are right, it's painful to hear about 70 degree weather! But we did make our choice to live in the frozen north.
ReplyDeletebest, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I looked up Lucille Ball and see she wrote her own memoir, "Love, Lucy". It might be a better book than the one you described.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Love-Berkley-Boulevard-Celebrity-Autobiography/dp/0425177319
It's been years since I went to the Santa Monica pier, I'm sure it's changed a lot. Enjoy that weather, I miss it since I moved up to the mountains😁
ReplyDeleteI hope the work situation improves next week. Walking on the Santa Monica pier in 70-degree weather sounds like an alien life, at the moment. Maybe it's time for a vacation!
ReplyDeleteI very impulsively bought eight books at the Rosenberg Library in Galveston last week. I really need to stop buying books and read what I have!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are able to enjoy some beautiful weather for all of us. Photos are always appreciated...lol!
I'm glad you managed to get enough work done by Friday so that you can relax a bit this weekend. A walk down the Santa Monica pier sounds nice, one day I'm going to be a tourist and do that. It's such a funny coincidence that both your books are set around the 4th of July. I love when synchronicity happens like that. Enjoy your books!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a frustrating week ended pretty darn good, Mark. Have a fantastic week ☕📚🪱😊
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy books about Lucy. I had one years ago that had behind the scenes stuff, but I can't remember which book it was. I hope your book turns out to be a good one. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteWork weeks like that are no fun. I hope you were able to enjoy the weekend without working like you hoped. I know what you mean about it being more fun to put up the decorations than take them down. My motivation this year was wanting to try the couch in a new spot so the cats have comfortable window seating--and so I could sit by the window during my lunch break on my work-from-home days and enjoy the view of our tree. I am glad you were able to get out for the day yesterday. A walk on the pier sounds nice. It's been a few years since I last visited Santa Monica. Your current reads sound good, Mark! That's a cool coincidence that they both take place around the same time, even if different years. I love it when that happens. I hope you have a great week!
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting coincidence when the books you pick up have similar content. I had that happen to me, but not in a good way, LOL! Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI hope your work calms down for a while at some point to give you a break. 😯
ReplyDeleteI too love I Love Lucy! I had almost the same experience with a book about the Bewitched series. On social media it was being touted as the do-all-be-all of Bewitched history books, but when I started looking at reviews it was the same as the Lucy book you purchased; just episode descriptions. 😛
It's always good to get outside and wander on nice days. 😊
Have a wonderful new week! ☀
This was a hard week for me also - it was our first full week of school in six weeks due to winter break, then snow and extreme cold temps/windchills. Teachers were exhausted and kids were crazy. Plus they couldn't go out for recess so that made things even BETTER. Oi.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a better week this week. Glad you were able to get out and about. Your walk sounds perfect. Enjoy all your reads and listens. :)
ReplyDeleteI’m a big Lucy fan as well as have read several books about her life. I hope that you enjoy all your new books Mark.
ReplyDeleteWe ended up leaving a string of fairy lights on our bunnies' hutch year-round, because we're just a tad too lazy to take them down... We need to now, though, because they're broken.
ReplyDeleteIt's always nice when you get a book and start reading it right away -- at least, I like it! The enthusiasm is fun. Hope you enjoy them!
There are still a surprisingly large number of people who still have their Christmas light out and lit by me. I guess they'll come down when they come down. Glad you didn't have to work your day job over the weekend! yuck!
ReplyDeleteThe picture I use on my Teams background is of Santa Monica pier. I love the picture!
ReplyDeleteWeeks like that are so frustrating. I hope this work week goes more smoothly for you. Proper motivation is very helpful. I'm still trying to find the proper motivation to get up early and exercise before work. LOL!
ReplyDeleteGreat book haul. I need to check out your Lucy book. Have you ever been to the Lucy and Desi Museum in NY? We went last year and loved it. The museum is near the National Comedy Center, which she helped found.
Hope you enjoy your week.
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2024/01/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-and_0166715305.html
Buying more than you have time to read is very common to most of us readers. I figure that if I stop buying books, I could get my TBR pile read in about ten years. However, stop buying books? Not gonna happen. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteYay so good you got the decorations down at last. Your job is a really busy one, hope you did leave it all until Monday, workers need a break.
ReplyDeleteI hope work is better this week! I'm always tempted to leave my Christmas tree up all year and just decorate it for different seasons.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to weeks of frustration like that. It is so much better to work through the plan for the day.
ReplyDeleteI have outside lights that stay up year round. I just unplug them.
Oh yes - getting more books than we can read is a real issue for those of us always reading. :-)
I like the look of Yankee Doodle Dead. I need to check that series.
Happy Reading!