Sunday, November 12, 2023

November 12th'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
Mailbox Monday
It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

It's been a quiet week.  Almost as productive as I needed it to be at work, but not quite.  In fact, I was awake some last night stressing about what I want to try to get done this coming week.  If you don't know, I'm an accountant for a company, and our fiscal year end is November 30th, which means we have to make sure everything is right for the end of the year.  Meanwhile, we've got Thanksgiving coming, so we have fewer days in the month than normal.  So yeah, I'm stressing about that.

But it's the weekend, I'm not going to think about work any more until Monday morning.

I got my artificial Christmas trees unboxed Friday night.  I usually like to have them up and lights on them before I leave for Thanksgiving.  Lights will be next, maybe Sunday, but probably later in the week.

And Saturday is game day at my friends' house.  Looking forward to it as always.

I think that pretty much catches you up around here.

This Past Week on the Blog:


This Coming Week on the Blog:

You'll notice we've got a theme going this week, not with the books I'm reviewing but with my other reviews.

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post
Monday - Book Review: Final Cut by Marjorie McCown
Tuesday - TV Show Review: True Lies - Complete Series
Wednesday - Book Review: Case of the Bleus by Korina Moss
Thursday - Movie Review: True Lies
Friday - Book Review: The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman
Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

I was so good keeping my haul in check for a couple of weeks, but I'm getting back in my usual book hauls this week.  But it's hard to skip a Kindle sale for a book I've been eyeing.  And I also can't turn down free copies from authors of books I'm looking forward to reading.  That was the case with the books this week.

Up first are my Kindle books.  A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales was on sale last weekend (it isn't any more).  This sounds like a fun historical mystery set in England.  It caught my eye a couple of months ago, so when it went on sale, I snagged it.

Likewise, Home is Where the Body is by Jody Holford was on sale last weekend.  This one has been on my wish list as Amazon for a while, so when I saw it was on sale, I snagged it.  Another first in the series, this one is set on the Oregon coast.  It sounds fun, so hopefully I will enjoy it when I get to it.

Which brings me to the two books I got from authors.  I'll be starting on them soon since the plan is to review them the last week of November.

Up first is Over My Dead Blog by Sarah E. Burr.  This is another first in a series, this time the Book Blogger Mysteries.  I mean, with a hook like that, how could I resist?  Plus, I've enjoyed the two Trending Topics Mysteries I've read from the author.  The book came out a couple of weeks ago, and I've been hearing great things about it, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Likewise, I'm really looking forward to The Body in the Cornfield by Catherine Dilts.  This is the second in her Rose Creek Mysteries.  (Finally, a second in a series on my book haul list this week!)  I read the first one back in August and LOVED it!  I can't wait to revisit the characters.

What I'm Currently Reading:

I'm typing this about noon on Saturday, and I just finished a book, Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge.  I've heard mixed reactions to the book, but I enjoyed it.  The book is set in 1949 Paris and features Julia Child as the main character's neighbor and best friend.  I know Julia Child by name, never having seen more than a few minutes of her shows or having looked at any of her cookbooks, but I still got a kick out of seeing her as a character here.  I won't be reviewing this one until the 20th, so I've got a little time to get my review written.

Which means the next few days, I'll be working on Dead Man's Hand by Penny Warner.  This is the final book in her Connor Westphal Mysteries.  The series has been on my to be read list for decades, and I've been slowly reading them over the past few years.  I'll be sorry to leave the characters when I finish the book, but it is nice to complete a series as well.  It's always with mixed feelings when I finish a series.

That's it for today.  Hope you have a great week.

20 comments:

  1. I'll look forward to your review of Mastering the Art of French Murder. The title made me smile and I'm glad to see that Julia Child gets to be a character in a book with that title.

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  2. I've been itching to put up my Christmas stuff. I am currently waiting for my sting of lights fixer to come in the mail since my light up garland isn't working. I'm hoping I can get it fixed and up this year. <3

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  3. Your new books look great! Especially A Most Agreeable Murder grabbed my eye.
    Have a great week and happy reading.

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  4. I am sorry to hear about you stressing about your work, sounds like a stressful time of the year. I hope everything goes smoothly and you get everything done in time. I am hoping to get my fake Christmas tree out of storage later this month as well, I look forward to having it in the house again. Your new books look good, happy reading!

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  5. My daughter is also an accountant, and for some reason they are super busy on the 4th of July. I'm sure you will get through it, and glad you have Christmas to look forward to. I'm sure your decorations must be phenomenal, with all of your ornaments. Hope things go well for you.

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  6. I enjoyed Mastering the Art of French Murder. Have a good reading week and hope stresses at work are not going to be too much.

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  7. What a hugely busy month! I never know how you folks over the Pond fit in Thanksgiving so close to Christmas, anyway. AND November is a shorter month!!! So I hope that work doesn't become crazily hectic and you have a chance to unwind and enjoy yourself, Mark:).

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  8. I am going to wait to put up my tree until my daughter gets home in early December so that we can do it together. Last year we were out of the country for Christmas so I didn't put it up and I am really looking forward to the ritual this year.

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  9. I loved Mastering the Art of French Murder -- book two comes out in April!

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  10. Sorry work is so stressful, hopefully you were able to put it aside and enjoy the weekend anyway! Have a great week!

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  11. I can relate to the work stress (though for different reasons.) I hope you're able to get everything done at work that you need to before Nov. 30. Meanwhile, enjoy game day, and have fun putting up your tree lights!

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  12. I'm glad you were determined to let all work thoughts go over the weekend and let yourself enjoy putting up your trees and game night, etc.

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  13. I'm so excited for you to read Over My Dead Blog! I'm sure you will enjoy it. I hope your week goes smoothly. :)

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  14. Sorry to hear work is causing stress. Hopefully you get to enjoy some nice time away for Thanksgiving.

    Your books sound great. Hope you enjoy them.

    https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2023/11/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-and_01490898870.html

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  15. I used to hate it when I brought work home mentally. Hope you were able to unhook for the weekend.

    Head Full of Books

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  16. Whew! I know you have a rough job. My dad was an accountant and I remember all the nights he spent at work when it was time to close for the month.

    I am eager to hear more about Mastering the Art of French Murder.

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  17. Nice looking assortment of new books! I recently finished the Ruth Galloway series but still have the Meg Langslow and Andy Carpenter series on-going. In each of the unfinished ones, I'm reading out of order since I started each with NetGalley review copies that weren't first books. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  18. Putting the end of the fiscal year in November is not nice with all the holiday prep and whatnot. I tried Colleen Cambridge's first book in the Agatha Christie housekeeper series and was kind of meh on it but have been wanting to try this one. I look forward to seeing your thoughts on it. Hope you're having a somewhat more relaxing week!

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  19. I hope some good books offset the work stress. Enjoy your reading this week.
    Mary @Bookfan

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