It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
First things first – He has risen! He has risen indeed! Happy Easter!
Remember when I was all like, “I need some warmer weather. It’s too cold!”
Well, I thought we’d go into the warmer weather gradually, not one day it’s 35 and I’m wearing a winter coat to a day later it’s almost 80 and humid.
That’s Pennsylvania for you.
I didn’t enjoy the humid weather yesterday, but I did enjoy nicer weather the day before when it allowed me to sit on the front porch and read some while Little Miss drew on the sidewalk with chalk.
I am going to miss my evenings watching Murder She Wrote with a blanket over my lap.
Oh wow. Did I just write that?
I am officially old, aren’t I? Talking about watching Murder She Wrote with my blanket and a cup of tea. *wink*
Oh well. It’s where I am in life and I am okay with that. I’ll just have to watch Murder She Wrote with a glass of lemonade or cold ice water instead.
Today we will have Easter dinner with my parents and maybe watch a movie together.
This doesn’t really go with the rest of this section, but I hit 103 subscribers on my little YouTube Channel yesterday. Whoot!
Guys, gals, blog readers! I feel like I may never finish the two long books I’ve been reading! I know I will and have moved my focus to just one of the books to make it even more likely I actually finish of them this week.
I have been reading both The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien and All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot, switching off between the two depending on my mood, and they are taking forever! They seem so long. I read them on my kindle at night and I swear that I will be reading for an hour, look down at the percentage and realize I’ve barely made a dent in the book!
I finally realized they are both 400-page books, which isn’t really a lot, but can drag a book out when you’re only reading a chapter here and there. Even though they are long books, I am really enjoying them. I am especially enjoying The Two Towers even if it is a bit wordy.
I love the characters and all their different quirks, even if I have gotten a bit lost since we met up with King Theoden and his peeps. Now I am getting too many characters thrown at me, but that’s how fantasy books are so I am just taking it all in stride.
I hope to dig into a book of short stories by Louis L’Amour this week that my husband picked up at the library for me but I have also started a Hardy Boys book and am enjoying that. That, of course, won’t take me long to read since it is only about 200 pages long.
Little Miss and I finished The Littlest Voyageur by Margi Preus this week and really enjoyed it. It was about a squirrel who travels with river voyagers in Canada and learns the hard way that a fur trade is going on. It dealt with the subject of the fur trade in a very cute way and didn’t become as preachy as I thought it was going to. There was a lot of history woven into the book, which on the surface seemed to simply focus on a squirrel and his dream to become a river explorer.
The Boy is reading Warhammer books. I don’t remember which one he is on now.
Last week it was old mystery shows. The Rockford Files with a guest appearance by Tom Selleck early in the week. That episode was hilarious. Then it was Murder She Wrote, including a two parter where Jessica was in Ireland. Those two were very good. I’ve watched some real duds but this was in season 12 so they must have had better writers by then.
Yesterday I watched a 1934 movie called She Had to Choose. It was interesting and had me shouting at the screen a couple of times because I was so stressed at some of the decisions being made. As is with most movies from that era, it was about 60 minutes long.
I also rewatched Paris Blues for the Springtime in Paris feature that Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I are doing until the beginning of May.
You can learn more about it here and if you want to jump in you can link up your impressions of the movies at any time at the link on the page. /
I’m working on the fourth book in the Gladwynn Grant Mystery series. I actually wrote an entire paragraph this week. Ha! I hope to write even more this upcoming week.
While I wash dishes I listen to a book and right now that book is The Two Towers.
Also, this:
and this:
Photos From Last Week
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.
Today’s prompt is: Ten Unpopular Bookish opinions, but I decided to change the topic up and share a list of top ten literary friendships (for me anyhow) instead because I could only think of one or two unpopular bookish opinions I have.
Lt. Tragg and Perry Mason from the Perry Mason Mystery books by Earle Stanley Gardner.
Are these two really friends? No. They are usually on the opposite side of things or competing for information but there is still a kind of friendship between the two. They play off each other, exchange witty banter, and would probably miss each sparring with each other if one of them was gone. Tragg in the books is much younger than the one depicted on the show from the 1960s, by the way.
2. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson from the Sherlock Holmes books and stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Of course these two are close friends -solving crimes together with John Watson having to deal with an erratic, drug-addicted, brilliant Sherlock Holmes. John saves Sherlock from danger and himself more than once.
3. Sam and Frodo from The Fellowship of the Ring trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
In the movies, it’s Sam that does most of the work for Frodo it seems. I’m only on the second book of the trilogy so I will have to see if the books are the same. Frodo, a hobbit from Hobbiton must carry a magic ring to Mount Doom to throw it in and destroy it to stop evil from taking over Middle Earth. Sam, loyal beyond anything imaginable, sticks close to Frodo’s side, battling Orcs, huge spiders, and many other perils to make sure his friend makes it safely to his destination. I would love to have a friend who is even half as dedicated to me as Sam is to Frodo.
4. Anne Shirley and Diana Barry from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
These two young ladies become fast friends when Anne Shirley is taking in my Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert. Diana lives not far from the Cuthbert farm and she and Anne quickly become “bossom buddies” or “kindred spirits” after meeting. I love their friendship, which survives many ups and downs and challenges.
5. Nancy Drew, Bess Marvin, and George Fayne from The Nancy Drew Mysteries by Carolyn Keene
Teen amateur sleuth Nancy Drew often solves her mysteries with the help of her friends Bess Marvin and George Fayne. Bess and George are cousins. Bess is a bit plump and afraid of everything and George is brash and, honestly, sometimes rude to her cousin Bess.
The interaction between these three are fun and keep the books interesting as readers watch to see what trouble the girls will get into next and whether or not Bess will faint during the investigation.
6. Hercule Poirot and Captain Arthur Hastings from the Hercule Poirot Mystery series by Agatha Christie
Some might call Captain Hastings, lackey and friend of infamous private detective Hercule Poirot an idiot since he always seems to stumble into trouble or ask really ridiculous questions but he is a support system for the brash and sometimes blunt Poirot. Hastings’ presence helps to soften the interactions Poirot has with interviewees and others as he conducts his various investigations.
7. Piglet and Winnie the Pooh from the Winnie the Pooh series by A.A. Milne
Oh, who can forget these darling friends. Of course we could add in Eyore and Rooh and Tiger too but Piglet and Winnie are the closest of the group and the most darling. When I think of them I think of a cartoon I once saw of them walking away from our view, hand in hand. Piglet says to Winnie, “Winnie?” Winnie responds, “yes, Piglet?” and Piglet simply responds, “Just checking you are still there.” Or something along those lines. It always makes me weepy.
8. Scout, Jem, and Dill from To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This is my favorite book and has been since I was in sixth grade. The friendship between young Scout Finch, her brother Jim Finch, and their friend Dill during the tumultuous summer when their father represents a black man accused of rape in Alabama in the 1930s, is bittersweet, heartwarming, and impactful. This book and their friendship hit me even harder when I reread it as an adult two years ago with my son for his English course.
9. Huckleberry Finn and Jim from Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Huckleberry is a young boy whose abusive father disappears and reappears over and over again, pulling Huckleberry from the warm and (sort of) comforting home with Widow Douglass and Miss Watson. When Huckleberry decides to run away from the widow and Miss Watson and his father to have an adventure on the Mississippi River, he meets runaway slave Jim. The two continue on their journey together and form a storm, unlikely, friendship that forces Huckleberry to examine his ideas about slavery and black people.
10. Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer from The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
Digory and Polly meet one afternoon, begin to play by hopping across the rafters in the attics of the connecting row houses and it all takes off from there. Polly is pulled through a portal when she touches a ring that belongs to Digory’s evil uncle and Digory has to follow her. Evil queens, talking animals, and much more will await these children who become fast friends thanks the adventure they are thrown into.
Are you familiar with any of these literary friendships and if so, do you have a favorite?
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
I want to start by sharing that today is my sister-in-law Kim’s birthday so happy birthday to her. She had a heck of a 2024 and is an overcomer. Looking forward to her having a much better 2025.
I shared a bit yesterday about our week last week, which was fairly uneventful, other than a trip to a used book sale at a library near us. I picked up 19 Hard Boys Mystery books for 50 cents each. That was a fun find. These books, like Nancy Drew, are a bit dated, of course, and written for younger kids but they still have pretty good mysteries. They are also a fun escape from life.
Little Miss also picked out some cozy mysteries for me to try out. She’s picked out a couple duds over the years but also some very good ones so we will see how this bunch works out.
I wish I had something more exciting to report but I am still reading The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murders by Joanne Fluke, The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis, and The Two Towers by Tolkien.
I did finish Whose Body?By Dorothy Sayers last week.
The Husband is reading Big Trouble by Dave Barry.
I’ve still been watching Great Canal Journeys every night. Not much else. The Husband has been watching Shogun.
I watched an episode of Great Canal Journeys when they visited Scotland and I was absolutely blown away by this huge device that lowered their boat from one level of the canal to the larger canal below and two huge steel statues of horse heads they visited during the episode.
I watched Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris as well last week and will be watching How to Steal A Million today or tomorrow.
I’ll also be watching another Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mysteries episode this week so I can write about it on the blog.
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.
Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot where we offer a place for bloggers to link up and get a fresh set of eyes on their posts. We also feature one blog a week, letting our readers know about the blog, and providing a link so readers can learn more about it.
Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.
Your hosts for the link up:
Marsha from Marsha in the Middle started blogging in 2021 as an exercise in increasing her neuroplasticity. Oh, who are we kidding? Marsha started blogging because she loves clothes, and she loves to talk or, in this case, write!
Melynda from Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household – The name says it all, we homestead in East Texas, with three generations sharing this land. I cook and bake from scratch, between gardening and running after the chickens, and knitting!
Lisa from Boondock Ramblingsshares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.
Sue from Women Living Well After 50 started blogging in 2015 and writes about living an active and healthy lifestyle, fashion, book reviews and her podcast and enjoying life as a woman over 50. She invites you to join her living life in full bloom.
We would love to have additional Co-Hosts to share in the creativity and fun! If you think this would be a good fit for you and you like having fun (come on, who doesn’t!) while still being creative, drop one of us an email and someone will get back with you!
WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!
This Blonde’s Shopping Bag is a personal style blog by Kellyann Rohr. I believe every woman, regardless of age, should have the tools and opportunity to feel their best through fashion. A closet full of great basics with some fun pieces mixed in helps you avoid that dreaded feeling of having nothing to wear! It doesn’t have to break the bank either and that’s why I’ll show you how to get the most bang for your buck. Quite simply my mission is to encourage and support women to stay fashionable, fresh, and relevant!
This Blonde’s Shopping Bag was started in 2016 as a result of my love for shopping and creating outfits. I’ve always loved fashion and finding budget friendly pieces to create looks I love. So many of my friends and co-workers complimented me on my outfits and asked advice but also shared how they could “never pull off” some of my looks or that they “couldn’t afford” to dress the way they really wanted. The blog is my answer to those problems.
Since it’s inception the blog has grown and so has my reach. It’s been a dream come true to connect with a community of like minded women and partner with brands. I’ve especially enjoyed working with Chico’s, Vionics, and Jambu as well as smaller, women owned businesses.
Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up! Please remember that this is a link-up where you can share posts from the previous week or posts from weeks, months, or even years ago. All we ask is that they be family friendly!
Today’s prompt is: Books I Did Not Finish (DNFed) (feel free to tell us why, but please no spoilers!)
My reasons for not finishing a book are rarely because the book is bad or not worth reading. Most of the time it is completely related to the fact the book and my personality don’t mesh. Also, in some cases I don’t finish a book at one time but go back later and finish it. That’s most likely going to be the case with many of the books here, so if you loved one of these books on my list, know that adding them to a DNF list doesn’t mean I hated them.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
I tried! I tried! I wanted to read a Dickens. It about killed me. It was so wordy! Worse than I expected. I read part of this book in high school and enjoyed it but for some reason I could just not get into it now that I am an adult. I do want to try again someday, however.
2. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
I don’t know if it is fair to mention this one since it was just a DNF for me and I might go back to it but for now it is a DNF and I’m reading some other books. I wanted to read this with my son for his British Literature class but…it was just so heavy. I couldn’t get into it. I have an audiobook with Dan Stevens and I’m really enjoying his narration so I am going to try to get back into it.
3. Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography by Laurie Woolever
I wanted to like this book. I did. It was just so choppy and dull as watch sap harden in the winter. The stories about Anthony could have been interesting but they were all chopped up and some of them were from people who truly didn’t know him that well. I skipped to the end and read a couple quotes from his daughter but for the most part this was just a chopped-up mess of stories. I didn’t get it at all. I have heard there are other, much better biographies out there so I will try them in the future.
4. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
I did not hate this book. I just couldn’t get into the style of writing, the tiny little chapters, and the bouncing back and forth between character in every other chapter.
5. Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
I will go back to this one but it just didn’t pull me in like Little Women did. I am a mood reader so I think I was simply not in the mood for it when I tried to read it.
6. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Alexander McCall Smith
I think this one just didn’t catch me at the right time. I could not get into it at all but I am willing to try again sometime in the future.
7. A Fatal Footnote by Margaret Loudon
I didn’t even make it through five pages of this one. The author kept changing the name of her character and repeating the name over and over. She’d write, “Penelope didn’t know why Millie was looking at her that way but Penn was uncomfortable with it.”
What? Why keep changing her name and in the same sentence or paragraph? She seemed allergic to using pronouns instead of the names she kept using too. It would have been one thing if a character said to her, “Hey, Penn!” instead of Penelope but for the author to be changing it in the prose….it was weird.
8. Anne’s House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery
This was just not my favorite book of Montgomery’s. It was so sad and depressing to me. I might go back someday and finish it but it was a slog for me. I skipped ahead to the end but really didn’t go back and read the rest so I consider it a DNF.
9. What’s the Worse That Can Happen by Donald Westlake
My husband is a huge Westlake fan and I read one book by him, Call Me A Cab, and liked it but so far I haven’t really been able to get into the rest of his books. I do plan to try this one again at some point.
10. Death At A Scottish Christmas by Lucy Connelly
I know we cozy mystery readers have to suspend belief at times but this one…well, it was a bit too much suspending belief. I couldn’t finish this one at all. I don’t plan to try again.
What books have you not finished? Will you ever go back and try them again?
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
I took Little Miss to the little playground in our little town twice this week thanks to higher temperatures. They were high for us anyhow after coming out of a very arctic winter.
The first day it was close to 60 degrees Fahrenheit and the second day it was about 55 degrees. Friday it was over 60 degrees. Yesterday it was about 55 but still sunny and we took another trip to the playground with a friend of Little Miss’s.
Today it is pouring rain, and we are supposed to get some nasty storms.
I do like when it is warmer and sunny but still miss chilly days where I have an excuse to stay home. What I like most about the warmer weather, though, is being able to sit outside and not feel chilled to the bone.
That first day we went to the playground she made me smile by being brave and approaching a little girl she didn’t know and asking her if they could play together. She was nervous to approach the little girl because she said she is used to texting people not talking, which was weird for me to hear but also understandable in this modern age.
Some people think that homeschooled children are shy because they don’t interact with other children. My child does interact with other children through local homeschool activities, library activities, the local 4-H, a Bible program at a church near us, her friends, and Vacation Bible School. She’s still shy.
I attended public school all the way from Kindergarten to twelfth grade. I was shy all the way through and still am.
I know that public school can afford more opportunities to interact with peers but it isn’t always a positive interaction. I was able to interact with my peers and I hated it. I was an introvert through and through. Not a recluse but an introvert. Little Miss has a similar personality. She likes to socialize but when her meter is filled, which sometimes can happen fairly fast, she prefers to go off on her own and participate in quiet activities. My son is the same.
It cracks me up when we come back from an event or a friend goes home and she flops in her chair and says, “Whew! That’s enough social interaction for the week. I need some alone time.”
After she introduced herself to the little girl at the playground earlier this week, and they had played for a bit, she came over to me and said, “She wanted to add me to a group chat on her Messenger Kids (which is a Facebook app monitored by parents) but I’m not ready for that.”
As a GenXer, it is crazy for me to hear that a 10-year-old is being invited to an online group chat by an 8-year-old. We did not exchange contact information with the little girl but if we had I would have had to contact her parents on Facebook, and we would both have to give permission for our children to talk. Then I would have had to be the one to be social with strangers. I was so relieved when Little Miss said she wasn’t ready for that level of interaction. Ha!
Little Miss and I have been attending 4-H cooking classes once a week for the last two weeks. Well, Little Miss has been doing the cooking, and I have been reading a book in the hallway. She really enjoys cooking and has been enjoying attending the class with a little girl who also goes to the church program o.
We attended the first class with my 81-year-old dad who, of course, immediately found someone to talk to while we waited for her. I had been worried he would be bored but he was not at all. He enjoyed talking to a young man there about local history as they looked at a mural on the wall in the building we were at. The Mural is beautiful and showcases history of the small town and county we were/are in.
Dad always seems to find someone to talk to no matter where we go.
I finished The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis last week.
I am reading the biography of James Herriot by his son Jim Wight very slowly because it is rather dull in many parts. I have had to skim a lot of unnecessary information about his time in veterinary school. It truly was unnecessary in my mind, but some readers may enjoy it.
Most of the time this week I have been reading The Case of the Careless Kitten by Erle Stanley Gardner. It’s a Perry Mason mystery and I am really enjoying it. I love Gardner’s style of writing and the banter between Lieutenant Tagg and Perry.
I am slowly reading The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien.
I hope to start Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery this week for Middle Grade March.
After that I will be starting Between the Sound and Sea by Amanda Cox.
The Husband is between books.
The Boy is also between books.
Little Miss is reading Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Azkaban.
This week I watched more Edwardian Farm, two episodes of Castle, my farmer on YouTube, and a Booktuber who was designing her reading journal.
I also started an old movie with Cary Grant that I did not enjoy at all, so I am going to be looking for another old movie this week.
I started writing book four of the Gladwynn Grant Mysteries last week.
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.
Title: Grandma Ruth Doesn’t Go To Funerals Author: Sharon Mondragon
Release date: February 11, 2025
Description:
In a small town where gossip flows like sweet tea, bedridden Mary Ruth McCready reigns supreme, doling out wisdom and meddling in everyone’s business with a fervor that would make a matchmaker blush. When her best friend, Charlotte Harrington, has her world rocked by a scandalous revelation from her dying husband P. B., Mary Ruth kicks into high gear, commandeering the help of her favorite granddaughter, Sarah Elizabeth, in tracking down the truth. Finding clues in funeral condolence cards and decades-old gossip dredged up at the Blue Moon Beauty Emporium, the two stir up trouble faster than you can say “pecan pie.”
And just when things are starting to look up, in waltzes Camilla “Millie” Holtgrew, a blast from P. B.’s past, with a grown son and an outrageous claim to Charlotte’s inheritance. But as Grandma Ruth always says when things get tough, “God is too big.” With him, nothing is impossible–even bringing long-held secrets to light. Grandma Ruth and Sarah just might have to ruffle a whole mess of feathers to do it.
MY THOUGHTS: I absolutely loved this book. I wasn’t sure how it was going to be categorized at first but as I continued it, I decided it was a cozy mystery with no murder. No matter what genre it fits in, it is a super cute, super well-written, and hilarious book that I could not put down.
I actually read this on Hoopla so I had to read it on my phone. I hate reading on my phone but didn’t mind for this book because it was so entertaining. I will be buying a paperback to add to my physical book collection because I do plan to read it again in the future.
The characters in this book are super charming, funny, and lovable.
A little background on the book: Sarah McCready is the granddaughter of Mary Ruth McGready, the family matriarch who can’t leave home anymore after falling and injuring her hip. Before her injury she was always busy and attending community functions, including funerals. Now that she can’t attend funerals or other events, she sends Sarah for her and then asks for a report when Sarah gets home.
Sarah, 24, is used to this by now but things are a little different when Preston Bentley “P.B.” Harrington, a founding member of a local, prestigious law firm, dies. His widow, Charlotte Harrington, gets a bit tipsy at the viewing and blurts out to some friends, including Sarah, that right before he died PB told her, “I loved you more than Millie.”
“Then I said, ‘What? What do you mean? Who’s Millie? You tell me this instant, Preston Bentley Harrington!’ But it was too late. He let out a long, slow sigh and was gone. The love of my life was gone, and I was so mad at him, Mary Ruth. I was so mad!”
Grandma Ruth and Sarah are on the case to find out who Millie was or is. Sarah is worried PB cheated on his wife, but Grandma Ruth is determined he didn’t.
Miss Charlotte’s grandson, Preston, chauffeurs his grandmother around and is often there when Sarah is “investigating”. This gives Grandma Ruth and Miss Harrington an idea about Sarah and Preston but Sarah can’t think of a relationship with anyone since she’s still trying to shake Jake Halloran, who dumped her for a prospect who would give him what he wanted, shall we say.
There were so many witty, funny, and sweet lines in this book.
“His figure was as trim as Rhett Butler’s mustache.”
“I hear what you are saying to yourself. “She’s a grown woman, a college graduate. Why doesn’t she just say no?” Well, I dare you to come by the house when Mary Ruth McGready really wants something done and see how you do. Right. I’ll save you a seat at the funeral she wants you to attend.”
“But she’s sadder than most widows,” I said. “She’s afraid she lost him long before he died. She’s afraid she lost the fairy tales she’s believed in all these years that she was his one and only forever love. If I can get her love story back, she won’t have as much to grieve over as she does now.”
“How like Miss Charlotte to think of me when she was so sad herself, even if she was wrong about what I was feeling. As I sat with her at Fontanelli’s on her first Valentine’s Day as a widow, I wanted to wipe away not only her tears but the sadness in her kind and thoughtful heart.”
“My grandmother shook her head. “Sometimes I almost despair of you Sarah. Have you learned nothing about how a Southern lady handles the weaker sex? All that’s wrong with him is a severely bruised ego.”
I would definitely recommend this as a light, cozy, and clean read.
I read on the author’s website that this is the first in a series and I am so excited to read more about Grandma Ruth and Sarah in future books.
Clean level: This is a very, very clean book with a touch of faith and romance. Very small amounts of both.
One content warning: This book does discuss death quite often but handles it in a very humorous, kind, and respectful way.
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
I finished Grandma Ruth Doesn’t Go To Funerals by Sharon Mondragon last week and really enjoyed it. I could see this one being a movie. I will write a longer review later but I loved the characters and the story overall.
In case you are curious about it, here is a description:
In a small town where gossip flows like sweet tea, bedridden Mary Ruth McCready reigns supreme, doling out wisdom and meddling in everyone’s business with a fervor that would make a matchmaker blush. When her best friend, Charlotte Harrington, has her world rocked by a scandalous revelation from her dying husband P. B., Mary Ruth kicks into high gear, commandeering the help of her favorite granddaughter, Sarah Elizabeth, in tracking down the truth. Finding clues in funeral condolence cards and decades-old gossip dredged up at the Blue Moon Beauty Emporium, the two stir up trouble faster than you can say “pecan pie.”
And just when things are starting to look up, in waltzes Camilla “Millie” Holtgrew, a blast from P. B.’s past, with a grown son and an outrageous claim to Charlotte’s inheritance. But as Grandma Ruth always says when things get tough, “God is too big.” With him, nothing is impossible–even bringing long-held secrets to light. Grandma Ruth and Sarah just might have to ruffle a whole mess of feathers to do it.
Next up I am continuing The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father by Jim Wight. So far it is very dry and dull so I may toss it aside but I’d love to get to the years where he worked as a vet and some of the behind the scenes stories first. We will see how it goes.
I also started The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, which will be my slow read for the next couple of months. I am loving it so far, even if we lost one of the team on the first page. *sniff*
I started The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis the other night for my Middle Grade March read. I also hope to read Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery for Middle Grade March. Little Miss and I are reading Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorenson for school, which is a re-read for me.
Once those are done, I hope to start Whose Body? By Dorothy L. Sayers. I’ve never read anything by her so we will see how I like her.
The Husband is on his 25th book of the year. Sigh. He reads fast but has also had some extra time to read this year so that’s cool for him. Or whatever. *wink*
He is reading Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter Mosley.
I have been watching more historical farming shows this past week and not a ton else. I actually read more than watched things.
This upcoming week I hope to watch more Murder She Wrote and a couple of old movies.
I started writing book four of the Gladwynn Grant series this past week.
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.
Today’s prompt was: Books Set in Another Time (These can be historical, futuristic, alternate universes, or even in a world where you’re not sure when it takes place you just know it’s not right now.)
This prompt wasn’t difficult this week because most of the books I read take place in the past. Very few take place in another world, like a fantasy, but a couple I’ve read have.
The entirety of living civilization stands on the very brink of death. Undead hordes have rampaged across the world. Determined to do his part, Leon Rhise left his wealthy father’s estate and chose to defend the last living kingdom by joining the military. It had seemed to be a good idea at the time.
After his career in the airship navy came to an abrupt end Leon arrived home, hoping for a warm reception. Instead, he was abruptly tossed out. Disowned, unemployed, and friendless. All hope seems lost. Then Leon discovers a mysterious relic, which opens up the possibility of him becoming a Judge: a hero of legend. One that has not been seen for centuries.
As Leon travels the road less taken his destiny converges with newfound companions, each one surrounded by mystery. Advised by strange beings in dreams and visions, Leon learns that the undead onslaught the world has suffered is part of a much larger problem. A solution can be found by learning about the forgotten being known as Adonai. But the world is ending, and time is running out.
Delve into a world that brings a unique twist and interpretation to faith-based high fantasy. With emotional highs and lows, certain peril, dysfunction, and humor; tough questions are asked, and answers will come to light.
Description: A young man who can grant wishes. A fairy hoping for her wings. A king and queen seeking an heir.
Far, far away, in the fairy tale kingdom of Evermoor, young, gifted Daniel dreams of escaping his life in captivity and his dastardly Uncle Aldrich. Diana, a flower fairy charged with guiding Daniel, helps him channel his ability to grant wishes, but his uncle exploits Daniel’s gift, stealing the wishes for himself.
Warned not to fall prey to mortal love, Diana keeps a friendly distance from Daniel, but she cannot deny her growing feelings for him. Will she shield her heart or risk losing the chance to ever go back home to the Green Glade and gain her fairy wings?
In the same kingdom, childless King Roderick and Queen Rosalind have become divided by a great sorrow. Battling the wounds of the past, the monarchs make a valiant effort to move forward, but can they learn to trust each other again? What future can the kingdom have without an heir?
Readers of fantasy, Christian fantasy, clean romance, and YA fantasy will be enraptured with this gripping tale of overcoming the past and embracing hope, layered with romance for both the young and the young at heart.
3. In My Father’s Houseby Brock and Bodie Thoene (I read this one and the series in high school)
Description: They just fought the War to End All Wars in France. Now they return home to a different kind of battle . . . one more fierce than they could imagine.
From every conceivable culture, men joined together in foxholes to fight World War I—the Great War that all hoped would bring the world together in peace, for all time. Jews and Irish, blacks and whites became brothers, tied by the common bonds of life, heroism, and death.
When the Armistice is declared, the soldiers make their way back to America. But it is no longer the place of their dreams. Undercurrents of racial, religious, and cultural intolerance threaten the very foundations of the nation.
In My Father’s House follows the lives of four young soldiers: Max Meyer, an orphan from the poor Orchard Street neighborhood of New York; Ellis Warne, an Irish doctor’s son from Ohio; Birch Tucker, an Arkansas farm boy; and Jefferson Canfield, the son of a black sharecropper.
Will these four men—and those who love them—be able to find any freedom, any peace, on the warring home front?
4. Moriartyby Anthony Horowitz — a Sherlock Holmes story written with the permission of the Arthur Conan Doyle trust. It takes place sometime in the 1890s.
Description:
The game is once again afoot in this thrilling mystery from internationally bestselling author Anthony Horowitz, sanctioned by the Conan Doyle estate, that explores what really happened when Sherlock Holmes and his arch nemesis Professor Moriarty tumbled to their doom at the Reichenbach Falls.
Horowitz’s nail-biting novel plunges us back into the dark and complex world of detective Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty—dubbed the Napoleon of crime” by Holmes—in the aftermath of their fateful struggle at the Reichenbach Falls.
Days after the encounter at the Swiss waterfall, Pinkerton detective agent Frederick Chase arrives in Europe from New York. Moriarty’s death has left an immediate, poisonous vacuum in the criminal underworld, and there is no shortage of candidates to take his place—including one particularly fiendish criminal mastermind.
Chase and Scotland Yard Inspector Athelney Jones, a devoted student of Holmes’s methods of investigation and deduction originally introduced by Conan Doyle in “The Sign of Four”, must forge a path through the darkest corners of England’s capital—from the elegant squares of Mayfair to the shadowy wharfs and alleyways of the London Docks—in pursuit of this sinister figure, a man much feared but seldom seen, who is determined to stake his claim as Moriarty’s successor.
A riveting, deeply atmospheric tale of murder and menace from one of the only writers to earn the seal of approval from Conan Doyle’s estate, Moriarty breathes life into Holmes’s dark and fascinating world.
5. Christy by Catherine Marshall
I finished this one in the beginning of February. It takes place in 1912
Description:
50th Anniversary Edition of the New York Times Bestselling Novel
The train taking nineteen-year-old teacher Christy Huddleston from her home in Asheville, North Carolina, might as well be transporting her to another world. The Smoky Mountain community of Cutter Gap feels suspended in time, trapped by poverty, superstitions, and century-old traditions. But as Christy struggles to find acceptance in her new home, some see her — and her one-room school — as a threat to their way of life. Her faith is challenged and her heart is torn between two strong men with conflicting views about how to care for the families of the Cove. Yearning to make a difference, will Christy’s determination and devotion be enough?
6. Little Women by Louise Mae Alcott
Most people know that this one takes place around the time of the Civil War and a bit beyond.
Description:
One of the best loved books of all time. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read
Lovely Meg, talented Jo, frail Beth, spoiled Amy: these are hard lessons of poverty and of growing up in New England during the Civil War. Through their dreams, plays, pranks, letters, illnesses, and courtships, women of all ages have become a part of this remarkable family and have felt the deep sadness when Meg leaves the circle of sisters to be married at the end of Part I. Part II, chronicles Meg’s joys and mishaps as a young wife and mother, Jo’s struggle to become a writer, Beth’s tragedy, and Amy’s artistic pursuits and unexpected romance. Based on Louisa May Alcott’s childhood, this lively portrait of nineteenth- century family life possesses a lasting vitality that has endeared it to generations of readers.
7. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery.
This one takes place sometime in the early 1900s.
Description:
Step into the enchanting world of The Blue Castle, one of L.M. Montgomery’s most beloved and timeless novels. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of a picturesque lakeside, this heartwarming story follows the transformation of Valancy Stirling, a young woman who has lived her life in the shadow of family expectations and societal norms. Everything changes when a life-altering diagnosis forces Valancy to break free from her repressed existence and pursue the life she has always secretly longed for.
As Valancy begins to embrace her newfound courage, she embarks on a journey to the idyllic Blue Castle by the lake—a place of dreams, secrets, and unanticipated love. Montgomery masterfully captures the essence of self-discovery, freedom, and the complexities of love in this delightful novel. Through the beautifully crafted characters and emotionally resonant storylines, readers will be drawn into a world where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and the impossible suddenly seems possible.
8. Return To Gone Away by Elizabeth Enright
This middle-grade book, a sequel to Gone Away Lake, takes place in the 1960s.
Description:
“Return to Gone-Away” by Elizabeth Enright follows the adventures of a group exploring an old house filled with history and mystery. Portia, Julian, Foster, and Davey uncover secrets and hidden treasures, leading to their decision to make the house their permanent home. As they restore the house and discover a hidden safe with family heirlooms, the family finds joy and contentment in their new life at Amberside.
9. Trouble Shooter by Louis L’Amour
I am not definite on the timeline of this one but I believe it is the 1800s.
Description:
Hopalong Cassidy has received a message from the dead. Answering an urgent appeal for help from fellow cowpuncher Pete Melford, he rides in only to discover that his old friend has been murdered and the ranch Pete left to his niece, Cindy Blair, has vanished without a trace. Hopalong may have arrived too late to save Pete, but his sense of loyalty and honor demands that he find that cold-blooded killers and return to Cindy what is rightfully hers.
Colonel Justin Tredway, criminal kingpin of the town of Kachina, is the owner of the sprawling Box T ranch, and he has built his empire with a shrewd and ruthless determination. In search of Pete’s killers and Cindy’s ranch, Hopalong signs on at the Box T, promising to help get Tredway’s wild cattle out of the rattler-infested brush. But in the land of mesquite and black chaparral, Cassidy confronts a mystery as hellish as it is haunting—a bloody trail that leads to the strange and forbidding Babylon plateau, to $60,000 in stolen gold, and to a showdown with an outlaw who has already cheated death once . . . and is determined to do it again.
10. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
This one takes place around 1775 and is about the events leading up to the Revolutionary War.
Description:
Johnny Tremain, winner of the 1944 Newbery Medal, is one of the finest historical novels ever written for children. As compelling today as it was fifty years ago, to read this riveting novel is to live through the defining events leading up to the American Revolutionary War. Fourteen-year old Johnny Tremain, an apprentice silversmith with a bright future ahead of him, injures his hand in a tragic accident, forcing him to look for other work.
In his new job as a horse-boy, riding for the patriotic newspaper, the Boston Observer, and as a messenger for the Sons of Liberty, he encounters John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Dr. Joseph Warren. Soon Johnny is involved in the pivotal events shaping the American Revolution from the Boston Tea Party to the first shots fired at Lexington. Powerful illustrations by American artist Michael McCurdy, bring to life Esther Forbes’ quintessential novel of the American Revolution.
Do you read a lot of books that take place in a different time or place than “now?”
