WEEKLY UPDATES: A BETTER WEEK…

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post 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.

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Another week has flown by, and happily my eye is better and I feel more like reading.  One book read and reviewed.  I wrote two blog posts, but I did some viewing, as usual.  I finished watching Murder in the First, on Hulu, and I am on Season III of Damages.  Both are shows I watched in the past, but I am loving them again.

Now I am ordering my grocery delivery and keeping one eye on my phone, which is how I know what items have been shopped. If something needs changing, they text me.

I do not know how I managed shopping back in the day!  I had to actually go to the store.  That all changed with the Pandemic, and also since I no longer have a car and don’t like the idea of grabbing a Lyft to shop.

Now…let’s take a closer look at my week.

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WWW READING…

COFFEE CHAT:  ANOTHER QUIET WEEK…

 

Review:  The Love of My Life, by Rosie Walsh

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INCOMING BOOK:

The Light We Carry, by Michelle Obama

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That was my week.  I enjoyed relaxing and did a little cooking.  My Fish and Chips was another treat this week.

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COFFEE CHAT: ANOTHER QUIET WEEK…

Welcome to another Coffee Chat.  It has been another quiet week as I recover from my eye infection.  My reading has been slow, and I have only read and reviewed five books for January!  So…I didn’t even do a monthly wrap-up.  I did read and review Spare, by Prince Harry, and now I am enjoying The Love of My Life, by Rosie Walsh.

• I finished viewing The Practice and Murder in the First, and yesterday finished Season I of Damages, a show I enjoyed a few years ago.
• Then I received a new book from Amazon:  The Light We Carry, by Michelle Obama.
• I felt like cooking on Monday, and made some fish and chips.  I added some malt vinegar to spice things up.

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What did your week look like?

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WEEKLY UPDATES: LOVELY WEEK…

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post 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.

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Another quiet week, with viewing, one blog post, and one book read and reviewed.  I have been quietly recovering from my eye infection, and feel almost back to normal.  Let’s take a closer look at my week.

BOOKISH FRIDAY: “SPARE,” BY PRINCE HARRY

Review:  Spare, by Prince Harry

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My viewing included The Practice, a streaming series with eight seasons.  I finally finished them all!

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Now I hope to get out and about.  I plan to read one of the books on my shelf or on my Kindle. I will curl up here on my sofa.

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WEEKLY UPDATES: A QUIET WEEK…

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post 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.

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What a week!  After the rain finally died down, the fog came, so it was definitely an indoor week.  I did some viewing and a little reading, and wrote one blog post.  No books finished!

I had family company on the weekend.  I also spent time in the emergency room with an infected eye!  Now I am on antibiotics and hoping all will improve soon.

Here is a closer look at the week.

WWW READING…

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CURRENTLY READING:  Spare, by Prince Harry

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INCOMING BOOKS:

The Love of My Life, by Rosie Walsh

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That was my very quiet week.  I received packages from Amazon and curled up to view some old favorite shows.  On the weekend, my No. 2 son came to visit, and we had dinner on Friday and breakfast this morning with my daughter and son-in-law.  Overall, a pretty good week.

What did yours look like?

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WEEKLY UPDATES: RAINING AGAIN!

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post 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.

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What a rainy week we had!  We haven’t had flooding here, although some of the streets might be a bit full of water.  I haven’t been out at all.  My patio furniture keeps falling down, but so far, nothing is broken.  I enjoyed reading my two books and I wrote four blog posts.  I did a little viewing, like an old favorite British series called Last Tango in Halifax.  I like seeing shows and movies over again.

I am not sure what I’ll be reading next.  I started a couple of books on my Kindle, and for some reason, nothing really grabbed me.  Perhaps I’ll start one of the books on my hardcover stack.

Grab some coffee and take a closer peek at my week.

 

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TUESDAY EXCERPTS:  “HELLO STRANGER”

WWW READING…

COFFEE CHAT:  IS THE RAIN GOING AWAY?

BOOKISH FRIDAY:  “JUST THE NICEST COUPLE”

Review:  Ms. Demeanor, by Elinor Lipman

Review:  Just the Nicest Couple, by Mary Kubica

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INCOMING BOOKS:

Just the Nicest Couple, by Mary Kubica

Spare, by Prince Harry

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That was my week.  Today is another rainy one.  Yesterday was so nice and I was able to walk outside for a bit.  Not today.  Sigh.  I’m cleaning and doing laundry.  I have ordered more things from Amazon.  The Pandemic turned me into a “hoarder” of supplies, even though there aren’t the same shortages now.  I feel good having more than I might need, as having to order things means there is a slight delay before I can tuck them away in my cabinets.  A habit that will be hard to break.

We are having another family get-together next weekend.  Yay!

What has your week brought?

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COFFEE CHAT: IS THE RAIN GOING AWAY?

Welcome to another Coffee Chat on a day that is not rainy.  Finally.  I was able to take out the garbage without sloshing through puddles.

• My indoor activities are good, though, as I have plenty of books to read.  Earlier this week I read and reviewed Ms. Demeanor, by Elinor Lipman, which I really enjoyed.  And now I am reading Just the Nicest Couple, by Mary Kubica.
• This week I also viewed a series from Netflix that I loved a while back:  Last Tango in Halifax.  Full of great characters and settings from the English countryside.
• I have been playing around with my interiors to spotlight the return of my cute Mary Engelbreit cookie jar, replacing what I lost in 2019.  I actually only found part of the set on e-bay.  

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Here is a photo of the complete set from my previous residence:

I will keep searching for the other cookie jar.  E-bay is a great place to discover “lost” items.  What has your week brought to you?  Hopefully you are safe from storms.

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REVIEW: MS. DEMEANOR, BY ELINOR LIPMAN

Jane Morgan is a valued member of her law firm—or was, until a prudish neighbor, binoculars poised, observes her having sex on the roof of her NYC apartment building. Police are summoned, and a punishing judge sentences her to six months of home confinement. With Jane now jobless and rootless, trapped at home, life looks bleak. Yes, her twin sister provides support and advice, but mostly of the unwelcome kind. When a doorman lets slip that Jane isn’t the only resident wearing an ankle monitor, she strikes up a friendship with fellow white-collar felon Perry Salisbury. As she tries to adapt to life within her apartment walls, she discovers she hasn’t heard the end of that tattletale neighbor—whose past isn’t as decorous as her 9-1-1 snitching would suggest. Why are police knocking on Jane’s door again? Can her house arrest have a silver lining? Can two wrongs make a right? In the hands of “an inspired alchemist who converts serious subject into humor” (New York Times Book Review)—yes, delightfully.

 

From the very first pages of Ms. Demeanor, I was caught up in the events that turned a tale about house arrest into a journey toward food and love. It was a delightful romantic story with lots of interesting detours and characters.

Our journey takes us from a vicious woman with binoculars to other residents of the apartment building hoping to arrange a green card marriage. I quickly turned the pages until the very satisfactory ending. 5 stars.

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WEEKLY UPDATES: FINDING A BALANCE…

 

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post 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.

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After a quiet New Year’s Eve, I hunkered down with my First Book of the Year and finished it in two days.  I also did some viewing of movies and shows:  You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Ginny and Georgia, Season I of Echoes, and The Best of Me.  I only wrote three blog posts, but I read a second book.

I then waited for an eagerly anticipated mail delivery…and it arrived on Wednesday.  The replacement Mary Engelbreit cookie jar that I have been missing since my move of 2019.

 

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Here are details about the week:

MONTHLY WRAP-UP, YEAR’S END

COFFEE CHAT: A RAINY HUMP DAY…

BOOKISH FRIDAY:  “SLEEP NO MORE”

Review:  A Good Neighborhood, by Therese Anne Fowler (First Book of the Year)

Review:  The Disinvited Guest, by Carol Goodman

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INCOMING BOOKS:

Sleep No More, by Jayne Ann Krentz

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That was my week.  What did yours look like? I am currently reading Ms. Demeanor, by Elinor Lipman, and it is already fascinating.

I think the rain has slowed down for the next couple of days, so I can hurry and take the garbage out!  I hate sloshing through puddles.

Other than reading, not much will happen today, but I will find some more movies and shows to view.

Happy First Week of January!

 

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REVIEW: A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD, BY THERESE ANNE FOWLER

In Oak Knoll, a verdant, tight-knit North Carolina neighborhood, professor of forestry and ecology Valerie Alston-Holt is raising her bright and talented biracial son, Xavier, who’s headed to college in the fall. All is well until the Whitmans—a family with new money and a secretly troubled teenage daughter—raze the house and trees next door to build themselves a showplace.

With little in common except a property line, these two families quickly find themselves at odds: first, over an historic oak tree in Valerie’s yard, and soon after, the blossoming romance between their two teenagers.

A Good Neighborhood asks big questions about life in America today—what does it mean to be a good neighbor? How do we live alongside each other when we don’t see eye to eye?—as it explores the effects of class, race, and heartrending love in a story that’s as provocative as it is powerful.

 

 

 

As we follow the people living in A Good Neighborhood, we learn about their current lives and background stories, just as we begin to pick sides. All of us will have favorites, but mine were the characters Valerie and Julia, although the teenagers Xavier and Juniper seemed to pull at the heart of the tale and brought the sharpest focus on the issues. Brad Whitman, the rich man who seemed to control the neighborhood, was beyond unlikable. His behavior set the tone for the neighborhood’s dark side.

Issues of race, the environment, wealth, and poverty…all that we see in contemporary America, flowed through the story and tugged at our emotions.

I couldn’t stop reading, turning the pages rapidly, and I was so glad I chose this book for my First Book of the Year. 5 stars.

 

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COFFEE CHAT: A RAINY HUMP DAY…

Welcome to another Coffee Chat, in which I will share how my reading and viewing is going.  Meanwhile, it is raining outside, and the forecast reveals more storms ahead.  Sigh.  I have my garbage ready to go out, and I’ll try to wait for a slight diminishing of the rain to head out.  I am also expecting an e-bay order to arrive in the mail today, so that will need to be timed, too.  My lovely Engelbreit cookie jar is headed my way! Below, right, is the one I found and ordered.  I’ll keep looking for the other one.

• Meanwhile, I am reading my First Book of the Year, A Good Neighborhood, by Therese Anne Fowler.  I am more than halfway finished.  Primarily because I am reading from the Kindle version, a decision I made after I realized how reading from print was hard on my eyes!  Have you ever done that?  Ordered a Kindle version of a hardcover print that you own?
• Last night I also watched a movie on Hulu, an older one based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, The Best of Me.  I was sobbing by the end.  Those Sparks novels tend to do that.
• Lately I stay up late, usually until 11:30 or so; I fall asleep better if I don’t go down too soon.  I still wake up at 6:30 a.m.
• My No. 2 son is coming to visit us again, later in the month.  It has been great to enjoy more family time.  My Murphy bed is getting a good workout!

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How is your first week of the year unfolding?

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