It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer and Kathyrn at The Book Date.



What I/we’ve been Reading
This week I am continuing to read chapters before bed of Little Women. It’s such a cozy read.
I’m also reading The Spectacular by Fiona Davis. It is a mystery.


A description in case you are curious:
From the New York Times Bestselling Author of The Magnolia Palace: A thrilling story about love, sacrifice, and the pursuit of dreams, set amidst the glamour and glitz of Radio City Music Hall in its mid-century heyday.
New York City, 1956: Nineteen-year-old Marion Brooks knows she should be happy. Her high school sweetheart is about to propose and sweep her off to the life everyone has always expected they’d have together: a quiet house in the suburbs, Marion staying home to raise their future children. But instead, Marion finds herself feeling trapped. So when she comes across an opportunity to audition for the famous Radio City Rockettes—the glamorous precision-dancing troupe—she jumps at the chance to exchange her predictable future for the dazzling life of a performer.
Meanwhile, the city is reeling from a string of bombings orchestrated by a person the press has nicknamed the “Big Apple Bomber,” who has been terrorizing the citizens of New York for sixteen years by planting bombs in popular, crowded spaces. With the public in an uproar over the lack of any real leads after a yearslong manhunt, the police turn in desperation to Peter Griggs, a young doctor at a local mental hospital who espouses a radical new technique: psychological profiling.
As both Marion and Peter find themselves unexpectedly pulled in to the police search for the bomber, Marion realizes that as much as she’s been training herself to blend in—performing in perfect unison with all the other identical Rockettes—if she hopes to catch the bomber, she’ll need to stand out and take a terrifying risk. In doing so, she may be forced to sacrifice everything she’s worked for, as well as the people she loves the most.
The Boy and I will be starting A Tale of Two Cities this week and I really hope I can make it through the old language because sometimes I am confused by it. Just being honest. I enjoy classic literature but sometimes the metaphors and allegory, etc. totally throw me off and I have to re-read a sentence more than once. I wouldn’t consider myself stupid (some might) but I don’t read classics all the time so it doesn’t come as easily for me as some.
The Husband finished an ARC of the next Joe Picket book and recently started another Fiona Davis book.
Little Miss and I will probably finish The Black Stallion this week and I’m not yet sure what we will read next. We are reading a book about a Native American girl for school but I can’t find it and forgot the name of it.
What’s Been Occurring
Cold temperatures are becoming the norm now as we move into winter, which means lighting or keeping the fire going in the woodstove is also becoming the norm. It also means that hot cocoa and hot tea are the norm.
I am very lucky that I have a husband who makes amazing tea for me with just the right amount of honey and a daughter who makes me the most amazing hot cocoa with just the right amount of maple syrup.
Those have been my treats to warm me up this week.
Last week was a relaxed week with the Thanksgiving holiday.
Monday we will be back doing schoolwork and back to Kid’s Club at the church and gymnastics for Little Miss. The Boy has an extra day off trade school, but goes back on Tuesday.
Photos from Last Week
Here are a few photos from our Thanksgiving.









What We watched/are Watching
I started watching Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman last week. It’s been fun to go back because I don’t remember most of the episodes or what happened, even though I watched them during junior high and high school.
We also watched some episodes of Doctor Who this week and the 60th anniversary special, which I don’t want to talk about. Ever. I’m not kidding.
I’ll stick with the old episodes.
Little Miss and I watched the first Paddington movie since we have been reading Paddington books off and on during the week.
This week I’ll be watching a couple of Christmas-themed movies or shows as Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs get read for Cozy Christmas, which you can find out more about in her post here:
https://crackercrumblife.com/2023/11/24/comfy-cozy-christmas/
I’ll be posting my own separate post about this later this week as well.
What I’m Writing
I’m working on Cassie this weekend and will be this upcoming week after finishing preparations to release Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage next Tuesday.
On the blog this week I shared:
- Black Friday Book Sale and a Chance to Win Some Books
- Wednesday Afternoon Tea and Chat
- Eight cozy gifts for the reader in your life
What I’m Listening To
This week I listened to Needtobreathe’s new album The Cave.
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.
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I really enjoyed The Spectacular; it was such a fun read! It didn’t hurt that I had wonderful memories of seeing the Christmas Spectacular myself. Looks like you had a wonderful and delicious Thanksgiving.
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I’m actually finding the book a little slow but I think that’s because I keep getting interrupted so it feels like it is taking a long time. I’m only in the beginning, though. I like it so far.
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Looks like you had a bountiful and yummy Thanksgiving. Stay warm. It’s cold over here on the other side of our state too.
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Mmm that tea and cocoa sounds perfect as does the fire and wow that Thanksgiving. I have read one Fiona Davis book and enjoyed it. Set at the museum.
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Looks like a great Thanksgiving. Nice assortment of books and movies too. Come see my week <a href=”https://inside-dog.blogspot.com/2023/11/its-monday-what-are-you-reading_0679501578.html“>here</a>. Happy reading!
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I’m glad you enjoyed such a bountiful Thanksgiving feast!
The Spectacular sounds good
Wishing you a wonderful reading week
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You too!
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I had to chuckle as I read what The Boy is reading. I had my tonsils out at the end of fourth grade. My parents knew I loved to read so they bought me two books, Call of the Wild and A Tale of Two Cities. I read the first, but, try as I might, I could not get into the second. I may have had to read it in college for an elective. I’m currently reading another Louise Penny murder mystery book having just finished One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid. That had a very interesting premise. I’ve been listening to Harry Chapin and watching Face Off.
Your Thanksgiving looks so much like ours used to…right down to the Corelle and Corningware dishes! And, my grands don’t consider it Thanksgiving without the jellied cranberries!
Have a wonderful week, Lisa!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
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We have to put that cranberry “sauce” on the table for my brother who doesn’t even come most of the time because of his wife’s work schedule. Haha! We even have to take a photo to prove it is there. It has become a running joke now. He doesn’t even like it!
I need to check out Louise Penny sometime!
As for Dickens…I am in my mid-40s and I am struggling with the language – I can’t imagine how a fourth grader would read it! Call of the Wild is a lot less “wordy”.
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All that food looks so good.
Have a great week.
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I wonder if listening to parts of A Tale of Two Cities might make it “click”. I always had a hard time with Shakespeare’s plays, but awhile back, I caught someone who did a really good job with a theater group getting them to speak/act the plays as they may have sounded in Shakespeare’s day, and all of a sudden, the characters weren’t reciting a classic, they were talking to each other and the funny words seemed much more natural. With a play, there’s the acting as well, but a good reader of a book does some of this as well. I read “A Tale of Two Cities” when I was about 25; I loved it, and once I started getting into the book, the language seemed a lot less old, but Dickens is Dickens and uses a lot of words. 🙂
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It very well might! I thought of that too. It helped my son and I both with Silas Marner a couple of years ago so we will probably do the same with this one. Good idea!
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You Thanksgiving feast looks amazing!! Have a wonderful week Lisa and stay warm!
PS: maple syrup in hot chocolate??😯
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It is so, so good. You need to try it!
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It looks like you had a lovely Thanksgiving, Lisa:)). And yes… it’s getting steadily colder here, too. Although to date, it’s been freakishly mild, so I’m not complaining as I hate the freezing temps. Have a great week.
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We were hoping that it would remain mild but, alas, it is not to be.
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Yes… Let’s hope it’s a passing cold front and the weather will get milder again:)).
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