Welcome to Sunday Bookends where I ramble about what I’ve been reading, doing, watching, writing and listening to.

What I/we’ve been Reading

This past week I finished The Uncertainty of Fire by Stephanie Daniels and posted a review HERE:

I then jumped back into High Adventure by Donald Westlake for something different and am splitting my reading time between that and You Are The Reason by Mary Felkins.

In case any of you are interested in either book,  here are their descriptions:

High Adventure:

One man’s quest to make history—and a lot of money: “High entertainment” from the three-time Edgar Award–winning Grand Master of Mystery (Elmore Leonard).
 
Kirby Galway may be a low-level marijuana smuggler in Belize, but the man has a dream—to make lots and lots of money. So when a local official offers him a back-jungle tract of land he swears would make a perfect cattle ranch, Kirby jumps at the opportunity. Unfortunately, he lands himself in a swamp—that he now owns.
 
Kirby begins selling homemade “artifacts” from his property to American museums and witless tourists, even building a fake ancient temple and recruiting a tribe of Mayan Indians who know a good scam when they see one.
 
But his cash-cow paradise soon attracts the attention of two snooping New York reporters, a beautiful archaeologist from UCLA, and a troop of Guatemalan guerillas just itching to shoot somebody. Kirby is going to have to talk fast, move faster, and pull out every dirty trick he knows if he’s going to get out of this alive . . .

You Are The Reason:

A reluctant heiress.

A driven contractor.

An abandoned house in want of a family.

CPA Everley Scott knows exactly what she wants. Status quo. But when her inheritance of Moreland, an 1846 manor house, is at risk of being razed, she agrees to fulfill her mother’s final wishes to restore the house to its former glory and hire her contractor of choice.

Historic restoration specialist, Gabe Bellevue, is in need of a big contract to buoy his reputation as New Orleans’ go-to guy. Stunned at his hefty price, Everley is cornered into involving a high-profile production company that offers funding in return for rights to film the project.

Production’s strict schedule pressures Gabe to rush the job, but his refusal could cost him the deal of a lifetime … and his last shot at satisfying unrequited love for Everley—his high school crush.

The discovery of an impassioned plea penned in the 1800’s by a former Moreland heiress might be the key to unlock Everley’s heart and enable her to embrace the historic treasure. Especially when it comes with a highly capable—and increasingly irresistible—contractor.

Will Moreland, once again, enjoy the sound of love and laughter within its walls?

At night Little Miss and I finished Anne of Green Gables and moved into Anne of Avonlea. During the day we’ve been reading The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill and we will be finishing that Monday. I haven’t decided what we will read next for school.

The Boy is not reading anything right now other than textbooks.

The Husband just finished Robert Galbraith’s The Ink Black Heart and really enjoyed it. He is now reading Kill Me If You Can by Mickey Spillane and Max Collins.

What’s Been Occurring

This week the leaves really started to change, almost at what felt like overnight.   

I took some time Thursday to drive around our area a small distance and take some photos and then took a few more on our way to and from gymnastics yesterday.

We didn’t do much this week other than school and grocery shopping.

What We watched/are Watching

This week we continued to watch Brokenwood and are now on the seventh season.

We also watched Young Frankenstein as part of the Spooky Season Cinema feature I am doing with Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.

I started a detective movie called The Kennel Murder Case from 1933 with William Powell on YouTube, but didn’t finish it. Hopefully this week. It is one of several movies focused on the character of detective Philo Vance developed by author S.S. Van Dine in the 1920s

I also started to rewatch the Pride and Prejudice BBC mini-series with Colin Firth (who is the definitive Mr. Darcy.)

What I’m Writing

I’m working as often as I can during the week on Shores of Mercy so I can finish the first draft and have the final draft to The Husband for editing by early or mid-November.

This week on the blog I shared:

• Book Review/Recommendation: The Uncertainty of Fire
• Fiction Friday: Mercy’s Shore Chapter 22
• Spooky Season Cinema: Young Frankenstein
• Book Recommendation: Mama, Sing My Song

Now it’s your turn

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.