
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme
Temperatures were rising here in Tennessee, starting with my house and car! First the AC went out in the house about 10 days ago. The repair people were so backed up (It’s their busy season) that they could not come out for a week. They finally came out this Thursday. Luckily for us, we had window air conditioners in our upstairs bedrooms, so we relocated upstairs for the week. We were able to stay cool until the problem was fixed. Then the AC went out in my car Thursday while I was working. I had a headache by the end of the day. And it’s going into the shop next Thursday. Hopefully we’ll be able to stay cool the rest of the summer. For centuries, people just endured the heat, and here I am making a big fuss about it. As much as I love historical fiction, I don’t think I’d have been a good pioneer.
LAST WEEK ON BONNIE READS AND WRITES
On Monday I reviewed A Dress of Violet Taffeta by Tessa Arlen for a blog tour by Austenprose.
On Tuesday I reviewed To Kiss A Wallflower, a Timeless Regency Collection for a blog tour by Austenprose and The Girl From Jonestown for a blog tour by Bookouture.
On Thursday I reviewed Dark Blue Waves by Kimberly Sullivan for Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours.
On Friday I participated in Book Blogger Hop.
On Saturday I reviewed The Juche Box Set by Adria Carmichael for Self-Published Saturday.
NEXT WEEK ON BONNIE READS AND WRITES
Today (Sunday) I’m reviewing Suspects by Danielle Steel
Monday I’m reviewing The Beach Trap by Ali Brady and The Hurricanes of Weakerville by Chris Rylander
Tuesday I’m going to participate in Top Ten Tuesday if Time Permits
Thursday I’m reviewing Peril at the Exposition by Nev March
Saturday I’m spotlighting/reviewing self-published books on Self-Published Saturday
NEW BOOKS THIS WEEK
I got two new books this week, both from Kensington Books.

This is another Gilded Age mystery by Rosemary Simpson. I just love this series, set in Gilded Age New York. I am fascinated by that period in history. This one is set at Niagara Falls. I can’t wait to read it.

The 2022 Christmas books are beginning to come in, and I’m excited to read this trio of Christmas cozy mystery novellas by Carlene O’Connor, Maddie Day, and Peggy Ehrhart. I love Netgalley Christmas season, which starts in July!
WHAT’S FOR DINNER

Our Sunday dinner this week will be somewhat homemade pizza. The “somewhat” is because the crusts are purchased, but I use my homemade marinara for the sauce. I am actually canning more marinara tomorrow as we are running out. The picture above is of my last batch. It is great to have this delicious sauce on the shelf. Since I’m cutting carbs, I’m using a low-carb bagel as my crust. Doug is using one of the premade pizza crusts from the store which are ready to bake. My toppings will be pepperoni and mushrooms. Doug’s will be ham, mushrooms, and onion.
Thanks for the excellent reviews of some fascinating books. I hope your A/C woes are fixed. It is hot here in Spain right now too. Not sure what folks in the past did to keep cool.
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Thanks Darlene. I think I would have had a permanent migraine all summer if I had been born before A/C.
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Maybe you should get a maintenance contract so that they come out every year in the spring and make sure your AC will run properly whenever needed.
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My husband did that after this latest A/C breakdown, so hopefully we’re good for next year. 🙂
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I hope your AC woes are soon sorted – at least the house one is working again so the canning process will be bearable! Happy reading 😊
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Good point! No way I would have canned in that heat.
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Louise, my WordPress keeps unfollowing you, and I keep following back. This issue seems to be popping up again. I’ve had it before. Just know if it says I’ve unfollowed you it’s not correct.
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No worries – WordPress is a little crazy like that. It keeps subscribing me to email updates for some reason, even after I switch it to off.
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I have the same reaction to my toughness. Glad you’re surviving!
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Thanks Jacqui! At least the house is cool again.
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Your sauces look delicious! And so do your books. I love the photo at the top of the post…the clock!
Enjoy your week.
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Thank you. I’m a time travel fiction nut, so I decided trying to find header photos with clocks in them!
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How annoying about the a/c, but it’s good you had an alternative until they can fix it. Otherwise that would be unbearable. Enjoy your books. They look good. Have a great week and Happy 4th!
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Thank you, Yvonne!
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It’s no fun when the AC goes out! And in your car as well as your house, ooof. I’m glad they finally came to fix the house AC. I feel the same way about my ability to deal with the heat here in Virginia. But it’s fair to remember that a hundred or even 50 years ago, average summer temperatures were a little cooler than they are now, and there were fewer days over 90 in much of the US (including Tennessee.) I’m not saying it wasn’t hot, just not as hot, nor for as long, as it is now.
I’m impressed with your marinara sauce! Not something I can eat (tomato allergy), but it looks delicious. We make our pizza without sauce, just herbs and a little olive oil. It’s good, but I sometimes wish I could eat regular pizza because it smells so good.
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Have you ever tried Flammekeuche? It’s a French/German (from Alsace) grilled pizza that uses creme fraîche as a base. It is wonderful. I was in Germany and went slightly over the border and went to a restaurant where they were cooking this on grills outside. And there’s no tomatoes. https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/flammkuchen-german-pizza/
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We went thru a similar deal with our house AC in 2020 during covid. It took a month to get a new unit as it wasn’t repairable but it was for the main floor and we had the upstairs HVAC. I keep checking the upstairs one as it is 22 years old now but it keeps working. I’ve had the car thing happen too, and we suffered thru a 3 week road trip vacation in August with it not working. I envy your homemade marinara. I don’t grow enough tomatoes for that but I do make my own gluten-free pizza crust. I sometimes make homemade salsa though. I hope you have a lovely holiday weekend.
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
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When I run out of homegrown tomatoes to make my marinara, I use canned San Marzanos. It is still very good. I can share the recipe if you would like it.
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That would be great. I love to collect good recipes. How do you store the sauce?
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It is water bath canned. But I have a recipe for one batch if you just want to make it for dinner.
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That a lot of marinara. I like making home made pizza.
Have a great week.
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I have to make it about quarterly because we use it all up. Enjoy your week as well!
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I don’t do well with the heat! In the UK, we don’t have air con as standard in houses (just big shops etc) but I love being in the car with it on… The temps are getting so consistently high in summers that this year my husband snapped and bought an air conditioning unit for the house! It can cool the majority of the house and during the day it runs mostly off the solar panels so I think it’s one of the best purchases we ever made!
My sweet spot is autumn temperatures (aka can go out in a jumper but don’t need a coat). 🙂
Fingers crossed your air con woes are soon at an end!
Hope you have a good week.
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That’s awesome you have solar panels. I’d like to do that for the house I’m retiring to. I didn’t know there were not a lot of indoor air conditioners in UK homes. It depends on where you are in the US. In Colorado, all I needed was a fan because there’s no humidity. In the South, it’s hot and sticky. I’m in the mountains, so it’s better than other places in the South.
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I’m sorry to hear about your AC. I’m glad you got your house fixed and will soon have the one in your car fixed too. We had AC problems for a few years, but we finally got a new one put in last year and it’s been heavenly. We also drove a car with no AC for 9 years and I never ever want to do that again so I feel your pain. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
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Being in a car with no AC is the worst! I’m sorry you had to do that for 9 years.
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It’s too hot for no AC! Hope that doesn’t cause any more problems! I want to read The Beach Trap. Hope you enjoy it. Have a great week!
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2022/07/03/weekly-wrap-up-74-july-3rd-2022/
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I just put up my review of The Beach Trap. https://bonniereadsandwrites.wordpress.com/2022/07/04/book-review-the-beach-trap-by-ali-brady-family-rejection-reconciliation/
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For years I was known for saying “This ain’t hot!” to my wife and kids. I’m older now and that expression has been retired. 🙂 Hope all is well with you, Bonnie. The world needs people like you.
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Thanks Tim! I have never handled the heat well.
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Our AC’s been acting funny too- just not cooling as efficiently as it should. We did all the little things to check out and I have someone coming next week to take a peek. That’s the worst when the AC goes out though. We roasted once when that happened to us. And I’m the same way- on the really humid sweltering days I often have wondered how the Native Americans and early settlers handled it. I woulda expired 🙂
Homemade marinara sounds great.
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I love homemade marinara sauce, homemade pizza sauce, homemake salsa . . . Fingers crossed that my garden will produce!
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Me too! My tomatoes seem to be slow to flower this year.
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It’s still a bit early yet for ours.
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The ac went out in my daughter’s car too. Such an expensive pain in the rear. We are getting ready to have our home HVAC replaced because it’s really running on borrowed time at this point. It’s always something, huh?
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I hope you manage to stay cool! That marinara sauce looks delicious!!
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I love a good Christmas-Time Cozy Mystery and I can’t wait to start reading theme! I hope you love your read!
New to the blog, happy to have found you here via The Sunday Post.
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It really is something to think about how people used to survive in this heat and humidity without any AC of any sort. How? HOW????? Every time the AC cycles off I wonder how many more minutes until it kicks on again. LOL I’m glad you had your window ACs while waiting for a repairman.
Homemade pizza sounds so good right now!!!
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I know, right? I think about the people spending five to six months in wagons on the Oregon Trail and traveling up to 2000 miles. I am just in awe at our ancestors.
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And the clothes they wore back then were a lot hotter and sweatier, too. lol
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Good Point!
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Oh no! Sorry to hear about the AC issues, Bonnie! Crazy that both car and home went out. Ugh. Hope you’re much cooler this week. 🙂 I wouldn’t have made a good pioneer, either. LOL Your pizza sounds delish!!
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Air conditioning sure has us spoiled, doesn’t it? I’ll take heat over freezing snow any day, but I do like my air conditioner. I hope you were able to get the one in your car fixed. Death at the Falls sounds so good! I hope you enjoy your new books and your current reads, Bonnie. I hope you enjoyed your pizza and week! Have a great weekend.
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Thanks. I hope you had a great week too. My car was fixed yesterday, so I’m cool again! I’d rather be cool than hot myself.
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