Connecting with others to talk about books plus a little about our personal lives
Kimberly hosts the Sunday Post each week. I like to take part because it gives me an opportunity to look back at last week and forward to next week in both my personal life and my blog and book life! I also love to see what other people are doing and what books everyone is reading.
Personal life
We are back from the West Coast. We went to a family reunion that was originally scheduled for Memorial Day 2020, but then cancelled because of Covid. My sister-in-law rescheduled it for Labor Day 2021. We stayed on the Olympic Peninsula near Port Townsend at a Washington State Park called Fort Worden. It was an Army fort built around 1900 and decommissioned in the 1950’s. Many of the buildings are still there and the ones used for officers and enlisted are rented out by the park service. The buildings have to be rented early since they fill up fast. Each of our families stayed in one of the houses. It was wonderful seeing people we hadn’t seen since before Covid started.
We had a wonderful time. I didn’t bring my computer since a lot of the time we couldn’t even make cell phone calls. Instead we spent a lot of time outside taking walks and photographs, sitting in the sun (the weather was mostly sunny and in the 60’s–40’s and 50’s at night–which I loved). We talked and laughed a lot. I read some, we played games, ate on the beach one night and had potlucks. Everyone was vaccinated though we were required to wear masks at times. The three hour time difference between Washington State and Indiana has me trying to get used to the Eastern time Zone. I’ve been very tired since we returned.
Computer problems
On Friday my computer’s space bar stopped working some of the time. If I hit it in just the right place it works, but at least 20% of the time I miss the spot. When I first discovered the problem it was around 90% of the time I missed that spot. It’s taken awhile to type this and to correct the errors. Thus, I am late with my Sunday Post.
I’m also having some problems with the program I use to make my photos a smaller size so the blog loads faster. Thus, no pictures today since I’m already so late.
Blog
I’ve decided to reread the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. I haven’t read all of them, but it was quite a while ago when I was reading them and I can’t remember where I left off. When I read the first one–Shards of Honor–I remembered it as a science fiction romance, but there really isn’t a lot of romance in it! A little romance and a lot more world building, character building, military, politics, war crimes. I really enjoyed it a second time since I certainly didn’t remember many details!
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings. This is a weekly meme to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. The books I choose aren’t released yet and usually won’t be published for at least two or three months. So I have a while to wait!
I love finding out about books set to publish in future months and I like to share my excitement about the books. I also like to find out about new books on other people’s blogs and hope they’ll sometimes find something to look forward to on my blog.
Synopsis: A most unexpected client shows up at Charlotte Holmes’s doorstep: Moriarty himself. Moriarty fears that tragedy has befallen his daughter and wants Charlotte to find out the truth.
Charlotte and Mrs. Watson travel to a remote community of occult practitioners where Moriarty’s daughter was last seen, a place full of lies and liars. Meanwhile, Charlotte’s sister Livia tries to make sense of a mysterious message from her beau Mr. Marbleton. And Charlotte’s longtime friend and ally Lord Ingram at last turns his seductive prowess on Charlotte–or is it the other way around?
But the more secrets Charlotte unravels about Miss Moriarty’s disappearance, the more she wonders why Moriarty has entrusted this delicate matter to her of all people. Is it merely to test Charlotte’s skills as an investigator, or has the man of shadows trapped her in a nest of vipers?
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I enjoy this Sherlock series and the way Sherry Thomas has reimagined the Sherlock world. I’m really looking forward to reading this latest installment.
Urban fantasy, mysteries, police procedurals, a young adult mystery and a favorite series about a K-9 working dog!
I keep a list of all the books I might want to read and add to it as the year goes on. As each month comes along I create a list on my blog for others and for me to keep track of as the months go by.
I hope people reading my post may find some new books to read. I also hope these people will point me toward books I might not know about! The links to the following books will take you to the book on Goodreads.
I don’t buy all these books–since I already have way too many books to read and some of the new books are very expensive. I’m trying to stick to a budget! I always check my library for the expensive books and I add authors to eReader IQ which then tells me when the authors’ books have gone on sale.
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I had an August book list ready to post a few weeks ago, but every ebook on the list cost at least $10 and few of the books were available as digital copies at my library. I was depressed about this situation and decided not to even post the August book list. 😦
When I was working on my September book list I discovered two August books that are Kindle Unlimited so I can get those books with my Kindle Unlimited membership. After this I will mention if I’m able to get the books from Kindle Unlimited, the library, Audible or some other source that I can afford.
I’ve been waiting for Shannon Baker to write a new Kate Fox mystery. I really like the Nebraska setting of these books. And that Kate Fox is a sheriff! (This is a Kindle Unlimited book.)
Synopsis: With her ex-husband, Ted, working nearby in an adjoining county, Kate Fox is eager to prove she’s the better sheriff. And when the less-than-popular ex-foreman of a local ranch is found dead, Kate gets the opportunity she’s been looking for.
But as it turns out, the case hits a little too close to home. The dead man’s body is discovered in Kate’s brother Jeremy’s truck—and her brother is missing. Evidence left at the crime scene leads Ted to suspect the ranch’s new foreman, but Kate isn’t convinced he’s responsible for the crime.
As Kate races to eliminate suspects, a shocking realization leads her to the truth. But is she too late to prevent the next murder?
This series is so good. I love that it takes place in Tanzania. W.R. Gingell has done such a good job with the world building and Pet is such a fun character to read about. (This is a Kindle Unlimited book.)
Synopsis: When someone tries to threaten me by telling me they know my name, I take that personally.
G’day. I’m not really a pet anymore, but you might as well keep calling me Pet. It’s not like I’m gunna tell you my name anyway. And if I sound stroppy, well, I am. First, I was threatened. Now, someone has cut off my house from the human world and left my emotional support vampire on the human side. On the inside, it’s just me and an emotionally compromised fae; outside, a closed arena in the world Behind, where everyone is out to kill us and a few of that everyone might actually be capable of it.
September 7
I enjoyed the first book in this series plus the other series Ann Cleeves has written. (My library is getting a digital edition of this book and I’ve placed it on hold.)
Synopsis: North Devon is enjoying a rare hot summer with tourists flocking to its coastline. Detective Matthew Venn is called out to a rural crime scene at the home of a group of artists. What he finds is an elaborately staged murder–Dr Nigel Yeo has been fatally stabbed with a shard of one of his glassblower daughter’s broken vases.
Dr Yeo seems an unlikely murder victim. He’s a good man, a public servant, beloved by his daughter. Matthew is unnerved, though, to find that she is a close friend of Jonathan, his husband.
One of my favorite mystery series. I love Robo, the K-9, in these books plus Mattie has grown and changed a lot as a character during the course of this series. (I’m hoping the library will get a digital edition of this book.)
Synopsis: He was suspect number one–the man who tried to kill Deputy Mattie Cobb and may have killed her father thirty years earlier. But when Mattie and cold case detective Jim Hauck reach the Colorado state prison where they will finally get to interview him, he’s found dead in his cell. There’s only one clue: a map leading to Timber Creek and rugged Redstone Ridge.
Though she usually works with veterinarian Cole Walker, Mattie’s K-9 partner Robo has just sired a litter of pups, who require special, time-consuming care at Cole’s clinic. Left to explore the map’s clue without him, Mattie and Robo journey into the burned forest surrounding Redstone Ridge. But before they can finish their search they’re called to help investigate the death of a young woman found in a campground filled with elk hunters. Identification of the deceased points to her having recently given birth, but the infant is nowhere to be found.
September 21
I haven’t read any books by J.S. Kelley, but I really like the cover of this book and the synopsis sounds interesting. (I’m hoping the library gets a digital edition of this book.)
Synopsis: In a kingdom where magic fuels everything from street lamps to horseless carriages, the mage guilds of Penador wield power equal to the king himself. So when Lord Edmund’s infant son is kidnapped by the ruthless Alath Guild, he turns to the one person who’s feared by even the most magically adept: Rosalind Featherstone, a.k.a. the Gutter Mage.
September 28
Naomi Novik has written some of my favorite books. I really enjoyed the first book in this series and look forward to this one. (I have a digital edition of this book on hold at my library.)
Synopsis: At the Scholomance, El, Orion, and the other students are faced with their final year—and the looming specter of graduation, a deadly ritual that leaves few students alive in its wake. El is determined that her chosen group will survive, but it is a prospect that is looking harder by the day as the savagery of the school ramps up. Until El realizes that sometimes winning the game means throwing out all the rules . . .
The first book in this series was one of my favorite books of 2020! (I have a digital edition of this book on hold at my library.)
Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He’s made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.
As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus?
But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?
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Which August books are you excited to read? What books did I forget?
Connecting with others to talk about books plus a little about our personal lives
Kimberly hosts the Sunday Post each week. I like to take part because it gives me an opportunity to look back at last week and forward to next week in both my personal life and my blog and book life! I also love to see what other people are doing and what books everyone is reading.
Personal life
Olaf sleeping on my lap this morning
I’ll be gone most of today since we’re going to visit our daughter in Illinois. I probably won’t get a chance to visit any blogs until tomorrow. We’re taking Olaf with us because we’re going to be gone over Labor Day weekend as is our daughter. She has gotten a pet sitter for her cat which Olaf will share! I haven’t found a pet sitter here yet.
Our new house is part of a group of houses built in the last few years from farm fields. There are still farms and fields around us, but more and more houses are being built. However, the above farm is one that is only moments away from our house. I love the red barn in that photo. And behind our house are several small properties that keep chickens and even a donkey! It makes me sad that most of the fields will be gone in the next few years so that houses can be built. This town is growing like crazy!
My orchids are loving all the light we have in our new house. I’ve had two of them rebloom already. I need to repot a couple of others. I love all the windows and light we have and am looking forward to the change of season when the light will be different in the house. I love every season and the changes that come every season.
My husband and I are getting out and about, but we stay outside as much as possible. We went to one of our favorite coffee and breakfast places. One of the things I love–besides the coffee and food–is the wrap-around deck where we can sit outside and enjoy the outdoors. On the day that we stopped by it rained, but a portion of the deck is under a roof so that even though it poured down rain we stayed dry! We have even gone to our niece’s kids’ soccer games which brings back memories of when our kids were playing soccer.
Blog
I enjoyed visiting blogs and catching up last week on what everyone has been doing during the summer. As I mentioned we’re going to be gone some next week. I won’t visit many blogs or comment, but I am getting a couple of posts scheduled. The one I won’t get done is next Sunday’s Sunday Post.
A fun urban fantasy series with werewolves, vampires, wicches, fae and other paranormal creatures.
Can’t Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings. This is a weekly meme to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. The books I choose aren’t released yet and usually won’t be published for at least two or three months. So I have a while to wait!
I love finding out about books set to publish in future months and I like to share my excitement about the books. I also like to find out about new books on other people’s blogs and hope they’ll sometimes find something to look forward to on my blog.
Synopsis: I’m Sam Quinn, the werewolf book nerd owner of the Slaughtered Lamb Bookstore and Bar. Clive, my vampire gentleman caller, has asked me to marry him. His nocturne is less than celebratory. Unfortunately, for them and the sexy vamp doing her best to seduce him, his cold, dead heart beats only for me.
As much as my love life feels like a minefield, it has to take a backseat to a far more pressing problem. The time has come. I need to deal with my aunt, the woman who’s been trying to kill me for as long as I can remember. She’s learned a new trick. She’s figured out how to weaponize my friends against me. To have any hope of surviving, I have to learn to use my necromantic gifts. I need a teacher. We find one hiding among the fae, which is a completely different problem. I need to determine what I’m capable of in a hurry because my aunt doesn’t care how many are hurt or killed as long as she gets what she wants. Sadly for me, what she wants is my name on a headstone.
I’m gathering my friends—werewolves, vampires, wicches, gorgons, a Fury, a half-demon, an elf, and a couple of dragon-shifters—into a kind of Fellowship of the Sam. It’s going to be one hell of a battle. Hopefully, San Francisco will still be standing when the dust clears.
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I read the first book in this series a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I have the second book and was glad to see that a third book is getting published soon.
Kimberly hosts the Sunday Post each week. I like to take part because it gives me an opportunity to look back at last week and forward to next week in both my personal life and my blog and book life! I also love to see what other people are doing and what books everyone is reading.
Personal life
It’s hard to believe summer is almost over. Especially since the weather is so hot right now and will be even hotter next week with several days in the 90’s (and heat index in the low 100’s). Schools have already begun here which is hard for me to believe since I didn’t go back to school when I was a child until the first part of September.
Our morning room
Olaf in a small box!
Sunrise from our backyard
I’m doing a Sunday Post for the first time since we moved into our house in mid-May. We’ve been busy, but sometimes especially in the first month after our move I kept losing track of what day of the week it was and would discover I’d missed another post–even when I had posts complete.
Things are better now though we’re still unpacking a few boxes and looking for things that we still haven’t found. This week I needed to look for clothes a little dressier than what I’ve been wearing all summer. I finally put together something I can wear though I didn’t find the clothes I was looking for. Maybe I donated them before we moved since I got rid of some of my clothes!
We are loving our new house. We’ve gotten pictures on the walls, decided where the furniture is going to be put and got rid of more stuff that didn’t quite find a home in our new house. We can get one of our cars in our two car garage! Our cat Olaf settled in after a day or two of hiding. He loves running on our carpetless floors and then sliding on them–sometimes into a wall! That doesn’t stop him. He also loves hiding in boxes or an empty laundry basket and then jumping out to surprise us!
We’ve done some traveling and have more planned plus we’re doing things with our family that lives in the area. We’re trying to do things outside though with the high temperatures at the moment that’s harder to do. The local weather forecast mentions how long it takes to get sunburned if you’re in the sun and it’s been only 20 minutes. So we’ll probably stay home more until it’s a little cooler.
Blog
I’ve been absent from my blog since we moved in to our new house. I’m hoping to write more regularly, though as I mentioned above we’re going to be gone several times in the near future so I may miss more Sunday Posts. I will try to get some other posts scheduled. I plan to visit blogs today and I hope to catch up on some of the blogs I follow.
Can’t Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings. This is a weekly meme to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. The books I choose aren’t released yet and usually won’t be published for at least two or three months. So I have a while to wait!
I love finding out about books set to publish in future months and I like to share my excitement about the books. I also like to find out about new books on other people’s blogs and hope they’ll sometimes find something to look forward to on my blog.
Synopsis: Life is good for Team Weird, now heroes and fully fledged Time Police officers. Luke can’t wait to bear arms. Jane has a date. And Matthew still hasn’t had his hair cut.
But Time waits for no one and neither do criminal masterminds. A major threat to the Timeline is looming, one far deadlier than mere idiots who want to change history. And when a familiar face becomes a Very Important Lead, will conflicting family loyalties spell trouble for Team Weird?
One missing. One guilt-ridden. And one facing the end of their Time Police career before it’s even begun. Not so good then, after all.
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I love Jodi Taylor’s two science fiction time travel series. (The other series–the Chronicles of St. Mary’s–is the original series and this Time Police series is a spinoff.)
Both series have lots of humor, but there’s also drama, danger and unintended consequences when either group does time travel.
One of my favorite historical mystery series and this take place during Christmas!
Can’t Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings. This is a weekly meme to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. The books I choose aren’t released yet and usually won’t be published for at least two or three months. So I have a while to wait!
I love finding out about books set to publish in future months and I like to share my excitement about the books. I also like to find out about new books on other people’s blogs and hope they’ll sometimes find something to look forward to on my blog.
Synopsis: Georgie is back and hanging the stockings with care when a murder interrupts her Christmas cheer in this all-new installment in the New York Times bestselling Royal Spyness series from Rhys Bowen.
Georgie is excited for her first Christmas as a married woman in her lovely new home. She suggests to her dashing husband, Darcy, that they have a little house party, but when Darcy receives a letter from his aunt Ermintrude, there is an abrupt change in plans. She has moved to a house on the edge of the Sandringham estate, near the royal family, and wants to invite Darcy and his new bride for Christmas. Aunt Ermintrude hints that the queen would like Georgie nearby. Georgie had not known that Aunt Ermintrude was a former lady-in-waiting and close confidante of her royal highness. The letter is therefore almost a royal request, so Georgie, Darcy, and their Christmas guests: Mummy, Grandad, Fig, and Binky all head to Sandringham.
Georgie soon learns that the notorious Mrs. Simpson, mistress to the Prince of Wales, will also be in attendance. It is now crystal clear to Georgie that the Queen expects her to do a bit of spying. There is tension in the air from the get-go, and when Georgie pays a visit to the queen, she learns that there is more to her request than just some simple eavesdropping. There have been a couple of strange accidents at the estate recently. Two gentlemen of the royal household have died in mysterious circumstances and another has been shot by mistake during a hunt. Georgie begins to suspect that a member of the royal family is the real target but her investigation will put her new husband and love of her life, Darcy, in the crosshairs of a killer.
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This is one of my favorite mystery series and yet I haven’t read several books in the series so I need to catch up! Hopefully, this will help remind me to read two or three of the books this year. I also love reading Christmas mysteries (as long as they’re at least somewhat cozy!)
Mysteries, science fiction and even a romance are on my list for June and July
I keep a list of all the books I might want to read and add to it as the year goes on. As each month comes along I create a list on my blog for others and for me to keep track of as the months go by.
I don’t buy all these books–since I already have way too many books to read and some of the new books are expensive. I’m trying to stick to a budget!
I hope people reading my post may find some new books to read. I also hope these people will point me toward books I might not know about! The links to the following books will take you to the book on Goodreads.
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I didn’t get a June list of books posted so I’ve combined my June and July books into this list.
Synopsis: November, 1921. Edward VIII, Prince of Wales and future ruler of India, is arriving in Bombay to begin a four-month tour. The Indian subcontinent is chafing under British rule, and Bombay solicitor Perveen Mistry isn’t surprised when local unrest over the royal arrival spirals into riots. But she’s horrified by the death of Freny Cuttingmaster, an eighteen-year-old female Parsi student, who falls from a second-floor gallery just as the prince’s grand procession is passing by her college.
Freny had come for a legal consultation just days before her death, and what she confided makes Perveen suspicious that her death was not an accident. Perveen, who strongly identified with Freny—another young Parsi woman fighting hard against the confines of society’s rules and expectations—feels terribly guilty for failing to help her. Perveen steps forward to assist Freny’s family in the fraught dealings of the coroner’s inquest, and when Freny’s death is ruled a murder, Perveen knows she can’t rest until she sees justice done. But Bombay is erupting: as armed British secret service march the streets, rioters attack anyone with perceived British connections and desperate shopkeepers destroy their own wares so they will not be targets of racial violence. Can Perveen help a suffering family when her own is in danger?
Synopsis: Synopsis: Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’arcy and her teenage daughter, Lilly, are still recovering from the events of last fall when a strange new case demands Maggie’s attention. The body of an unidentified Irish national turns up in a wealthy Long Island beach community and with little to go on but the scars on his back, Maggie once again teams up with Garda detectives in Ireland to find out who the man was and what he was doing on Long Island. As the strands of the mystery lead Maggie to a quiet village in rural County Clare and back to her home turf, they also lead her in range of a dangerous and determined killer who will do anything to keep the victim’s story hidden forever.
Synopsis: Sheriff Heidi Kick has a dead body on her hands, a homeless young man last seen alive miles from the Bad Axe. Chillingly, the medical examiner confirms what Sheriff Kick has been experiencing in her own reoccurring nightmares of late: the victim was buried alive. As the relentless summer heat bears down and more bodies are discovered, Sheriff Kick also finds herself embroiled in a nasty reelection campaign. These days her detractors call her “Sheriff Mommy”—KICK HER OUT holler the opposition’s campaign signs—and as her family troubles become public, vicious rumors threaten to sway the electorate and derail her investigation.
Enter Vietnam veteran Leroy Fanta, editor-in-chief of the local paper who believes Heidi’s strange case might be tied to a reclusive man writing deranged letters to the opinions section for years. With his heart and liver on their last legs, Fanta drums up his old journalistic instincts in one last effort to help Heidi find a lead in her case, or at least a good story…
With simmering tension that sweats off the page, Bad Moon Rising infuses newsworthy relevance with a page-turning story of crime in America’s heartland, capturing global issues with startling immediacy while entertaining from start to finish.
Synopsis: Ruth is back as head of archaeology at the University of North Norfolk when a group of local metal detectorists—the so-called Night Hawks—uncovers Bronze Age artifacts on the beach, alongside a recently deceased body, just washed ashore. Not long after, the same detectorists uncover a murder-suicide—a scientist and his wife found at their farmhouse, long thought to be haunted by the Black Shuck, a humongous black dog, a harbinger of death. The further DCI Nelson probes into both cases, the more intertwined they become, and the closer they circle to David Brown, the new lecturer Ruth has recently hired, who seems always to turn up wherever Ruth goes.
Synopsis: Since the death of his twin brother, Oliver’s caught between pleasing his fans and finding himself. Emery finds him first.
Emery has never felt more alone. Raising her daughter is both her pleasure and her pain as she struggles to hold on to her job as a bartender and keep a roof over their heads. With no one to help them—no support system—any unexpected expense or late bill could turn their whole world upside down.
Reeling from the death of his twin brother and bandmate, rock star Oliver Smith is trying to drink his problems away. Apparently he isn’t very good at it; they follow him wherever he goes. Also in hot pursuit are the paparazzi, who catch Oliver at his lowest low.
He could have walked into any bar in California, but he walked into hers. Emery helps Oliver lose the crowd, and they find themselves alone: two people whose paths are marked with loss and pain. However, they hold an unshakable hope for healing. They find solace together, but can their love withstand the world?
Synopsis: It’s been centuries since the robots of Earth gained self-awareness and laid down their tools. Centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again. Centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.
One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of “what do people need?” is answered.
But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They’re going to need to ask it a lot.
Have you read any of these books? What June and July books do you want to read?
The second book in a new mystery series by Ann Cleeves
Can’t Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings. This is a weekly meme to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. The books I choose aren’t released yet and usually won’t be published for at least two or three months. So I have a while to wait!
I love finding out about books set to publish in future months and I like to share my excitement about the books. I also like to find out about new books on other people’s blogs and hope they’ll sometimes find something to look forward to on my blog.
Synopsis: North Devon is enjoying a rare hot summer with tourists flocking to its coastline. Detective Matthew Venn is called out to a rural crime scene at the home of a group of artists. What he finds is an elaborately staged murder–Dr Nigel Yeo has been fatally stabbed with a shard of one of his glassblower daughter’s broken vases.
Dr Yeo seems an unlikely murder victim. He’s a good man, a public servant, beloved by his daughter. Matthew is unnerved, though, to find that she is a close friend of Jonathan, his husband.
Then another body is found–killed in a similar way. Matthew soon finds himself treading carefully through the lies that fester at the heart of his community and a case that is dangerously close to home.
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Ann Cleeves writes very good mysteries. The Two Rivers series is a new series she’s begun and I really enjoyed reading the first book last year. I also heard that the series will be a new TV series so that also makes me happy.
