Happy Sunday! This week we celebrate the birthday of American poet, Mary Jo Salter, who is co editor of the Norton Anthology of Poetry and a professor at John Hopkins University Discovery By Mary Jo Salter 6:48 a.m., and leaden little jokes about what heroes we are for getting up at this hour. Quiet. The surf and sandpipers running. T minus ten and counting, the sun mounting over Canaveral a swollen coral, a color bright as camera lights. We’re blind- sided by a flash: shot from the unseen launching pad, and so from nowhere, a flame-tipped arrow—no, an airborne open on fire, its ink a plume of smoke which, even while zooming upward, stays as oddly solid as the braided tail of a tornado, and lingers there as lightning would if it could steal its own thunder. —Which, when it rumbles in, leaves under or within it a million firecrackers going off, a thrill of distant pops and rips in delayed reaction, hitting the beach in fading waves as the last glint of shuttle receives our hands’ eye-shade salute: the giant point of all the fuss soon smaller than a star. Only now does a steady, low sputter above us, a lawn mower cutting a corner of the sky, grow audible. Look, it’s a biplane!— some pilot’s long-planned, funny tribute to wonder’s always-dated orbit and the itch of afterthought. I swat my ankle, bitten by a sand gnat: what the locals call no-see-’ums. Happy Birthday to Mary Jo Salter! Our A to Z and Back again letter and word of the week are T and Tangible. Link to Book Week 32 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini, and perpetual challenges.

Good to know. I've had this one on my wishlist for a while! I enjoyed the first book in the series A Borrowing of Bones. Will have to read Blind Search soon.. Sounds good. Wil have to check it out.

I finished rereading the psychological thriller The Bishop by Steven James. #4 in the Patrick Bowers series. Don't know why I skipped around for this one, but one day I'll have to go back and reread the series in order. The lead character is a criminologist and the characters gets deep into philosophy as well which was interesting so lots of deep thinking. The first book, The Pawn, is available on Kindle Unlimited if you want to check it out. Read Dana Stabenow's 2nd book in her Kate Shugak series - A Fatal Thaw - which fit in with our 52 books bingo category since Kate's side kick is Mutt, a female part wolf, part husky. Nalini Singh's #6 in her psy/changeling series, Storm Echo arrived today so excited to begin reading it.

Aww! Congratulations~

So cute! Congratulations!

The Armand Gamache series put me in the mood for more detective stories: This past week I finished Jayne Ann Krentz's Sizzle and Burn, #3 in her Arcane Society series in which Raine hears voices of whoever touched something and Zach sees visions. Also finally dove into dusty book Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon and was introduced to Commissario Brunetti. Look forward to reading more in the series. Currently reading Steven James fourth book in his Patrick Bowers Series - The Bishop "F.B.I. Special Agent Patrick Bowers's cutting edge 21st century geospatial investigative techniques and impeccable logic have helped him track some of the country's most grisly killers. But those skills are pushed to the limit in this new installment of the highly acclaimed, award winning The Bowers Files series.This time it's a congressman's daughter who is found dead even as her killers launch a spree of perfect murders in the Northeast. With nothing to link the crimes to each other, Agent Bowers faces his most difficult case yet even as his personal life begins to crumble around him." Celebrated James 23rd birthday on Friday and at his request we enjoyed a gourmet meal of McDonalds and watched Lego Summer Vacation. 😁 Saturday night we watched Lightyear which turned out to be better than I expected.

Link to week 32

Happy Sunday! From The Dogfather series by Roxanne St. Claire to the running joke of we don't know what the heck Gracie is in the Armand Gamache Series by Louise Penny to Erin Hunter's Warrior Cats to Lillian Jackson Braun's Cat Who series, the characters with paws make the story and are a joy to read. Join me for this week's 52 Books Bingo category reading about Curious Cats and Courageous Canines. Slates: The Case of the Feline Flatfoot Write Academy's: Cats in Books: Our Top Fictional Felines Crime Reads: Cats and Cozy mysteries, the purr-fect combination and Reader's Guide to K-9 Mysteries Goodreads: Pawsitively Love-Romances With Special Pets Or Animals and Hot Dog! (A Dachshund-lover's list) And last but not least is Bookriot's 100 Must Read Books with Cats in Them. Our A to Z and Back Again Letter and Word of the week are U and Unique. Link to Book Week 31 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini, and perpetual challenges.

Same here! 😁 Hope you feel better soon! Waving hello!

I have a whole collection of Wood's Stone Barrington stories and I loved the Holly Barker series and wished he had written more. So sad to hear that he died. Enjoy!

Currently reading Qiu Xiaolong's Inspector Chen's # 7th book - Don't Cry Tai Lake "Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department is offered a bit of luxury by friends and supporters within the Party – a week’s vacation at a luxurious resort near Lake Tai, a week where he can relax, and recover, undisturbed by outside demands or disruptions. Unfortunately, the once beautiful Lake Tai, renowned for its clear waters, is now covered by fetid algae, its waters polluted by toxic runoff from local manufacturing plants. Then the director of one of the manufacturing plants responsible for the pollution is murdered and the leader of the local ecological group is the primary suspect of the local police. Now Inspector Chen must tread carefully if he is to uncover the truth behind the brutal murder and find a measure of justice for both the victim and the accused." Next up Emily Henry's Book Lovers: "Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby. Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute. If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves." We just watched Gray Man which was an excellent and exciting thriller.

Link to week 31

Happy Sunday! August is upon us and our newest crime spree category brought to us by Sandy and Amy is all about True Crime. True Crime is a genre with no middle ground—readers either love it or have no stomach for true examples of the darker side of human behavior. The modern genre started with Edmund Pearson in the 1920s and continues today in dozens of forms of media, from books to podcasts. Studies in Murder by Edmund Pearson In Cold Blood by Truman Capote The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson Challenge: Lock your doors, turn on your lights, and pick up a True Crime mystery that won’t keep you up at night. Our A to Z and Back Again letter of the week is V and Vanguard. Link to Book Week 30 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini, and perpetual challenges.

Yes, exactly!

I worked through the whole book which I found extremely helpful. Probably time to work through it again. The morning pages, which I did any time of the day helped clear my head and were helpful with working through issues, getting to the bottom of what was troubling me.

Feeling ambitious, I decided to make the peach pie totally from scratch. An hour and a half later, from making the crust to pealing the peaches to fluting the dough edges. Not perfect or pretty but I did it. It was delicious! I hadn't planned on July being my reread month but once I started reading the first book in the Armand Gamache series, decided to read the whole series. Discovered there were a few in the middle I hadn't read so thankfully for Kindle Unlimited was able to read those. Love the cast of characters, the mystery playing out in the midst of some personal crisis, how they solved the crime. After a while the descriptors attached to some of the characters got a little old but other than that, each story's killer was unique. There were some surprises and red herrings to throw every one off. All in all, enjoyed the series and now have to wait until November for #18 A World of Curiosities. Started one of Jennifer Estep's newest series A Sense of Danger. Good so far.

I'm currently on #14 Kingdom of the Blind in Louise Penny's Armand Gamache reread and still enjoying the heck out of the series. "The investigation into what happened six months ago—the events that led to his suspension—has dragged on, into the dead of winter. And while most of the opioids he allowed to slip though his hands, in order to bring down the cartels, have been retrieved, there is one devastating exception. Enough narcotic to kill thousands has disappeared into inner city Montreal. With the deadly drug about to hit the streets, Gamache races for answers. As he uses increasingly audacious, even desperate, measures to retrieve the drug, Armand Gamache begins to see his own blind spots. And the terrible things hiding there." James and I are also listening to Ready Player One on Audible.

Link to week 30

Happy Sunday! This week we celebrate Amelia Earhart day, National Tequila day, Culinarians day, All or Nothing day, National Love is Kind day, National Milk Chocolate day, National Lasagna day, National Cheesecake day, and last but not least. Paperback book day. Hmm, I think I'm hungry! My neighbor dropped off a bag of peaches from his garden today. I decided I should make lasagna as well as a peach pie this week, so off the the grocery store I went. And while I was there, I got to thinking how we have been in kind of a food rut lately and should pick up something different for a change versus the same ole, same ole. I ended up with a potpourri of items. Which brings me to my web wanderings which mirrored my shopping trip. A little bit of this, a little bit of that! Fiona Barton's Favorite Thrillers featuring Female Detectives Pass the popcorn: action-adventure thrillers Tasmanian 'book detective' reunites customers with long-lost books and beloved childhood titles Discovered a new blog as well as an annual book celebration Women in Translation Chance, Choice, and the Avocado: The Strange Evolutionary and Creative History of Earth’s Most Nutritious Fruit 10 Food Writing Books to Read This Fall He Might Be a Prophet. That, or the Greatest Chef in the World. The Cocktail at the End of the Universe Do any of you remember Graham Kerr? Why the Galloping Gourmet—a Kooky, 1970s TV Chef—Is an Unsung Style Icon for Our Times Are you hungry now? 🙂 Our A to Z and back again letter and word of the week are W and Wine. Link to Book Week 29 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini, and perpetual challenges.

Continuing reread of Louise Penny's Armand Gamache series: Currently on How the Light Gets In Watched Morbius tonight and it was much better than I expected.

Link to week 29

Happy Sunday! I bookmark things on my computer, buy cards with unique sayings, add books to my wishlist and I'll come across them later and wonder what was I thinking. What struck me at the time and why did I save it? This poem is one of those saved and forgotten. I was going through bookmarks, deleting those I don't use anymore and found it. Don't know when I bookmarked it, but I'm glad I found it again. Love the imagery. Reminds me of reading and rereading stories and getting something completely different out of them versus the first time. Sigh! So lovely. Fall of the Evening Star By Kenneth Patchen Speak softly; sun going down Out of sight. Come near me now. Dear dying fall of wings as birds complain against the gathering dark... Exaggerate the green blood in grass; the music of leaves scraping space; Multiply the stillness by one sound; by one syllable of your name... And all that is little is soon giant, all that is rare grows in common beauty To rest with my mouth on your mouth as somewhere a star falls And the earth takes it softly, in natural love... Exactly as we take each other... and go to sleep... All this to say, revisit an old friend by rereading a favorite author or book and enjoy discovering them all over again. Our letter and word of the week are X and Xiphoid. Link to Book Week 28 Visit 52 Books in 52 Weeks where you can find all the information on the annual, mini and perpetual challenges.

I thought I had read the whole Armand Gamache series previously but I guess I was wrong. Started with A Brutal Telling way back in 2009, jumped back to book one, then bounced around over the years. Enjoying binging the series, reading each one, learning more about each character, as well as discovering who the murderer is in each one. Just finished Bury Your Dead which broke my heart several times, but the fascinating history lead me to look up info on Quebec and Champlain which provided some relief from the emotional impact of Armand reliving the shoot out and his conversations with Morin. On to A Trick of the Light.

For my Southern Fiction read, I have Fannie Flag's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Café on the nightstand. Also rereading Louise Penny's Armand Gamache series in order and happily books one through five are on Kindle Unlimited. I have the rest in my stacks. Recently finished Emily Henry's Beach Reads which was excellent and about two authors emotional struggle to get past their grief of destroyed relationships while writing their novels. "Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast. They’re polar opposites.In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block. Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really."

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