August 16th's Sunday/Monday Post

Welcome to this week's Sunday/Monday Post.  As usual, I will be linking up to:

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

It's been a fairly quiet week around here.  Met my deadlines at work, which is always good.

It was cooler this week, which doesn't make me happy.  It's August!  It's supposed to be hot.  Our high on Wednesday was only 82!  That's autumn weather!!  But it's looking like we are going to hit the upper 90's this coming week.  That's more like it.

I went paddle boarding on Thursday this week, and I took a friend with me.  He borrowed a board from a friend of his.  The only downside was that I broke my pump's connector, so I'll need to buy a replacement.  Fortunately, it's just a part, not the whole thing.  Anyway, before and after the paddling, we hung out at his place for a bit.  Nice to spend time with his family.  We haven't hung out much in a few years.

Joke of the Week:

What does a clock do when it’s hungry?

It goes back four seconds.

(I know, I know, an oldie.)

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Jaws - The Revenge

Tuesday - Book Review: A Murderer's Guide to Mardi Gras by Ellen Byron

Wednesday - Ornament Review: Sandal the Sandman #5

Thursday - Book Review: Serving up the Truth by Debra Klein

Friday - Friday Post featuring City of Promises

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Superman IV - The Quest for Peace

Tuesday - Book Review: Two Truths and a Murder by Colleen Cambridge

Wednesday - TBD

Thursday - Book Review: City of Promises by Victoria Thompson with Ellen Thompson

Friday - Friday Post

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

I'm going to tell you about three books this week.

The first is an ARC.  Mrs. Claus and the Fatal Figgy Pudding is the seventh Mrs. Claus Mystery from Liz Ireland.  If you've been around here very long, you know I adore this series, so I can't wait to dive in.  I'll be doing that soon since the book comes out the end of September.

The other two are ebook deals I snagged this week.  And these books are both still on sale as I'm typing this Saturday afternoon.

The Midnight Taxi by Yosha Gunasekera is set in New York City with an immigrant taxi driver as the main character.  I'm not completely sure about it, but for $1.99, I was willing to take a chance.

I swear I bought Death and Croissants by Ian Moore at some point in the past.  But if I did, it wasn't on Amazon since they didn't tell me I'd bought it before.  So, when I saw that the book was on sale for $1.99, I snagged it.

What I'm Currently Reading:

I've barely started Murders in the Marquee by Dana Mentink.  I've been having a very lazy Saturday because I thought I would be further into it by now.  It's a historical mystery set in 1905 in San Francisco.  I'm looking forward to diving more into it.  The book itself comes out September 1st, and that's when I plan to review it, so I've got some time yet.

Have a great week!

August 15th's Weekly TV Thoughts

The Librarians: The Next Chapter (8/9) – As a lover of Peter Pan, I don’t like seeing him turn up as a villain.  Again.  But I get it.  I mean, when you think about who he is and what he does, he’s not exactly the good guy.  And I did love their take on the legends with the various parts every played.  All in all, a fun episode.

Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro – Okay, I can kind of see why they broke the “rules” last week, but this week’s rules were very clear.  I just don’t get why they didn’t create a wow moment.  I was kind of expecting it to be a double elimination since we’ve got just a few weeks before partners are announced for the new season, but I guess not.  I was expecting them to be teaching at some point, so we’ll see where things go next week.

American Ninja Warrior – I really wish they wouldn’t mess the three groups together like this in the finals.  It makes it hard to follow who is doing what and racing whom.  At least it does for me.  But there were some exciting races tonight.  And a few surprises.

The Quiz with Balls – Wow, both teams lost lots of players early on.  But they managed to hold on for a bit.  Been a while since we saw an entire team get eliminated.  While I didn’t know a lot of the answers early on, ironically, I did know the answer to the question that ended the bonus round.  (Although “Steamboat Willie” was released first, so it was a very trick question.)

The Librarians: The Next Chapter (8/10) – I’d seen the title of the episode, but it still took me a minute to figure out that the cooking show was part of the episode and not the previous show running late.  I figured a couple of things out early on, but not all the twists.  As much as I complain about things being predictable at times, I do like the characters and I have fun going along for the ride with them.

The Challenge – Nice to see Gray not come in first (although I am rooting for them), but hard to see Blue lose a player again.  Yes, I am rooting for the underdog, even though I am not really a fan of any of the players on the team.  The first challenge with the boats looked like lots of fun.  That is, if I weren’t needing to get it finished to beat others.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe – I’m not quite sure what the segment in the Matrix was supposed to be about.  I’m sure that is a clue to what is really going on somehow.  This stop was just okay.  I’ve liked the last two better.  It was funny because I was thinking we hadn’t seen Amy yet.  I have a feeling we won’t see the three who were building the machine until the end, so I was thinking Amy would be a logical next cameo.

Press Your Luck – Whammie wasn’t very active in the beginning.  And all three of them had impressive totals.  He made up for it in the bonus round.  The contestant really didn’t seem to be able to build up much of a bank at any point.  I wasn’t too surprised when he got eliminated.

Anna Pigeon – The acting felt a little better, at least from the leads.  Still not the best show out there, but I am curious where they are going with the villain of the season, so I’ll stick around for that.  The main plot didn’t go anywhere near where I thought it would during the opening.  I thought the kids were going to find a victim.  Rather dark and depressing.  I found the parts with the eagle ironic since the famous one here in So Cal just died, sadly.  I know this was filmed a while ago, but the timing worked out poorly.

August 14th's Friday Post

It's Friday!  Time to celebrate with this week's Friday Post.  I will be linking up to:

Book Beginnings
First Line Friday
Friday 56
Book Blogger Hop

My teasers for the first three will be coming from City of Promises by Victoria Thompson with Ellen Thompson.

This is officially book eight in the Counterfeit Lady series, but...well...let's just get to that first line.

Attorney Gideon Bates was looking forward to meeting his new client this morning. He knew Frank Malloy by reputation, but their paths had never crossed before.

Any fan of Victoria Thompson's series know what makes this special immediately.  Gideon Bates is from this series, but Frank Malloy is from the author's Gaslight Mysteries.  Yep, the book is a crossover, and I couldn't wait to dive into it.

Meanwhile, over on page 56, we find this:

"Sebastian sounds like he's perfect for you, thought," Elizabeth said. It wasn't entirely a lie. If he was an imposter, the person he was pretending to be did sound perfect for Catherine. But he couldn't keep up the charade forever.

Do we have an imposter?  I will leave it for you to find out.

My full review will be up next Thursday, but here's the teaser.  I enjoyed it.

Moving on to this week's Book Blogger Hop, here's the question:

Is there a book you keep coming back to, reading it more than once?

Not as much as I'd like; I have so many unread books calling my name.  But I do occasionally pick up a Trixie Belden book to revisit the characters.  And I enjoyed rereading Elizabeth George Speare's books last December.  And revisiting Mrs. Pollifax last spring was a treat.

Have a great weekend!

Book Review: Serving Up the Truth by Debra Klein (Amanda Knightly Mysteries #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Amanda and the rest of the cast, a good mystery

Cons: Writing a little rough at the beginning, mystery could have been a little stronger

The Bottom Line:

A bad customer

Freeing a family friend

Overall it’s fun

When a Frustrating Customer Gets Murdered

I recently had the good fortunate to win a copy of Serving Up the Truth, the first in a series from Debra Klein, from the Chicks on the Case blog.  It sounded like fun, so I bumped it up my To Be Read mountain range.  And I’m glad I did.

The book introduces us to Amanda Knightly, who lives with her young adult children and her husband in Oak Hills, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.  She works behind the deli counter of the local market, and she has earned a reputation for her excellent customer service.

Which is why the young lady frustrates her so much that afternoon.  She is arrogant and rude, taking her time despite the long line behind her before ultimately deciding to buy nothing.  Amanda does her best to shake it off, but she learns the next morning that the woman was murdered that night.  Then, one of her son’s close friends is arrested for the crime.  Amanda believes the young man is innocent, so she sets about trying to figure out what really happened.  Can she do it?

This book is a first novel, and the first couple of chapters show it.  I get it.  It’s really hard to introduce characters and relationships smoothly. The limited attempts at writing I’ve done have run into the same issue.  Fortunately, once the mystery gets going, things do smooth out.

I was pulled into the case pretty quickly.  Amanda found some solid suspects.  I did figure a couple of things out early on, but I was still entertained on my way to the logical climax.

So many cozies have similar set ups, so this one was refreshing.  Amanda is a happily married middle aged woman with two kids in their early to mid-twenties.  All of them are good characters, and we meet some other fun series regulars.  I’d definitely be interested in visiting them again.

I’m glad I prioritized reading Serving Up the Truth.  This is a debut that introduces us to a great town I hope we get to visit again.

Ornament Review: Sandal the Sandman #5 - A Christmas Trees of Shells - 2026 Hallmark Release

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Classy looking and creative final entry

Cons: A bit monochromatic; noticeable tilt

The Bottom Line:

Building a shell tree

As series comes to an end

Have warm memories

Sandal Sadly Says Goodbye with Another Tree

I wasn’t surprised when Hallmark announced that this year would be the last for the Sandal the Sandman ornament series.  While I have really enjoyed the series, it’s beach theme was going to be a hard sell for a lot of people.  But I do love the symmetry since it goes out with Sandal creating another tree.

As the name implies, the series has featured a beach twist on the classic Christmas character.  Instead of a snowman, we have a sandman.  Sandal wears a blue and white striped scarf (or is that a beach towel?) and a wide beach hat.  And he has beach friends.  In this case, Sandal is joined by a turtle.

The first year, Sandal was decorating a palm tree to get in the Christmas spirit.  This year, he’s creating a tree, but it’s out of beach shells.  It’s white and gold and in a traditional Christmas tree shape.  And he’s putting a star fish on the top.

The animals in this series have always been a bit cartoony, and that holds true of the turtle in this ornament.  It’s also one of the few splashes of color.  The ornament is very white between the sand and the majority of the shells being a silver color.

But I do like it.  It is very classy looking and such a fun twist on the traditional Christmas images.  As a Southern California resident, it’s these little touches that I’ve been enjoying for the entire series.  Again, I get that not everyone would like it, but I love it.

As always, the ornament features a nice flat base, so the ornament can be put out for display on any flat surface if you want to add it to a scene.  You’ll also find the 5 in a Christmas tree on the bottom.

The ornament does tip a little to the right, which isn’t a surprise given where the loop is.  I wonder why it wasn’t shifted a bit to the right to help balance things.  Maybe the hat brim isn’t as strong as I’m thinking it is.

I do wish this series had gotten to go on longer, but I’m glad that Hallmark tried something different with it.  Sandal’s fans will be happy with this last entry in the series.

Warm up with the rest of the Sandal the Sandman ornaments.

Book Review: A Murderer’s Guide to Mardi Gras by Ellen Byron (Vintage Cookbook Mysteries #5)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Characters, plenty of Mardi Gras atmosphere, and a great ending

Cons: While plenty happens, the mystery’s pacing could be better

The Bottom Line:

Join Mardi Gras krewe

Is it hiding a killer?

A fun mystery

Did Ricki Join a Krewe with a Killer?

Normally, I try to spread out books by authors, even favorite authors.  But when one of those favorite authors has two books in two series from two publishers coming out back-to-back, I easily make an exception.  So, I picked up A Murderer’s Guide to Mardi Gras just a couple of weeks after reading another book by Ellen Byron.

This is book five in the Vintage Cookbook Mysteries.  As you might have guessed from the title of the book, it is set in New Orleans.  It features Ricki James-Diaz who has recently moved to the city from Los Angeles and has opened a vintage cookbook and kitchenware store inside Bon Vee, one of the historic mansions in the city.  While you can jump in here and follow the story, there are some ongoing storylines you’ll enjoy more if you back up to the first book and read the series in order.

As this book kicks off, Mardi Gras season has hit the city.  It’s the first since Ricki moved, and she’s gotten caught up in the fever.  It helps that her boyfriend, celebrated chef Virgil Morel, is being named the king of the Krewe of Chew, so many of their friends from Bon Vee are jumping into this particular krewe.  Of course, that means more parties and events leading up to their actual parade than Ricki bargained for.

The captain of the krewe is an egotistical bully.  And those are his good qualities.  After leaving one of the events, Ricki and Virgil stumble upon his dead body.  The victim’s wife is the police’s prime suspect, but Ricki has become friends with the woman, and she doesn’t believe it.  The problem is, the number of suspects in the krewe are numerous.  Can Ricki figure out what really happened?

Let’s get my criticism of the book out of the way.  This is a prime example of a book where a lot happens, but the mystery’s pacing was off.  Now, hear me carefully, I was being entertained and I had lots of fun.  And I loved the climax when we reached it.  Things came together in a way that made perfect sense.

I knew only the bare minimum about Mardi Gras going into this book, but that wasn’t an issue at all.  Since Ricki is also a novice, she is learning right along with us.  I have a much greater appreciation for all the work that goes on behind the scenes for the many, many events that happen during the season now.  And yes, the story does continue to unfold around these events.  After all, the murder involves Ricki’s new krewe.

There’s a large cast of characters, so the list at the beginning of the book is helpful.  A few of the series characters take a back seat, but the ones who do get to take a front seat are plenty of fun.  We also meet some charming, quirky, and mysterious new suspects who are entertaining.

And the ongoing storylines I mentioned?  I liked how one in particular developed here.  I felt like Ricki especially got some chances to grow, and we saw another character in a new light as a result of what happens in this book.

A Murderer’s Guide to Mardi Gras is another entertaining cozy from Ellen Byron.  Whether you are new to Mardi Gras or an old hand, you’ll be glad you picked up this book.

Enjoy the rest of the Vintage Cookbook Mysteries.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

I'm reviewing this book are part of a blog tour.  Check out the rest of the tour stops by visiting the tour's home page.

And don't miss the tour wide giveaway.

Movie Review: Jaws - The Revenge

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Acting

Cons: Just about everything else

The Bottom Line:

Shark stalks family

Film mostly ridiculous

Feel free to skip

The Jaws Franchise Goes Out with a … Roar?

I’d heard it was bad. But I still wanted to see for myself just how bad Jaws: The Revenge is. Maybe my expectations were low because I thought it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Not saying it is great, either. 

We start up in Amity where a tragedy befalls the Brody family, leaving widow Ellen (Lorraine Gary) grieving over her second loss. Her son, Michael (Lance Guest), invites her to go with his family back to the Bahamas where he is conducting research on sea snails. 

Ellen agrees to go, even meeting the charming pilot Hoagie (Michael Caine) along the way. But she is certain that a great white shark is stalking her family. At least it seems crazy….

The movie is set around Christmas, which left me scratching my head. I wonder if that was the original release day, and it got moved. I mean, it just doesn’t seem like this franchise would fit into the Christmas season. 

So, where do issues with the move start?

First, let’s talk about the lack of continuity with the previous movie. Michael is suddenly a biologist instead of an engineer of some kind? Honestly, I don’t mind so much that we’ve got our fourth actor playing the character. I kind of expect it at this point. 

Then there’s the premise of a shark with a vendetta being out for revenge. I know animals are smart. But that smart? As smart as the plot requires it to be? Please. Not to mention the travel involved. 

On the other hand, I will give this shark credit - it only goes after its targets. Some of the killers in slashers should learn from this shark and leave the extra characters alone. 

Of course, horror fans will complain that the body count is low, and they do have a bit of a point. Especially with the ending I saw. Apparently, there are two endings to the film, and I’m going with the slightly happier one since it is the one I saw. 

And that’s one of the other flaws with this film, the tone. Even for a creature feature horror movie, this is a dismal movie. I get it considering how the movie opens, but the sad tone keeps it from being enjoyable. 

Now, this isn’t to blame the actors. They are doing the best they can with the material they have. And Lorraine’s performance is phenomenal. 

Back to what doesn’t work. There’s the script. For the plot to work, Michael has to be incredibly stupid. I mean, anyone with a brain and all his family has been through would never go along with what he agrees to here. 

Not to mention some improbable escapes. 

There are a couple of suspenseful scenes, but the rest of the movie is so crazy that we can’t take them seriously. 

Finally, can we talk about the roar? Yes, the shark roars during the climax. Now, I’m not a biologist, and I know some animals can make noise when you don’t expect them do, but this seems a little silly. Then again, I don’t have any issue with the metallic sound effect the knife makes in the Scream movies when it is pulled out, so I’m willing to turn a blind eye when I love a franchise.

The special effects are okay. A few don’t hold up, but a few of the scenes are quite effective. 

I can’t say the same for the opening. It’s so dark, it’s hard to follow. And, honestly, that character deserved better. 

Jaws: The Revenge is on par with the third movie for me. Unless you are a diehard fan of the franchise, there’s no reason to watch it.

August 9th's Sunday/Monday Post

Hello there!  I'm so glad you could join me for this week's Sunday/Monday Post.  As always, I will be linking up to:

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

I really don't have much to report of excitement this week.  It continues to be hot, which is lovely for August.  Month end close went well at work.  I went paddle boarding on Friday after work.  Just another typical week.

Saturday was my friends' monthly game day.  It was a memorable one.  We found a week about a couple of hours into it, so we had to fill some buckets with water, and then shut off the water.  Not that it kept us from staying and playing games.  I won one early on, but after that didn't come close.  Still, it was lots of fun.

With nothing else to talk about, let's get to it.

Joke of the Week:

What kind of tree fits in your hand?

A palm tree.

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Book Review: Talking God by Tony Hillerman

Tuesday - Book Review: A Taste for Murder by Matt Baker

Wednesday - Movie Review: A Prince in Paradise - A Royal Wedding

Thursday - Book Review: Hell Hath No Fury by Annette Dashofy

Friday - Friday Post featuring A Murderer's Guide to Mardi Gras

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Jaws - The Revenge

Tuesday - Book Review: A Murderer's Guide to Mardi Gras by Ellen Byron

Wednesday - Ornament Review: Sandal the Sandman #5

Thursday - Book Review: Serving up the Truth by Debra Klein

Friday - Friday Post

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

I'm back to my usual book buying habits this week with four books.  One of those was a preorder and rest were ebook sales.

The preorder is Probable Caws, the latest from Donna Andrews.  This is book 39 in her Meg Langslow series, and yes, the titles are always bird puns.  Obviously, I'm a fan if I'm this far into the series.  I'm looking forward to getting to this one soon.

Now, for those ebook sales.  All of these were books I've had my eye on, so when the prices dropped, I jumped on it.

The first is A Spoonful of Gunpowder by Katherine H. Brown. It's described as a Steampunk Mary Poppins inspired cozy mystery.  I'm very curious what that is.  So, when it was on sale Thursday, I snagged it.  It looks like it is back to regular price, which is $3.99 for the ebook.

Next up is The Campervan Detectives by Maeve Haran.  I keep collecting these camping themed cozies, and then I don't read them.  I really need to go about fixing that at some point.  Anyway, this one went on sale for 99 cents, so I got it.  Looks like it is still that price as of Saturday, when I'm typing this.

Finally, we have Caught on Camera, the first Camera Club Mystery from Kara Lacey.  It's been on my radar for a while, and when it dropped to 99 cents (still on sale as of me typing this), I picked it up.

What I'm Currently Reading:

I just finished City of Promises by Victoria Thompson with Ellen Thompson.  Yes, this was the one new book I got last week.  I told you I was looking forward to it.  I enjoyed it, too.  I've got to get a couple of reviews written, including this one.  But I should be posting a review soon.

That means, I've just started Harrowed Heir, the next Court of Mystery novel from Sarah E. Burr.  I've barely started it, in fact, but I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to the characters in this book.

Have a great week!

August 8th's Weekly TV Thoughts

Only one week of shows, but there sure are a lot of them now.  It's going to be a busy August leading into the fall season.

The Librarians: The Next Chapter (8/2) – Two episodes a week, these 10 episodes will all air in August.  That aside, I’m sure we aren’t supposed to trust Merlin, but it will be interesting to see if he’s the big bad or not.  Fun to see Dominic Monaghan popping up here.  I did like their confessions.  I felt it took the character development a little deeper than we often get on the show.

Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro – I wasn’t too surprised at who went home.  Or who else was in the bottom two.  Seems like bending the rules almost didn’t pay off, and Shirley is definitely the Len of this show.  I do feel sorry for the couple that went home.  I know there can only be one winner, but I really want everyone to succeed at this point.

The Librarians: The Next Chapter (8/3) – They had a preview from this one last week from the chase scene near the end of the episode.  It was nice to see it in context and see how they overcame it.  Pretty clever episode and fun overall.  I do wish (and yes, I know how ironic that is to say for this episode) that they weren’t quite so obvious with the character development.  Still, that’s a minor complaint.

American Ninja Warrior – Not sure I have too much to say.  Nice to see Barclay hit a buzzer.  Glad Daniel Gill is moving on.  And nice for the Folsoms to get all three family members to the finals.

The Challenge – I wasn’t expecting two episodes.  I wish they would remind us who the people are as well as which team they are on.  Not that I knew too many of the new players this season.  Is it too early to say we have a dominant team?  It seems we have one, but it will be interesting to see if that holds.  Just glad Bananas didn’t get sent home first.  Yes, I know he’s considered a villain, but I like the guy.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe – Another member of the original cast pops up.  And what a fun twists with her.  Yes, a bit predictable, but still fun.  Also loved the other cameo.  Not sure I like what they are doing with Denise, but we’ll see how it plays out.

Press Your Luck – What a rollercoaster!  From no Whammies in the early parts to losing it all at the end because of all those extra spins.

Anna Pigeon – I’ve never read these books but always been curious about them, so I thought I’d give the show a chance.  I was surprised that the show had a mystery of the week.  I assumed we’d be solving this one mystery over the course of the season, so I expected more.  The scenery is beautiful.  But overall, I wasn’t that impressed.  I found the writing and acting painful at times, and this is coming from a Hallmark channel watcher.  Hopefully, it will work itself out as the season goes along.

August 7th's Friday Post

We've made it to Friday!  Time for this week's Friday Post, where I will be linking up to:

Book Beginnings
First Line Friday
Friday 56
Book Blogger Hop

This week, I will be pulling quotes for the first three from A Murderer's Guide to Mardi Gras by Ellen Byron.

Yes, I've got two books from Ellen Byron pretty close together.  But they are from two different series and two different publishers and they wound up coming out back to back, so here we are.

Anyway, this is book five in her Vintage Cookbook Mysteries.  And here's how it begins:

For Ricki James-Diaz, one of the best aspects of her job as proprietor of Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbook and Kitchenware Shop was seeing the emotional reaction when a customer came upon an item that had special meaning for them.

Nothing to mysterious or suspenseful about that opening, but it does bring a smile to my face.

Meanwhile, at 56% into the ARC, we've got this quote:

Cookie yawned. “I’m done.” She crossed her arms and placed them on the counter, then closed her eyes and rested her head on her arms.
“Hint taken.”

It wasn't the easiest scene to find a quote from since there are some spoilers, but I found this exchange fun.

The book is already out, but I'll be reviewing it on Tuesday as part of a blog tour, so I hope you'll come back to see what I thought.

Let's move on to this week's Book Blogger Hop.  The question is:

Do you see yourself more as an editor, a writer, or just a reader?

I'm just a reader.  And I've had discussions with writers when I say that.  They like to point out that readers are important since they buy the books authors are writing.  I don't mean it in a negative way.  Writers are readers AND writers.  Editors are editors AND readers.  So, when I say I'm just a reader, I'm saying that I don't have another title in the literary world.

And on that note, I'm out.  Have a wonderful weekend.