Sunday Post/Mailbox Monday 3/26/2023: Random Updates

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists…

Happy Sunday, I hope this post finds you well. It was a pretty busy week and I sucked on blog hopping this past week so I’m sorry for that. I also wasn’t feeling so great Thursday and Friday. It’s not the dreaded “C” but rather hormonal since I’m going through peri these past couple of years. Fun times! I’ll be doing my usual blog visits this afternoon. The temps have been all over the place lately, it was freezing last weekend then we had sleet yesterday morning and today the temps are in the 60’s.

We passed by an old chapel last weekend on our walk and I took a few pics of it with the black and white setting on my phone. It was very cold so we kept the walk short but as soon as I spotted the chapel I wanted a pic. It reminds me of Norman Bates’ house on the hill. Otis was trying to run up the hill.




onto my updates….

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coming soon:
I’ve been reading alot because I have a few tour stops coming up in April and May so I’ve been busy with that. There’s nothing in my mailbox this week but that’s a good thing because I need to catch up.
Also, tomorrow Nancy Lynn Jarvis is stopping in for an interview and book giveaway so I invite you to stop in.

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watching:
I re-watched The Haunting of Hill House recently because it’s amazing. I love this show. The bent neck lady episode gave me a nightmare but that’s ok.

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crochet
We booked our Florida vacation last week so I immediately wanted to make a few pieces to bring with me. I started a tank top in lime green. I also want to make a swimsuit cover up so wish me luck lol. It’s a few months away so I have plenty of time.


That wraps it up for now, what are you up to? Reading? Watching? Crafting? Enjoy your week! I’ll be blog hopping this afternoon to see what everyone has been up to.

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Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is available for download. The photos here are my own and not be to be removed from this post.

Sunday Post/Mailbox Monday 3/19/23: Random Updates and Crochet

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists…

Another week has flown right by, I’m so glad March is more than halfway over with. I had a busy week so my blogging took the backburner. Last Sunday I volunteered my morning with work to pack meals for the hungry. There were hundreds of volunteers and we packaged thousands of meals to be shipped to Ukraine and Newark, NJ as well which felt awesome. We had snow mid-week and it didn’t stick so that was good.

On Thursday I got my hair ends trimmed at the salon after work. I took Friday off to give myself a 3-day weekend so I spent most of Friday crocheting and watching movies.

Onto my bookish updates….

in my mailbox:
Nothing! But that’s good, I need to catch up on my current books.

recently on the blog:
Nothing! I’m hoping to blog more this upcoming week. I’ve been in a reading slump and reading in slow motion since last month.

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watching
The Last of Us season finale gutted me. I’m ready for season 2 please.
Since I was off on Friday I lounged around the house and re-watched Hostiles and Misery because there’s something comforting about re-watching favorites.

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crochet:
I finished my hexagon cardigan, its super cozy. I’m already planning on making another one in blue and I need to choose alternating colors for it. I also made Otis a matching sweater since I had yarn leftover and he looks so cute in his. I still need to model my cardigan along with Otis.






This is how I get Otis to model for me, his tiny treats lol.



That wraps up my updates for now. How was your week?

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Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is available for download. The photos here are my own and not be to be removed from this post.

Sunday Post/Mailbox Monday 3/12/23: Updates and Crochet

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists…

Happy weekend, I hope this post finds you well. This past week really dragged on. At least we had some sunny albeit very cold and windy days and we had pretty flurries yesterday. Also of note, I tried Wendy’s breakfast for the first time yesterday and their coffee and French toast sticks were very delish so now I’ve found a new favorite thing.

Here’s Otis at his favorite spot by the window while I was typing up this post on my laptop this morning. He likes to sit here on his blanket for napping as well as people watching. It’s nice being Otis lol.

Onto my updates….

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recently on the blog:

I shared the Bookish People I’d Like to Meet.


I shared my thoughts on Our Wolves by Luanne Castle.

in my mailbox:

Raw Flesh Flash: The Incomplete, Unfinished Documenting Of by Donovan Hufnagle arrived for a May review.

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watching:
The Last of Us continues to be really good and the season finale is coming up.
I watched the documentary The Plane That disappeared about the Boeing 777 that seemed to disappear out of thin air in 2014. This was a sad and scary documentary, and I had no idea so many conspiracy theories were involved with this. It is definitely nuts that they don’t really know what happened.
I also watched Fall which although you need to suspend disbelief for was pretty good. However, they left one major thing unexplained at the end which left me feeling cheated.


crochet:
My hexagon cardigan is coming along nicely and I’m nearly done. I finished one sleeve and am working on the second sleeve now. I added ribbing on the cuff to make it fitted to my wrist while also giving it some stretch.




That wraps up my updates for now I do have a review coming this week finally. What are you up to? Reading? Watching? Enjoy your week ahead!

Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is available for download. The photos here are my own and not be to be removed from this post.

Sunday Post/Mailbox Monday 3/5/23: Hello March

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists…

Happy Sunday and happy March. We had a few inches of snow this past week but since it was the first real snowfall of the season I didn’t mind it much. It was pretty to see and I worked remotely so I didn’t have to drive out in it. I’m still waiting for Spring and warmer temps. I miss reading and crocheting outside.


onto my bookish updates….


recently on the blog:


I shared my Top 10 Favorite Thrillers for TTT. I added a few new books to my wish list also after blog hopping.



I took part in the book blast for Book Blast and Giveaway: Love You Now by Julia Kent


in my mailbox:

Author Sheila Roberts emailed me a copy of her latest Mermaid Beach for a book tour. This one looks so good.

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watching:
I’m still GoT hungover. I discussed the series with my SIL this week since she watched the series a few years ago and we both had the same issues with several things and with the ending.
This week I started watching The Last of Us and it is fantastic and scary and I do have to look away during some of the scenes. I would never survive in that kind of apocalyptic setting, I’d have a better chance of surviving a regular zombie apocalypse. Have you watched this yet? New episodes are on Sundays with the last episode coming on March 12. I’m on episode 5 so far.

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crochet:
I’m working on a hexagon cardigan following one of my fav crochet designer’s tutorials. I like this pattern because you make 2 matching hexagons then fold and seam them together then make the sleeves as long as you want. I’ve made one of these before but it turned out a little bit too bulky for my taste, so this time I’m using a category 3 baby yarn for the main grey color and a cotton yarn for the contrasting pink. This yarn is lighter so this will be nice for the Spring. Both left and right sides are ready now, then after I seam them together I can start making the sleeves longer and add the cuffs.





That wraps up my updates for now. I need to do a self-imposed read-a-thon. I have no reading motivation these past few weeks! What are you up to lately? Enjoy your week ahead.

I took this photo this morning of Otis on our walk by the lake.

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Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is available for download. The photos here are my own and not be to be removed from this post.

Top Ten Tuesday 2/28/23: Genre Freebie-My Favorite Thrillers

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

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Hello and Happy Tuesday. This week’s topic was too fun to miss out on: Genre Freebie (Pick a genre and build a list around it. It could be a list of favorites, a to-read list, recommendations for people interested in reading books in that genre, “if you like this, try this”, etc.)

I love a good thrilling book to get my heart racing. This genre can branch out in so many different directions, supernatural, mystery, crime and suspense, and I really love a good, gritty, psychological thriller to keep me guessing. Today Otis and I are adding to your TBR mountain, so without further ado, here’s our:
Top 10 Favorite Thrillers with a few extra books snuck in here and there.


1. The Outsider by Stephen King
Was this book phenomenal? Yes it was. And the mini-series was awesome too. I read then watched this at the height of the pandemic and it really helped get my mind off stressful things.


2. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
I’ve read all 3 books by this author, watched all 3 film adaptations of her books and I have been waiting, wishing and praying she writes another full-length novel. I wish I could read Dark Places again for the first time, that’s how amazing this book was. It’s dark, twisted, sad and an absolute thrill ride. Gillian Flynn is an easy favorite of mine in this genre.


3. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Another Gillian Flynn novel that had me captivated! I won’t include Gone Girl on this list in order to make room for other authors, but Gone Girl could easily be on this list.


4.The Taking by Dean Koontz, and so many more of his books like the Odd Thomas series and Life Expectancy, because I can always enjoy a dash of science-fiction and suspense in with my thrillers. I never get tired of telling the story about how Dean Koontz is awesome. He personally autographed and mailed me a first edition hard cover copy of The Taking after I wrote him a fan mail with a small crocheted elephant I made for him. I still remember standing in my kitchen completely stunned and silent for several minutes when I opened a package from Dean Koontz himself.




5.Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
I’ve read a few Karin Slaughter books and this is by far my favorite of hers. I was on the edge of my seat late into the night reading.


6.Later by Stephen King
Another King book for my list, this one is a coming-of-age paranormal thriller that had me hooked. I co-read this with my daughter. She’s not a King fan, but she really enjoyed this one.


7.Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
No top crime thriller book list would be complete without Lisa Jewell. This book is one of my favorites of hers.


8.Her Three Lives by Cate Holahan
This is one of 2 books I’ve read by this author, and she tends to have slow starts to her books but once they take off I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.


9.Mind Games (Kaely Quinn Profiler #1) by Nancy Mehl
The protagonist in this one is an FBI behavior analyst who is also the daughter of a notorious serial killer. This one was so good.


10.Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls by James Patterson.
I’m including these together since they kick off the Alex cross series and both were fantastic. I read book 3 in the series but didn’t enjoy it as much.


It was so hard stopping at just 10 so I’m sneaking in one more book.
11. Mind of Winter by Laura Kasischke
This one was a creepy, twisted thriller that shocked me at the end. I still remember finishing this book while sitting outside of Starbucks and not wanting to gasp too loudly since I was reading in public.


That wraps up my Top 10+ thrillers. What books would make your list? Have you read any of these?

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Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is available for download. The photos here are my own and not be to be removed from this post.