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.
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.
It was a pretty quiet week, which was nice after the last two months working so hard. Doug is working on projects around the house and I’m finishing up my last month or two of my job.
This weekend, I’m planning to part with more clothes and books. As far as clothes, I plan to get rid of anything I haven’t worn in the last year. I actually have clothes I haven’t worn in years. I also have to part with some t-shirts, even though I love them all.
Books are a bit different. I’m going to get rid of any books I don’t really think I will read again, or any I have doubles of, which is more than one would think, even though I’ve gotten rid of a lot of books already. Downsizing from 2600 to 1000 square feet takes a lot of sacrifice. We have already gotten rid of so much, and there’s more to go.
The weather has been hot, hot, hot with no rain. Praying for rain soon!
BOOK HAUL
I have been getting a lot of widgets lately. Here are three I accepted this week:
I also got approved for Debbie Macomber’s latest Christmas book. I enjoy reading her books, which are light and easy reads.
Now that I’ve been back from Germany for a week and am caught up on my work, things are going back to normal for a while. I say a while because I’m two months from retirement as of today! In two months I’ll have more free time than I’ve ever had. I’m glad to get back to blogging regularly!
Next Week On The Blog
I have a lot of reviews to catch up on, so I am going to post several mini-reviews.
BOOK HAUL
I received widgets for the following books:
The Mirror is the second book in The Lost Bride trilogy. I loved the first book. Peggy is the story of Peggy Guggenheim. Bear-tooth is a combination of Literary Fiction and Mystery/Thriller about two brothers trying to survive in the American West. I’m looking forward to all of them.
This is my first Sunday Post in about a month I think. I’ve been slammed with work in Germany, so no time for posting and I’ve fallen behind on all my reviews. Retirement is coming up in less than three months, so plenty of time to catch up. Yesterday I took a tour to Prague to kick off our long holiday weekend. See below
The Prague Astronomical Clock or Prague Orloj at Prague Old Town Hall
This is one of the most crowd-fascinating historical features in Prague. There was always a crowd surrounding the clock, waiting for it to strike a new hour. Some of the features were not on the clock yesterday, as it was undergoing maintenance, so I didn’t get the full view. This clock will tell you how many hours it is until sunset. On one side you see the shiny sun and on the other side is the silver moon.
The clock was installed in 1410, and it is the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the only one still in operation. It was partially destroyed by the Nazis near the end of World War II.
This is from Wikipedia: “In 1552 it was repaired by Jan Táborský (1500–1572), master clockmaker of Klokotská Hora. The clock stopped working many times in the centuries after 1552, and was repaired many times. The legend was used as the main plot in the 2008 animated film Goat story – The Old Prague Legends.
In 1629 or 1659 wooden statues were added, and figures of the Apostles were added after a major repair in 1787–1791. During the next major repair in the years 1865–1866, the golden figure of a crowing rooster was added.
The Orloj suffered heavy damage on 7 and especially 8 May 1945, during the Prague uprising, when the Nazis fired on the south-west side of the Old Town Square from several armoured vehicles in an unsuccessful attempt to destroy one of the centers of the uprising. The hall and nearby buildings burned, along with the wooden sculptures on the clock and the calendar dial face made by Josef Mánes.[6] After significant effort, the machinery was repaired, the wooden Apostles restored by Vojtěch Sucharda, and the Orloj started working again in 1948.[7]
The Orloj was renovated in autumn 2005, when the statues and the lower calendar ring were restored. The wooden statues were covered with a net to keep pigeons away.
The last renovation of the astronomical clock was carried out from January to September 2018, following a reconstruction of the Old Town Tower. During the renovation, an electric clock mechanism that had been in operation since 1948 was replaced by an original mechanism from the 1860s.[8]
See below a Youtube video showing the clock strike a new hour. It is fascinating.
UPCOMING ON BONNIE READS AND WRITES
I will be posting two reviews I did for the May issue of Historical Novels Review, the magazine of The Historical Novel Society. They are THE CAPTIVE and THE GUARDIAN, Books 2 and 3 of THE MENDER SERIES by Jennifer Marchman. My review of Book One and Q&A with the author is here.
I am catching up on my Netgalley Shelf, so I’m reading MIND GAMES by Nora Roberts and then I will provide other reviews as well. I’m returning home on June 7th, and retiring August 16th.
I also want to direct you to a past Memorial Day tribute I’ve done for my Uncle, Wayne Jenkins, who died in Vietnam. We will never forget you, Uncle Wayne.
My departure for a two-month work trip to Germany is coming up fast. Our cleaning and getting rid of a lot of stuff continues! I’m leaving on April 5th. If anyone has any international travel or packing tips, I’m all ears. There is a very cool page on Instagram called “The Folding Hacks,” and I’m scouring that trying to learn how to get more into my suitcase, but neatly. I’ll still be posting from Germany, and I’ll be continuing my volunteer work as Indies Co-Editor and as a reviewer for Historical Novels Review, the magazine of The Historical Novel Society.
I am still behind on Goodreads and blog visiting, but I’m hoping to catch up this coming week.
WHAT ARE YOU READING
(Partial blurb from publisher Atria Books) 1918: As the Great War rages, Jessie Carson takes a leave of absence from the New York Public Library to work for the American Committee for Devastated France. Founded by millionaire Anne Morgan, this group of international women help rebuild destroyed French communities just miles from the front. Upon arrival, Jessie strives to establish something that the French have never seen—children’s libraries. She turns ambulances into bookmobiles and trains the first French female librarians. Then she disappears.
WHAT HAVE YOU JUST FINISHED
Historical Fiction combining The Blitz in London with a bookish theme. Loved it.
WHAT ARE YOU READING NEXT
A serial arsonist has burned down another house and two children are missing. Detective Jace Franco is on the case.
This is Book Two of the An American in Paris mysteries, in which Julia Child is a supporting character. I absolutely loved Book One.
Another week went by when I was so busy I couldn’t post much. I wasn’t able to post the reviews I had planned, so some of them will go up today. I’m preparing for my work trip to Germany, finishing up reviews for The Historical Novel Society, and also doing some editing work for them while one of the editors is taking some time off. It’s been a great experience.
NEXT WEEK: I hope to catch up and provide you a lot of good reviews! These include Charlie Hustle, The Ark and the Dove,The Great Divide, and more.
BOOK HAUL:
This is the third book in a fantastic series about a family of safe-cracking criminals who become government spies during WWII.
The Burning Rooms is the third book in a great series of standalone thrillers from Anni Taylor.
I’m off to make lemon bars and chicken parm! So we’re eating well tonight. How was your week?
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