Five hodge-podge mini-book reviews

On January 13, 2025 By Lisa R. HowelerIn book reviews, books and reading9 Comments

I haven’t had much time to sit and write up full book reviews lately so I thought I’d share five mini-book reviews today.

Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood

Description:

Judith (our favorite skinny-dipping, whiskey-sipping, crossword puzzle author), along with Becks the vicar’s wife, and Susie the dogwalker find themselves in a head-scratching, utterly clever country house, locked-room murder mystery.

Holiday festivities are now January doldrums when Judith gets a call―Sir Peter Bailey, a prominent Marlovian is inviting notable citizens to his house the day before his wedding to celebrate.

Judith decides to go―after all, it’s a few houses up the Thames and free champagne, for sure. During the party, a loud crash inside stops the festivities. The groom-to-be has been crushed to death in his study. The door was locked from the inside so the police say suicide, obviously.

My Review:

This was the second book in the Marlow Murder Club series. I did not enjoy it as much as the first book. This one was all over the place and very repetitive. I rolled my eyes way too often. I still love the characters but why the suspects were suspects was repeated and twisted around so many times it simply became obnoxious. We really needed another story to sort of break up the monotony of them running around in circles in this one. There was one side story related to the vicar’s wife Becks, but it came in way too late in the book and didn’t break up the way he kept saying, “We don’t know who killed him! Here is all our evidence….again.”

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Description:

The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set in 1889 largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England’s West Country and tells the story of an attempted murder inspired by the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound of supernatural origin. Holmes and Watson investigate the case. This was the first appearance of Holmes since his apparent death in “The Final Problem”, and the success of The Hound of the Baskervilles led to the character’s eventual revival.

One of the most famous stories ever written, in 2003, the book was listed as number 128 of 200 on the BBC’s The Big Read poll of the UK’s “best-loved novel”. In 1999, a poll of “Sherlockians” ranked it as the best of the four Holmes novels.

My review:

I really expected to like this a lot more than I did. Conan Doyle is a classic crime writer – the father of the detective/crime novel so it has to be great, right?

Sadly, this book really dragged for me and my son who read it with me for his British Literature class. Maybe it was because Sherlock wasn’t even in half of it. During that half it was Watson writing letters to Sherlock to tell him what had happened. There were way too many conversations about what might have happened and very little action for me. I also couldn’t stand the “lord of the manor”, Henry Baskerville. I would guess Conan Doyle was making him obnoxious because he was an American and the British like to make sure Americans know what they think about us. So maybe I wasn’t supposed to like him, which worked well because I didn’t.

I didn’t hate the book, but it was not one I would necessarily rush to read again anytime soon. I’d really like to read the short stories and the other three novels instead and then go back to this one later on to see if I like it any better.

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

Description:

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.

My review:

I read this one with Little Miss for English/History. The book is broken into sections with six chapters in each section, so we read a couple of the chapters each day for a few months.

I ended up really like this one even though the older writing style and the subject was a little difficult at times. There were some chapters where I skipped some of the more descriptive paragraphs to get to the point and move forward, but overall, this book was very well done, very educational, and had me crying more than once with the real life lessons within its pages.

Tooth and Claw by Craig Johnson

Description:

Tooth and Claw follows Walt and Henry up to Alaska as they look for work after they both returned from serving in Vietnam. While working for an oil company in the bitter cold of winter, they soon encounter a ferocious polar bear who seems hell-bent on their destruction. But it’s not too long until they realize the danger does not lurk outside in the frozen Alaskan tundra, but with their co-workers who are after priceless treasure and will stop at nothing to get it.

Fans of Longmire will thrill to this pulse-pounding and bone-chilling novel of extreme adventure that adds another indelible chapter to the great story of Walt Longmire.

My review:

I really enjoyed this novella. I’m a fan of the Walt Longmire Mystery books, with the exception of Hell is Empty, which I hated. I haven’t read one of the books since that one, which was early in 2024. I love Johnson’s writing, though, so I knew I couldn’t stay away for long. When I needed a short book to finish out the year, I remembered my husband had just won this one in a Goodreads giveaway. It is a story separate from the other books so I knew there wouldn’t be any spoilers.

I read it around Christmas, which is usually reserved for cozy books, not books where a man-eating, monster Polar Bear is terrorizing scientists in the arctic, but I could not put this book down. It was constant action, and I enjoyed it. I might even read another one of the full-length novels soon.

The Christmas Swap by Melody Carlson

Description:

All Emma Daley wants this holiday season is a white Christmas. But the young teacher and struggling musician sure can’t find that in sunny Arizona. Luckily, there’s someone living in a perfect mountain home in the Colorado Rockies looking to make a vacation trade this year.

West Prescott is an in-demand songwriter and talented musician who put his own singing career on hold to write songs for celebrity acts to perform. When his mother convinces him to do a vacation trade for Christmas, he never imagined one of the houseguests would be so sweet–or so strikingly pretty. Naturally, he decides to stick around, and, to get better acquainted, he poses as the house’s caretaker. But when Emma’s friend Gillian discovers his true identity and sets her sights on him, things get . . . messy.

My review:

I really liked Carlson’s book, A Quilt for Christmas, and thought this would be similarly heartwarming and well-written. It was not. This book was a very cheesy romance that would not end. I feel so bad saying this but it was such a short book I had no time to connect to the characters and in the end I really didn’t care if I did or didn’t. These ridiculous romances where people meet and three days later are in love and changing their lives around for each other drive me nuts. I had no idea that was what was going to happen in this book. It’s like the two books were written by two different people. Every author has hit or miss books, though, and every reader is different in their likes and dislikes so while this book was not for me it might be the perfect light read for someone else. I won’t give up on trying Carlson’s books, but I will be a bit more careful and read the descriptions better from now on.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them if you did?

Sunday Chat: So insanely cold, watching old shows because I’m always behind the times, and shows about farming in the past

On January 12, 2025January 13, 2025 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings, Sunday Bookends17 Comments

It was so cold this past week that our animals had no interest in going outside, which is unusual for the cats who like to go out even if it is snowing or raining.

I’m very glad they stayed inside because I worry about them when they are outside. Yes, we have outside cats. We live in a rural area and allow them to wander during the day and they come in whenever they want or they come in at night because I do not want them out at night with the various critters we have out here. I’ve had people on social media be very rude to me in the past and tell me I’m a horrible pet owner for letting my pets outside so I just thought I’d add a little context. I’m not flinging my animals out the back door into the wilderness.

They absolutely thrive when they can go outside and they stay close to our house and then return, often with a dead mouse to present to us. I sometimes forget that those who don’t live in a more rural area don’t let their pets outside for safety reasons so they misunderstand and think I’m pushing the cats out into danger.

That all being said, they have not wanted to go outside because of the cold lately, so it has been nice to have them want to cuddle and to watch them sleep curled up on the coffee table or sprawled out in front of the lit woodstove.

The oldest cat, Pixel, has been making me a little nervous lately. I don’t know if she feels well, and I’ve found a couple of bumps on her head. She’s been a lot more desperate to sit on me and be petted. Ever since I read that cats purr when they are happy or in pain, I’ve wondered/worried why my cats are purring and hope they aren’t in pain. Hopefully she’s okay. She’s pulled this on me before and bounced right back, so we will see.

I am reading three books at the moment. Christy by Catherine Marshall (with some heavy stuff amidst the inspirational, so I need breaks), Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography by Laurie Woolever (with some heavy stuff amidst the inspirational, so I need a break), and A Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (because a nice old fashioned murder always breaks up the heavy stuff. Hee. Hee.).

Little Miss and I are starting The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare for school this week. At night we are listening to a collection of Henry Huggins books by Beverly Cleary and read by Neil Patrick Harris and William Roberts.

The Husband just finished The Quiet American by Graham Greene.

The Boy is getting ready to read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

I finished the first season of Only Murders in the Building last night and really liked it. I’m looking forward to the other seasons.

My brother said he got bored with the show after season two, but he gets bored easily so I’m going to keep going. (*wink*)

As evidenced by the fact I am only just watching Only Murders in the Building, I often watch popular shows years after they ended. That’s why I have also started Castle, with Captain Mal — oh, I mean Nathan Fillion.

If you don’t understand that niche joke, I can’t help you — well, I can, but I’m going to make you search it up on your own instead.

Actually, The Husband started it for me last week (he’s watched it before) and now I’m continuing to watch it on my own.

I’m also watching Tudor Monastery Farm and this has me wondering a lot about this show and its spinoffs (Victorian Farm, Edwardian Farm, Wartime Farm) and how they work. Do these historians really do all these things they record, and do they really stay at these old buildings and houses? Or do they just film a little bit for educational purposes and move on. I guess I will have to step into the rabbit hole and figure this out this week.

I also watched Morning Glory with Katharine Hepburn and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., a couple episodes of Monarch of the Glen, and an episode of No Reservations (with Anthony Bourdain) last week.

I’ve started a Substack for cozy mystery, vintage movies, and book enthusiasts, as well as readers of my books.

For $3 a month you can join in and geek out with me about vintage Nancy Drew, classic movies, classic books, Gladwynn Grant and so much more.

You will be added to my book club Discord, A Good Book, and A Cup of Tea, and receive sneak peeks, exclusive discounts, access to various products, and whatever else comes to mind as I grow my space.

You can join here: https://lisarhoweler.substack.com/7ce3211e

What I shared on the blog last week:

|| How To Start Morning Creative Writing for More Productive Days by Filling the Jars ||

|| His Encouragement 300 by Christian Fiction Girl ||

|| Wordless Wednesday by Southern Patches ||

Now it is your turn! I’d love to hear what you are doing, what you are reading, what you are watching, listening to, etc. Let me know in the comments.

This post is linked up with The Sunday Post at Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, Stacking the Shelves with Reading Reality, The Sunday Salon with Deb at Readerbuzz, and Book Date: It’s Monday! What are you reading hosted by Kathyrn at The Book Date.

Sunday Chat: Octagenarian birthdays, starting my 2025 reads, and podcasts I recommend

On January 5, 2025January 5, 2025 By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends, Sunday Salon12 Comments

Today is my dad’s 81^st birthday. We had a family dinner for him yesterday when my brother could visit and will probably have another lunch together with the kids and I today.

We had ham and bean soup yesterday and today we will eat some sausage balls I plan to make in memory of my aunt Dianne, as well a beef roast.

Last night we played a game of Uno that got a little crazy and felt like it might ever end. We ended up laughing and shaking our heads at how long it seemed to be going on.

This upcoming week we have nowhere to go which is fine with me because homeschool has to get back under way first thing tomorrow. Ha. First thing. Yeah right. It will probably be afternoon before we do anything, but it sounds better if I write “first thing.”

Having an easy-going week is something I am looking forward to after a pretty nuts Christmas break. The Husband was in the ER and diagnosed with Diabetes a few days before Christmas, so it’s been a period of adjustment and him not feeling well. He slept or rested most the break, which he needed and I’m glad he wasn’t working when this all hit.

I also injured my knee by – I don’t know how actually. By rolling over in bed or something. Who even knows.

So far we have not caught any of the various illnesses going around but I know our time is coming and I’m pretty worried about that happening.

I’m reading Christy by Catherine Marshall and really enjoying it. I loved the show that was based on it and aired on CBS in the 1990s and the book is fairly close to it from what I can see so far.

The book is a fictional book very loosely based on the life story of Marshall’s mother, if you’ve never heard of it. The main character travels to a very remote area in the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina in the early 1900s to become a teacher at a missionary school.

As a young, inexperienced woman she is for a rude awakening but also an amazing experience of learning about the determination of the people who live in the mountains.

Upcoming books for me:

I have three Nancy Drew books coming in the mail from Thriftbooks and hope to read at least one of those after Christy.
World Travel: An Irreverent Guide by Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever
Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
The Two Towers by JRR Tolkien

Little Miss finished Harry Potter Chamber of Secrets yesterday while reading at her grandparents. She even made us wait for our game of Uno so she could finish the book. I’m very proud of her for reading the first two books. She was bothered by some of the violence in the end of the Chamber of Secrets so says she will be taking a break before she decides if she want to read book three.

The Boy and I will be starting Frankenstein soon, which he’s looking forward to a lot more than me. If you know anything about what I read, Frankenstein isn’t my normal read. We are reading through British literature this year and he likes the story of Frankenstein so we will go for it.

After that I’ll be having him read some Agatha Christie so that will be more up my alley.

The Husband is reading Bourdain The Definitive Oral Biography by Laurie Woolever.

This past week I watched The Power of the Press, a 1928 silent movie starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Morning Glory, a 1933 movie starring Fairbanks Jr. and Katherine Hepburn, a few episodes of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain, and videos by Booktubers preparing their 2025 reading journals.

I enjoyed this video by Plant Based Bride. It scratched some sort of crafty itchy for me, but I don’t think I’ll ever be as detailed or organized in my reading journal.

I also watched A Victorian Farm: A Victorian Christmas this past week and am now starting A Tudor Farm.

I am finishing up corrections to Gladwynn Grant Shakes The Family Tree and started a Patreon, which you can subscribe to here if you’d like a sneak peek of the book.

Last week on the blog I shared:

Sunday Chat: A nice, calm Christmas, getting ready for the first book of 2025, and join us for a cozy crafternoon

On December 29, 2024December 29, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends24 Comments

Welcome to my Sunday 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.

“Let’s just use paper plates for Christmas dinner,” I told my mom.

We’ve had a lot going on and some members of the family haven’t been feeling well from couple different health issues.

Plus it was only the six of us so there was no need for anything fancy.

I heard a small “uh-huh..” on the other end of the phone and figured she was agreeing with me. The next day, though, The Husband, kids and I walked into a kitchen that had been set with a Christmas tablecloth and very fancy plates and goblets.

“These were my Mama’s,” Mom said of the plates. “And we thought we better get them out now because we might never have a chance to use them again.”

I figured that might be their dark humor since they are in their 80s and often say odd things like this to us.

Mom said she actually meant because we might not want to take the time to drag them out again. I added that we might not want to take the chance of them getting broken since I am quite a klutz.

The plates, by the way, were made in Baveria and were a gift of some kind to my grandfather when he used to work for Pepsi Co. That was probably 50 years ago.

The crystal glasses were gifts to my parents on their wedding day. They’ve been married 60 years.

There were also a set of glass water glasses that belonged to my paternal grandmother.

Somehow, we made it through dinner without breaking anything. My husband also made it through washing the plates without breaking anything.

After dinner we had a quick gift opening session that was quite quick this year since we were all broke. *snort* It was a nice time, though, and it was preceded by the reading from the Bible of the Christmas story, which we do every year.

Our family had a lot to celebrate this year.

My sister-in-law, who had been in the hospital for an entire month for heart issues, came home on Christmas Eve. She was/is still dealing with a Norovirus she caught while there and will have lot of new routines she’ll need to do for her condition, but she is home.

The Husband has been dealing with a health issue which could have been so much worse but has been caught and is being treated now and we are very, very thankful for that.

Money is tight right now, but we were all together and found a lot of time to watch movies and simply have fun.

It was a cold week and that was nice in some ways because it meant we had the white Christmas Little Miss had wanted.

We have electric heat upstairs and downstairs we have heating oil and a wood stove.

Thursday we didn’t light the fire because we simply didn’t get to it, and it was a reminder how well it helps to heat the rest of the house when we have it lit because I had to put four blankets on me to get warm that night. I had also taken a shower right before bed and my hair was wet so that, and the fact I’d forgotten to turn on the electric heat upstairs didn’t help at all. The fire was definitely lit Friday, but we didn’t have to light it last night because we are having a small warm up this weekend with temps in the 40s and 50s.

This weekend we have been relaxing and enjoying our time together since The Husband is off work until the week after next and The Boy doesn’t have to return to tech school until Thursday.

We hope to see the Christmas lights at a local golf course Monday if it doesn’t get rained out.

I will finish Shepherd’s Abiding by Jan Karon’s today or tomorrow and that will be my final book of the year. My first book of 2025 will be Christy by Catherine Marshall, which I have already started and am really enjoying.

It is a book based very loosely on the life of Marshall’s mother and takes place in the early 1900s.

This past week I finished Tooth and Claw by Craig Johnson – a novella part of the Walt Longmire series.

I kept trying to read Shepherd’s Abiding to keep with the Christmas spirt, but I kept going back to Tooth and Claw to see if Walt and Henry got away from the psycho polar bear.

Little Miss is very close to the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

The Husband is reading World Traveler by Anthony Bourdain which is also on my TBR.

I watched a lot of Christmas movies or Christmas-related shows last week including

The Christmas episode of The Dick VanDyke Show

Christmas in the Smokies

A ton of Mary Berry episodes

The Christmas episode of All Creatures Great and Small

Jingle All the Way

The Last Holiday

Then I also watched the North and South mini-series. Good grief..that was depressing in many ways. Then I watched another depressing film called Me Before You.

The Husband and I also watched Hombre – again depressing, but Paul Newman was in it so that was good.

I watched a lot of Murder She Wrote one day as well.

I will hopefully watch some more uplifting movies and shows this week.

I’m editing Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree and brainstorming ideas for the fourth Gladwynn Grant book. You can pre-order Gladwynn Shakes the Family Tree (a cozy mystery) here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DR6BG3ZR?

Last week on the blog I shared:

I also wanted to offer a quick thank you to everyone who took part in our Comfy, Cozy Christmas link up. That was so much fun. You can still add posts or just read the ones that are already there at this link: https://lisahoweler.com/comfy-cozy-christmas-2024/

A quick reminder for January plans for this blog and Erin with Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.

Erin and I are planning some Cozy Crafternoons on Zoom in January and February to try to beat those winter blahs that happen after Christmas. The plans for now are two a month.

We will just all meet up on the date and time, and individually work on whatever we want – embroidery, coloring, knitting, crocheting, jewelry making, etc, while chatting.

Erin says she will be embroidering during the session. I might be writing, drawing, or editing photos.

If you are interested in learning more send an email either to me at lisahoweler@gmail.com or to Erin at crackercrumblife@gmail.com. That way we will have your email for the zoom link! Our first scheduled crafternoon is January 11th at 1 pm EST.

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 Chat: Merry Christmas, Christmas movies, and looks like we will have a white Christmas afterall

On December 21, 2024December 28, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends12 Comments

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

I live in an area where we get a lot of snow during the winter – or at least enough to make the roads slippery. I have lived in this area my whole life but I am still not a fan of driving in snow. It makes me very nervous and when I am done doing it my entire body hurts from tensing all my muscles.

I avoid it whenever I can but twice this week, I ended up driving in potentially slippery conditions. On Wednesday I drove home in snow after taking my daughter to Kid’s Club, which is a weekly kid’s program at a church about 20 minutes from our house. Listening to an audiobook of Johnny Tremain helped keep me distracted from being worried we might careen off the road into an embankment, especially when the snow started to stick to the road about five miles from our house.

I recorded a quick video while I was driving slowly, and it was so funny because the audiobook didn’t stop playing as I recorded and when I played it back the woman’s sort of creepy voice was talking about the many deaths that happened during the Revolutionary War while the snow swirled in front of us. (If you push play be aware it is very loud!)

We made it home and I vowed not to do it again but on Friday my dad needed to go to an MRI and I needed to pick up groceries. We knew we were supposed to get snow but we weren’t sure how much, so we headed out anyhow. This was after I got my dad’s car stuck twice earlier in the day. I’m borrowing his car while our truck is broke down.

I kept my hands tight around the steering wheel on the way to where we get groceries while we got stuck behind a long line of cars due to a very slow truck and a shiny sheen showed up on the road.

That’s when Dad decides to remind me not to get too close to the car in front of me because I don’t want to have to slam on the brakes and possibly skid across the road since the temp had dropped to 29 degrees. That’s always fun in winter by the way – watching the thermometer on your car drop below freezing and wonder if that’s going to be cold enough to freeze the road as well or if it was warm enough that the road hasn’t had a chance to freeze yet. This is something those who don’t live in colder climates have to worry about.

So, on Friday, for 15 miles, I had to make sure I stayed back and stayed calm while Dad reminded me gently that I was too close to cars. He made me a bit nervous so I made him drive home and guess what – he pulled up too close to cars and didn’t slow down at all. Why that hypocrite. *wink* Honestly, he’s a pretty good driver but it was nice to harass him a bit by telling him he was too close to the cars in front of us.

Once we were home, though, I decided we won’t be leaving the house again until Christmas Eve when we will head to my parents for the evening and then head back again on Christmas Day.

The Husband does have to go to work today and Monday but then he is off for a week and we are looking forward to him having that time.

We did receive a few inches of snow on Friday and with today’s artic temps and still cold temps the next few days, it looks like we will have our white Christmas after all.

Our family has a lot to be grateful for this Christmas. The month of December has been a beast – beating my family down physically, emotionally, and sometimes even spiritually. Through it all it has been tough to be upbeat but as I write this I am grateful for miracles – for surgeries that won’t have to happen, for medical conditions caught quickly and didn’t cause more damage than they could have, and for healing that is slowly coming.

It isn’t always easy to be happy at Christmas and I just want anyone who isn’t celebrating this Christmas, for whatever reason, that it’s okay. You feel the way you feel and if you don’t feel cheerful, then you don’t. Christmas is something we can celebrate at any time of the year because of why we celebrate. I’m hoping many of us have better days to come.

I had planned to read all Christmas books leading up to Christmas and I did read a couple but didn’t fill all of my reads up with Christmas.

I finished The Hound of The Baskerville’s by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I finished The Christmas Swap by Melody Carlson this past week. I did not enjoy it as much as A Quilt for Christmas and it honestly felt like a completely different writer.

I then finished Johnny Tremain which Little Miss and I have been reading all school year for history (in between other lessons).

That brought my book total read for the year to 66 and as I told friends and family – that is too close to 666 in my head (not the number counting up…but you know what I mean) so I am reading Tooth and Claw by Craig Johnson to bring it to 67.

After Tooth and Claw I am diving back into Christy by Catherine Marshall and starting either Castles in the Air by Donald Westlake (which my husband recommended) or Little Men.

The Husband is reading The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and that will be his 115^th book of the year.

The Boy is supposed to be finishing The Hound of the Baskerville’s this week.

Little Miss is reading Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets.

We have been cramming as many Christmas movies or Christmas-themed shows we can fit in before Christmas.

This past week we watched Miracle on 34^th Street (my husband’s favorite), Elf, Home Alone, and White Christmas.

On my own I watched The Bishop’s Wife and The Chosen special The Messenger.

We still want to watch Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, A Christmas Story, and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. I also hope to watch past Christmas episodes of All Creatures Great and Small since I don’t have streaming that allows me to watch the latest season yet.

I am still finishing corrections on Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree, which you can now pre-order on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DR6BG3ZR?

This week on the blog I shared:

A quick reminder for January plans for this blog and Erin with Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs. I’m going to copy what she has been posting on her blog because I am behind this week!

“Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are planning some Cozy Crafternoons on Zoom in January and February, to beat those winter blahs that happen late winter after Christmas. We are thinking we will have maybe two per month, so four in total. We will just all meet up on the date and time, and individually work on whatever we want – embroidery, coloring, knitting, crocheting, jewelry making, etc, while chatting or you could even have the sound off and just feel part of the group without the chatter, if you like it quiet. It is sort of open and flexible but also social. I will probably be stitching away – my friend has requested a small pillow with an embroidered possum on it, so I will be working on that in January for a while. Anyway, if you are interested in learning more send an email either to me at crackercrumblife@gmail.com or to Lisa at lisahoweler@gmail.com. That way we will also have your email for the zoom link! Our first scheduled crafternoon is January 11th at 1 pm EST.”

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.

Comfy, Cozy Christmas Link Update

On December 9, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn Comfy, Cozy Christmas, everyday musings2 Comments

Oops! There has been a minor snafu for our Comfy, Christmas Link-Up! Our link-up closed earlier than we wanted, so we’ve had to open a second one.

All this means is that if you want to link a Christmas/holiday themed post you won’t be able to add one in the first link-up, but you can in the second/new one. Those posts that were shared in the first link-up are still available to read and I hope you will visit them here:

You can access the new linkup here:

But you can also find it under the menu item Comfy, Cozy Christmas at the top of the page. We’ve had bloggers participating this year and sharing their holiday-themed posts with us and we love it! Let’s keep the comfy spirit flowing right now. We all need it!

Sunday Chat: Bitter cold, snowy weather, the insane prices of streaming services, and a mix of books to read

On December 8, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings, Sunday Bookends17 Comments

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

Somewhere around Christmas I take advantage of a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale and get a month of the Hallmark channel on Amazon so I can watch some of their ridiculously sappy movies.

This year I missed the sale but still thought I’d get a subscription for a month.

Amazon said I could indeed have that subscription.

For $7.99 a month.

$8.

Hallmark Channel thinks they are worth $8 a month. Like I’m going to watch more than two or three of their movies. Ever.

I looked at one of the movies I thought I might watch and they wanted me to pay $5 just to rent it. I’m sorry but Hallmark movies are not worth $5 to watch and they are not worth me paying $8 a month when I am already paying for other channels and services. That thought made me want to find out how much those other services had jumped up to and I about fell off the couch.

We had five other subscriptions and most of them were $8 or $9 a month. I ended up unsubscribing from a few and keeping the subscription of one when they offered me more than 50 percent off for the next three months. The Husband and I have decided we will rotate subscriptions – getting some of them every other month instead of every month.

For example, I will be choosing to add PBS Masterpiece back in January so I can watch All Creatures Great and Small’s new season.

What is insane to me is how we left cable for streaming to save money and now companies are charging so much for their services, breaking them into all these individual channels they want you to pay for, we were paying almost as much for streaming services as we did for cable.

It’s really out of control. Luckily, we have the choice to not sign up for certain services and we also have a huge DVD collection so I think this first word problem will not overwhelm us.

Last week was a very cold week so we didn’t really go anywhere – mainly because it was a very cold week. Had it not been such a cold and miserable week I might not have noticed how much we were being ripped off by Amazon and the other streaming services.

We got the woodstove going and ran the fire all week. It was nice and cozy in the house most of the days – except one day when I let the fire go too low and almost shivered out of my clothes while getting dinner ready.

Thankfully, next week is supposed to be warmer. By warmer, I of course mean highs of 40 a couple days and one day of a high of 51. Still not sandals weather, but we will take it. We will most likely still light a fire during the day to keep us from having to use the heating oil because the nights are still expected to be very cold.

Lighting fires will be easier thanks to a delivery of wood we received Saturday morning. It will probably be our last delivery of the winter season.

As I began writing this post, I tried to think why I didn’t read more books this week. I had time but I guess I spent a lot of it writing blog posts, building fires, cooking dinners, and maybe a bit worrying about my sister-in-law who is still in the hospital with health issues. I’d love if you could say some prayers for her.

I was also reading Johnny Tremain for school with the youngest and doing homeschool with her.

I’m still working on A Death in Marlow, which is actually a very easy read and I’ll probably finish this week. I was distracted from it this past week by A Quilt for Christmas by Melody Carlson which was a fun, quick, cozy Christmas read and then shared a review of it. I also plan to share a review this week on The Marlow Mystery Club, which I read a couple of weeks ago.

I am continuing to read The Hound of the Baskerville’s by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle fairly slowly with The Boy for school and I hope to read another Christmas-themed novella this week – Catching Christmas by Terri Blackstock.

The Husband has started his 111^th book of the year, High Priest of California by Charles Willeford.

The Boy is reading The Hound of the Baskerville’s with me but is sort of dragging his feet right now.

Little Miss is listening to Caddie Woodlawn at night before bed and reading Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets but took a break from reading it this week.

I watched three Hallmark Christmas movies this past week. They were sort of awful and sort of good at the same time – like any Hallmark movie.

I also watched Just A Few Acres Farm’s videos quite a bit this week. It is so relaxing to watch him do simple things like rebuilding a tractor engine or feed the cows.

I shared a lot on the blog this week including:

Don’t forget that Erin and I are hosting the Comfy, Cozy Christmas link up, which you can find at the top of the page. The link-up is for any holiday-related posts .

A blog post I enjoyed this week:

|| Tuesday Tour: Christmas Ever Day by Mama’s Empty Nest ||

|| Traditional Christmas in the Living Room, More Table Vignettes & Hallway, Christmas Home Tour, 2024 by Debbie Dabble Christmas ||

|| Under the Mistletoe – The Third Door by Cat’s Wire ||

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.

10 Christmas books to read this year

On December 3, 2024December 9, 2024 By Lisa R. HowelerIn books and reading, top-ten-tuesday16 Comments

|| Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. ||

This week we have a freebie post so now that we are in December, I thought I’d share some book ideas to get you into the Christmas or holiday feels.

Did I just write “feels”? Oh my … I did. Let us overlook that and carry on . . .

Shepherd’s Abiding by Jan Karon

I’m starting with this one because this is one I read or read parts of each year now. It’s a favorite Christmas book for me. As my sister-in-law said last night when we were chatting, reading a Jan Karon book is like walking into a warm hug and this book is no different. It’s heartwarming, even though there are some tough topics in it, especially about Father Tim (he’s an Episcopalian priest) as he grapples with his past relationship with his late father.

Description: Millions of Americans have found Mitford to be a favorite home-away-from-home, and countless readers have long wondered what Christmas in Mitford would be like. The eighth Mitford novel provides a glimpse, offering a meditation on the best of all presents: the gift of one’s heart.

Since he was a boy, Father Tim has lived what he calls “the life of the mind” and has never really learned to savor the work of his hands. When he finds a derelict nativity scene that has suffered the indignities of time and neglect, he imagines the excitement in the eyes of his wife, Cynthia, and decides to undertake the daunting task of restoring it. As Father Tim begins his journey, readers are given a seat at Mitford’s holiday table and treated to a magical tale about the true Christmas spirit.

2. A Quilt for Christmas by Melody Carlson

I am actually reading this one right now and am enjoying it.

Description: In this heartwarming Christmas story, widowed Vera Swanson is feeling lonely until young Fiona Albright knocks on her door needing help. With Fiona’s mother seriously ill, Fiona asks Vera to make a special Christmas quilt for her. Vera gathers a group of women, including an artist, a chatty empty nester, and a retired therapist, to fulfill the request. Along the way, Vera discovers the joy of friendship and the warmth of a new “family” during the holiday season.

3. Waiting for Christmas by Lynn Austin

I have not read this one, but have heard good things about Lynn’s work.

Decription: For the first time in her privileged life, Adelaide Forsythe won’t be swept up in it. She couldn’t be happier about the prospect of a quieter Christmas. That’s not to say her transition from Miss to Mrs. has been without challenge. Though she doesn’t regret marrying for love instead of wealth, she can barely light the hearth or cook more than burnt toast. She feels woefully unprepared to run her own household.
Then, on the first Sunday of Advent, winter winds bring change through two unlikely means: a young orphan boy, hiding near Adelaide’s front steps, and a seasoned housekeeper who seems too good to be true.
The boy, Jack, claims he isn’t an orphan at all and is desperate to reunite his family. Adelaide and her husband Howard work tirelessly to solve the riddle of Jack’s story, while Adelaide’s new endeavors open her eyes to a world beyond her past experience—and all the challenge and possibility it holds. As Christmas approaches, small glimmers of wonder light the way toward the answers Adaleide seeks and the most miraculous gift of all.

4. An Ivy Hill Christmas: A Tales from Ivy Hill By Julie Klassen

(I have not read this one but it sounds good.)

Description: The younger son of Ivy Hill’s family, Richard Brockwell, hasn’t been home for Christmas for years. He prefers to live in the London townhouse, far away from everyone. His mother threatens to stop funding his carefree life–unless he comes home for Christmas. Out of options, he sets out for Ivy Hill, planning to be back on a coach bound for London and his unencumbered bachelor life as soon as the festivities are over.
But Christmas in the country presents unforeseen surprises, including encounters with an orphaned apprentice, the first love he disappointed years ago, and Arabella Awdry, a young lady who is far more appealing than he recalled . . . and determined to have nothing to do with him.

5. A Christmas Carol and other Christmas Writings by Charles Dickens

(have not read all of these, but have read A Christmas Carol and I did enjoy it.)

Description: This selection of Dickens’s Christmas writings confirms his lasting influence upon our idea of the Christmas spirit: that Christmas is a time for celebration, charity, and memory.

In addition to the beloved A Christmas Carol, this volume includes such festive works as “Christmas Festivities,” “The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton,” “A Christmas Tree,” “The Seven Poor Travellers,” The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain, and a Christmas episode from Master Humphrey’s Clock. Beyond the holly and the ivy, Charles Dickens’ writings show readers his references to societal issues in nineteenth century England that revolve around Christmas. Dickens explores issues, which relate to class and memory in order to achieve deeper meaning and human qualities for the characters he creates.

6. A Vintage Christmas by various authors

(I read a couple of these stories from a book similar to this last year and did enjoy them! I hope to read more from it this year. I think I actually listened to a couple too on Audible.)

Delight lovers of classics with this timeless treasury! From Twain’s missive—penned as “Santa Claus” to his 3-year-old daughter—to charming fireside moments, this Christmas collection features 23 nostalgic tales from Alcott, Dickens, Stowe, Twain, Montgomery, and Howells, along with the poetry of Cook, Rossetti, Thackeray, Kilmer, Longfellow, and Coleridge. Includes a presentation page for personalized gifting.

5. A Regency Christmas Wish by Various authors:

(Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs turned me on to these types of books last year. There are various versions of these books, all with different novellas collected into one volume. I had to hunt for these books as they are not all in print anymore, with many of them only available on used sites. I tracked this one down on Thriftbooks. I read two of the novellas last year and I’m going to read a couple more this December. I am not a huge romance reader but these are very light and sweet.)

Description: This collection of five holiday-themed Regency romances includes all-new stories by award-winning and bestselling authors Edith Layton, Emma Jensen, Sandra Heath, Barbara Metzger, and Carla Kelly. Celebrate the joys of Christmas in Regency England with five new stories by some of the most beloved Regency authors of all time. Ringing in the season with fireside warmth, holiday wishes, and Yuletide romance, these stories capture the essence of Christmas. A sparkling collection sure to delight readers all year round, with warmth, cheer, and love.

7. Finding Father Christmas/Engaging Father Christmas (2 books in 1) by Robin Jones Gunn

Description: Two heartwarming Yuletide tales in one volume! In Finding Father Christmas, Miranda’s search for her dad leads her to England where a family welcomes her. Should she reveal her true identity and destroy their idyllic image of her parent? And in Engaging Father Christmas, Miranda plans to accept Ian’s proposal—but the Whitcomb matriarch withholds her blessing.

8. All is Calm/All is Bright (two novellas in one) by Colleen Cobble

Description: Curl up with this Yuletide duo! In All Is Calm, special ops agent Brendan and murder witness Lauren seek refuge at Bluebird Ranch. Can they catch the killer? And in All Is Bright, Delilah is deliberately run off the road. Sheriff Tom Bourne is determined to protect her. Will he save her from her shadowy attacker?

9. The Christmas Candle by Max Lucado

(I have watched the movie this is based on but have not read the book.)

Description: Imagine a Victorian England village in the Cotswolds where very little out of the ordinary ever happens . . . except at Christmas time.

This year, Edward Haddington, a lowly candle maker, is visited by a mysterious angel. That angel silently imparts a precious gift—a gift that’s bungled and subsequently lost. The candle maker and his wife, Bea, struggle to find the gift.

And when they do, they have to make a difficult choice. Who among their community is most in need of a Christmas miracle?

10. You Make it Feel Like Christmas by Toni Shiloh

(I have not read this one yet but I’ve wanted to read one by Shiloh so I might try to squeeze it in this year.)

Description: It’s the most wonderful time of the year–for everyone except Starr Lewis.

As if going home for the holidays jobless and single wasn’t bad enough, she’s dragged into a holiday season full of activities leading up to her sister’s uber-romantic Christmas Eve wedding–to Starr’s ex-boyfriend. But when her brother’s best friend, Waylon Emmerson, attends their family Thanksgiving, she starts to wonder if maybe coming home for Christmas isn’t so bad after all.

As Starr finds the perfect distraction in helping Waylon make over his late mother’s Christmas shop, the most wonderful time of the year works its magic and the spark between them grows. But with the holidays fast approaching, Starr must decide what she wants out of life after the gifts are unwrapped and the ornaments are put away–to go back to New York City or to open her heart to a love that will last beyond Christmas Day?

Have you read any of these books? Or are you reading anything Christmas-related this year? Let me know in the comments.

*This post is also part of the Comfy, Cozy Christmas Link Up for 2024. If you have a Christmas/holiday post you would like to share you can find the link HERE or at the top of the page here on my blog.