WEEKLY UPDATES: CHRISTMAS, FIRST BOOKS OF THE YEAR, ETC.

On By Laurel-Rain SnowIn weekly updates

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves, for weekly updates.

**Mailbox Monday is hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.

And let’s join Kathryn, our leader in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, at Book Date.

 

We are really counting down the days until Christmas now!  I have plans for next week for a mani and a freshened hairstyle.  My daughter does my hair, but she is extremely busy and I had to scramble for an appointment.  I wanted a new look, not just for holiday revelry, but for the First Book of the Year photo.  Yes, Sheila is leading us again in our annual bookish celebration.  I have been participating since 2014, when it began.  I have a folder of my photos and a page here featuring the chosen books.

Now…on to my reading, blogging, etc.  I wrote seven blog posts (not bad), but I only read TWO books…and I finished the second one last night at midnight.  Wow!  I seriously need to get my mojo back.  Usually I read three books, and last week, I got through four books.  I guess I decided to “rest on my laurels” this week. (Pun intended).

However, there was shopping, etc., going on this week.  I had an afternoon with my granddaughter Fiona to select new eyeglasses, which she had not yet picked up by the time that we tried a new restaurant in my neighborhood called Lazy Dog.  The patio allows doggie guests.  We ate inside, since we had no dog companions with us.  Here is Fiona enjoying her meal, and my pomegranate martini is in the forefront.  Later I’ll show my food.

Of course I had planned to enjoy some Amazon Prime and Netflix this week, but I couldn’t settle on any one show.  I did watch Dumplin’, and added the new season of Wanted to my queue.  But…that was it for this week. 

Let’s grab some coffee (and/or a mimosa), and look at the details of my week.

LAST WEEK ON THE BLOGS:

Sunday Potpourri: Christmas Decor, Netflix Viewing, Etc.

Tuesday Excerpts:  “The Comforts of Home”

Rainy Day Hygge:  Books, Decorations, Etc.

Books to Savor…

Coffee Chat:  Fun and Food…

Where Are My Rainy Days?

Bookish Friday:  “Verity”

Review:  Tell Me Lies (e-book), by Carola LoveringReview:  The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters (e-book), by Kashner, et.al. (Library Book)

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INCOMING BOOKS:  (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon):

Empty physical mailbox…but I got one NetGalley ARC and a Kindle Prime Freebie!

Keeping Lucy (e-book), by T. Greenwood – (NG – 8/6/19)

FREEBIE:

True Places (e-book), by Sonja Yoerg

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WHAT’S NEXT?

Since this past week was not a stellar reading journey, I need to start with my one other January e-ARC:  The Perfect Liar, by Thomas Christopher Greene (Release Date – 1/15).

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And then I’ve been wanting to read a book from an author I love; it has been on my shelf for a while:

Gone So Long (e-book), by Andre Dubus III

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Next I’ll follow my moods…

That was my week; what did yours look like?  As promised, here is more food to share from my meal at Lazy Dog with Fiona…the fish and chips order was supposed to be half-size…so can you imagine what the full size looked like?  Yikes!

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69 thoughts on “WEEKLY UPDATES: CHRISTMAS, FIRST BOOKS OF THE YEAR, ETC.”

  4. Mmm fish and chips… yum. Now I want fish. 🙂 The Lazy Dog sounds like my kinda place.

    The Perfect Liar (sounds foreboding) and True Places both look good.

    Hope you have a great weekend- I need to do some Netflix binging myself!

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    1. Thanks, Greg, my granddaughter described the Lazy Dog as a place for lumberjacks…LOL. The servers wear a lot of plaid with their boots.

      I did love the food and how much attention we got from the servers…it’s a new place in our neighborhood.

      I just finished The Perfect Liar, and I read it straight through…my eyes are now very tired. I loved the intensity and the pace, and how I couldn’t guess what would happen next.

      Have a great week!

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  5. The martini looks refreshing. I’d like to read Dubus’s Gone So Long too. He’s a great writer, but his novel is not on my immediate stack at the moment; still I hope to get to it. How close do you post reviews of ARC books that are in 2019? I’m never sure what the rule is. Can you post a review a couple weeks before the publish date? I have an ARC for January and just not sure when to post. Thanks hope you have a great week.

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    1. Thanks for visiting, Susan, and my “rule of thumb” on ARCs, which is not a laid-down rule I’ve read anywhere, is no more than a month before release. Sometimes I wait until a week or two before, but I was eager to finish my January books, which I have now done. I try not to accept too many books in any month; January had two. I have two in February and two in March…and so on. I even have some coming out in August (3). Pressure!

      I loved The House of Sand and Fog, so I’m eager to see if Long Time Gone lives up to that one.

      Enjoy your week.

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  6. Oh my gosh the food looks so good and I like places like Lazy Dog, there’s a similar place near us too where you can bring your dogs out front. Enjoy the holidays, it’s always nice getting a pampered at the salon. Happy reading :).

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  9. Yvonne

    Okay, so now I’m craving fish and chips. LOL That definitely doesn’t look like a half-size portion 🙂 I’ll have to check the first season of Wanted. I’m watching Dumplin’ today. Gone So Long looks really good.

    Have a great week!

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    1. Thanks for visiting, Yvonne, and I couldn’t believe that was a half portion either! Obviously I’ll need to doggy bag my food.

      I’ve barely started Gone So Long, after spending all day reading and finishing The Perfect Liar. Tired eyes. Do you have an Oasis Kindle? Mine loses its charge before the day is over.

      I do love fish and chips.

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  10. StackingMy BookShelves

    First off, love the martini and the foodie picture and love the first book of the year photo. What a great idea. I am on break and I am soooo happy about it. I didn’t finish any books last week but I am hoping to read at least 3 this week. Finishing off two and staring/finishing the other. I hope you have a wonderful week of reading!

    Mary

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  12. I think I will just have to hide behind a book for the photo! I find the reading mojo ebbs and flows. If we are not reading we are doing something else. Found your Bouvier sisters review very interesting, no happy ending for them!

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    1. Thanks, Kathryn, it was sad to realize that Lee is now all alone (in her eighties) with so many family members and friends gone. I wanted to cry.

      Taking a photo of a Kindle book is challenging, as sometimes the book covers aren’t that striking. Enjoy your week.

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  13. As always, YUM! And, that’s awesome that your daughter does your hair. My daughter used to make my PJ pants and hem all my stuff, but now she is too far away. –sigh– I must, once again, commend the fine people at Netflix, because that was a great adaptation of Dumplin. I shed tears during the pageant, and the ending was so fun.

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    1. Thanks for visiting, Sam, and I started using my daughter as my stylist when she was in cosmetology school…she insisted, in fact, as I already loved the stylist I had. LOL. So now when she moans about not having time for me, I remind her of that. Also, she sometimes threatens to move to Texas, where her husband has some land…and I tell her what I think of that idea. Not going there ever! I hope you don’t live in Texas. LOL, Maybe she threatens to move to get away from me. LOL

      I need to read Dumplin’, although I often see movies before I read the books.

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  16. You continue to make me hungry! I like pomegranate martinis! I have to go start on Shrimp / Corn soup for dinner soon. I got a new soup pot today – cast iron – very heavy.

    I also got True Places. I hope we both enjoy it! Anne – Books of My Heart

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  18. This is a busy time of year. You always accomplish a lot of blogging even when you are busy.
    Thanks for reminding me I need to start working on my First Book of the Year choice.
    True Places sounds good.
    Hope you have a blessed week as you prepare for Christmas Celebration.
    Happy Reading!

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  23. I don’t think anybody gets much reading done this time of year… so many other things to get done! I’m still reading a long Trollope novel. Now I’ve got a bad cold, so will probably read most of the day today. So glad Sheila is bringing back First Book of the Year. Your martini looks so good!!

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  30. Susan @ The Book Bag

    Looks like you had an awesome week, even with fewer books read. Sometimes it’s good to just pull back and enjoy life as it comes. I just got approved for Keeping Lucy and I’m so excited!! Have a wonderful week and happy reading!

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