Sunday Bookends: Children’s books, ARCs, and working on future books


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, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.

What’s Been Occurring

Catch up on my week in yesterday’s post!

Saturday Afternoon Chat: beautiful weather, trampolines, and cottonwood trees

What I/we’ve been Reading

Currently:

The Women of Wyntons by Donna Muma (ARC)

The Secret of Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene (Another fluff read by “Carolyn Keene” this week.)

The Fast Lane by Sharon Peterson (A romantic comedy – much needed, though there is some seriousness thrown in so I’m reading it sort of slowly.)

Just Finished:

Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski

I almost abandoned this one because of how odd it was when I first started but then I had to find out what happened with the Slater family – who are so mean to the Boyler family. If you’re not familiar with this one it is about farming families in Florida in the early 20th century. Their accents are, I guess, very authentic. Or mocking. Not sure which, but I think they are meant to be authentic. (I know they are meant to be authentic. I’m teasing a bit here.)

It honestly had a lot of disturbing stuff in it so I don’t think this will be a book I’ll read over and over. The librarian at our local library said this one had sentimental meaning for her like the Little House books but I don’t remember neighbors poisoning the Ingalls’ mule like the neighbors in this book did. Yikes. It did have a good ending, but I would not call this a “cozy read.”

It was, however, an interesting one.

Abandoned: I planned to start a new book by author Maddie Day and then found out that she is a cozy mystery writer who pushes politics in her books. No thanks. I read to escape from all that – not to have it shoved at me in books that are meant to be fun. And, by the way, I don’t want politics even if it is politics I “agree with.”


Soon to be read:


The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of my Father by Jim Wight

The Deeds of the Deceitful by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe

The Boy and I are reading Around the World in 80 Days Together.

Little Miss and I are reading Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes.

The Husband is reading . .. oops. Forgot to ask him and he’s laying down for a nap. I’ll let you know next week.

What We watched/are Watching

It was a mixed bag of things on tap to watch this week. I watched an episode of Dick VanDyke, one of the old Carol Burnett Show, a couple of YouTube videos from Just A Few Acres Farm and I think that’s about it. I read and wrote more this week than watched things.
What I’m Writing

This week on the blog I shared:

I am still working on corrections to Cassie and on writing the third book in the Gladwynn Grant Mysteries.



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.


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12 thoughts on “Sunday Bookends: Children’s books, ARCs, and working on future books

  1. Sorry that I forgot about the poisoning in Strawberry Girl! I just remember being fascinated by all of the different stories and cultures within our country. But then, you know I was a little strange and read books all about Florence Nightingale and other nurses trying to bring reform to the awful hospitals and sanitariums. They were pretty sad and descriptive also! I did like The Bobbsey Twins and Heidi and the original Winnie the Pooh tho also!

    Liked by 1 person

    • It wasn’t a horrible book or anything. Just different than I expected. Yes, I think you are a little strange reading about those things. *wink* Joking!

      But we are all a little strange. That’s what makes life interesting.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. I totally agree with you about politics in books. Unfortunately authors pushing their personal political views seem to be becoming more prevalent.

    Here’s the link to what I’m currently reading and what I plan on reading in the coming week.

    Happy reading!💕📚

    Like

  3. The Lois Lenski books were books I read as a child. I read every book that was on the shelf at our school library. She was considered innovative for her day, writing stories about marginalized groups of people that rarely appeared in stories. I would like to reread one or two, especially Strawberry Girl and Cotton in My Sack.

    My mom read Nancy Drew books as a girl. I didn’t get a chance to read them until I was grown.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I do want to try others by her and she definitely brought some needed attention to the poor at that time. Not my favorite middle grade book I’ve ever read but still very interesting. It made me uncomfortable but the more I’ve thought about it today, the more I think that isn’t a bad thing.

      Like

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