Tag: reading

Sunday Bookends: Unexpected caregiving, autumn leaves, and new Agatha books

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends, Sunday Salon14 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.

What’s Been Occurring

I  usually try to be upbeat on my blog, but the past few weeks, especially the last week, have not been easy at all and I’m emotionally and physically beat down.

My dad has been in the hospital for a week and with him being my mom’s main caretaker, my son and I have had to take over those duties, especially at night.

Mom is fine mentally (thank God) but physically she can not transport herself to the bathroom so we push her in a wheelchair. That includes twice a night in the middle of the night and while we have a pretty good system, it is very tiring.

It has thrown off everything for our entire family and add to that trying to line up caregivers (after the last one bailed/lied etc.) in a very rural area where there are very few options has been exhausting. Added to all of it is that my brother has also been in the hospital with major pain and health issues, I have a chronic pain condition and my left knee is flared up, and our car just died. So I am not doing well  some days, but I am still trying to find some normalcy by writing and reading blog posts when I find time.

My son and I have been switching off nights to hang out with my mom, which is the fun part. The less fun part is getting up at night and just not being in our own beds and environment and also having my mom cry and tell us she’s sorry we have to do all this.

One thing that being away from your home does is make you really appreciate the little things about being at home — the slower wake up, feeling like you don’t have to be on all the time, the pets, the quiet mornings where you can just think, and late night reading.

Hopefully we can all get back to that soon but it doesn’t look like it will be that way again for the rest of the year.

What’s nice about staying with my mom is waking up to this view:

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Recently Finished

I had a hard time finding time to read or concentrating when I did find time but I did finally take some time for me to finish And The Plot Thickened by P.G. Wodehouse.

That one was a very fun escape. I have no idea if this book exists anywhere but on used sites, since it was given to me by my friend Erin and she picked it up at a used book sale. I looked to see if the book was on Kindle so I could read it when I shut my bedroom lights off, but I couldn’t find it anywhere.

I’m glad I had an old library edition then!

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 now reading The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink (a middle grade book) and Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie.

Up Soon

I’ll be reading The Two Mrs. Abott’s by D.E. Stevenson soon. Also coming up is Storm in the Village by Miss Read and Cloud of Witness by Dorothy Sayers

What The Family is Reading

Little Miss and I are reading Rascal for school.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

This past week I added Murder with Mirrors, Five Little Pigs, and The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie, The Best of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton and The New Bedside, Bathtub and Armchair Companion to Agatha Christie.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

With Dad in the hospital I stayed with my mom and we watched some old shows like Bob Newhart and Two’s Company (which she announced was stupid), Psych, and Murder, She Wrote.

During one of my breaks at home I watched How To Kill Your Wife with Jack Lemmon, One Body Too Many, and Straight Talk with Dolly Parton and James Woods.

What I’ve Been Writing

Last week on the blog I shared:

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.

Sunday Bookends: Sir, your (dead) cat is back.

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends, Sunday Salon17 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.

What’s Been Occurring

Little Miss’s birthday was this past Friday and that morning we had breakfast at our local diner and yesterday we took a day trip to a small city near us for  a day out.

It was so nice to see all the leaves changing and thanks to the cold nights I think our trees are going to be brilliantly bright this year.

I don’t think I shared on here yet a funny story that happened after we had our cat put to sleep in August. If I have, just skip it… ha!

Having Pixel put to sleep after a months long illness (not too mention her disappearing for three days and reappearing) was very traumatizing for our family — especially me and the kids. Warren took Pixel to be put to sleep and though he thought he’d be okay because he’d never been super close to her, he ended up really taking it hard when he got to the emergency vet. They allowed him to hold her as they sedated her and put her to sleep and he said he burst into tears at the idea of all she’d gone through and then losing her.

I’ve been a bit of a mess emotionally since then, both from her loss and the stress of caring for two very stubborn elderly parents who prefer to do things their own way even if it means a lot is put on their children and grandchildren.

I have only just started pulling out of the depression in the last couple of weeks.

So a couple of weeks ago Warren told me that a couple of weeks before that he’d gotten a call from the emergency vet office, but he ignored it because he was mowing the lawn. He checked the message after he was done and heard words that chilled him.

“Mr. Howeler, your cat is back. If you’d like to call back we can arrange a time for you to pick her up.”

He was instantly alarmed and quickly called the vet office back. That’s when the woman informed him that they had noticed he had asked for his cat to be sent away to be embalmed and then shipped back for burial. Her body was waiting for him in a drawer in their office, they said.

“No. No, I didn’t say I wanted my cat embalmed,” he said. “I wanted her remains cremated and for you to take care of them.”

At this point in the story I stopped him because I had no idea at all that vets even did that. Neither did he. But, yes, vets will send your animals away to be embalmed and send them back to you for you to burry them on your own.

“Sir, let me check your paper again,” the woman said. She was gone for a few minutes, came back, and said, “I’m so sorry. You are right. You did not want your cat embalmed. We will take care of her as you originally requested.”

Warren had been afraid this story would make me cry but instead it made me laugh so hard. I loved Pixel intensely. She was an interesting cat who was standoffish with most people but loved me and my son. She was moody and bold yet also timid and afraid of a lot. She seemed not to care at times but loved to lay on my stomach or side to have a quick pet and cuddle.

She could also be difficult — fighting being picked up, running outside when I didn’t want her to, and even acting like she was going to get better at the end and then just slowly getting worse and then better, worse and then better, for a couple of months.

She was always a character, leaving us with funny stories and now, even in death, she had been difficult and a challenge.

I told the kids I was just glad the vet’s office didn’t offer taxidermy services. Can you just imagined if they had shipped her to us all stuffed? I would have opened that box and fainted right there.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

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 started a PG Wodehouse book that Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs sent me — The Plot That Thickened. I looked at the first page to see if I would like it and got hooked on it and now I have to finish it.

Like most of Wodehouse’s book it is full of humor and satire. This one is about  a young man named Monty Bonkin who starts out working for a movie producer in Hollywood to show the father of the woman he wants to marry back in England that he can hold a steady job. The man had told Monty that the only way he will be allowed to marry his daughter is if he holds a job for a year.

Monty has done that and returns to England only to be told by that father that the job was overseas and he has no proof so it doesn’t count.

Monty looks for a job in England and bumps into the wife of the producer he was working for in England and she says she’ll hire him as the man’s secretary so he can finish his book he’s writing about his studio.

Monty’s secretary from L.A. has come to work for the producer’s wife in England, partly for the job and partly because she is in love with Monty. Toss in some jewel thieves and you have got one crazy story, but that’s how Wodehouse writes them so I am there for it.

I am also reading The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink and then I’ll be reading it again with Little Miss later in the month.

Up Soon

I’ll be reading Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie soon for the 2026 Reading Challenge and then I will be reading The Two Mrs. Abbott’s by D.E. Stevenson. I am also looking forward to Lark Rise to Candleford.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

I do have some new arrivals this week:

What I’ve Been Writing

Last week on the blog I shared:

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.

8 Quiet books to read to block out our noisy world

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn book reviews, books and reading10 Comments

The world is chaotic and noisy these days. Twenty-four hour news cycles, social media with all it’s drama, anger everywhere you look. It is exhausting. Sometimes it’s just nice to be able to reach for a quiet book and escape for a little while so here is a list of eight quiet books to block out the noise of our world.

(I want to clarify that these books aren’t necessarily void of topics that are uncomfortable, or a little sad, but those topics are mentioned fairly briefly or aren’t presented in a super heavy way.)

1.

Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson

I read this one this summer and really enjoyed it. It really was delightful and fun.

Description: Barbara Buncle is in a bind. Times are harsh, and Barbara’s bank account has seen better days. Stumped for ideas, Barbara draws inspiration from fellow residents of her quaint English village, writing a revealing novel that features the townsfolk as characters. The smashing bestseller is published under the pseudonym John Smith, which is a good thing because villagers recognize the truth. But what really turns her world around is when events in real life start mimicking events in the book. Funny, charming, and insightful, this novel reveals what happens when people see themselves through someone else’s eyes.

2.

Village School by Miss Read

I read this one at the beginning of the year and it was relaxing, with a few sad things in the middle of cheerful and hopeful messages.

Description:

The first novel in the beloved Fairacre series, Village School introduces the remarkable schoolmistress Miss Read and her lovable group of children, who, with a mixture of skinned knees and smiles, are just as likely to lose themselves as their mittens. This is the English village of Fairacre: a handful of thatch-roofed cottages, a church, the school, the promise of fair weather, friendly faces, and good cheer — at least most of the time.

Here everyone knows everyone else’s business, and the villagers like each other anyway (even Miss Pringle, the irascible, gloomy cleaner of Fairacre School). With a wise heart and a discerning eye, Miss Read guides us through one crisp, glistening autumn in her village and introduces us to a cast of unforgettable characters and a world of drama, romance, and humor, all within a stone’s throw of the school. By the time winter comes, you’ll be nestled snugly into the warmth and wit of Fairacre and won’t want to leave.

3.

The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts by Lillian Jackson Braun

This is a mystery book and I could have named any of the books from this series for this particular post. Almost all of them are relaxing and fairly quiet. Sometimes they even seem pointless and the mystery is secondary to the main character wondering around town and his Siamese cats getting into mischief, but, honestly, there are times I need a book that is a bit pointless to reset my nervous system.

Description:

Jim Qwilleran and his cats Koko and Yum Yum try to solve a haunting mystery in a historic farmhouse in this New York Times bestseller in the Cat Who series.

When Mrs. Cobb heard unearthly noises in the antique-filled farmhouse, she called Jim Qwilleran for help. But he was too late. It looked as if his kindly ex-housekeeper had been frightened to death—but by whom? Or what? Now Qwilleran’s moved into the historic farmhouse with his two cat companions—and Koko the Siamese is spooked. Is it a figment of feline imagination—or the clue to a murder in Moose County? And does Qwilleran have a ghost of a chance of solving this haunting mystery?

4.

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

I’ve gone and on and about this book and you can read more about what I think of it here and here.

Description:

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery is a heartwarming and empowering story about self-discovery, courage, and finding true happiness. Set in the early 20th century, the novel follows Valancy Stirling, a shy and unfulfilled woman who has spent her life conforming to the expectations of her overbearing family. When faced with unexpected news about her health, Valancy decides to break free from societal norms and live life on her own terms. Moving to a remote cabin in the Muskoka woods, she discovers love, freedom, and the joy of living authentically. With its witty humor, vivid descriptions, and unforgettable characters, The Blue Castle is a timeless tale of transformation and resilience.

5.

The Imitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

I haven’t read everything by Wodehouse yet but so far the books I have read have been a riot and a total stress reliever. You have to like dry sense of humors (think Monty Python but less crazy and eccentric). There are several of the Jeeves books, which are mainly reprinted short stories from newspapers and feature Bertie Wooster, a rich playboy with no job, and his valet Jeeves.

Description (my own):

This book was originally presented as a collection of short stories which appeared in The Strand magazine in the U.K. The stories were later compiled into a novel. The first collection of short stories was Carry On, Jeeves, which I am reading now.

A little background on this series of short stories/books first.

Bertie Wooster is a “English gentleman” who is considered one of the “idle rich.” He doesn’t have a job. He mainly lives off his rich aunt Agatha and, probably, a trust fund.

Jeeves is Bertie’s valet or male attendant, if you don’t know what valet means. I wasn’t totally sure of the meaning of the word “valet” myself when I first heard the term years ago.

Jeeves gets Bertie out of the many predicaments Bertie gets himself into by being too nice or too arrogant by thinking he can fix a situation. In this book Bertie gets himself in trouble in a variety of ways, including helping his old school chum Bingo who is in love with a new woman every other month.

6.

Stillmeadow Daybrook by Gladys Taber

I have not actually finished this book yet. It is a book written with each chapter representing a month of the year. This is a non-fiction book about a woman and her friend who live on a farm in Connecticut. The chapters are full of tidbits about every day life, thoughts about the seasons, well-written and poetic prose about country and farm life.

If you haven’t heard of Gladys, she was a columnist who wrote for Ladies Home Journal and Family Circle  and was also an author of 59 of her own books, detailing her and her family’s quiet life on a farm in Connecticut.

Gladys’ books are very hard to find since they are, as far as I know, out of print. I was so excited to find this one on a bookshop on Instagram. I’ve since found three more of her books.

7.

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim

This one has a few bumpy moments — or so you think — but is mainly a sweet and quiet journey.

Description:

Four disillusioned women seek respite together; polite strangers, sharing an idyllic retreat in Italy. Each carries a burden that must be lifted; each must find a way…

At San Salvatore, ghosts are exorcised and bounds broken: each woman finds her own way back to happiness, on her own terms – aided by the simple magic of an Italian Spring garden.

Any story of a struggle to break free is compelling to the human heart. One way or another, we must each break free of our own prison. This then is the story of Rose, Lotty, Scrap Dester & Mrs Fisher – and their quiet story is epic, like the poems of antiquity.

8.

Heidi by Johanna Spyri  

This might be a little too quiet and sweet/sappy for some, but it’s still a nice reset and, hey, remember, it was originally written for children so it is supposed to feature a good helping of innocence.

Description:

Little orphan Heidi goes to live high in the Alps with her gruff grandfather and brings happiness to all who know her on the mountain. When Heidi goes to Frankfurt to work in a wealthy household, she dreams of returning to the mountains and meadows, her friend Peter, and her beloved grandfather.

What are some more quiet books that you enjoy and I can feature in a future post?

If you are looking for more relaxing books to read, I wrote a post in April along the same lines: https://lisahoweler.com/2026/04/28/ten-of-the-most-relaxing-books-i-have-ever-read-in-no-particular-order/

Sunday Bookends: Creepy Agatha books, cool autumn nights already, and some lighter reads

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends, Sunday Salon13 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.

What’s Been Occurring

This weekend I’ve been trying to decompress from all the stress of last week. It’s amazing how you can hold it mostly together with some major situations going on, but as soon as your grocery order can’t be picked up when you wanted it and your air fryer died while you’re trying to cook breakfast, you totally fall apart.

I guess sometimes the little things on top of the big things are the last straw.

Ha.

Anyhow, the leaves are starting to change colors where we live and I think we might have a colorful year thanks to the cooler nights that hit us this past week.

I’m looking forward to those pretty colors.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Recently Finished

I finished Endless Night by Agatha Christie this past week. It was definitely a different Christie. Not a who-dun-it mystery but a psychological mind trip that she wrote in six weeks in 1968 when she was 70-something. She called it her favorite. After reading it and many other books of hers, I still maintain she disappeared those 11 days after her husband told her he was leaving her for his secretary versus going into some kind of “fugue” state out of shock. That woman knew exactly what she was doing embarrassing her husband with all those stories about her disappearance. And I think he deserved it and she was awesome.

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.

To clear my palette a bit I am reading Just Shy of Harmony by Philip Gulley. I also plan to continue to read The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink with Little Miss.

Up Soon

I planned to start The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson this upcoming week, but might hold off because there is a group of readers that is going to be reading it in November, so I might wait.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

No new arrivals this week after that long haul last week.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

A couple of months ago I shared about my husband purchasing me a DVD set of all seasons of Murder, She Wrote.

I am thrilled to have them on DVD after being disappointed that Amazon  had taken them off Amazon Prime (which made it so I had to buy each episode or entire seasons to watch them.) Now I can watch whenever I want. Even if our WiFi goes out. The other day, though, I didn’t feel like pulling the DVDs out and decided I’d buy just one episode to try to chill me out after a stressful week (I seem to have a lot of those lately) and saw that all 12 seasons were on sale for $14.99 for Prime members when the cost is usually $249.

Needless to say, I bought those episodes right up! That was a shocking deal and it was on a day where I really needed something to take my mind off of things.

I watched The Shop Around the Corner with my mom earlier in the week and yesterday I watched The Thrill of It All, a movie starring James Garner and Doris Day. I needed lighter movies this week. The Thrill of It All featured several mini-cameos by Carl Reiner. He played an actor that kept showing up on live TV programs and he was hilarious, as always.

And James was gorgeous…as always. Doris? I can honestly live without her usually but she was funny in this one and her dimples are always fun to see when she smiles.

Let me tell you too – she and James get in a fight in this movie and eventually he comes home and I was thinking, “I would absolutely make up with him…but only if he put out that cigarette he’s always smoking in this movie. Ick. His breath must smell of stale coffee and cigarettes!”

I also thought the ending was a bit ridiculous but it was 1963 and our society had a hard time understanding a woman can be a wife, mom, and have a career too. Sometimes the wife and mom role suffers until the balance is reached, but it can be done.

What I’ve Been Writing

Last week on the blog I shared:

What I/We’ve Been Listening To

Murder, She Wrote A Harvest Feast by Donald Bain

Book quotes from my reading this week

“In the end is my beginning… That’s a quotation I’ve often heard people say.”
― Agatha Christie, Endless Night

Arrangements. I remember his using the word arrangements. What a hateful word it is and all the things it stands for. The things in life that have grand words – Love – sex – life – death – hate – those aren’t the things that govern existence at all. It’s lots of other pettifogging, degrading things. Things you have to endure, things you never think about until they happen to you.  – Endless Night, Agatha Christie

“Walking in the pale shadowy edge of a September evening I feel the stars moving in a divine order, and I sense suddenly that we are all children of God. “I will lift my mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord.” — these are old words and words of deep security to a troubled heart.” Stillmeadow Daybrook by Gladys Taber.

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: A bookshop visit

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends, Sunday Salon18 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.

What’s Been Occurring

Friday my family visited a small used bookstore near us for my birthday (which was yesterday) and I came home with a stack of books and spent a little too much money so I am not buying books in October. Plus, I am running out of room for physical books!

I finally felt good for once when we went because I often seem to have one ailment or another when we go. This time I could really explore which is probably why I discovered these two Gladys Taber books in the wild, one of them actually published in 1946.

I may or may not have made a little giddy squeal when I found the books, I might add. The kids rolled their eyes a bit but I said I was allowed to have my nerding out moment, considering my son and husband often have theirs in comic book or Warhammer stores.

I’m still reading my first Gladys Taber book, but I’m already collecting others because I have a feeling I will enjoy all of them.

This little bookshop has a nice mix of fiction and non-fiction, collectibles and non-collectibles.

There is a small new book section and a large section that covers one long wall and features lovely antique or classic books books.

She (the owner) also sells a wide variety of mass paperbacks, which have been discontinued as a book format, and usually I find a few Murder, She Wrote books but not this time, sadly. She also has a little cozy corner full of cozy mysteries and other mystery books and a small selection of Christian Fiction.

There are two rocking chairs on the front porch and three chairs inside where you can sit and read while your family shops.

The town where the bookshop is located in is a tiny tourist village which is quite busy from May until Labor Day. The village isn’t really busy, actually. The lake, cabins, and the inns/small hotels are.

This weekend the whole place was deserted and the other three little stores in the middle of town were closed. I guess the shop owners all decided this was the time to go on their own vacations.

Winter is a fairly relaxed time for the little village so I hope to go to the store again in winter and just explore every section even more.

Maybe even by myself, which is something I really don’t do very often.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Recently Finished

I finished The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain last night. I’ve been saying for a couple of years that I wanted to read it again (I was about 12 the last time I did) and I’m glad I finally did.

It’s a fun, adventurous story with plenty of excitement for people of any age.

And of course that coupled with all the humor was a nice distraction from life.

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 reading Endless Night by Agatha Christie for the 2026 Christie Reading Challenge. Christie wrote the book in 1968 and said it was her favorite book she’d written.

I plan to start The Two Mrs. Abbott’s by D.E. Stevenson this week as well.

Up Soon

I picked up some new books at the book store, including one by Rhys Bowen, who I have yet to read anything by, and another one by Phillip Gulley that is part of the Harmony series.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

Forever and a Death by Donald Westlake, Julie of the Wolves Treasurery by Jean Craighead George, Naughy in Nice by Rhys Bowen, The Runaway Quilt by Jenniver Chiaverini, The Tuscan child by Rhys Bowen, Life Goes On by Phillip Gullety, The Lighthouse by PD James, The Haunted Showboat by Carolyn Keene, My Own Cape Cod by Gladys Taber, Especially Spaniels by Gladys Taber, Murder at and Irish chipper by Carlene O’Connor.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

I read more than I watched last week but I did rewatch the movie Phffft for my Autumn of Jack Lemmon and last night my family and I rewatched Project Hail Mary, which my daughter and husband had not seen yet.

What I’ve Been Writing

Last week on the blog I shared:

I did not work a ton on Gladwynn Grant Goes Back to School but I did work on it a little. You can find a link to my other books at the bottom of this blog post.

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: The Monkees on Prime was the most exciting part of my week and that’s a bit sad

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends, Sunday Salon10 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.

This past week sucked for so many reasons but I was so excited to see that Amazon had put The Monkees on Prime this week.

This was a show produced in the 1960s but aired on Nickelodeon in the 1980s. It was a show that I loved to watch as a kid at my friend’s house, because we didn’t have cable at my house. I always loved the goofiness of it and the music. Watching it was such a wonderful distraction. I laughed and just enjoyed the ridiculousness of it.

What is crazy is that WordPress showed me what I wrote last year on this same date and I also mentioned The Monkees in that post! Ha! Apparently remembering the show and band always happens in September for me and maybe that is because the show debuted on September 12, 1966.

I also wanted to clarify my comments last week about how many books people read in a month. I am not sure it was clear that my original thought were “people can’t read that many books” but then I thought about all the reasons they could read that many.

I also appreciated all the comments from other readers about why people can read a larger amount of books in a month compared to other readers. Go back and read some of those comments if you get a chance.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Recently Finished

I didn’t finish any books this week but instead kept starting new ones.

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 reading A Crime At Black Dudley by Margery Allingham, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, and The Moss Covered Mansion by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew).

Up Soon

I just ordered The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson so I can read that soon and I also ordered a copy of Endless Nights by Agatha Christie to read for the Christie Reading Challenge’s September read.

What The Family is Reading

Little Miss and I are still reading Rascal by Stirling North for school and for fun we are reading The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

I received a copy of Miss Silver Comes to Stay by Patricia Wentworth that I purchased off Thriftbooks.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

This past week I watched The Monkees as I mentioned, a couple of silly movies – Cactus Flower and Romance on the High Seas – as well as a couple of The Hardy Boys episodes from the 1970s after they dropped Nancy Drew from the show.

What I’ve Been Writing

This week on the blog I shared:

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.

Sunday Bookends: Disassociation with books is fine, healthy, and, often, necessary

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends, Sunday Salon21 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.

Bear with me on my thoughts this week…read to the end before getting offended! *wink*

I was going to make a comment this week about how I think it’s absolutely crazy when a Booktuber (someone who talks about books on YouTube) or book blogger comes out and says that they read 14 books in one month.

Sometimes I think that’s ridiculous (unless you’re retired) because that’s four books a week and I just can’t imagine fitting in four books a week with the rest of life.

But then I had to remind myself that books are all different sizes and some take less time than others. Then I had a fairly depressing end of my week and realized that disassociating by reading a lot of books is actually not the worst thing in the world and it’s a lot healthier than going out and committing crimes or drinking a bottle of whiskey to get through the hard time (neither of which I did, by the way. I drank herbal tea, ate some chocolate, cried, and read a book).

So it was a bit of a reality check for me that when I wanted to “criticize” somebody for saying they read a lot of books, I really should be telling myself to read more and disconnect from life more. I wasn’t really criticizing but questioning…originally that is.

Luckily, most of those who I watch who talk about how many books they read are not bragging or saying people have to read that many books. They’re simply sharing what they read and many times I like what they’ve read so I had them to my list of “need to read” books.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Recently Finished

Murder, She Wrote:  A Slaying in Savannah by Donald Bain and “Jessica B. Fletcher”. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this one when I started it but I ended up liking it quite a bit.

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 reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, and The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink, The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham. I’m reading whichever one I am in the mood for that day or night.

Up Soon

I will be starting Endless Night by Agatha Christie, The Two Mrs. Abbott’s by D.E. Stevenson, and Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Moss Covered Mansion.

What The Family is Reading

Little Miss and I are reading Rascal by Sterling North and started The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink together.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

I added three more Tommy and Tuppence books to my shelves last week: Partners in Crime, N or M?, and the first book in their series, The Secret Adversary.

My husband also picked me up two newer Nancy Drew books at a local fair.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

This past week I watched a couple episodes of The Hardy Boys from the 1970s. This was after they dropped Nancy Drew from the show.

I also watched Son of Fury with George Sanders and Tyrone Power and started Cactus Flower with Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, and Goldie Hawn but didn’t finish it before it went off Amazon Prime and now I’m not really sure I want to pay to rent it. It wasn’t really something I was enjoying that much.

I also enjoyed this short video that featured an interview with Miss Read (real name Dora Saint):

What I’ve Been Writing

Last week on the blog I shared:

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: Celebrity deaths, healing cries, mystery books

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends, Sunday Salon17 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.

I’m not someone who follows a ton of celebrities closely but this week was quite a week for deaths so it was hard not to pay attention.

Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and Peter Cullen are the three deaths I am referring to.

I’m sure almost all of you knew who Dolly Parton was and even Tim Curry (you might not have realized you knew Tim until you saw a list of the various movies he was in and roles he played), but you may be asking yourself … who was Peter Cullen?

You may not think you know who he is, but I bet you have heard his voice. He was the voice of Optimus Prime from the animated Transformer series for 40 years as well as the voice of Eeyore on The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and many other animated or robot characters.

He was the voice of Kit, the car on Knight Rider, and Predator, the Red Skull…the list goes on.

 So when it came to which death hit this family harder this week, it was probably Peter Cullen, even though we were also fans of Tim Curry and somewhat of Dolly. No shade on Dolly because — wow — she was an amazing person who never slowed down, but Peter was tied tightly to my and my husband’s childhood and our son’s.

I cried over Dolly videos all week (her nephew’s announcement .. ooof… so classy and respectful and heartbreaking), but I didn’t have as much time to process Peter’s death because I was a little  busy the second half of the week. Friday night, though, I watched a video that used his voice talking about how his brother who was a Marine in Vietnam, inspired the voice of Optimus Prime, and then I was a bawling mess again.

I watched Transformers with some friends when we were kids back in the 1980s and then again with my son when he was a kid. Friday night we sat and watched a few old Transformer episodes in his honor. During them my son did have to point out how a new character was introduced every episode just so the toy company could release a new toy, but I put that out of my mind and focused on my and his childhood memories instead.

All of these celebrity deaths coupled with the death of my cat a couple of weeks ago and a friend cleaning out her mom’s apartment after her mom’s passing had me crying a lot BUT some of it felt good and necessary under the circumstances.

Please keep praying for my friend. If you are a regular on this blog I am sure you know who I am talking about. The grief doesn’t ever really go away and I pray for comfort for her in the days ahead.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Recently Finished

I finished my Nancy Drew book last week and, well, it was not my favorite. I know they are kids books but The Mystery of The Brass Bound Trunk just was not very good.

It had so many plot holes and craziness in it. I wonder if the original (since this was a revised version) was better. I will have to look for it for my Nancy Drew November.

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 slow reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

I jumped into a Murder, She Wrote book — A Slaying in Savannah — by Donald Bain even before  I finished the Nancy Drew book and it’s okay but a little slow. The Murder, She Wrote books are usually a bit slow but this one seems even more drawn out, maybe because it is taking place in the south? I have no idea. It’s not bad, though, and I do like books that take a leisurely stroll at times so I would still recommend it.

I’m also reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, which is a lot of fun. I haven’t read it since I was about 12.

I started The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham as well, to see how I liked it, and I think it will be interesting. It’s the first book in the Albert Campion series.

Up Soon

I’ve already made my list of hopefuls for Autumn 2026 and after these books I think I will start with The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink for September. It is a children’s mystery book and I will probably read it with Little Miss.

I also hope to read The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson in September and I will be reading three Agatha Christie books for the Christie reading challenge — Endless Night, Sleeping Murder, and The Secret Adversary.

What The Family is Reading

Little Miss and I finally finished Heidi and are starting Rascal by Sterling North this week.

The boy is listening to a Warhammer book.

The Husband is reading The Bridges of Toko-Ri by James Michener.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

This past week we watched some Transformers episodes in honor of Peter Cullen.

I also watched The Maltese Falcon and I must have watched something else but I can’t remember right now! Ha! Gott a love thyroid brain fog.

What I’ve Been Writing

Last week on the blog I share:

What I/We’ve Been Listening To

I am listening to The Maine Mutiny (A Murder, She Wrote book) by Donald Baine.

My son came home with a record of Englebert Humperdink from the local thrift store and, for some reason, was very excited about it, so we listened to one of his songs and then I made my son listen to Tom Jones. We watched Tom performing “It’s Not Unsual” on Ed Sullivan too and I still wonder why they let that man have a seizure on live TV and didn’t help him.

But luckily he survived it because have you seen this man sing lately? He’s a judge on The Voice UK and even at 85, he’s still got it. This aired this week but is probably from a few months ago.

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: Pet loss, books and movies as distractions

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends, Sunday Salon20 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.

I debated whether I wanted to write about this week, or even at all, but since I had shared off and on since April or May about our cats and their various illnesses, I thought I would mention that our oldest cat, Pixel, was put to sleep last Sunday.

The reason I didn’t want to write about it is that it is just too difficult to do so. Sometimes I want to believe it is a nightmare I will wake up from at some point.

The short version is that Pixel continued to decline after she became sick in May around the same time our other cats also caught some sort of virus.

We spent about four months battling various ailments or incidents with out cats, starting with the youngest being sprayed by a skunk, getting an eye infection, and then some sort of virus that passed to our middle cat and made her very sick. We had to get antibiotics and other medicine for her because she was only sleeping and not eating and just declining fast. As she started to get better, the oldest cat caught it and before we could get her to the vet, we let her outside to rest under her favorite bush and then she disappeared for three days and four nights.

We thought she was dead and when she returned I imagined some romantic idea that we’d get her well and she’d live another five years.

Sadly, that was not to be and I blame myself for this in some ways so I don’t feel like I can write a lot more about it. My friends and family say I did all I could but I question that and wish I had taken her to a different vet for a second opinion. In the end, the virus most likely attacked her liver, or her inability to eat from the side effects of the virus, led to her decline.

We have had Pixel since early 2017 so it’s been quite an adjustment not to see her in the house, let her out and in, have her climb on my side or chest while I was reading a book at night, lift her to the bathroom sink where she liked to drink from and seeing her every day during my morning bathroom trip when she’d pace infront of me and make little noises to try to get me to pet her even though I was …. Busy.

One day a few months ago I asked her how she’d gotten so fat and where her chin was and I swear she looked at me just like this…slowly turning her head as if to say, “Like you’ve got room to talk, lady.”

She wasn’t a very loud cat so sometimes we wouldn’t even notice she was there ….

But she was there. Always.

And now she’s not.

And that’s very strange, very hard, and, for me, overwhelmingly heartbreaking.

It all just adds to a lot of sadness going on with friends who are losing their human loved ones, which, in most cases, is way more difficult that losing a pet friend (though that is very hard too).

When she wanted to come in from outside she’d look in our kitchen window like this – as if we had kicked her out or something. Don’t mind the dirty glass — it’s for paint water.

So, while my family and I were super sad this week, we tried to find joy, to give ourselves grace when we felt sad and down, and give our other pets a lot of extra love.

Slowly starting school for Little Miss and working on my Gladwynn book helped to distract me and yesterday The Husband took Little Miss and The Boy to a family amusement park about 90 minutes away, which I think helped distract the kids.

What I/We’ve Been Reading

Recently Finished

Miss Buncle Married by D.E. Stevenson and By The Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie.

I loved them both for different reasons. Miss Buncle Married because it was relaxing and By The Pricking of My Thumbs because it was horrifyingly thrilling in some parts, but also had some humor spread throughout. It was my first Tommy and Tuppence Mystery and I’ll have a review up later this 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’m currently reading a Nancy Drew Mystery —   The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk.

I’m also about to start a Murder, She Wrote Mystery: A Slaying in Savannah by Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain.

Up Soon

I plan to start The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain in September.

I’ll also be reading Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie for the Christie Reading Challenge 2026 and really hope to read Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham soon as well.

And I can’t wait to order a copy of The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson to continue with the Miss Buncle storyline.

What The Family is Reading

Little Miss and I are on the last, very long chapter, of Heidi. She read two chapters on her own this week and I was proud of her because she hasn’t been reading on her own much lately. She’s like me as a kid, I think. I would go through spurts of reading and then do other things, like art, and then come back to reading. She has been drawing a lot lately in a sketchbook I bought her.

We will be starting a book for history/literature this week as school starts but we have not decided which one.

The Boy is listening to a Warhammer book but I forget which one and he’s not downstairs where I can ask him right now.

Warren (aka The Husband) is reading The Bigger They Come by Erle Stanley Gardner.

New arrivals to my bookshelf

I am on a “book-buying ban” this month but still ordered a copy of A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis and Warren bought me a cozy mystery called Midsummer Murder by Rebecca Kelly at a library book sale.

And I may or may not have ordered the remaining copies of the Tommy and Tuppence series by Agatha Christie that will hopefully match the edition I have.

What I/We’ve Been Watching

An episode of Midsomer Murders. We watched an episode from Season 17 Episode 1 and whoa. Most shows jump the track by season 17…not this one. I haven’t watched these in order. My husband watches them more and says they do hold up well throughout all the seasons.

A couple of Murder, She Wrote episodes. Mary Berry 90th birthday episodes.

Movies: Irene and Vernon Castle, Project Hail Mary, Private Detective 62, Lady Killer, Little Caesar, and Ladies They Talk About.

What I’ve Been Writing

I made a lot of progress on the manuscript of Gladwynn Grant Goes Back to School this past week.

If you don’t know, I have a cozy mystery series that you can find here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1KSQJXP

I’ll also have it up on library sites soon as well….if I can figure out how. Ha.

In the last couple of weeks on the blog I shared:

What I/We’ve Been Listening To

Maine Mutiny by Donald Bain. It’s a Murder, She Wrote book and I only listen to it when I am driving somewhere but I’m really getting into it so I am going to have to listen to it other times as well.

Recent Blog Posts I Enjoyed

Mama (not her real name *wink*) from Mama’s Empty Nest writes the most interesting blog posts about her and her family’s travels around the country. I learn something new every time I read one. Today I am sharing two of her posts, one from this past week, and one from a year ago that she linked to from this week’s post.

Tuesday Tour: going round on Route 66
Tuesday Tour: going round in circles

I also liked this post about God’s Growing Garden seeing a hummingbird.

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.