First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! I am a Mom too, and a Granny, and I know how challenging and rewarding it can be.
We just had an earthquake here yesterday! The folks in California will not even blink, but for us, in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it was very unusual. It was 4.1 on the Richter Scale, so mild in comparison, but if you don’t usually get one in your area, it’s eyebrow-raising. It shook the whole house, but there was no damage.
LAST WEEK ON THE BLOG
I participated in Top Ten Tuesday, listing authors who have lived in North Carolina.
I will be reviewing the Tachyon Tunnel series by Michael Gorton on Monday. This is science-forward time travel, and as many of you know, I love time travel fiction.
On Tuesday, I will participate in Top Ten Tuesday, time permitting.
On Wednesday, I will be posting a review of The Miniaturist’s Assistant by Katherine Scott Crawford, as well as providing a Q&A with the author. This is another time travel book this week, but it’s more historical than science fiction.
ADDITIONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
I updated my Review Requests page yesterday, so anyone interested in a review, please read the updated guidelines.
I’m changing the name of Indie Weekend to Indie Spotlight. Indie Spotlights used to be book promotion without a review, but now Indie Spotlight will focus on anything Indie, including book reviews. Since I’m retired now, I really don’t need to wait until the weekend to post Indie reviews. Click on the covers to see the books on Amazon.
BOOK HAUL
I got this widget from Tyndale House. Imagine Pride and Prejudice retold in an Appalachian setting! I can’t wait to read it.
An ARC from Shadow Mountain: This is historical fiction inspired by the life of Julia Child, including her time in the OSS, the precursor to the CIA.
Happy Sunday! A cool but Sunny May day today! We have had rain and thunderstorms the last few days here in Western North Carolina mountains, so it’s nice to see a little sun.
It’s turtle crossing season! The turtles are crossing the roads all around here. We’ve already moved two in the direction they were crossing in order to get them out of danger. Sadly we saw one smashed and killed on the road already, so we try to get them out of danger. Here are some tips from Fish and Wildlife on helping a turtle cross the road:
I have been trying to get my Indie Weekend books caught up, so you will see those reviews coming out soon. Since I’m retired now, I’m thinking of changing Indie Weekend to a different title that I can post any day of the week, so suggestions are welcome for a new title!
COMING NEXT WEEK
I am going to post more reviews I did for the May issue of The Historical Novel Society, and expect a few Indie reviews.
Have a wonderful week, and watch out for turtles crossing your road!
I hope you are having a wonderful day as we Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, who was both God in the Flesh and sent by God to die for our sins as the ultimate sacrifice.
I have a beautiful Easter poem for you by Louise Bélanger. She has permitted me to post it prior to publication. It will be part of her upcoming Christian Poetry book, Your Words, Your Hope.
If You Ask Me
Three were crucified
That day
Why Jesus in the middle?
Why not the other two
Together
Next to Jesus?
If you ask me
I tend to think
It’s symbolic
Was the one
Referred to as
The thief on the cross
On His left
Or His right?
If you ask me
The Bible doesn’t say
But I gather His right
As he was saved
Signs
Are all over the Bible
God speaks
Through signs
Jesus will separate
The people
He will place the sheep
On His right
And the goats
On His left
The sheep
Are the saved
The goats
Are not
Three were crucified
That day
Jesus in the middle
If you ask me
I tend to think
It’s symbolic
Of the future
*All rights to IF YOU ASK ME belong to Louise Bélanger. Inspired by Matthew 25:33.
Thanks to The Caffeinated Book Reviewer for hosting Sunday Post.
The past week we started on a long list of projects we were waiting to get done after we sold our house in Tennessee. First, being in the mountains means we are surrounded by trees, and some of them have to come down for safety’s sake. 828 Tree Removal came out and started on a big project for us. It was interrupted by weather, but they managed to get half of it done and I expect to see them back tomorrow to finish the rest of it. Below is a video of one of our trees coming down. You can’t see the top of it in this video, but it’s very tall and it was close enough to our house that if it ever fell, it would do a lot of damage. We are having a total of ten trees taken down (plus some smaller ones that were in the way). One of the trees that already came down was five feet across at the base. Tomorrow they tackle the ones by the power lines. Praying!
We also had someone from Blossman Gas come out to discuss putting gas heat in the house. Our power goes out sometimes in the winter, so this would ensure we still have heat. We are still in the “getting estimates” phase of that. We want to put in a garage, so that is another possible project, but most of our land is “uphill,” so it would require some serious grading to create a garage site, so we’re undecided as to whether we’re going to take that on.
Doug is almost finished with the inside. There are some ceiling tiles and trim left to do, and that’s about it. It will be exciting to see it all finished. He has some work to do on the outside this summer.
LAST WEEK ON THE BLOG
I reviewed Camp Babylon by Timothy Beavin and Horse Show by Jess Bowers. I did a Q&A with Jess, which I will post tomorrow.
NEXT WEEK ON THE BLOG
I will review That You Remember by Isabel Reddy and Remnant by Katie Sweeting, and hope to review other books as well. I will post the aforementioned Q&A with Jess Bowers, and I might be able to do Top Ten Tuesday, if I have time.
BOOK HAUL
I was given Netgalley widgets of The Adventures of Mary Darling and The Nazi Housewife of Queens, New York. “Nazi Housewife” has already been published so I’ll try to read that one soon.
Mary Darling is a pretty wife whose boring husband is befuddled by her independent ways. But one fateful night, Mary becomes the distraught mother whose three children have gone missing from their beds. After her well-meaning uncle John Watson contacts the greatest detective of his era (but not that great), Mary is Sherlock Holmes’s prime suspect in her children’s disappearance. (Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes mashup)
Discover the intersection of two lives in 1950s America—an ordinary Queens housewife harboring a dark Nazi past and a survivor seeking justice. In this tense and shocking tale, their paths collide, unraveling a complex quest for truth across time. Based on actual events, this astonishing story follows the path of two women seeking to establish peaceful new lives in America and leave the devastation of WWII behind, but a shocking discovery upends their lives and locks them in a decades-long journey to confront the past.
Thank you to The Caffeinated Book Reviewer for hosting Sunday Post.
Last week was pretty relaxing and I don’t have much to report. I am watching a rain forecast for this coming week: Three days of heavy rain starting Monday night or Tuesday. That’s going to change our plans to have some trees removed this week, as it will probably be too muddy to get it finished. Since we live on a gravel road and there is a branch (creek) on our property, it might get pretty muddy around here soon.
I didn’t end up participating in Top Ten Tuesday, but hope to do so this week, time permitting. The heavy rain might also affect my internet, so we’ll see what I can get done. I am going to try to schedule some posts tomorrow so they will go up anyway.
NEXT WEEK
I will be reviewing HORSE SHOW by Jess Bowers and CRIME BRULEE BAKEOFF by Rebecca Connolly. There may be other reviews as well.
BOOK HAUL
I accepted an audiobook from Macmillan Audio of WILD DARK SHORE. I’m excited to listen to it.
This week brought me a new car! We sold our house a couple of weeks ago, and that led to my new ride, which will probably be my last new car ever. It is a Honda HR-V Sport, and I love it. Since I’m retired, I don’t expect I’ll be putting a ton of miles on it, so it should last a long time. Of course, it got muddy almost immediately because we’ve had a lot of rain and live on a gravel road. I’m waiting until things dry out to wash it. Here’s my car, which I’ve named Pearl: That’s Hermann photobombing the first picture 🙂
I just reviewed several books for The Historical Novel Society, and now that the February issue has been published, I’ll be sharing some of those with you.
THIS WEEK ON THE BLOG
I have two or three Indie reviews I’m going to share, and I’ve got a Q&A in process that I might be able to post this week. I’ll participate in Top Ten Tuesday as well.
WRITING
I’m going to start an Alternate Reality short story, so wish me luck!
BOOK HAUL
Just one new Netgalley book right now. I’ve been really selective regarding what I request on Netgalley because I have plenty of books.
Honor seems to have everything: she adores her bright and beautiful daughter, Chloe, and her charming, handsome husband, Tom, even if he works one hundred hours a week. Yet Honor’s longing for another baby threatens to eclipse all of it―until a shocking event changes their lives forever.
We got between 3 and 4 inches of snow this weekend. Since we live on a gravel road, we’re basically snowed in, but Doug’s out there snow blowing because we are headed to Johnson City tomorrow to close on our house there! I’ll be so glad when that is finished.
Next week I will review Find Me in the Stars by Jules Larimore, Saving Madonna by Kate Bristow, and possibly other books.
BOOK HAUL
I have really stopped requesting so many books on Netgalley. A lot of books come to me via The Historical Novel Society, such as the three below: The Four Queens of Crime, The Socialite’s Guide to Sleuthing and Secrets, and A Lady Would Know Better. These are unedited pictures of the books next to me on my desk. I changed lamps recently, so the green lamp is the most recent.
I also got a wish granted on Netgalley, which is rare, so I’ll be reading The Crime Brulee Bake Off by Rebecca Connolly.
My Netgalley shelf is down to 16, which is low for me, and some of them aren’t due until May and June. I plan to keep the shelf to less than 10 going forward.
This was a pretty relaxing week. I got to do some reading and since I’m retired now, I forgot what day it was A LOT. Yesterday Doug and I went to the Apple Festival in Ellijay, Georgia with my Cousins Gil and Laurie. I liked it overall, but it could be improved. I got a new bread knife and bought some apples and fried apple pies, but there weren’t very many apple-themed booths, which I would think would be the point of an apple festival. I did have a good time. I bought a Georgia Apple Festival t-shirt from a guy who turned out to be from Fort Worth, TX. So there’s that.
Afterwards, we ate at the Pink Pig in Cherry Log, GA, which was pretty good.
Last week I didn’t post as much as I would have liked, so I’m making up for it this week. Hang on to your hat. I’m posting a bunch of reviews today and tomorrow.
NEW BOOK HAUL
Three Days in June Publisher Blurb: Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit. But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband-to-be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.
The Song of the Blue Bottle Tree Publisher Blurb: Genevieve Charbonneau talks to ghosts and has a special relationship with rattlesnakes. In her travels, she’s wandered throughout the South, escaping a mental hospital in Alabama, working for a Louisiana circus, and dancing at a hoochy-kootch in Texas. Now for the first time in a decade, she’s allowed her winding path to bring her to the site of her grandmother’s Arkansas farmhouse, a place hallowed in her memory. She intends only to visit briefly – to pay respects to her buried loved ones and leave. But a chance meeting with a haunted young Vietnam vet reconnects her with the remnants of a family she thought long gone, and their union becomes a catalyst for change and salvation. Written by a naturalist and set on the land where her family roots stretch back two centuries, The Song of the Blue Bottle Tree is a haunting story about letting go and the things we leave behind, the power of names, and the ties that bind. It is both harrowing and triumphant, a visceral Southern debut as otherworldly and beautiful as it is unflinching and wry.
Stone Certainty Publisher Blurb: There are stories about the dilapidated stone circle at Chipping Amesbury, going back centuries. Of people going missing, never to be seen again. Of people found dead inside the circle. Of monsters, and of demons. The villagers may tell the tales with relish to visiting tourists, but a careful observer will notice that there is no transport to the stones, no tours on offer, and the locals stay well away. Alistair Kincaid, the youngest-ever bishop of All Souls Hollow, is an expert in Britain’s ancient stone circles. That’s why, when landowner Sir Neville Chumley announces his plans to restore the circle to its ancient glory, he agrees to take part in a documentary about the project. Well – that, plus talented actress Diana Hunt is on board. Ever since their last encounter, when the pair of them hunted ghosts and solved a murder, the tabloids have dubbed them the Holy Terrors, and Alistair can’t wait to see her again. But soon after filming begins, Alistair and Diana are plunged into a terrifying mystery. For the repositioning of the final stone unleashes a series of blood-chilling events that threaten to make them both believe in demons – if, that is, they make it out of the stone circle alive.
Question of the Day: What did you do for fun last week?
Thank you to @CaffeinatedReviewer for hosting Sunday Post.
Hurricane Helene hit on September 27th, so it’s been 9 days. We did not get the worst of it. We just got a lot of rain, and while there was flooding in town, we were not flooded at our house, which is about a 10-minute drive from town. Since we are in Western NC, we are very fortunate. Other towns to the east of us were decimated and still do not have power, cell service, or internet. I’ve been blessed to see so many people in this area volunteering and donating to help the other towns, and I’ve seen a lot of churches step up. Our church and many other churches have donated to relief efforts with time and money.
Elon Musk has also been personally flying in Starlink equipment to affected towns. It’s been gratifying to see, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
In our area, Darnell Farms, which is a popular tourist destination and a favorite place for family fun, was flooded and lost $50,000 worth of strawberry plants. They also had a lot of property/building damage and might have missed the Fall season if not for the generosity of others. Fall is their biggest season and losing the income from that would have been devastating. They started a GoFundMe, and there was a big response, so now they are using some of the money to help other towns.
This is Darnell Farms right after Helene came through.
I’ve been watching people help each other, and I feel so proud of the people in this area.
My blogging should increase now. The retirement, moving, and storm delays are over for now. I have some reviews in process.
I have been working hard for The Historical Novel Society as a volunteer reviewer, was a temporary Indies Editor, and now I’m a permanent small press editor for them. I have a lot of reviews coming out in November and I will share them here.
THIS WEEK ON BONNIE READS AND WRITES
I’m doing reviews of the following books:
I’m excited about getting back to blogging more often! I’ve missed you all.
My retirement is 12 days away, and life is going to change! I’m moving to Bryson City, deeper into the Great Smoky Mountains. I’m looking forward to it! Here’s a picture below:
Meanwhile, I’ve got a lot of good books to read. Here is what’s going on next week.
Monday: It’s release day for Liz Gauffreau’s poetry book, Simple Pleasures: Haiku from the Place Just Right,and I’ll be posting a promo tomorrow morning and a book review later in the day. Congrats, Liz!
Tuesday: I will participate in Top Ten Tuesday, time permitting.
Wednesday: My review of Gemini by Anthony Tye Rodriguez.
Friday: I’ll be participating in Book Blogger Hop, time permitting.
Saturday/Sunday: I hope to start posting Indie Weekend again.
You must be logged in to post a comment.