Ornament Review: Season's Treatings #17 - Charcuterie Board - 2025 Hallmark Release

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Festive salty treats

Cons: None for me

The Bottom Line:

Lay out salty treats

Diff’rent focus for series

But it’s still a treat

Some Treats for Your Salty Tooth

So far, the ornaments in the Season’s Treatings series have focused on sweet treats.  And, when it comes to Christmas, I usually do think of those sweet treats.  But this year, the series took a turn and is presenting something for those who enjoy salty snacks with a festive charcuterie board.

The board is shaped like a Christmas tree.  While the face of the board is white, it has a fun green border.  Up at the top of the tree, I mean board, we have a spread ball decked out to look like Rudolph complete with a red nose.  His antlers are pretzels and his eyes are olives.  Also on the board, we have a snowman spreader, crackers, a piece of Swiss cheese, and another spread.

The good ornaments in this series always make my mouth water, and this one is no exception.  Obviously, it’s watering for appetizers instead of dessert with this one, but the result is the same.  I love the creativity of the Rudolph ball.  And the rest look good enough to eat.  I have to keep reminding myself it’s fake.

As with most of the ornaments in this series, you can lay it out, but it is fairly flat.  It makes sense given when it is supposed to represent.  But this wouldn’t look that good even as part of a display if it isn’t hanging.

Fortunately, the hook is in the Rudolph spread, and the ornament hangs straight.  It’s looking very good on my tree.

And you’ll find the 17 in a Christmas tree on the back of the ornament.

Those who enjoy salty snacks and have been waiting their turn in the Season’s Treatings series will be thrilled with this charcuterie board.  Since I’m an equal opportunity snacker, I’m enjoying it as well.

Enjoy the rest of the Season’s Treatings ornaments.

Movie Review: Gremlins

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Fun third act

Cons: Dated effects; build up takes too long

The Bottom Line:

An early present

That gets very out of hand

Film slow and dated

“This is Christmas, Not Halloween”

Since I didn’t watch a lot of movies or TV shows growing up, I missed most of the popular 80’s movies.  I heard about them, but I didn’t watch them.  Every so often, I take a chance to go back and watch one of those, and recently, I caught Gremlins.

While an inventor (Hoyt Axton) is out trying to sell his latest gadget, he stumbles upon a shop in an alley in Chinatown.  There, he finds a weird little creature that he is sure his young adult son will love as an early Christmas present.

Sure enough, Billy (Zach Galligan), finds the creature cute.  He starts calling him Gizmo.  His father gives him the three warnings that taking care of Gizmo will require: Avoid light, especially sun light.  Don’t get him wet.  Don’t feed him after midnight.

As you can imagine, those rules get broken.  As Billy tries to figure out what is happening, the new creatures begin to change.  What will happen?

This movie originally came out in 1984, and is rated PG.  The sequel, which came out in 1990, was rater PG-13.  I think that’s probably about the right rating for the movie, so keep that in mind before you go to watch it.

Knowing very little about the movie before I sat down to watch it, I was surprised at just how much the movie was tied into Christmas.  There are carols in the soundtrack.  The third act takes place on Christmas Eve.  There are decorations everywhere.

Despite this, it is definitely not what I would consider a Christmas movie.  Then again, I lean toward the heartwarming movies during that season, not the mayhem we get here.  The gremlins that grow are pretty horrible to look at, for example.  They fit the film, but it isn’t Christmassy.  But I know others enjoy some mayhem with their holiday, so they will probably go for it.

I’m not sure I would quite label this as horror.  It’s more fantasy thriller, at least to me.  But I could see this being an intro to horror film.  Having said that, we do get some deaths.  Nothing too graphic, at least in the TV version I watched.  I can’t imagine there would be in a PG movie.

Overall, I was a little underwhelmed with the movie.  It was obvious to us early on something bad was going to happen, and it took quite a while for that to happen.  Once it does, the movie picks up.  The characters are only okay.  The creatures are the real star, and the characters just serve the plot.

This isn’t a reflection on the actors.  They are under served by the script.

This movie reflects 1984 technology.  For example, the creatures are all puppets of some kind, and we mostly see them in close ups, only occasionally in the scene with the actors.  Their movements are jerky.  Again, I get it, that’s what was available at the time.  But it is certainly dated at this point.

I’m glad I finally watched Gremlins.  And yes, I’m still curious about the sequel (even though it is, you know, a sequel).  But I have no desire to watch this movie again in the future, be it Christmas or Halloween.

Book Review: Five Golden Wings by Donna Andrews (Meg Langslow #38)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Great characters, laughs, and Christmas spirit

Cons: Mystery could have been a little stronger, but it’s a minor issue

The Bottom Line:

Two Christmas weddings

Bring chaos before murder

Laughs, holiday cheer

Dueling Weddings and Murder at Christmas

At this point, it’s a tradition for me to read Donna Andrews’s latest Meg Langslow Christmas Mystery in the middle of December. While the mysteries don’t always revolve around the holiday these days, the Christmas spirit is still strong. The latest, Five Golden Wings, is a perfect example of that. 

If you have missed this long running series, it follows Meg and her extended circle of family and friends. They are mostly set is a small college town in Virginia. While this is book 38 in the series, you can mostly pick these up in random order and enjoy time with these characters. 

This book finds Meg and her mother helping to organize two weddings for two of Meg’s younger cousins set to take place the Saturday before Christmas. Unfortunately, these young women are constantly feuding, so the weddings are taking place back-to-back, even though they are sharing the venues. The two brides bring nothing but drama in the days leading up to their events, and that’s before Meg finds the wedding photographer dead. Unfortunately, the suspect list is long, including members of the bridal party. Can Meg figure out what happened?

As you can see, the plot doesn’t really revolve around Christmas. Having said that, I have had friends who got married this time of year, so Christmas weddings are a thing. And the book still infuses Christmas into the story with some subplots and talk about Christmas traditions. At this point, mentioning some of these things are enough to make me smile since they’ve played larger parts in previous books. They feel like my traditions, too.

The mystery itself got over shadowed a bit by the wedding drama. The resolution, while logical was a bit abrupt. 

But I didn’t mind because I was having fun. Any fan of the series will tell you these books will make you smile and laugh, and this one is no exception. Some of the wedding stuff was pure gold. 

And there are the characters. At this point, Meg’s family, at least the ones we see regularly, feels like my family, and it’s so wonderful to spend time around them. The new characters are just as entertaining. There may not be too much growth from one book to the next, but I don’t mind. They work for this series, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Visiting these characters, especially this time of year, is like wrapping up in a warm blanket. If you are looking for a great cozy mystery to enjoy this time of year, you won’t go wrong with Five Golden Wings. 

Here are the rest of the Meg Langslow Mysteries. 

December 21st's Sunday/Monday Post

Welcome to this week's 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?

This week was definitely better at work. Calmer and I was able to focus on what I needed to. In fact, I even worked on something that I don’t need to do until January!  Hoping to do a bit more of that working ahead this coming week. 

If only the getting ready for Christmas were going as well. I keep finding things to distract me from wrapping presents, like my friend inviting me to join her dinner and games group Tuesday night. Or blog work. But I finished that Friday night before midnight! (It was 11:45).

And on Monday I finally had a plumber come for what I thought was going to be a simple but annoying recurring job. It turned into something major he will have to come back and tackle in January. Which means I will have to take down Christmas decorations as soon as Christmas is over so I can organize some stuff so he has access to what he needs. I’m not looking forward to that at all. I like keeping my decorations up until mid-January before I start thinking about taking them down. I’m just trying to remind myself how nice it will be when they are all down since I dread the undecorating. Which is another reason I often don’t start taking them down until mid-January.

Joke of the Week:

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: The Hunger Games - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Tuesday - Book Review: At Death's Dough by Mindy Quigley

Wednesday - Ornament Review: Deck the Shelves

Thursday - Book Review: Home for the Homicides by Rosalie Spielman

Friday - Movie Review: Meet Me in St. Louis

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Book Review: Five Golden Wings by Donna Andrews

Tuesday - Movie Review: Gremlins

Wednesday - Ornament Review: Season's Treatings #17

Thursday - Merry Christmas!

Friday - Movie Review: Double Indemnity

Saturday - TV Show Review: Step by Step - Season 1

Book Haul:

Despite what I said last week, I’ve got two books to tell you about. Because I got two ARCs. 

The first is Lime and Punishment, the fifth in the Fatal Food Festival Mysteries by Cathy Wiley. This time, the main character is in the Florida Keys. I love this series, so I’m looking forward to it. The book actually came out this week, but I’m going to be reading it for review next month. Which is next year. Crazy to think about, isn’t it?

The other book is Buried in Shamrocks by Lisa Q. Matthews. This is the second in her Irish Bed and Breakfast Mysteries. Appropriately enough, it will come out close to St. Patrick’s Day at the end of February, so I’ll be reading it for review then. I’m looking forward to getting to know the characters a little better. 

What I'm Currently Reading:

I’m actually posting my last book review of the year tomorrow. So I decided to reread some to finish out the year. Specifically, I’m rereading Elizabeth George Speare. I finished The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which I enjoyed all over again. Now, I’m working on The Bronze Bow, which was my introduction to her books. I was hoping to get The Sign of the Beaver in as well, but I don’t get as much read typically when I’m with my family, so I might decide to save that one for later and start on 2026 books. That way, I don’t start the new year stressed about my reading.

And how crazy is it that we are looking at 2026!

Anyway, that’s it for me. Hope you have a Merry Christmas or happy whatever holiday you celebrate. 

December 20th's Weekly TV Thoughts

Percy Jackson and the Olympians – The books can be very episodic, which works well for this form for storytelling.  I know the story moved forward.  I just have to be patient as the quest slowly gets us to the real confrontation.  Not that I didn’t enjoy it.  But it feels like a side quest episode even though we got the information about the prophecy from Luke and made Anabeth question things.

Survivor – I finally figured out one reason why I couldn’t keep the women who wound up in the final three separate in my mind.  They all have names starting with S.  I guess I should have paid closer attention all along.  Pretty good finale, overall.  Entertaining season.  Not sure it was one of the best, but it’s hard to have a bad season of the show.

The Challenge – I fast forwarded through some of those screaming matches.  But I appreciated hearing a bit more about the mini-final.  Wish more people would have fessed up. 

Happy’s Place – I knew what the first twist was going to be, but still enjoyed how it was delivered.  And I really enjoyed how it played out.  It wasn’t quite as predictable as I thought it would be.  I guessed early on where the subplot was going, especially since they’d talked about the guest stars in the ads for this episode.  Still, enjoyed seeing them.  All told, another solid episode.

Movie Review: Meet Me in St. Louis

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Acting, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

Cons: Weak story hampered by underdeveloped male characters

The Bottom Line:

Classic musical

Movie did not work for me

Has too many flaws

Romance in the Lead Up to the World’s Fair

I’ve long heard of Meet Me in St. Louis.  Since I love musicals, it was on my list to watch, but when I finally did, I was disappointed.

The film follows the Smith family, starting in the summer of 1903.  They have five kids, four of them girls, and the older two daughters, Esther and Rose (Judy Garland and Lucille Bremer) can think of nothing but the young men they are hoping to marry.

But that’s not all that is going on in their world.  For one thing, St. Louis is getting ready to host a world’s fair.  And, as autumn falls on the family, their father (Leon Ames) has some shocking news.  What will happen to them before they hit spring?

Stories that cover a long period of time need to be very careful as they try to navigate those times jumps.  In this case, the movie didn’t do it well.  Honestly, I was trying to figure out what the central plot of the movie was.  I figured, like many musicals, it was the romance of the two daughters, but when we hit autumn, we get a long sequence on Halloween night involving the two younger sisters (played by Margaret O'Brien and Joan Carroll) that really has little to do with anything else in the movie.  Then there’s the plot set in motion about half way through.  It could have been a great plot twist, but instead, it felt forced into the movie.

Really, it felt more like short stories only connected because they had the same characters.  Which can work, but in this case, didn’t really work for me.

The female characters are certainly the stars of this story, which is fine.  Obviously, I love female driven stories, just look at the many books I read and review here.  However, the male characters were so underdeveloped it hampered the story.  The Smith brother has so little to do I actually didn’t even figure out who he was for a while.  The father is a one note head of the family who will not be questioned.  And the love interests?  We don’t get to know them well enough to be invested in the romance.

While the dance numbers are fun, the songs themselves aren’t that memorable.  And I do have to question if teens, even in 1903, would have been that excited to dance to “Skip to My Lou.”  The exception to the forgettable songs is “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which was originally written for this film.  It’s one of my favorite Christmas carols, so it is fun to see it’s premier.

None of this is a reflection on the actors and actresses, who all do a good job with the material they have.  But there’s only so much they can do with a poor script.

I suspect that my take on the film is fueled in part by the fact that I didn’t see this until I was well into adulthood.  I’ve met people who absolutely love it, and it is because they have fond memories of watching it for years.  So there are people who love this movie.

Unfortunately, I’m not one of them.  I won’t be wasting my time watching Meet Me in St. Louis a second time.

Book Review: Home for the Homicides by Rosalie Spielman (Hometown Mysteries #4)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Good Christmas set mystery

Cons: Some of the characters’ ages didn’t work for me

The Bottom Line:

Mayhem at Christmas

Who is behind the attacks?

Great seasonal read

Who is the Christmas Grinch?

At the beginning of the year, I hadn’t read any of Rosalie Spielman’s Hometown Mysteries.  And here I am finishing up book four, Home for the Homicides.  Obviously, I’m enjoying the series, and this book was no exception.

The first book introduced us to Tessa Treslow, who has just retired from a career in the United States Army.  In that first book, she just intended to return to her hometown of New Oslo, Idaho, for a short visit until she decided where to move permanently, but she wound up deciding to stay.

This book opens in the middle of December.  New Oslo has been subjected to some pranks in the last few days, but things are about to escalate.  First, Tessa and her aunt Edna find a man who was car jacked and left on the side of the road.  Then, various businesses in town are being vandalized.  But when a murder victim is found at the sight of a fire, Tessa really steps up her sleuthing.  Can she figure out who is responsible before things take a second deadly turn?

Because of the seemingly random nature of the attacks, it’s hard to zero in on a suspect or motive.  That frustrates the police and Tessa, who isn’t exactly working with them but isn’t exactly discouraged from doing a little sleuthing on her own.  Quite often, I would find a story like this frustrating since I don’t feel like the story is really moving forward.  That wasn’t the case here.  Yes, I did think about it, but the way the story was evolving did make it feel like we were moving forward even if it was slowly.  While we do reach a logical conclusion, a couple of things are still a little ambiguous at the end.  In this case, it does work, but it’s not quite the tight solution I’m used to and prefer.

My bigger issue with the book was the ages of the characters we met along the way.  I feel like we were missing a generation in the family tree, which kept bugging me.

On the other hand, it was great to spend more time with Tessa, Edna, and the rest of the regulars.  I love Tessa’s family, and we got to meet more of them in this book, which was great.  The relationships feel real, and this is a family I would love to spend more time with.  We’ve gotten to know others in the community, and while we didn’t see quite as much of some of them as in books past, I did enjoy their page time as well.

And this book has a nice Christmas vibe going for it.  It adds to the story in some creative ways and is definitely a story we could only get at this time of the year.

If you haven’t started this series yet, you are in for a treat.  Home for the Homicides gives us a nice holiday visit that fans will enjoy.

Plan for return visits to the Hometown Mysteries.

Ornament Review: Deck the Shelves - 2025 Hallmark Release

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Fun ornament for book lovers

Cons: Green books tend to blend into the tree

The Bottom Line:

Books stacked like a tree

Making readers’ spirits bright

A fun ornament

How Could This Book Lover Resist?

If you’ve noticed, I typically get pop culture or series ornaments from Hallmark.  But I do look at the rest of the line.  Even though I was cutting back on ornaments this year, Deck the Shelves caught my eye, and I knew I had to get it.

As the title suggests, this is an ornament for book lovers.  The ornament is framed like a Christmas tree, with the sides being painted to look like wood.  Inside, we have three shelves, each filled with books that are various shades of green.  There’s a star on top.  And each shelf has a decoration of some sort.  Two of them have ornaments, and one has a second star.

I mean, really, how could I not get this ornament?  It’s cute and fun and makes me smile.  I’ll confess that many of my Hallmark ornaments don’t wind up on my tree each year, but I have a feeling this one will need to be part of my permanent rotation.

I do wish the books weren’t all green.  I get it, they are supposed to help represent the tree.  And they are various shades of green, which makes the ornament more interesting to look at.  But it does tend to blend into the tree a bit.  I prefer ornaments in other colors so they stand out more.  And this is coming from someone who loves green.  But that’s my only complaint.

The base of the tree is nice and wide and flat, so you can set this out to display year-round if you wanted to.  And when you go to hang the ornament, you’ll find that it hangs straight.

When I bought this ornament in November (I spread out my purchases), I bought the last one in my store, so I’m not the only one who likes this one.  If you want to add Deck the Shelves to your collection, I suggest you do so quickly.

Book Review: At Death’s Dough by Mindy Quigley (Deep Dish Mysteries #5)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Characters and an overall good mystery

Cons: Some pacing issues early on

The Bottom Line:

Body under ice

The pacing is off early

Still good overall

A Frozen Valentine’s Day

I’ve always enjoyed reading series set in resort communities, either real or fictional. I enjoy getting to take virtual vacations when a book is set during popular times, but I also enjoy it when those series set books in the quieter seasons. That’s what we get with At Death’s Dough, the fifth Deep Dish Mystery from Mindy Quigley. 

These books are set in Geneva Bay, Wisconsin, and focus on Delilah O’Leary, who owns a deep dish, gourmet pizza restaurant. You’d think that would keep her out of trouble, but she still finds ways to get involved in danger. 

It’s the beginning of February, and Delilah is finding the quiet season is quieter than she planned on. She’s hoping for a full restaurant on Valentine’s Day to help carry her through to tourist season again. On one of the restaurant’s days closed, Delilah and her great aunt go out ice fishing, and they make an unexpected discovery - a dead body under the ice. The victim was dressed for scuba diving, but who would dive in the lake in the middle of the winter?

This book certainly has an intriguing premise, and I was quickly hooked. However, the book seemed to take more time than it needed to really get to the meat of the story. Yes, the story was setting up suspects, but it wasn’t obvious how everything was going to tie into the main story early on, and I found myself frustrated by what appeared to be random characters, wishing things would move forward. 

Also, we got a bit more details about the discovery of the body than I felt we needed, especially for a cozy. It was pushing the boundaries a bit. 

Once the plot really kicked in, I did get caught up in the mystery. The suspects were good, and the plot took some fun twists. There was one aspect that was obvious early on, but I was still wondering how it would play into the overall story. The last quarter really ramped up with some page turning scenes. And the climax brought things to a logical conclusion.

The series has always had strong characters, and this book is no exception. I enjoyed getting to see Delilah’s staff again, and we got to spend a bit of time with a couple of them. What I really enjoyed was seeing her relationship with her boyfriend grow. Delilah herself is not a typical cozy heroine is some ways, and I also appreciated seeing how she is growing over the course of the series.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a culinary cozy without some recipes. There are a total of four here, and only one is a pizza recipe, so there is some variety.

At Death’s Dough will leave you with cravings for pizza and more of the series. If you are a fan of culinary cozies, this is a series not to be missed.

Grab another slice and the rest of the Deep Dish Mysteries.

Movie Review: The Hunger Games - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Performances are good

Cons: The story is a slow mess

The Bottom Line:

A needless prequel

Confusing character arc

And drawn-out story

Needless and Slow Prequel

I never got into The Hunger Games.  Yes, I watched the movies, but I waited until they were on TV.  I wasn’t that excited to see the prequel, The Ballad of Songs and Snakes, but I figured I would eventually.  I was right not to be excited for it.

Set sixty plus years before the events of the earlier story, this movie takes us to the tenth annual hunger games.  The citizens of the Capital are growing tired of watching the children of the districts fight each other to the death, so, in an effort to spice things up, the teens of the prep school are being assigned students to mentor.  And they are being asked for ideas to draw in the audience again.

Future dictator Coriolanus Snow (here played by Tom Blyth) is one of those teens, and he’s been assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler).  Lucy Gray is a singer, and Coriolanus’s ideas of promoting the tributes to the citizens of the Capital make her the favorite.  But what will happen when the games begin?  And what will the fallout of the games be?

Prequels are tricky to tell since we know where the story has to wind up.  As a result, it makes it hard to root for characters or relationships we know are doomed.  That’s part of the problem here.  Much of the movie wants us to root for certain things and people, but we know it is just a waste of time.

And there is a lot of waste of time here.  At over two and a half hours, the movie takes too long to get to the point.  A good portion to the movie is dedicated to the games, which worked in the original since Katniss was the main character.  Here, Coriolanus is the man character, and he’s observing most of the action.  Yes, he gets involved at times, but it just made the entire thing feel slow.

Then there’s Coriolanus’s arc.  It’s too confusing.  We’re supposed to be watching the movie wondering how he turns into the evil dictator we already know him to be.  Honestly, I’m still wondering that at the end.  I mean, yes, the movie ends with him on the path that makes him the evil President Snow, but his actions along the way are confusing.  One minute, he seems to be acting evil, the next he’s acting good, with nothing to indicate why he is changing sides.  As much as I dislike Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, at least there, Anakin/Darth Vader’s character arc makes sense.  Here, it just feels random.

I’m blaming this solely on the writing.  The actors all do a good job bringing their characters to life.  Rachel Zegler gets to show off her beautiful singing voice as well.  In addition, the cast includes Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage and many others I didn’t recognize.  Likewise, the effects are good.

Clearly this movie, and the book it was based on, are just excuses to extend the franchise.  If you are a diehard fan, you’ll be interested in watching it, but if you are a casual fan like me, you can skip The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

December 14th'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?

What a week.  When I last checked in, I thought the worst of fiscal year end craziness was behind me at work.  

I was wrong.

Almost every day this week, I got some last minute, drop everything and work on this request for me.  And, either the way it was worded or the timing or the stress factor made them all take me longer than they should have.  I really do not get it.  Why can't these things be better planned out so they don't add as much stress.  The worst was one where I had done the work only for the file it was in to have vanished.  I'm not sure if it was accidentally deleted or was a victim of our new file storage system.  I'm not a fan and will be going back to the old network location, at least for my files.

Hopefully, this coming week will be better.  At least, I have my deadline met, so I will have time for any more fire drill requests.  I wish I felt like people would learn from this and things would be better going forward, but I know they won't be.

Ok, deep breath.

Today is my friends' monthly game day.  The one is December is always a big deal since it's Christmas.  Really looking forward to it.

And, it's time to get serious about wrapping presents.  I've been putting it off, but I can't do that much longer.  At least all the presents are in the condo, so when I start, I can dive in and get it all done in a night or two.

Joke of the Week:

Why did the Christmas tree go to the doctor? Tinselitis!

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Book Review: Murder in Manhattan by Julie Mulhern

Tuesday - Ornament Review: Emperor Kuzco

Wednesday - Book Review: No Stone Left Unturned by Annette Dashofy

Thursday - Ornament Review: Kronk and the Squirrel

Friday - Book Review: The Night Fire by Michael Connelly

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: The Hunger Games - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Tuesday - Book Review: At Death's Dough by Mindy Quigley

Wednesday - Ornament Review: Deck the Shelves

Thursday - Book Review: Home for the Homicides by Rosalie Spielman

Friday - Movie Review: Meet Me in St. Louis

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

Just two books to tell you about again this week.  And this will probably be in until Christmas.  (Now watch, some books I'm interested in will go on sale this coming week.)

The first is Whine and Dine by Marc Jedel.  It's the second in his Redwoods Country Mysteries.  I'm planning to make it the first book I read for 2026.  It's set up near where my family lives, so I'm hoping to at least start it when I'm home for Christmas.

If you haven't noticed, I rotate through some series/authors for my audiobooks.  I went to get the next in one of those series to listen to coming home from Christmas, and discovered that none of the library systems I have access to have the book in audio format.  I guess I'll have to read that book.  I might even have it around the condo, although finding it would be a challenge.  Anyway, I skipped ahead to the next author in the rotation, and fortunately, I was able to get that one.  And that book?  Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman, the first team up for his two characters, Leaphorn and Chee.

What I'm Currently Reading:

As I teased last week, I've been reading Christmas cozy mysteries this week.  I've only got two this year.

I've finished the first, which was Home for the Homicides by Rosalie Spielman.  It's the fourth in her series, and the fourth I've read this year.  Given all that, I'm sure it will be no surprise to say I enjoyed it.  I've got to get the review written since I am hoping/planning to review it this coming Thursday.

As is tradition, the final Christmas cozy of the year is Five Golden Wings by Donna Andrews.  She releases a Christmas entry in her long running Meg Langslow series most years, and I save it to read during December.  I'm currently about half way through and completely enjoying it.

That's it for me this week.  Off to hopefully write a review or two before I leave for game day.  Have a great week!

December 13th's Weekly TV Thoughts

Celebrity Weakest Link – That was painful in many ways.  The number of truly easy question they got wrong.  The obvious voting block made things predictable.  And did I mention how many questions they got wrong?  Given that, I was impressed with how much money they earned.

Wipeout – At first, I didn’t think I remembered any of the teams, but then I did remember the creepy make up team.  Still not a fan.  I’m happy for them they won, but they sure were creepy.  And the show is officially off the air again.  I think I liked the original better.  Or I’m just less likely to laugh at people falling like that.  The show made me wince more than laugh these days.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians – It’s been so long since I read the book (or watched the movie), that I really don’t remember where this story is going.  I have so many questions.  I’m very much enjoying it.  I’m a little weirded out by Tyson, however.  Impressed by the special effects, but it is weird just seeing a guy with one eye like that.

Shifting Gears – I really don’t like that they are leaning into the adult jokes a bit more this year, so the scenes with the new girlfriend made me cringe.  Even so, I was still laughing as I watched them.  The promposal was so cute.  Loved the reference to The Santa Clause.  But I’m very confused.  Are they writing Eve off the show?  Or is that just a cliffhanger?  Because, as much as I have struggled a bit with their relationship, I was really growing to like her.

The Challenge – Considering how much I hate the drama between the people on the show, I’m kind of surprised I was looking forward to this.  Yeah, that was stupid of me.  Fast forwarded through parts.  Probably do the same next week.  It was interesting that Olivia was unknowingly pregnant when they were filming. 

Survivor – Wow.  I’m still trying to figure out what exactly happened.  Okay, in reality I know what happened.  But there were some twists and turns in that final tribal for sure.  I liked Steven, so I’m sorry to see him go.  I was hoping he’d wind up winning.

The Amazing Race – That pretty much went how I was expecting it to go.  I think I was rooting most of an underdog team to win.  And they were both underdogs in my book.  On the positive side, the stop at Sesame Street was fun.  But I would not have enjoyed the Empire State Building stop.

Happy’s Place – That wasn’t quite the farce I was expecting it to be, but it was still a lot of fun.  Even though we really only saw the mouse a couple of times, the reactions the rest were enough to make us believe it was really there.  And yes, I laughed plenty.

Book Review: The Night Fire by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch #22, Renee Ballard #3)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Compelling mysteries and great characters

Cons: All cons burned away

The Bottom Line:

A mentor’s cold case

Bring Bosch, Ballard together

Hard to put book down

An Old Case and Two Modern Ones Heat Up

I’m still about six years behind on Michael Connelly’s books, but I feel like I’m catching up.  Considering he often writes two books a year, I still have a few years to go before I’ll actually be reading his new releases as they are published.  But his books are so good  I’m enjoying catching up, and The Night Fire was another great one.

This book is the second time he’s teamed up retired LAPD Detective Harry Bosch and current LAPD Detective Renee Ballard.  Renee typically works the night shift out of the Hollywood station, which means her cases are passed on to others, leaving her with time to work on other cases that catch her interest.

Which is what happens here when Bosch brings her an old murder book that his mentor, John Jack Thompson, took when he retired.  The case is decades old, but Bosch is hoping that Ballard can shake something lose by taking a fresh look at it.  Their initial review of the documents leaves them with questions about what work, if any, has been done in the last twenty years.  Can they find anything new?

Meanwhile, Bosch gets involved in a case his half-brother, Mickey Haller, was defending in court.  Is Mickey’s client guilty of killing a judge?  And Ballard gets involved in the case of a vagrant who was burned to death in his sleep.

Obviously, there is plenty to keep the reader engaged.  There are some other storylines that pop up for a scene or two that are just as entertaining as the main mysteries.  We might have a couple of things that are too convenient over the course of the story, but I didn’t mind because I was having fun, and I was enjoying seeing what unfolded as the book went along.  The climax was great and my questions were resolved when I was done.

As with the last team up with the two characters, we get chapters from both of their points of view.  That means, we get updates on other characters in each of their lives, which I appreciated.  It also means we get to see some growth in both of them.  Each time the point of view shifts, the change is clearly labeled, which is helpful.

Each character we meet, whether a regular we’ve met before or some kind or a suspect or just a random character, feels real, which always pulls me into the book.

This book introduces a storyline that I knew was coming, and I’m not going to like watching it play out in future books.  But it is what it is, and did play into this book well.

These books are police procedurals, so they have more sex, language, and violence than in the books I would typically read.  That holds true here again as well.  Usually, it’s easy to skim past the worst scenes if that kind of things bothers you, but keep that in mind before you pick up this or any of his other books.

I read this via audiobook again, and Titus Welliver and Christine Lakin shared narration duties.  This time, any time Bosch was speaking, Titus delivered his lines, and same for Christine as Ballard.  Then, each actor narrated the sections from their character’s point of view.  This was different from their first team up.  I found I enjoyed this, and it helped me get even more lost in the story.

The Night Fire proves why Michael Connelly is still considered one of the top of today’s mystery writers.  If you are looking for a book you won’t be able to put down, you’ll be glad you picked this one up.

Enjoy the rest of the Harry Bosch and Renee Ballard Mysteries.

Ornament Review: Kronk and the Squirrel - 2025 Hallmark Release

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Captures Kronk and a squirrel friend perfectly

Cons: You owe me no cons

The Bottom Line:

Kronk and a squirrel

Movie fans will love this pose

It’s making me smile

This Ornament is so Squeaky!

Hallmark released two ornaments this year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Emperor’s New Groove. While the ornament of the emperor was a regular line release, they also released this limited-edition ornament of Kronk and the Squirrel. 

Any fan of the series will recognize him right off the bat since he looks exactly like he does in the movie. He’s standing with his arms crossed under his chest. He’s looking out of the corner of his eye at the squirrel on his shoulder. The squirrel is looking at him, obviously engaged in conversation. 

While I did cut back on ornaments this year, I had to get this one. Kronk and his talking to squirrels is such a funny part of the movie, and the ornament captures that perfectly. 

And my review title is playing on those moments as well. This is not a magic ornament in any way. There are no sound clips. But I couldn’t pass up the reference for my title. 

While Kronk is standing on his feet, he’s top heavy. If you set him out to be displayed, you’ll find he tips over easily. I’d recommend you hang him on your tree. And when you do, you’ll find he tips forward slightly, but nothing that will be obvious when you have him surrounded by branches. 

Kronk would not have been at the top of the list of characters I would have expected to represent this movie, but I’m glad Hallmark selected him. Any fan of the movie will agree with me - he’s perfect. 

Book Review: No Stone Left Unturned by Annette Dashofy (Detective Honeywell Mysteries #4)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong characters and mystery

Cons: No cons found under the stones

The Bottom Line:

Shooting at clinic

Is there a darker motive?

Hard to put it down

Random Robbery?  Or Something More?

Normally, I try to space out the authors I read by at least two months, even authors I love.  This gives time for other authors to get on my reading list and it keeps me from burning out on authors I love.  (Yes, it does happen.)  But when Annette Dashofy’s publisher decided to release books three and four in her Detective Honeywell series about six weeks apart, I immediately knew I’d be reading them about six weeks apart.  I wouldn’t be able to wait any longer than that.  And No Stone Left Unturned was well worth breaking my self-imposed rule.

This series is set in Erie, Pennsylvania, and focuses on two characters.  Detective Matthias Honeywell works for the local police, while Emma Anderson is a photographer who has just started working the crime beat for a local online news site.  Matthias and Emma have recently started dating, and they are trying to navigate what that means for their jobs.

When Honeywell is called to the scene of a robbery turned shooting at a veterinary clinic, the case immediately becomes personal since he knows the man the robbers shot.  But he can’t help but question what happened.  It doesn’t feel like a true robbery but something personal.  Meanwhile, Emma is on hand getting shots from outside the clinic.  Given the connection Honeywell has to the case, Emma starts to dig into the background of the victim to try to see if she can uncover any leads to help.  Will they be able to find the perpetrator before he strikes again?

As with the previous books in the series, Matthias and Emma share time as our third person point of view character.  These changes are always obvious and do a great job of showing us the entire story as it unfolds.  And yes, Emma does find some things to advance the story.  Having said that, this book really focuses on Matthias and people from his world, letting us get to know them better.  I appreciated that focus, and feel like I have a good picture of all the main characters in the series now.  Because of the nature of the plot, we don’t get to know the suspects that well, but they are still strong enough to keep us engaged by what the mystery is uncovering.

And the mystery?  Annette Dashofy is a master at unraveling a mystery, and this book is no exception.  I followed along with everything the characters were thinking as they uncovered the clues and red herrings, but at the end, I was once again in awe at how everything came together.  Meanwhile, there are enough twists to make the book hard to put down, especially when I reached the final third.

I will say, having read this book so quickly after having read book three, I enjoyed seeing the threads and character moments that this book built upon more clearly.  There is something to be said for reading books closer together for that kind of thing.  Maybe I should reconsider my approach to catching up on series.

Having said that, there aren’t any spoilers for previous books here.  Any references to previous events are vague enough that you’ll be fine going back to read the earlier books if you haven’t yet.  But you’ll want to read them all, so you might as well jump in with the first.

Do keep in mind that these are police procedurals, so they aren’t the light, clean cozies I often read.  However, they also don’t go any further than they have to.  And they are completely worth it.

While the main mystery is wrapped up here, we do get while I’m sure is a tease about the next book in the series.  I’m already anxious to find out what happens to the characters in it.

No Stone Left Unturned is another page turner that will thrill Annette Dashofy’s fans.  She is one of the best mystery writers out there today.  If you aren’t reading her books, you are truly missing out and you need to fix that today.

Enjoy the rest of the Detective Honeywell Mysteries.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Ornament Review: Emperor Kuzco

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: A lessor known character captured from the beginning of his movie

Cons: A bit on the big size for my taste

The Bottom Line:

Kuzco and his throne

Annivers’ry ornament

Bit big but still good

No Touchy This Ornament!

2025 marks the 25th anniversary for The Emperor’s New Groove. While I admit I didn’t quite get it the first time I watched it, the has since grown into a favorite of mine. Naturally, that meant I was going to snag the two ornaments Hallmark released to honor the anniversary. 

The first, and bigger, is of Emperor Kuzco himself. He’s sitting on his massive gold throne from the beginning of the movie although it’s not quite as big as it was in the movie. He’s sitting on his blue cushion on the throne with an unhappy look on his face. 

I’ve been disappointed in Hallmark’s recent trend to make their ornaments bigger, especially the pop culture ornaments. And this ornament follows the trend. Fortunately, it’s not as big as it could be, but still, a little smaller would have helped me fit more ornaments on my tree. 

That’s my only complaint with the ornament. It expertly captures Kuzco and his attitude at the beginning of the movie. I had no hesitation in adding this ornament to my collection. 

Since the ornament is really a throne, it’s no surprise to me that it sits just fine, so if you want to display it, you can. Also, I wasn’t surprised to see that it hangs straight. 

The Emperor’s New Groove doesn’t get as much love in merchandise as many of Disney’s other movies, so I was thrilled to see this ornament of Emperor Kuzco in this year’s Hallmark ornament line up. Fans of the movie will be glad to add it to their collection. 

Book Review: Murder in Manhattan by Julie Mulhern (Freddie Archer #1)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Decent mystery with a fun main characters

Cons: Slow start that I didn’t enjoy

The Bottom Line:

New series begins

With slow start to mystery

Enjoyed by the end

Freddie’s First Case Gets off to an Uneven Start

Julie Mulhern is an author I want to read more of, but I seem to keep falling further behind in her series. So, when she announced she was starting a new series, I figured this was a good opportunity to stay current in at least one of her series. Sadly, Murder in Manhattan wasn’t as good as I was expecting.

This series is set in New York City in 1925. The main character is Freddie Archer, the gossip and fashion columnist for Gotham Magazine. She comes from a well-off family, so she doesn’t need to work, but she finds the work fulfilling and it’s something she’s good at. Plus, it gives her a perfect excuse to be out in speakeasies all night every night.

However, reality enters her world when someone she mentioned in her column is murdered. The police ask for her help identifying a woman the victim was seen with - just observe and report back. But as the bodies keep piling up, Freddie can’t help but dig in more. Can she find the killer?

Since I’ve read several of the author’s other books, I knew what to expect when I picked up this book. Or at least I thought I did. Far too much time was spent on Freddie’s lifestyle early in the book, and far too little was spent on the mystery. Stuff was happening, but Freddie was just observing between nights spent drinking too much and name dropping all the famous people Freddie knew.

Things did improve around a third of the way into the book, as Freddie finally started to take the mystery seriously. At that point, I finally got pulled into the book. Even so, one thing either was dropped or I was expecting too much. Honestly, I’m not sure which. The ending was great, and things did wrap up satisfactory.

Freddie Archer was inspired by a real-life columnist of the time, Lois Long. I did enjoy getting to know the character as presented here. As I expected, there is a strong romance as well. I’ll be interested in seeing how things play out going forward. Freddie herself grew on me as the book went along, although her self-destructive behavior bugged me early on.

Again, once the mystery got going, I enjoyed all the name dropping we got. There are lots of famous people who are either supporting characters or have cameos. Early on, it felt forced, but when the focus was on the story, these made me smile.

Freddie is a radical for her time, and we run into macho men who think Freddie should behave more like a woman of her time. Yep, you guessed it, I didn’t care for how that was handled either. I expected it given the author’s other books that I’ve read, but a little less would have improved things.

There is a humorous tone for the entire book, which I did enjoy. The book gets serious when it needs to, but there are fun moments to make you smile or laugh along the way.

By the end, I was enjoying Murder in Manhattan, and I’d be willing to revisit Freddie. I hope future books in the series are better paced.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

December 7th's Sunday/Monday Post

Happy weekend!  Time to dive into 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?

Since I didn't check in last weekend, I hope everyone in the States had a great Thanksgiving.  And I hope everyone else had a great couple of weeks.  I was home for the holiday with my family in Northern California.  I came down with a slight cold at the beginning of the week, so I kept my distance from people, but I still enjoyed some great food, and we played quite a few fun games.

Unfortunately, I had to drive back on Sunday, although I left early enough I missed the worst of the traffic.  Monday, I dove right back into fiscal year end at work.  It was a crazy busy week, but I think we got everything done, including all our extra reporting.  Not that things will slow down this week either, but we are in a good spot.

But you can see why I did so much decorating in November.  The little bit more I wanted to do?  Hasn't happened yet.  We'll see if it does this weekend or I just call it good enough.  If I did, it wouldn't be a big deal.

And Monday night, I got my Christmas shopping done.  Okay, there's still one thing I need to go out and buy, but everything else is bought or at least ordered.  That's always a huge relief for me.  Now, to put on a Christmas movie or two and have a wrapping party.

Joke of the Week:

A group of chess enthusiasts were standing in a hotel lobby recounting their biggest tournament victories.  After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse.

“But why?” they asked, as they moved off.

“Because,” he said “I can’t stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.”

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - TV Show Review: The Brady Bunch - Season 1

Monday - November Reading Summary

Tuesday - Book Review: The Body in the Hayloft by Catherine Dilts

Wednesday - Movie Review: Now You See Me, Now You Don't

Thursday - Book Review: A Grave Deception by Connie Berry

Friday - TV Show Review: Mistletoe Murders - Season 2

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Book Review: Murder in Manhattan by Julie Mulhern

Tuesday - Ornament Review: Emperor Kuzco

Wednesday - Book Review: No Stone Left Unturned by Annette Dashofy

Thursday - Ornament Review: Kronk and the Squirrel

Friday - Book Review: The Night Fire by Michael Connelly

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

I only have three books to talk about this week.  Pretty good since it's been two weeks, right?

I took advantage of a couple of ebook sales that popped up for Black Friday.  Sadly, neither are still on sale.

The first was Knot Before You Enter by Tish Bouvier.  This one crossed my radar recently and sounds like something I might enjoy.  It's the first book in a new cozy series with a senior sleuth who used to work for a PI.  Hopefully, it is fun.

The other book I snagged on sale is Seven Reasons to Murder You Dinner Guests by K.J. Whittle.  This one sounds like a thriller and a take on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.  I'm very intrigued by the premise.  No idea when I will get to it, but I hope it is soon.

Finally, this week I got an ARC.  The book actually just came out, but I'm reviewing it as part of the blog tour in January.  Yep, my first ARC for 2026.  It's A Spy in Saigon by Nancy Cole Silverman.  It's the fourth in a series about a journalist turned undercover agent.  I've enjoyed all of Nancy's books I've read (including another series), so I'm looking forward to diving into this one.

What I'm Currently Reading:

I'm about a third of the way into At Death's Dough by Mindy Quigley right now.  This is book five in her Deep Dish Mysteries.  I'm enjoying my time with the characters as always, although I feel like the book has had a lot of set up so far.  Yes, we've found the body, but there's a lot else going on.  I suspect all of that will come into play, but I'm ready for a few of the dots to start connecting.  Anyway, I'm hoping to finish the book up on Monday.  Then I can start on my two Christmas cozies for the month.  But that's next week's post.

In the meantime, have a great week!

December 6th's Weekly TV Thoughts

With some Thanksgiving week catch up as well.

The Challenge (11/26) – I hate cold, so I’m feeling for them.  Also, doing stuff in altitudes is no joke.  I always find the finals so hard to watch just because they are so hard.  They’d teased the chance to stake a claim was coming, and I expected it would be a cliffhanger.  I’m curious to see if anyone does.  I could see multiple people doing it.  But if Olivia and Theo wind up together, I suspect that would be the end of their relationship.

Survivor (11/26) – I’m not sure how I feel about that outcome.  I mean, I feel like Rizzo and his alliance are really on top.  So it would have been nice to see them brought down a peg or two.  But all the intrigue and double crosses made it very fun to watch.  I usually have some clue what is going to happen, but I really didn’t know what was going to happen this time.

The Amazing Race (11/26) – As soon as the “previously on” game on, it hurt to lose the team from last week all over again.  This episode?  I’m surprised the father/daughter team lasted as long as they did, honestly.  Always hard to be on a plane by yourself, so I’m glad they were able to make up time.  Although getting lost was really the only thing that made a difference in the end.

Celebrity Weakest Link – I’m a little surprised they aired this one now instead of closer to Christmas.  That aside, this was a fun episode.  Nice to see Eric on there.  I didn’t think Melissa would last as long as she did just because others would vote her out.  And she won!  Rather handily, too.  Lots of splits in the voting; nice to see people weren’t working as a team.  And they banked a respectable amount of money, although that last round was painful.

TV We Love – I may have seen an episode or two over the years, but I was never a regular watcher of Touched by an Angel.  But I’ve been curious about it after getting hooked on the creator’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered franchise.  And I can see how the two shows share similar DNA.  I think I’d like the show if I gave it a chance.  Theology might be questionable, but overall, I think I’d like it.  Now, to find the time to watch it.

Dancing with the Stars – I feel like I’ve missed some previous holiday editions since I didn’t remember any of the flashbacks they presented.  Heck, I was thinking “this is something new and fun this year.”  I was right about one thing – it was lots of fun.  The dancing was pretty amazing.  I don’t know that I could have ever moved my body like that.

Wipeout – Yet another episode where half of a team decides to skip the final course.  I’d get it in injury were involved, but wow.  Guess they didn’t know what they signed up for.  I don’t think I’d do well with it in real life myself, so I get it.  But two in the handful of episodes we are getting seems like a lot.

Shifting Gears – So glad the show was back, especially with that episode.  Might just be the funniest of the season to date.  Enjoyed seeing Eve interacting with the rest of the cast more.  Do wish we’d hear less about Eve and Matt’s private time.  But the rest of the jokes were pretty funny.

The Challenge – No one changed.  Obviously, that wasn’t the outcome I wanted, but I had to hand it to them, they earned it.  I mean, wow!  That was a brutal final half.  I couldn’t take it, and I was just watching it. 

Survivor – I didn’t see unanimous decision coming.  Now that it’s six, it will be interesting to see how things go.  And still no knowledge is power played?  Will it get played this season?  Meanwhile, Stephen really pulled through for himself with the advantage (which no one knows exactly what is), and willing immunity.  I feel like the challenge wasn’t quite as challenging this time, but maybe that’s just how dramatic all the falls the normal way it is run make it look.

The Amazing Race – I was not expecting the cliffhanger ending.  They’ve done it before, but usually when the episodes are airing back to back.  Not super excited about the final, but I’ve been kind of meh about this season overall, I guess.  I think it’s because the only other team with a chance to win was eliminated a couple episodes ago.  We know who’s going to win.  It’s not even going to be close.  Loses some of the excitement.

Happy’s Place – Fun episode.  I like how the two storylines wove in and out of each other.  Really, the third, if we count Dakoda’s couple of scenes.  Seriously, they’ve got to figure out what to do with him.  Steve and Gabby get the most laughs from me as always.  Especially when they are together, they are comedy gold.