Tag: book reviews

Sunday Chat/Sunday Bookends: First snowfall/snowstorm and a variety of books to read

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends, Sunday Salon28 Comments

Welcome to my Sunday Morning Chat where I ramble about what’s been going on in my world, what the rest of the family and I have been reading, watching, listening to, and what I’ve been writing.

This week I’m joining up with Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Deb at Readerbuzz, and Kathyrn at The Book Date.



What’s Been Occurring

We got snow this past week, but it was a weird storm. We got 6 or 7 inches in our little down, but a few miles up the road they got 10 or 12. My parents live about five miles away from us and they got about 4 or 5. The town three miles north of them received a dusting. The town 15 miles from us where we buy the bulk of our groceries received only rain.

It was a strange storm, needless to say. It wreaked havoc because the snow was very heavy and wet. It knocked down already dead Ash trees in our area (killed by the ash boar) and knocked them down onto lines, taking out power for many in the area. Our power has been flickering off and on since Friday night.

For some reason, we have no cell service right in town but at least my Wi-Fi calling works in the house. We aren’t sure if that is connected to the storm or not.

The snow, for all the chaos it caused, though, was very pretty.

I’m hoping future snows this winter will be less heavy and damaging. A few of our bushes and one of our trees was damaged. A big maple in front of us that we can’t currently afford to have cut down (this thing is one of the biggest maple trees I have ever seen in my life!) lost a limb. I was worried it might lose more and cause major damage to our house or our neighbors. Getting this thing cut down will have to be a priority in 2025.

I had hoped that the snow day would mean more time in front of the fire, reading a book. Sadly, I spent most of Friday watching Little Miss play in the snow, loading the woodstove with wood, cooking some dinner, and doing other odds and end chores. I did find a little time to read some, though, thankfully.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

I have been reading The Secret of the Wooden Lady by Carolyn Keene. It is, of course, a Nancy Drew Mystery. One of the early ones. Number 27 to be exact. It’s okay but I’m a little confused about the plot and who the wooden lady is. This one seems to be a bit all over the place. It’s not like anyone has ever called these early middle-grade books great literature, of course. The mysteries do hold up most of the time. This time around I don’t feel like this mystery is really capturing my attention like others have.

I also started Christy by Catherine Marshall last week and while I am only on Chapter 2, I am really enjoying it.

The Boy and I are reading The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for his British Literature course. It is a bit slow getting into but then it really picks up.

This past week I finished two of the three novellas in an Amish romance/Christmas novella collection. I haven’t finished the third yet because the second one, honestly, wasn’t that great to me.

The collection was The Christmas Gathering with authors Shelley Sheppard Gray, Lenora Worth, and Rachel Good.

I’m not usually someone who reads Amish fiction, but that wasn’t the issue with the one novella. It just dragged and dragged and threw in way too many characters for a 12-chapter book.

My plans have changed a little bit on what I am reading next because first, my sister-in-law (brother’s wife) told me about a series and I decided I’d try it. That book is The Sweetness of the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. It is the first in the Flavia De Luce Mysteries.

Also, I had a book on hold on Libby and it became available yesterday. That book is Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood. It is the second book in The Marlow Murder Club series.

After those books, or while reading them, I’ll be adding A Quilt For Christmas by Melody Carlson, which I picked up from a recent library trip.

Little Miss and I are still reading And Then There Were Five from The Melendy series by Elizabeth Enright. We read that some nights before bed if we aren’t too tired. She is reading the second book in the Harry Potter series as well, but not every day.

The Husband just finished The Bounty Huntersby Elmore Leonard.

What We’ve Been Watching

The past week I watched Transformers One twice. I watched it first with Little Miss and The Boy and then we watched it as a family last night for The Husband’s birthday. The Transformers aren’t really my thing but growing up my friends loved them and I played with them some too so I do know a lot of the characters. Not like The Husband and The Boy do. Sheesh – the tiny little details they know is a little mind-blowing.

They know all the characters and storylines from the original shows and the ones in between, as well as the live action films and the comics.

Last Sunday, Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I watched Chocolat during a watch party. That was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to when we do that again.

I finished reading over and rewriting parts of Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree Friday and it is now in the hands of my editor husband. From there it will be proofed. I’ll be looking for advanced readers for the book. If you are interested, you can sign up to read it before it comes out here.

This week on the blog I shared:

What I’m Listening To

This week I finally sat down and listened to another episode of the True Drew Podcast, which talks all about Nancy Drew – the books, the games, etc.

I also listened to a podcast by a homeschooling dad called The Life Without School. That was eye opening and interesting.

So 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.

I had an ‘old lady’ weekend and loved it

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings13 Comments

I had an old lady weekend this past weekend.

What in the world do I mean by that?

Well, nothing too serious really and I am certainly not saying all “old ladies” do these things.

I guess you could say I am drawing on the stereotypes of “old ladies”, not the realities, so please do not take offense if you do consider yourself an actual “old lady.”

The stereotypes I am talking about are where they eat prunes (well, we—I mean they — have to because their digestive systems slow down!), curl up under blankets (hey, their circulation isn’t what it used to be), watch Murder She Wrote (hey, it’s a fun escape!), pet their cats (cats are cozy!), and sip warm herbal tea.

Of course, I know they (um….we?) aren’t all like that, but this weekend we came home from taking one of Little Miss’s friends back to her dad and I realized I had the rest of the night to myself. I opened the fridge to pour myself a glass of lactose-free milk (hey, don’t judge – it’s not an old lady thing. I’ve been lactose-intolerant since I was born.) and saw my prunes in the fridge door.

Yes, I have prunes. Let’s not talk about why. I grabbed a couple and declared to my husband, “You know, I actually enjoy prunes!”

In the next few seconds, I remembered I hadn’t finished an episode of Murder She Wrote before we left so I said, “Oh! I have a Murder She Wrote episode to finish!” I think I might have even clapped. The very idea of getting my warm blanket, making a cup of tea, and watching Murder She Wrote was just thrilling to me.

And that’s when it hit me.

I actually am old. I’m not even 50 yet but I looked at my husband and said, “I’m old! I’m eating prunes and watching Murder She Wrote!”

He said something along the line of, “You’re not old – now go in and cuddle under your blanket and maybe make some tea later while  you finish your episode, dear.”

I confess to you that I did not watch just that one episode of Murder She Wrote. No. I watched two more and Little Miss watched them with me.

We were like two little old ladies.

I was under one blanket and she was under another.

She had a dog and cat with her and then the cat curled up on me part of the time too.

Every little while one of us would comment about the show, but mainly we were fairly quiet.

“There’s something not right about that ginger,” she said at one point. “Something about her eyes are crazy.”

“I think that guy did it,” I said. “They always have the innocent looking ones that we all fall in love with be the bad guy in these shows.”

Then her, “Yeah you two could be friends under different circumstances — like if you hadn’t straight up killed that man!”

Continuing the old lady theme throughout the weekend, Little Miss and I watched a couple episodes of Mary Berry’s show and I read from a series of Christmas novellas/Amish romances.

I hadn’t seen this series of Mary Berry on Amazon before so I was giddy with excitement. The series was filmed in 2022. Mary is 89 this year. She was 87 years old and looks like she’s in her 60s and still as perky and active as ever. I know that won’t be me at her age  – if I even make it that far, but I wish it could be. Heck, I wish I could be like her at my age.

I am not usually a fan of Amish romances, but these were written well and very sweet. The book is called A Christmas Gathering with novellas by Shelly Shepard Gray, Rachel J. Good, and Lenora Worth, in case you were wondering.

The time with Little Miss and reading my sweet Amish romances was the most relaxed I’ve been in weeks. I think I’m going to draw into the “old lady” hobbies more this winter and not feel even a little bit guilty about it!

(If I start knitting or making quilts, though, you better come rescue me. It means I’ve sunk too far down into old lady land. *wink* )

Sunday Bookends: birthdays, baking pies, and finishing up the third Gladwynn book

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings, Sunday Bookends8 Comments

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

This past week was an interesting one in some ways and a regular one in others.

On Tuesday I had a not-so-fun experience at the polling place in my little tiny town. Lesson learned to mail-in ballots from now on. It had nothing to do, by the way, with who I voted for. It just had to do with adults who were rude to my child and it really ticked me off. This paragraph is completely unrelated to politics other than I was in a polling place for an election.

Thursday was better, though, because it was our son’s 18th birthday. My neighbor asked how I felt having an 18-year-old.

I sent her this gif:

Then I told her I was also very proud of my son because he’s grown into a wonderful young man.

It’s all gone by so insanely fast, though. There is so much I miss about him being younger but so much that is also great about this age.

We bought him a War Hammer model set and he’s having a blast painting them. It is a new hobby for him. Little Miss and I traveled to my parents on Thursday to help make apple pies for The Boy because he prefers pie over cake.

My mom ended up coming down with a sinus infection that triggered a flare of her fibromyalgia while we were there. It was a little scary as she was in excruciating pain all over and having some trouble walking. That night she spiked a fever.

We still had a nice day and the next day she was much better and the fever was gone. None of us can really understand why whatever she had only lasted a day and went away, but I do know I prayed a lot that day and night for her healing.

The pie, by the way, was “great” according to The Boy who doesn’t easily give compliments out so Little Miss and I, with my parent’s directions, pulled it out after all.

Yesterday The Boy and The Husband had fun during a father-son day in a city about an hour away. They visited a comic book shop where he  picked up some more figures to paint.

They then walked around town, visiting the local university and a used book shop where my husband picked this up for me:

He knows me way too well. That’s an original 1941 Hardy Boys book. I can not wait to read it – as long as the mildew smell doesn’t mess with my sinuses. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t.

I forgot to mention that on Friday we had an art class and then drove the 30-minutes north to pick up our groceries.

Yesterday I spent the day relaxing with an old movie and a new cozy mystery show and also worked on the final chapters of Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree.

I definitely am not used to Daylight Savings yet I’ve come to realize. I was so tired all day yesterday, for one, and then at one point I yawned and thought how I could go to bed soon. That’s when I looked at my laptop clock and it said 6:42.

“6:42? For real??” I cried. “I thought it was 8!!”

I suppose my body will get used to it – you know, by spring when we spring forward.

What I/we’ve been Reading

I am reading The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Christy by Catherine Marshall, and The Maestro’s Missing Melody by Amy Walsh

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood. Yes, I enjoyed it and yes I just started the series and no it does not keep to the book.

The Secret of the Wooden Lady by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew)

The Farmer’s Son by John Connell

The Husband is reading The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden

What We watched/are Watching

This week Erin and I watched Bringing Up Baby with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn for our Comfy, Cozy Cinema.

I watched Harvey with Jimmy Stewart on my own.

I also watched the first two episodes of The Marlow Murder Club on Amazon (that is all that is out so far).



What I’m Writing

I sound like a broken record but I am finishing Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree.

This past week on the blog I shared:

What I’m Listening To

I am listening to The Shepherd’s Abiding by Jan Karon on Audible.

I am also listening to this song my Downhere:

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.

Book review/recommendation: Move Your Blooming Corpse by D.E. Ireland

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn book reviews, books and reading, everyday musings11 Comments

My 10-year-old daughter picked out a hardcover copy of Move Your Blooming Corpse by D.E. Ireland for me at a used bookstore about a month ago.

As soon as I saw that cover, I had a gut feeling I was going to like it. Luckily my gut was not wrong. As soon as I saw that cover and title I wanted to know if it would feature the characters from My Fair Lady since I knew the title was alluding to the famous line Eliza Doolittle yells out in the movie. If you haven’t seen the movie, you’ll have to look it up.

When I read the title of the series on the front (An Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins Mystery), I was giddy with delight to know that it was based on the same characters.

This was a delightful, fun, and engaging mystery that takes place – as the inside cover says – in the Edwardian racing world. It is a very fast-paced story with very few slow scenes.

The book starts with Eliza Doolittle and Professor Henry Higgins at a horse race to cheer on Eliza’s father’s horse, which he co-owns with a group of about 10 other people.

When a murder occurs after the race it seems to be an isolated incident but future developments show that someone is after the members of the horse-owning syndicate. The question is – why?

Woven into the murder mystery is an underlying story of women’s suffrage as women fight for their right to vote in England.

The main characters – Eliza, Henry, Arthur (Eliza’s father), and Freddy (Eliza’s “boyfriend”) are very likable and fun, much like the characters in My Fair Lady. I will say that Henry Higgins was much more likable in this book than the film since I only wanted to throttle him a few times in the book instead of almost the entire time in the movie.

I loved the quick wit of the characters and how closely they mirrored the wit and charm of the characters in the movie. The movie is based on the 1957 Broadway Musical, which was based on the 1914 play, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.

The back-and-forth, quick-paced conversations between the characters, the complex mystery, and the well-developed side characters made this one a very fun read for me.

I was very excited to see there are four other books in the series. This was the second book in the series but I didn’t feel like I’d missed something by not reading the first. I also liked how the plot and outcome of the first book weren’t given away in this book, which means you don’t have to read the series in order to understand what is going on in each book.

For those who are not fans of romance in books, there is very little in this one, and the romance that is there is so minor and secondary that it’s barely a blip on the romance meter. For those who are not fans of swearing, there is, I think, only one or two minor swear words. For those who are not a fan of graphic descriptions, this book will also work for you because there are no graphic descriptions of any of the crimes.

As a side note – the cover art for the Kindle version of this book is hideous and amateur-looking to me. The cover on the hardcover/library version that I bought is – dare I say it? Delightful. So if you go to look for the Kindle edition, please don’t run away. I promise the book is much better than the cover that is shown.

Have you read this book or any of the others in the series?


Book Review/Recommendation: Trouble Shooter by Louis L’Amour

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn book reviews, books and reading, everyday musings3 Comments

Book Title: Trouble Shooter (A Hopalong Cassidy book)

Author: Louis L’Amour

Genre: Western

Description:

Hopalong Cassidy is one of the most enduring and popular heroes in frontier fiction. His legendary exploits in books, movies, and on television have blazed a mythic and unforgettable trail across the American West. Now, in the last of four Hopalong Cassidy novels written by Louis L’Amour, the immortal saddleman rides again—this time into a lonely valley of danger and death.

Hopalong Cassidy has received an urgent message from the dead. Answering an urgent appeal for help from fellow cowpuncher Pete Melford, he rides in only to discover that his old friends has been murdered and the ranch Pete left to his niece, Cindy Blair, had 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 Tradwar, 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 Tradway’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.

My Thoughts:

Trouble Shooter by Louis L’Amour was not listed under L’Amour’s name when it first came out in 1951. Instead, it was released under the name Clarence E. Mulford, the original creator of Hopalong Cassidy, the main character of the book. When Mulford retired, he asked L’Amour to carry on Hopalong’s tradition in four novels, which included Trouble Shooter, The Rustlers of West Fork, The Trail to Seven Pines, and the Riders of High Rock.

The books were published on L’Amour’s name in the 1990s when they were re-released.

I ended up liking Trouble Shooter a lot more than I thought I would when I first started it. Once I realized that the book was written in the style of another writer and that it was written in the 1950s, I began to adjust to the style of writing and storytelling. I found myself pulled into the story a bit more as it went along, despite the old style of writing, which included what writers call “head hopping.” This is where the thoughts of each character involved in a scene are shared instead of the point of view being from just the one character. This can get a little bit confusing but L’Amour didn’t over do it.

The way the sentences were structured threw me off at times but I thought the prose really was well-written. I wasn’t as interested in the lengthy description of Hopalong Cassidy climbing a mountain or riding long distances in the middle of nowhere and would have loved for the female characters to have been flushed out a bit more, but I still liked the overall story.

I didn’t expect the ending to take such a dark turn since most of the book was mild when it came to the discussions of violence. There was very little to no descriptions of violence at all and any descriptions offered were very surface level. There were no obscenities in the book and no sex at all – not even hinted at.

This was definitely a stripped back Western. There were some descriptions but none of them went on for pages. There were some slow parts for me but I wanted to know the  answer to the mystery introduced in the beginning so I kept reading.

A couple of lines I enjoyed and thought were well-written:

“Hopalong Cassidy had drawn his gun as he always drew, with flashing, incredible speed. Once his hand was empty, then filled, and the gun blasting death.”

“The heat was a living thing, and he touched his lips only a little with the water in his canteen, then pushed on. Dust devils danced across a vast, empty distance marked by nothing but the trail of two riders. And then out of the north came another trail, a trail of several riders that moved in and obliterated the trail they followed.”

“Through the storm clouds the afternoon sun sent streaks of cathedral light across the sky and first spattering of drops fell, dappling the ground and making the dust jump.”

“Even if he isn’t dead, he might have reformed, and if a man has reformed, I’d have to judge him according to what he is now, but I’d advise him to keep his name to himself.”

If you would like to read more about Louis L’Amour, you can do so here:

https://louislamour.com/aboutlouis/biography.htm

Book review: A Simple Deduction

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings8 Comments

A Simple Deduction by Kristi Holl is part of the Amish Inn Mystery series published by Annie’s Fiction.

The series is written by different authors but features the same characters and location.

Description:

Liz is offering something new, A Sherlock Holmes weekend. She asks for help from a magician to pickpocket the participants and then give the items to Liz for safekeeping. But more possessions start to disappear even with people locking their doors. Liz needs the help of all her sidekicks to solves this mystery.

My thoughts:

I have read two other books in the series before this one and when I started this one, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it as well as the other two books written by Rachael O’Phillips. Once I got into it, though, I was swept up in the mystery and wanted to know what had happened.

In this book, Liz Eckhardt, the main character, hosts a mystery weekend at her Amish-themed inn. Liz isn’t Amish herself but her mother was before leaving the order and her friends are as well.

Her friends Sadie and Mary Ann own a sewing supply shop that they run out of the other side of the inn, renting the space from Liz.

In this story, Liz is caught up in her planned mystery and also some thefts that happen that are unrelated to the mystery weekend.

She has six guests staying at her inn and thinks that they will have a nice weekend but when personalities clash and possessions of the guests start disappearing, she has a bad feeling things aren’t going to go as well as she hoped.

I felt like I was able to get to know Liz and her friends better in the other two books. In this book her character felt very flat for the majority of the book. I wanted to know a little bit more about her as a person – her likes and dislikes, etc. but I didn’t really get that until halfway through.

It turned out to be fine, though, because I became more interested in the mystery itself and still found Liz and her friends likable. I would have liked there to have been more of Sadie and Mary Ann like there were in previous books, but again, I still enjoyed the book.

This was a very clean cozy mystery with some prayer mentioned, but no faith message at all other than some mention of forgiveness.  

Sunday Bookends: Remembering Maggie Smith, reading the same books, and some blog posts I enjoyed recently

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends31 Comments



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

What a weird coincidence this week that Erin (Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs) and I watched a movie with Maggie Smith and a day after we posted out those she passed away. We had watched Ladies in Lavender with her and Judi Dench and wrote about it and then that night I was thinking how upset Judi would be when Maggie passed away. I also wondered which “dame” would actually pass away first – I thought it might be Joan Plowright.

The next morning Erin texted me to tell me that Maggie had died and I honestly felt like I had lost a friend. I haven’t even watched her very much in things like Downton Abbey or Harry Potter (though I did watch Harry Potter with the kids just recently). I stopped watching Downton when they killed Matthew off. It ticked me off so bad I refused to watch the show again.

I’ve seen Maggie in a few movies since then, though, and just sort of fell in love with her spunk and attitude, but also a tenderness I saw in her.

I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I cried more over her death than the death of my mother-in-law the week before – partially because I had more sentimental connection with Maggie – whom I’ve never met – that my husband’s mother. That’s a very long, sad story that I won’t go into here.

I was looking for clips of Maggie to share on Instagram since I had a clip of her and Judi and Joan Plowright from Tea With the Dames go viral last year on my Instagram, when I remembered I had seen that she’d been on The Carol Burnett Show one time.

If you want to see that clip, I’ll share it below in my What I’ve Been Watching section.

I’m really hoping to watch an Agatha Christie movie with Maggie that I just learned about Friday as well.

What I/we’ve been Reading

I was working on the third book in my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series last week so I didn’t read as much as I could have.

Therefore I am still reading the same books I was reading – Move Your Blooming Corpse by DE Ireland and Kristen by Dawn Klinge, but have added The Secret at Red Gate Farm, a Nancy Drew to the mix.

I finished nothing! Nothing, people! See above. *wink*




Murder Handcrafted by Isabella Alan (An Amish Quilt Shop Mystery)

The Cat Who Brought Down the House by Lilian Jackson Braun

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood

Little Miss and I are reading The Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright via Hoopla.

The Husband is reading Fear and Loathing On the Campaign Trail 1972 by Hunter S. Thompson

The Boy is listening to Beowulf and a book of short stories.

What We watched/are Watching

Last week I rewatched most of Ladies in Lavender to write about it for our Comfy, Cozy Cinema, since I’ve seen it before.

I mentioned above that I enjoyed watching Maggie Smith and Judi Dench in the movie and then the next day Maggie passed away. It was heartbreaking.

Erin and I have a few movies with either Judi or Maggie or both in it on our Comfy, Cozy Cinema this time around and I swear we didn’t do it on purpose. We both chose movies on our own and then whittled the list down, not even thinking about who was starring in them. We both even forgot about Judi and Maggie being in a couple of the movies.

This weekend I’ve been watching some clips of Maggie from various shows or interviews, including this one from The Carol Burnett Show:


I had no idea Maggie sang until I saw this clip with her and Carol on YouTube:

I have also been continuing to watch Lovejoy, an old British show that sometime has a mystery and sometimes just a conman story.  I hated how this series ended so I’ve watched it before but seem to have forgotten some of the episodes so I am rewatching them. This is a show my husband always watched and turned me on to.


What I’m Writing

Gladwynn Shakes The Family Tree, of course.

On the blog I shared:

What I’m Listening To

Ever Faithful by Karen Barnett on Hoopla

Photos from Last Week

Recent Blog Posts I Enjoyed

|| Review: Hillbilly Elegy by Stray Thoughts ||

(I appreciated this non-partisan and just straight review of J.D. Vance’s book. Not a fan of him as a politician but I’m also not a fan of any politician at this time.)

|| Words for Wednesday: Confined by Mama’s Empty Nest ||

(Boy, could I relate to this one.)

|| His Encouragement by Christian Fiction Girl ||

(A great reminder of God’s faithfulness during challenging times. )

|| Book Review: Cassie, Apron Strings Book Eight by Leslie’s LIbrary Escape ||

(This one is a little biased on my part, but this was a really nice review of my book Cassie.)


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.

Sunday Bookends: another last swim? Mysteries with no connection to the main character, and watching fun, old movies

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends7 Comments

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

Today my dad suggested we go into the pool since it is hot and humid out still – in the middle of September. Yuck.

I had decided we’d already had our last swim in the beginning of September, though, and I’m actually dreading it because the last time we went in the pool there were some 100 mosquitoes I had to clean out before we could swim. This has been a very bad mosquito year apparently.

Plus there is drying off but not getting all dry so when you try to get your pants on you can’t because your skin is still just damp enough to not let the pants slide on easily. That is so annoying to me.

Yes, I know, I am being dramatic about nothing. Ha! But it’s just a little whine and I do actually have fun once we get in the pool. I have a feeling it will not be a warm trip, though, because our nights have been very cool.

I do miss the pool and being able to hop in on a hot day so maybe one last dip will be good for me. I just sort of had packed that part of the year away already and am ready for sweaters, hot cocoa, and falling leaves.

What I/we’ve been Reading

I am still reading An Assassination on the Agenda by T.E. Kinsey and have also started A Simple Deduction by Kristi Holl.

I am not bowled over by either of them but they are an okay escape. I was liking An Assassination on the Agenda better than a Simple Deduction where I couldn’t connect with the characters at all, but as I started to get into the book I liked it more. I still can’t connect with the main character at all, though. There is no personality written into her in this book, which was written by a different author than the other books (actually each of the books in the series seems to be written by a different author, but with the same main character and setting). In this one she’s just very flat. We don’t learn anything about her personality or her likes or dislikes until halfway through the book. It’s just a straight mystery – which is okay too since that’s how Agatha wrote all her books. We never really got to the know the characters too well – just the mystery, ma’am. I mean we did learn about their quirks and personalities as the series went on – especially Poirot.

I finished Trouble Shooter by Louis L’Amour this past week. It wasn’t my regular read and I wasn’t totally in love with it, but I would try another one of his books. It was a good story and a really crazy ending.

This was a Hopalong Cassidy novel that he apparently wrote in the style of the original author but was re-released in the 1990s under L’Amour’s name. I’d like to read a book by him that’s about one of his own characters.

The Secret of Red Gate Farm by Carolyn Keene (A Nancy Drew Mystery)

Murder Handcrafted by Isabella Alan (An Amish Quilt Shop Mystery)

The Cat Who Brought Down the House by Lilian Jackson Braun

What We watched/are Watching

This past week I watched Lovejoy and the movie Out of The Blue that I watched last week again but with my husband. I also watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as part of the Comfy Cozy Feature I am doing with Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumb.

Yesterday I watched an old movie called A Woman of Distinction with Rosalind Russell and Ray Milland.  There was a cameo with Lucille Ball in the beginning and it was so funny. She was only on screen five minutes and still cracked me up. The entire movie was full of hilarious moments and the ending wasn’t as bad and cliché as I thought it was going to be.

The movie was about the female dean of a college who has sworn off love, instead choosing her career. When a lecturer from Great Britain comes to the states to present some lectures, the public relations woman promoting his lectures decides she needs an angle to drum up some interest and makes up a story that he has come to the states looking for the dean. Craziness ensued after that and I realized that there are a lot of movies from the 1940s and 1950s that really hold up today.

I also started a movie called Merrily We Live and that one also cracked  me up within the first ten minutes. I can’t wait to finish it later today.

I’ve been watching these old movies for free via our Roku and the Tubi app.


What I’m Writing

Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree is what I’ve been writing. I hope to finish it by the end of September. I’ll be announcing a release date later on my newsletter Substack, which is where I share most of my writing news (https://lisarhoweler.substack.com/)

Last week on the blog I shared:

What I’m Listening To

I have been alternating between reading An Assassination on the Agenda and listening to it while I do dishes or other chores during the week because I really like the narrator.

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.

A book list for me to choose from this autumn

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn books and reading, everyday musings6 Comments

I decided not to call this list my planned autumn read since that seems to “frustrate” some readers who think I actually organize my reading list based on a strict list that I follow to a t. Trust me, I am not that organized.

I don’t actually go only by the list of books I hope to read in each season, reading them in the order I write them on my list. Instead I look at the list as a reminder to me of the books I have been wanting to read. Many times those books get pushed aside for other books because I am mainly a mood reader. I read what I feel like I want to read in a moment, which is why I have a few books going at a time sometimes.

If you don’t believe me just read the post I wrote about my planned summer reads and then what I actually wrote.

Anyhow, here is the list of books I’ll be choosing from for September, October and November – with new ones being thrown in from time to time, I’m sure.

An Assassination on the Agenda by T.E. Kinsey (currently reading)

I am currently reading this one and I won’t like – it is going a bit slow for me right now. I still am reading it because I love all the hilarious banter between Flo and Lady Hardcastle.

Description:

They’re hoping this visit is a return journey—but it might be a one-way ticket to murder.

July 1912. Lady Hardcastle and her tenacious lady’s maid, Florence Armstrong, are enjoying a convivial gathering at the home of their dear friends, the Farley-Strouds. The only fly in the idyllic ointment seems to be the lack of musical entertainment for the forthcoming summer party—until, that is, Lady Hardcastle’s brother Harry calls with news of a murder.

Harry dispatches them to Bristol on behalf of the Secret Service Bureau, with instructions to prevent the local police from uncovering too much about the victim. It seems an intriguing mystery—all the more so when they find a connection between the killer and an impending visit from an Austrian trade delegation, set to feature a very important guest…

Summoned to London to help with some very important security arrangements, the intrepid duo will have to navigate sceptical bureaucrats, Cockney gangsters and shadowy men in distinctive hats in their attempts to foil an explosive—and internationally significant—threat.


Ever Faithful by Karen Barnett

I keep saying I am going to read this one but I need to get a copy of the book first. My library doesn’t have it because my library rarely has anything I want to read. Libby doesn’t have it – through my library at least (read above statement about my local library) and if Hoopla does have it, I’m not going to get it because I don’t want to read it on my screen and Hoopla doesn’t offer an option to send things to the Kindle. Still. Argh! Anyhow, I hope to order a copy of it next week (budgets just stink sometimes.).

Description:

A man who can’t read will never amount to anything–or so Nate Webber believes. But he takes a chance to help his family by signing up for the new Civilian Conservation Corps, skirting the truth about certain “requirements.” Nate exchanges the harsh Brooklyn streets for the wilds of Yellowstone National Park, curious if the Eden-like wonderland can transform him as well.

     Elsie Brookes was proud to grow up as a ranger’s daughter, but she longs for a future of her own. After four years serving as a maid in the park’s hotels, she still hasn’t saved enough money for her college tuition. A second job, teaching a crowd of rowdy men in the CCC camp, might be the answer, but when Elsie discovers Nate’s secret, it puts his job as camp foreman in jeopardy. Tutoring leads to friendship and romance, until a string of suspicious fires casts a dark shadow over their relationship. Can they find answers before all of their dreams go up in smoke?

A Simple Deduction by Kristi Holl

I have started this one already and can tell it’s going to be a bit of a cheesy, but fun cozy mystery and that’s what I love to read – especially in autumn.

Description:

Liz is offering something new, A Sherlock Holmes weekend. She asks for help from a magician to pickpocket the participants then give the items to Liz for safekeeping. But more possessions start to disappear even with people locking their doors. Liz needs the help of all her sidekicks to solves this mystery.

The Secret of Red Gate Farm by Carolyn Keene

Yep, another original Nancy Drew. These are fun to read, even if they are dated.

Description:

Nancy and her friends, Bess and George, meet Joanne Byrd on a train ride home. Joanne lives at Red Gate Farm with her grandmother, but if they do not raise enough money to pay the mortgage, they will soon lose the farm! Nancy, Bess, and George decide to stay at Red Gate for a week as paying customers. Soon, they learn about the strange group of people who rent a cave on the property. They describe themselves as a nature cult called the Black Snake Colony. Nancy investigates their group and helps to uncover a ring of counterfeiters in town!

The Cat Who Brought Down the House by Lilian Jackson Braun

I’ve read almost all the books in this series but when  I saw this on my shelf a couple of weeks ago I knew I needed to add it to my list because I am certain I’ve never read it. I am not even sure where I picked this copy up but it was probably one of the local library book sales.

Description:

Jim Qwilleran lives in Pickax, a small town 400 miles north of everywhere, and writes for a small newspaper. He stands tall and straight. He dates a librarian. His roommates are two abandoned cats that he adopted along the way, one of them quite remarkable. Qwilleran has a secret that he shares with no one—or hardly anyone. His male cat, Koko, has an uncanny intuition that can tell right from wrong and frequently sniffs out the evildoer… 

Retiring in Pickax, actress Thelma Thackeray has decided to start a film club and organize a fundraiser revue, starring Koko the cat. But Thelma’s celebrated arrival takes an unpleasant turn when the strange circumstances of her twin brother’s recent death seem suspicious to Jim Qwilleran. Qwill needs a helping paw in this case. But will Koko deign to take time from his stage debut?

Catch Me If You Candy by Ellie Alexander

This one is a fall-themed cozy mystery that I have decided to read because I’ve read another book in this series and liked it okay. I didn’t love it but it was a good escape read.

Description:

Halloween has arrived in picturesque Ashland, Oregon, and all of the ghouls and goblins have descended on Main Street for the annual parade. It’s a giant street party and Torte is right in the mix.

Jules Capshaw and her team have been baking up autumn delights and trick-or-Torte bags filled with sugar cookie cutouts, spiced cider, and mummy munch. It’s the end of the season at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which means that the costumes for the parade are going to be out of this world. The elaborate guises even extend to pets. The grand marshal of this year’s parade is no other than a regal pug aptly named King George. Jules is delighted to get to share the experience with Carlos and Ramiro, but things take a dark turn when she discovers a dragon slumped in front of the bakeshop.

A Fatal Footnote by Margaret Loudon

This is one my daughter picked up at a used book sale for me because the cat reminds us of our cat, Scout. I skimmed the first chapter and see that it is written in third person, which isn’t usually for cozy mysteries, but a POV I write in and like to read in cozy mysteries.

Description:

Writer-in-residence Penelope Parish will need to use every trick in her quaint British bookshop to unravel a murderous plot that threatens to ruin a ducal wedding.

The wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Upper Chumley-on Stoke has all the makings of a fairy tale, complete with a glowing bride and horse-drawn carriage. But it wouldn’t be much of a story without a villain, and as American Gothic novelist Penelope Parish is coming to learn, happy-ever-afters are as fraught in this charming British town as they are in her books.

When the Duke’s former girlfriend is found murdered at the reception it’s up to Penelope and her newfound family at the Open Book bookshop to catch the killer before they strike again.

Getaway With Murder by Diane Kelly

A friend read this and I decided I’d try it too. I currently have it downloaded in my Audible so I might listen to it.

Description:

As if hitting the half-century mark wasn’t enough, Misty Murphy celebrated her landmark birthday by amicably ending her marriage and investing her settlement in a dilapidated mountain lodge at the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. With the old inn teetering on both a bluff and bankruptcy, she must have lost her ever-loving mind.

Luckily, handyman Rocky Crowder has a knack for rehabbing virtual ruins and for doing it on a dime, and to Misty’s delight, the lodge is fully booked on opening night, every room filled with flexible folks who’d slipped into spandex and ascended the peak for a yoga retreat with plans to namaste for a full week. Misty and her guests are feeling zen―at least until the yoga instructor is found dead.

With a killer on the loose and the lodge’s reputation hanging in the balance, Misty must put her detective-skills to the test. Only one thing is as clear as a sunny mountain morning―she must solve the crime before the lodge ends up, once again, on the brink.

A Christmas Gathering by Shelley Shepard Gray; Rachel J. Good; Lenora Worth

I feel like I will read this in November – as I start getting ready for cozy winter reading. And I’ll probably take breaks between the stories.

Description:

A CHRISTMAS REUNION by Shelley Shepard Gray
Tricia Troyer is thrilled when Brandt Massey, her cousin’s English friend, joins the Troyers’ holiday gathering for the second year in a row. The sparks between them are clear to everyone. When Brandt asks Tricia to be his girlfriend, they both know she’ll have important choices to make about her future. But the two aren’t as different as some believe—and with open hearts and understanding, their very own Christmas miracle just might be  
possible . . . 

WE GATHER TOGETHER by Lenora Worth
When Lucas Myer meets Kayla Hollinger on the shores of Lake Erie, he’s smitten. Their families are even staying at the same inn, for different gatherings. The two plan to meet again—but soon enough they discover a problem: their relatives are locked in a longtime feud and forbid them to socialize. Fortunately, Lucas and Kayla are old enough to make their own decisions—and they decide to create a Christmas miracle of forgiveness and love . . . 

HITTING ALL THE RIGHT NOTES by Rachel J. Good
Years ago, Andrew was banished by his Amish family when he chose a career in music. It still hurts, especially during the holidays. And now, just before Christmas, he and his band find themselves stranded after their manager absconds with their money. Desperate, Andrew is offered a job teaching piano—but that’s just the first miracle. His work will not only bless others in need, but a longtime fan might just capture his heart—and even lead him home . .

Little Men by Louisa Mae Alcott

I will probably read this one closer to the end of November and carry it on into Winter like I did with Little Women last year.

Description:

The March sisters are among the most beloved characters in children’s literature, and Little Men picks up the story of fiery, headstrong Jo where Good Wives left off. Intelligent, funny, perceptive, and genuinely touching, the novel is set at a rather unusual boarding school run by Jo and her husband, where the pupils are encouraged to pillow fight and keep pets. When the penniless but talented orphan Nat Blake shows up on her doorstep, Jo takes him in, and his arrival sets in motion a chain of events that will affect all their lives.

I’m sure I’ll end up removing or adding books as the months go on.  Have you read any of these?