Sunday Bookends: Autumn in Summer, mysteries, and classic movies

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 watchingand what I’ve been writing.

With cooler weather coming in this week, it almost feels like autumn in summer, which stinks for some, but has been so welcome for me. When it is super warm out I like to turn the AC up high for a while and get a blanket and pretend it is autumn already.

The week before last the heat wave, combined with wildfire smoke from Canada, plus some life stress, made me very sick, which is why the cooler temps are such a welcome respite for me.

Luckily it  has been still warm enough during the day that we can take our daughter swimming at the YMCA, which is about a half an hour north.

Last Sunday I took her to their outside pool for the first time. I don’t do super well in direct sunlight but they had thin fabric covers over the tables and it was very nice. The Husband has taken her before, but I had never been there. It’s a nice set up and I’m shocked I’ve lived my whole life in the area and never been there. This is one of those old concrete pools and is probably 60 years old.

Little Miss and her friend both took a test to allow them to swim in the deeper part of the pool and were very proud of themselves. I was too.

It wasn’t a super warm day so the pool wasn’t overly crowded either.

The rest of this past week was fairly uneventful.

I started planning for Little Miss’s upcoming school year, visited my parents a couple of times, and picked up groceries from the Aldi pick up on Friday.

Yesterday was a mostly relaxing day with some worrying about aforementioned homeschool year, overthinking the fact that young people today are reading less and therefore not being exposed to the more eloquent and poetic writing of classic literature, watching The Mark of Zorro, reading a bit of my John Steinbeck book, and cooking a self-created combination dish of turkey bacon, brussels sprouts, onions, and sweet peppers.

Rain is being called for almost every day this upcoming week. We do not have any grand plans for the week other than watching Warren (yes, that is The Husband’s real name) in a community play version of Little Shop of Horrors this weekend. After reminding myself of the difference between the play and the 1986 movie, I think I’ll probably leave Little Miss with her friend or my parents.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Just Finished

Last week I finished Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie for the July book for the Christie Reading Challenge for 2026. It was very good and I’ll share a review of it soon.

I was supposed to read The Rose and the Yew Tree by Mary Westmacott, which was Christie’s pen name, but I just couldn’t get through it. I was terribly dull. I feel like I want to know the ending (as I mentioned last week) so I think I might pick it up again in August and just finish it up.

In Progress

I am slow reading Stillmeadow Daybrook by Gladys Taber. Since each chapter is a month, I plan to read a chapter a month for the rest of 2026 and into 2027. I’m also reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

Right now I am reading Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. It is a non-fiction about his traveling across the country in a camper in 1961 with his dog to learn more about the people of the United States. I’m enjoying it and will finish it this week.

I am also reading  Celia’s House by D.E. Stevenson before bed. It’s a very relaxed, gentle read so far. It is the story of a woman named Celia who is in her 90s, getting ready to pass, and tells her nephew she wants him to have her house and pass it on to a future daughter of his that she wants him to name Celia.

Up Soon

I will be reading By The Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie for the August read for the Christie Reading Challenge.

I ordered a copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain because I have been determined to read it again for the first time since I was a kid.

I’ve also ordered a copy of Mrs. Buncle Married by D.E. Stevenson, which his a sequel to Miss Buncle’s Book.

What The Family is Reading

The Boy is listening to False Gods by Graham McNeal.

Little Miss and I are going to finish Heidi this week.

Warren is reading The Committee Chairs by James Mishner.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

no new arrivals

What I/We’ve Been Watching

This past week, I watched the movies The Mark of Zorro (with Tyrone Powers), Without Love (Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy), Witness to Murder (with Barbara Stanwyck and George Sanders), and Singing in the Rain (which I watched with my daughter for the first time. The first for her, not me, of course).

What I’ve Been Writing

This week on the blog I shared very little actually!

What I/We’ve Been Listening To

Murder, She Wrote: Maine Mutiny by Donald Bain and Jessica Fletcher.

Recent Blog Posts I Enjoyed

I enjoyed this post from Marsha about her thinning hair  because I know a lot of women deal with this as they get older or have medical conditions.

Cat writes about silent movies and I love that and this time she’s writing about the king of silent movies — Charlie Chaplin.

https://catswire.blogspot.com/2026/07/silent-movies-dogs-life.html

I enjoyed reading about The Farm Wife Reads’ garden, tomatoes, and North Carolina summer.

Erin caught us up on her life in this one, some of it more difficult to read, but some of it also happy.

Some Housekeeping

Erin (Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs), Cat (Cat’s Wire) and I host a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea.  This link-up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!). Each link party will be open for a month. You can find that link up for this month here.

Each week, I host the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot with some great hosts. It goes live Thursday night, but you can share any kind of blog posts (family-friendly) there until Tuesday of each week. You can check my recent posts on the sidebar to the right for the most recent link party.

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing?


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


Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

If you would like to be the first to get news about my books or just have access to special posts for supporters, you can do so here for $2.99 a month https://lisahoweler.com/support-my-writing/


Sunday Bookends: Not a big reading week but Charley got me through

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 watchingand what I’ve been writing.

Last week was a miserable week healthwise and in other ways, and I’m glad it is behind me.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Just Finished

I didn’t finish any books this past week.

In Progress

I am slow reading Stillmeadow Daybrook by Gladys Taber. Since each chapter is a month, I plan to read a chapter a month for the rest of 2026 and into 2027. I’m also reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

I put The Rose and The Yew Tree by Mary Westmacott (Agatha Christie’s pseudonym for her romantic suspense books) aside for now because, I will be very frank, the book was not very interesting and was pretty depressing. I know the murder mysteries that she usually wrote aren’t always happy, but the people in this book are just not likable and are miserable all  of the time.

I do sort of want  to know what happens so I will probably pick it back up this week.

I had some stress this week so I didn’t get as much reading as I wanted done but I am still enjoying Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. This is the only book I’ve read by Steinbeck other than Of Mice and Men. It was a much-needed distraction from all the weather issues, my health issues, and some older parent-related stress.

I started Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie to get my Agatha read in for July for the Christie Reading Challenge and am enjoying it much more than the Westmacott.

Up Soon

I am in the mood for a Nancy Drew book so I will be finding one to read soon. I also have an original Hardy Boys book I want to read.

What The Family is Reading

The Husband is reading Valor by Amanda Yanul.

Little Miss and I did not really read together at all this week. We were just hot, miserable, and had cabin fever/

New arrivals to my bookshelf

No new arrivals this week.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

This past week I watched a few episodes of As Time Goes By, an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, a few episodes of Murder, She Wrote, and an old movie called The Reluctant Debutante with Rex Harrison, some other lady, and Angela Lansbury (it was weird).

What I’ve Been Writing

Last week on the blog I shared:

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot July 17th!

Ten books I want to read by New To Me Authors

What I/We’ve Been Listening To

I am listening to The Maine Mutiny by Donald Baine on Audible when I drive somewhere, which means I haven’t listened to it a ton lately. I am hoping to listen more this week when I do housework.

Some Housekeeping

Erin (Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs), Cat (Cat’s Wire) and I host a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea.  This link-up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!). Each link party will be open for a month. You can find that link up for this month here.

Each week, I host the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot with some great hosts. It goes live Thursday night, but you can share any kind of blog posts (family-friendly) there until Tuesday of each week. You can check my recent posts on the sidebar to the right for the most recent link party.

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing?


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


Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

If you would like to be the first to get news about my books or just have access to special posts for supporters, you can do so here for $2.99 a month https://lisahoweler.com/support-my-writing/


Sunday Bookends: overstimulated brain, injury prone, and older books on my lists

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 watchingand what I’ve been writing.

Do you ever get over stimulated when you are on social media? It isn’t that something or anything is negative, but it is just … too much?

I was there this past week, and I had to shut it down.

There are some fun posts and some cool things that I was seeing, but it was just too much. It was like mental overload. Some of it was definitely negative. I find that social media is an outlet for people to complain and run others down.

But even when I was on positive accounts or was scrolling through people talking about their favorite books or movies, I just felt like my brain was overloaded. This happens to me from time to time, but seems to be happening more and more lately. What I had to do was mute social media for a few days or at least part of the day and watch some movies, do some junk journaling, anything that didn’t require a lot of noise, a lot of images, and any kind of scrolling, which tends to make me have vertigo anyhow.

Tomorrow is my husband’s and my 24th wedding anniversary. I’m hoping to make it without getting injured again. Right now, I have a bruise on my arm from the cat when she dug her claw into my arm while I was trying to give her her medicine, a scratch on the back of my foot from when I dropped a knife last night, and my chronic neck issues. The Husband isn’t feeling too great either. Maybe we can just sit in the house with ice and heated rice packs on our shoulders, knees, and everything in between and have some dinner and watch a movie. Ha!

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Just Finished

Last week I finished Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson and really enjoyed it. I shared a review of it here.

In Progress

I am slow reading Stillmeadow Daybrook by Gladys Taber. Since each chapter is a month, I plan to read a chapter a month for the rest of 2026 and into 2027. I’m also reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

I am also currently reading The Rose and the Yew Tree by Mary Westcott (Agatha Christie) for the Christie Reading Challenge and Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

Up Soon

Books I have lined up for the remainder of the summer include: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Murder, She Wrote: Slaying in Savannah, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, and Mystery Mile.

What The Family is Reading

Little Miss and I have been goofing off and not reading from Heidi but I think we will finish it this week.

The Husband is reading The Land of Lost Things by John Connelly.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

My new arrival this week was Travels with Charley, which I bought new because I had an old copy that smelled funny and the new copy was on sale. It smelled amazing, by the way.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

I watched two episodes of Sons of Liberty from the History Channel that ran in 2015. Interesting but not where you go for historical accuracy.

A hot, young Assassin’s Creed look-alike Samuel Adams about the same as John Hancock instead of ten years his senior like in reality? Hmmm…. Okay…Dr. Joseph Warren having some sexy time with General Gage’s wife? Good Lord. Who wrote this? The staff writers at TMZ??

Yeah … it was a nice reimagining (lie) and sensationalized poppycock as General Gage might have said.

I also watched The Apartment with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacClain, Mr. Blandings Builds a Dream House, and Andy Hardy Meets A Debutante.

What I’ve Been Writing

This week I worked on Gladwynn Grant Goes Back to School.

On the blog I shared:

Recent Blog Posts I Enjoyed

Some Housekeeping

Erin (Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs), Cat (Cat’s Wire) and I host a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea.  This link-up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!). Each link party will be open for a month. You can find that link up for this month here.

Each week, I host the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot with some great hosts. It goes live Thursday night, but you can share any kind of blog posts (family-friendly) there until Tuesday of each week. You can check my recent posts on the sidebar to the right for the most recent link party.

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing?


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


Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

If you would like to be the first to get news about my books or just have access to special posts for supporters, you can do so here for $2.99 a month https://lisahoweler.com/support-my-writing/


Sunday Bookends: Happy Fourth weekend, heatwave finally broke, and yay for “interesting” old movies

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 watchingand what I’ve been writing.

Happy 250th, America! Whoo-hoo! What an exciting weekend for our country. The heat wave we’ve had this past week has not been welcome, keeping me locked inside so I don’t trigger any of my weird health issues, but I’ve made the best of it by reading books, watching movies and shows, and working a bit on book four in the Gladwynn Grant Mysteries.

I did escape yesterday to go to my parents and it was nice to get out of the house. While we were there a huge storm came in, I watched a huge bolt of lightening slam into the hillside across the valley, and the  heatwave finally broke.

The weather canceled most of the fireworks in the area but we could hear some going off in the neighborhood.  

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Just Finished

I finished The Unsolicited Journals of Emma Lion Vol. 1 by Beth Brower this past week. It was more of a novella. It was okay but I was not bowled over by it.

In Progress

I am slow reading Stillmeadow Daybrook by Gladys Taber. Since each chapter is a month, I plan to read a chapter a month for the rest of 2026 and into 2027. I’m also reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

I’m still reading Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson and enjoying it. I’ll have it finished today.

Up Soon

I’ll be starting The Rose and The Yew Tree by Mary Westcot (Agatha Christie) for the Christie Reading Challenge this week.

What The Family is Reading

The husband is reading The Land of Lost Things by John Connelly.

Little Miss and I are still reading…. Yes, you guessed it. Heidi. We have no been consistently reading it but will be this week. When we are done with that we will be reading Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

No new arrivals this week.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

This past week I watched Enchanted with David Niven, Teresa Wright, Evelyn Keyes, and Farley Granger. It was …. Interesting. Not the best, not the worst. A film with a little lesson on love and life at the end, but a lot of holes and storylines that just…fizzled.

I also watched a short comedy movie from the 1940s called Niagara Falls. It was a ridiculous comedy about a man and a woman who have a bad interaction on the their way to Niagara Falls and everyone assumes they are a married couple just  having a spat so they keep trying to get them back together.  It was just over the top humor.

Some Housekeeping

Erin (Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs), Cat (Cat’s Wire) and I host a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea.  This link-up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!). Each link party will be open for a month. You can find that link up for this month here.

Each week, I host the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot with some great hosts. It goes live Thursday night, but you can share any kind of blog posts (family-friendly) there until Tuesday of each week. You can check my recent posts on the sidebar to the right for the most recent link party.

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing?


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


Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

If you would like to be the first to get news about my books or just have access to special posts for supporters, you can do so here for $2.99 a month https://lisahoweler.com/support-my-writing/


What I read in June

I have been averaging about four books a month this entire year, except for March, when I somehow read seven, but I think  that was because I finished up a book I’d been reading with my daughter and also finished (finally) Return of the King.

In June I read the following books:

The Ivory Dagger by Patricia Wentworth

Description: When Lila Dryden is discovered standing over her fiancé’s body with dagger in hand, Miss Silver is called in to investigate, only to discover Lila’s sleepwalking patterns, the return of her former lover, and the victim’s circle of acquaintances–all of whom occasionally wished him dead.

Brief thoughts: I enjoyed this one. It was my first by Wentworth, so it was also my first Miss Silver book. I think it was number 18 but I didn’t have any problems following the characters or figuring out their past interactions with each other. I loved Miss Silver and her interaction with the investigator in the case, who she had worked with before.

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

Description: Eustace and Jill escape from the bullies at school through a strange door in the wall, which, for once, is unlocked. It leads to the open moor…or does it? Once again Aslan has a task for the children, and Narnia needs them. Through dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, they pursue the quest that brings them face to face with the evil Witch. She must be defeated if Prince Rillian is to be saved.

Brief thoughts: I’ve been making my way through The Chronicles of Narnia this year and this was the next one. I was in a reading slump when I started it and it pulled me out because I couldn’t put it down. I was immediately caught up in the story. It wasn’t my favorite of the series, but I love how Lewis writes so I still really liked it. This is a children’s book but I truly believe even adults should read this series. It’s so magical and fun. And, yes, there are elements to the stories that are allegories for Christianity but even if a person isn’t a Christian, the stories are just so good.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Description: The peaceful English village of King’s Abbot is stunned. The widow Ferrars dies from an overdose of Veronal. Not twenty-four hours later, Roger Ackroyd—the man she had planned to marry—is murdered. It is a baffling case involving blackmail and death that taxes Hercule Poirot’s “little grey cells” before he reaches one of the most startling conclusions of his career.

Brief thoughts: I wrote a review for this one, but the bottom line is that I enjoyed it. I read this one as part of the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge.

Stolen Past by Tara Randel

Description: Pleasant Creek, Indiana, loves its history. Each summer the town sponsors Heritage Day, a festival commemorating the signing of the original town charter. Liz Eckardt couldn’t be happier to participate in the star-spangled celebration.

But someone else isn’t happy. Antique items related to the historic event are being stolen from Pleasant Creek’s people and businesses, including Liz herself. Does the culprit merely want to torch the celebration or is there more to his sinister plot?

Brief Thoughts. I also wrote a review on this one and posted it here on the blog. I enjoyed this one. It was a very light mystery, not dark, not overly depressing. I love the characters in this series (The Amish Inn Mysteries) so it felt like visiting old friends when I read it.

What did you read in June? Have you ever read any of these?


If you write book reviews or book-related blog posts, don’t forget that Erin, Cat, and I host the A Good Book and A Cup of Tea Monthly Bookish Blog Party. You can learn more about it here.

On Thursdays, I am part of the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot blog link party. You can find the latest one in the sidebar to the right under recent posts.

Notice: This post may contain affiiate links. If you purchase the product from these links I will receive a small compensation at no extra charge to you.


Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube and Facebook.

If you would like to be the first to get news about my books or just have access to special posts for supporters, you can do so here for $2.99 a month https://lisahoweler.com/support-my-writing/

A Good Book & A Cup of Tea Monthly Bookish Blog Party Link Up for July

Welcome to the A Good Book & A Cup of Tea (A Monthly Bookish Link Party)!! This link-up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!).

Each link party will be open for a month.

My co-hosts for this event are Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and Cat from Cat’s Wire.

You can link up with any of us!

Here are a few of my favorite shares from the June link party:

Bemused and Bookish shared with us ten books she can’t believe she hasn’t read yet.

Is This Mutton shared the books she read in June.

The Intrepid Reader and Baker shared a review of Hot Chocolate on Thursdays.

My Slices of Life shared the books she read in May

Dark Shelf Wonders provided us a list of new July releases!

Now it is your turn to share!

Some guidelines.

1. For Bloggers, you can link unlimited posts related to books and reading. They can be older posts or newer posts. These can be posts about what you’re reading, book reviews, books you’ve added to your shelf, reading habits, what you’ve been reading, about trips to the bookstore, etc. You get the drift.

2. Link to a specific blog post (URL of a specific post, not just your website). Feel free to link up any older posts that may need some love and attention, too.

3. Please visit at least two other bloggers on this list and comment on their posts. Have fun! Interact! Get some book recommendations.

4. Readers can click the blue button below to visit blog posts.

5. If you add a link you are giving me permission to share and link back to your post(s).

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
https://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=c0efdbe6b4add43dd7ef

Sunday Bookends: Happy 250th US! And buying DVDs of old shows!

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 watchingand what I’ve been writing.

I am loving all the celebrations for our country’s 250th anniversary! Last night our local Catholic Church put on an amazing display that our entire town was able to watch because the church is located on a hill.

Little Miss’s little friend was over and played the Star Spangled Banner as the show went on which made it even more patriotic. Zooma the Wonder Dog did freak out some but she was so excited that Little Miss’s friend was over that she was distracted from being afraid from the loud banging.

The shot my husband got as he headed back into our town from the movies with the kids.

I actually forgot about the fireworks display so when it went off I thought it was gunshots which is not unusual in this area since we have so many hunters, but still, we don’t usually hear that many at a time.

I’ll be looking forward to seeing fireworks displays around the country next week too. Our town has flags all over – it’s fun to see.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Just Finished

This week  I finished The Ivory Dagger by Patricia Wentworth. It was my first book by her and I enjoyed it. It reminded me of Agatha Christie with more descriptions. This was a book from the Miss Silver series. I’m going to go back to the beginning of the series and start there.

In Progress

I am slow reading Stillmeadow Daybrook by Gladys Taber. Since each chapter is a month, I plan to read a chapter a month. I’m still reading Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson but I put it aside to finish The Ivory Dagger. I’ll continue it this week because I am enjoying it.

Up Soon

Up soon I will be reading Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham.

What The Family is Reading

Little Miss and I are reading Heidi. My son is listening to a Warhammer book. I forgot to ask The Husband what he is reading.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

Last week I received a delivery of nine middle grade books for Little Miss and I to read  together. They included: Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright, The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keattey Snyder, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle, Across the Lines by Carolyn Reeder, The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks, Moccasin Trail by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac, Calico Girl by Jerdine Nolen, and  Phoebe the Spy by Judith Berry Griffin.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

 I was depressed this week to find that Murder, She Wrote was taken of Amazon Prime, where I was able to watch it without commercials. I hate commercials because it seems most of streaming commercials are for pharmaceutical companies and politics. Blah.

I’ve decided I am going to start ordering them on DVD like I am my movies. I’m tired of putting up with tech companies telling me when and how I can watch my shows! And I don’t care if I sound like an old lady. Ha.

I did watch some Murder, She Wrote on the On Demand feature on Amazon. I also watched a movie called Tell It To the Judge with Rosalind Russell and Robert Cummings, a Myrna Loy and William Powell movie called Double Wedding, and several episodes of As Time Goes By.

What I’ve Been Writing

I’m working on Gladwynn Grant Goes Back to School, book four in the Gladwynn Grant series.

This week on the blog I shared:

What I/We’ve Been Listening To

I’ve been listening to The Essential Dean Martin Collection and a Murder, She Wrote book.

Photos From Last Week

Some Housekeeping

Erin (Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs), Cat (Cat’s Wire) and I host a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea.  This link-up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!). Each link party will be open for a month. You can find that link up for this month here.

Each week, I host the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot with some great hosts. It goes live Thursday night, but you can share any kind of blog posts (family-friendly) there until Tuesday of each week. You can check my recent posts on the sidebar to the right for the most recent link party.

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing?


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


Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find me on Instagram and YouTube.

If you would like to be the first to get news about my books or just have access to special posts for supporters, you can do so here for $2.99 a month https://lisahoweler.com/support-my-writing/


Sunday Bookends: Cow beauty pageant and new authors to me

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 watchingand what I’ve been writing.

I’ve been enjoying the cooler temps we’ve been having. I am not a summer girl, but I do like nicer weather where I can sit on the back porch and read. We’ve had that a lot the last week or so and I have been making the most of it.

I stayed home and enjoyed the nice weather and a quiet day yesterday while Warren (The Husband) and Little Miss went to a cow beauty pageant.

Yes, you’ve read that correctly. It was a cow beauty pageant. They judged cows in front of the county courthouse, choosing the prettiest one. One-hundred years ago, a similar contest was held so the county tourism board or ag board, I can’t remember which, decided to hold it as a nostalgic event.

Little Miss sent me plenty of photographs of the event, many of them taken behind the county’s veteran’s memorial, which is actually quite nice and impressive for a small county. The county they went to is the one next to ours, so it’s a bit bigger with 50,000 to 60,000 people, while ours has about 5,000.

Then later that night, she and her dad went to our county’s dairy parade downtown. I can’t show you many photographs of that because she took a video and the majority of it is of the sidewalk while she looks down to pick up all the candy that was thrown at her. She was on a corner where hardly any other kids were so she made out like a bandit. When she came home, though, she told me she’d hardly gotten any candy and The Husband said he was surprised they didn’t throw out as much candy at this parade as they used to.

Then he opened his camera bag and dumped out a huge pile of candy onto the chair in the living room.

It was a fun day for them. Today we are going to see my parents for Father’s Day.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Just Finished

I finished The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie last week. Someone online spilled the beans that the ending was shocking and a twist so that had me trying to figure out the twist through most of the book, which means I figured out the killer but still had to be sure I was right and still wanted to know how Agatha lead the reader there. I was right but I still enjoyed the book immensely. Agatha really was ahead of her time with her plot twists and stories overall

In Progress

I am slow reading Stillmeadow Daybrook by Gladys Taber. Since each chapter is a month, I plan to read a chapter a month. I’m also reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

I am finally reading my first D.E. Stevenson book, Miss Buncle’s Book, and so far it is very fun and entertaining. It was written in the 1930s so it’s got an older, slower-paced style, but that’s fine for me.

The premise of the book involves Miss Barbara Buncle writing a book to earn some extra money and being excited when a publisher accepts it.

When it is released, the people in her small town start to recognize themselves in the pages. The names are different but the personalities and situations are the same. They don’t know who has written it, though, because Miss Buncle has used a male pen name. I believe the majority of the book is going to be them trying to figure out who wrote this book about every day life in a small English village where nothing really happens, but, for some reason, it’s still entertaining. That’s exactly Miss Buncle’s Book. It’s just a book about everyday life in an English village with a bit of a bonus plot of the people in the village trying to find out the identity of the author, but somehow it is very entertaining.

I am also reading The Ivory Dagger (A Miss Silver Mystery) by Patricia Wentworth. I’m enjoying it so far, though I’m not sure where Miss Silver comes in. This is my first book by this author, too so this is a week of new-to-me authors.

Up Soon

After these two, I have another Agatha on tap – The Rose and the Yew Tree, which she wrote under the pen name of Mary Westcott and a Margery Allingham, Mystery Mile.

What The Family is Reading

The Husband is reading The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead and Little Miss and I are halfway through Heidi (we didn’t read it very much this past week).

New arrivals to my bookshelf

Nothing this week!

What I/We’ve Been Watching

This past week I watched The Thin Man Goes Home, a 1930s Nancy Drew Movie called Nancy Drew Detective, two more episodes of The Other Bennett Sister, a couple more episodes of As Time Goes By, Around The World in 80 Days, and The Lady Eve.

I ended my Spring of Bette Davis feature but I will be writing about Around the World in 80 Days with David Niven and The Thin Man Goes Home this week.

What I’ve Been Writing

I made a lot of progress on book four of The Gladwynn Grant Mysteries!

This week on the blog I shared:

What I/We’ve Been Listening To

I am listening to Murder, She Wrote: The Maine Mutiny by Donald Bain on Audible.

Some Housekeeping

Erin (Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs), Cat (Cat’s Wire) and I host a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea.  This link-up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!). Each link party will be open for a month. You can find that link up for this month here.

Each week, I host the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot with some great hosts. It goes live Thursday night, but you can share any kind of blog posts (family-friendly) there until Tuesday of each week. You can check my recent posts on the sidebar to the right for the most recent link party.

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing?


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


Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am a blogger, homeschool mom, and I write cozy mysteries.

You can find my Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

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15 Books I Hope To Read This Summer

I have a list of Summer hopeful reads to share today.

Yes, I call my list “hopefuls” because a “to be read list” sounds too much like school to me and takes the fun out of reading.

I need to add that I am a mood reader, so I don’t often stick to the list, even though I have fun making it.

Here is my list for now:

Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie

Pigeon Pie Mystery by Julia Stewart

Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers

The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink

Thank you, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Murder, She Wrote: Slaying in Savannah by Donald Bain

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers by Lilian Jackson Braun

By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie

ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

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