Thanks to my daughter, Shannon, for her work with chatGPT!
If I don’t have yours yet, now’s your chance!
I know you probably listed your ten (or twelve?) favorites. But perhaps there was one that was just an edge outstanding.
That’s the one I want!
Running out of time, I need it before the 20th. Send your title to my website in the comments or the email addy noted in the About Me page. I’ll include your favorite book of 2025. (I noted mine in the December Recap.)
(N.B. I already have two responses naming the same book! Stay tuned to discover that title. Maybe yours also?)
We got lucky with September weather, pretty temporate, comfortable, and enough heat to harken back lazy summer days. I really love September now, as after the kiddies go back to school and we are past Labor Day here in the US, families are home and prices on the road drop.
After we had all the cucumber juices (with cantaloupe juice) I could manage from our handy dandy juicer, and the yearly trial with dried or dehydrated cherry tomatoes (dried tomato candy), we started in on tomato juice from our neighbors garden. SOOO delish!
Then we had the opportunity to link up with our old Navy buddies and met them in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri (Osage Beach) at a lovely Airbnb along with our daughter who will shortly be celebrating a big birthday. Perfect location, the middle of everything, handy, beautifully decorated and the best screened in porch I’ve ever seen making for some delightful evenings of happy hour, chatting, and watching the sun go down.
The pic of the sunset taken by our daughter, Shannon.
We checked out HAHA Tonka State Park, Stark Caverns, Bignell Dam, and rented a tritoon to do some fishing. The boat was fun—but there were no bites.
The CE trying his luck bass fishing.
Last year came home with lots of trout—but that was in Arkansas. In Lake of the Ozarks—it’s bass.
Well, so I have a good reason why I flaked on posts in September. The tablet I bought to take with me so I could work on vacation is less than useless. Still, it was a great trip, got to be with our friends again and celebrate our daughter’s birthday.
We reviewed ten books in September—four of those in audiobook form, the CE contributing two and a half (?) He gave up half way into Mark Twain, an almost 1200 page biography. The source of the books is our library, NetGalley, author and publisher requests. As always, the links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase information.
Perhaps predictably, except for the Mark Twain book, the CE favored his two September reads with five stars. When asked which he’d choose for a September favorite, he said, “no question, The Tenth Trail Mark.” So there you have it:
My Reading Challenges page…Vacation month. What can I say? Definitely more talking and sight-seeing than reading.
The Goodreads landing page shows 143 of a goal of 150 or 95%. I have three yet to post for books read in September. I suspect I’m doing okay in the audiobook challenge as well, not so sure about NetGalley.
I always appreciate your visits and comments. Keeps those likes and comments coming—and thank you for all of them!
October kicks off the end of the year for us, beginning with our daughter’s birthday in the middle of October and then Halloween of course, although we no longer celebrate the latter as much as we did when the kids were young, I still decorate. Seems like it then begins a mad dash to the end of the year and this year a presidential election here in the colonies—so glad to see the end of that!!
As much time spent in the spring setting up the yard, the gardens, and all things outdoors, it takes as much to clean it back up. Perhaps more so this year with tackling the veggie bed and cleaning up roots and dirt clods turned to cement. It was a disappointing year for a garden, veggie or flower.
Trying to recognize a full year with Punkin the Pom, I read several doggie genre books, adventure or service animals. A Pomeranian is meant to be a companion animal, of course, but she has no clue that’s her job. I am still finishing up a doggy theme book I’d hoped to include in October, the latest from Sara Driscoll, and ran out of time and will post that review in early November. As mentioned before…Punkin is still learning to be a dog. I guess eventually we’ll have to begin teaching her some commands. In the meantime, it’s sufficient to be working on housetraining. (Yeah, still.)
I continue to get books from NetGalley as well as author and publisher requests, and my local library, both ebooks and audiobooks. The review count for the month was fourteen, but I included both W Bruce Cameron’s novels in one post. As always, links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.
The CE gave Going Dark by George K Mehok five stars but we both listened to The Johnstown Flood audiobook in our travels to and from Arkansas in September and loved it. The research, details, and characters so well-fleshed the reader cares what happens to them in the flood. I’m going with:
My Reading Challenges page…Reading Challenges page—pretty much status quo. My Goodreads Challenge is at 110 towards a goal of 130 at 85%.
Thank you new subscribers—welcome! I always appreciate those of you who continue to monitor, read, and comment on my posts. Hope this recap finds you well and looking forward to the holidays!
Much as I bad-mouth this area (California it’s not!), I must admit that February wasn’t all that bad. Little of that cold white stuff and temps that ranged up to 74-75 degrees. In this area, anything above 50 is t-shirt weather, so February was pretty nice with the exception of a few throwback days to below freezing temps. Can’t wait to see what March will bring, besides winds and rain, the other problem with this area—wind. Chicago isn’t called “the Windy City” for nothing and the wind always wreaks havoc when trying to ride (whether bicycles or motorcycles).
February is also a month for getting everything caught up on the blog; still wrestling with that and doing the necessary yearly appointments. The CE volunteers with our son at the annual AARP tax service for seniors at a farming community library which gives him a nice outside interest for a short while and he always enjoys. Slows down his reading services though!
I’m always excited about March–Reading Ireland Month—that and my birthday—a big one last year. I am, however, increasingly dismayed at the treatment service people extend to seniors. I would argue that some gray hair does not always mean a loss of brain cells. (And no—not something I’ll just get used to without some blow-back.)
With all that and continuing to work with the little Pomeranian (now with us almost five months), we managed to provide reviews for twelve books. As always, links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.
Several great books in February caught our attention. Clyde loved The Lost Pope, while I gave five stars to both Henry Winkler’s book, Being Henry, and The Wager. I didn’t read The Lost Pope and feel Henry enjoyed professional and brilliant collaboration on his. So I have to give The Wager the nod for February. I didn’t want to shut down the audiobook and listened while grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning. Okay—not vacuuming—I couldn’t hear it.
My Reading Challenges page… I’ve worked on the Reading Challenges page but am not completely up-to-date yet, nor have I been able to incorporate the Goodreads Challenge banner. Always a work in progress.
Miscellaneous Comments
Update on Punkin adopted the first week of October last year. At almost five months with us still prefers her crate to human companionship, but she is beginning to seek us out sometimes. We think she wants company or to play but has no idea how to do that. We’ve been trying to find ways to engage her. Still doesn’t want toys, doesn’t respond well to treats, or games. Being ever vigilant, we are catching her potty habits more often. Now if only we could tie those successes with her initiating the desire to go out.
I’ll be posting a list of books and activities tied to Reading Ireland Month shortly. Still getting that gathered and organized. Spoiler alert: Includes a Michael Connelly audiobook, of course.
Welcome to my new subscribers! I appreciate all my followers and love your likes and comments.
Ugh, January is downright dreary and February promises to be dreary and freezing. It’s a good time to curl up with a good book, hot chocolate or mocha, and a fire. Well, I don’t have the fire, but the CE makes a super mocha and I have a nice preliminary list of books.
Update on the little Pom we adopted (skip if your eyes glaze over at the mention of a rescue dog):No big progress. Her winter coat has apparently settled in and she approaches the CE now—even going so far as to jump against his side of the bed in the morning to get him up. Now at four months with us though, still prefers her crate to human companionship. What in the world happens to a little dog kept as a breeder?!
February is shaping up to be a good reading month with several great books I’m excited to get to—SOON—I hope! (I’ll mention those below.) For January we barely managed ten books. Links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.
I loved both All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr as well as The Frozen River but was crushed by the climax of the former, so the nod has to go to The Frozen River.
My Reading Challenges page… I’ve discovered I’ll work on the challenge but am really terrible at reporting the results–not only with the host (and I apologize for that) but for updating the page as well. For 2024, I’ll begin by sharing the logo and the link. Unfortunately, I have not been able thus far to find the link to the 2024 Historical Fiction Challenge. If you know the link, would you share, please?
In an effort to change up the blog a bit, I’ve enlarged fonts and added a new page I call Netflix vs Book listing the posts made comparing either the movie or series with the original book. Check it out to see what you missed!
Also, just a quick Sneak Peak into what’s coming up in my February TBR:
Where Butterflies Wander by Suzanne Redfearn. I was quite taken by the story of the river witch–I’ll bet you would be too.
Being Henry by Henry Winkler. A memoir and didn’t we all love the Fonz? But this guy, as so many of the actors do, will surprise you.
Welcome to the New Year to my new subscribers! I appreciate all my followers and always appreciate your likes and comments.
After the Halloween snow, it warmed up and December was lovely with above normal temps. It was also rather dreary with gray skies. If it rains, that little Pom rescue we acquired in October balks at going out. She is currently “blowing her coat” which would normally require us to brush her every day. Easier said than done when she still prefers her crate over human companionship and any gentle uninvited encouragement is met with canine obstinance. So, yes, little progress from last month and will soon be three months. It can be discouraging.
The big push to get everything ready for Christmas took any spare time. Despite the extra projects, I continued to try using the little treadmill as I don’t particularly like getting in my steps when it’s raining either. The CE doesn’t like the machine—he continues to walk outside.
First I tried reading while walking. That left me dizzy. Then I tried listening to my audiobooks while walking and that quickly clashed with the CE’s choice of TV programs. Then I discovered trail guides—the problem is that they don’t communicate with my health apps. If I could get everything to “shake hands” it’d be a boon, but not so far. Except for turning pages, how do you exercise in the winter? Gym membership?
Of course, those cloudy, cold gray days I’d prefer to just curl up with a good book and not do anything but read, but that’s still not an option either. Anyway, between everything else, we reviewed thirteen books in December. Those we managed to read are below, and as always, links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source info.
The CE really enjoyed Ghost Team; I was blown away by Lisa Jewell’s None of This Is True. I listened to the audiobook beautifully narrated by a large cast of impressive artists seamlessly integrated. Well-developed MC manipulated in a dark, intense thriller.
My Reading Challenges page…I read 157 books of a goal of 145 in Goodreads and am still at a 97% feedback ratio in NetGalley. Unfortunately, I barely made 50/50 this year in my Challenges, making the goal in Goodreads and Netgalley, failing miserably both the audiobook and historical fiction challenges where I thought I had solid confidence. Obviously, I’ll have to look at those category goals a little harder next year.
I’m taking a harder look at the blog in general, however, disappointed with performance this year and looking for answers. I want to update the blog home page, try again to introduce a recurring feature, add a couple pages, enlarge the font size (is this better or worse?), and still have more time for blog hopping. Is it possible given I’ve never been able to learn how to manage the block editor? Looking at free templates on WP, all are now using the block editor and I’m still limping along with the Classic Editor. I’m open to any suggestions—thank you!
As always, welcome to my new subscribers! I love your likes and comments.
Hoping that early snow is not a portent of a long, hard winter, we did have flurries on Halloween. I guess we had just a bit of the same in 2019, but usually when we had an early snow in California, we were hurting for decent skiing conditions even in December. I’m still getting used to the different weather climate out here.
I took advantage of a slight warming last week to get my yard stripped of the last vestiges of both the veggie and flower gardens. Not much to bring in, as we’d used most along the way and, sad to say, the tomatoes just sort of petered out. Crazy summer!
In the meantime, strongly feeling the absence of our Frosty and the encouragement of our kids (and the neighbors!), we began looking for another dog (as I mentioned last month)—this time a mature one (no puppies). I was looking for a small companion—the CE fell in love with an ex-breeder. A Pomeranian—one I never would have considered and she is proving to be the problem I expected she might. A 4 ½+-year-old with absolutely no history has apparently never been introduced to a house, never mind house training, commands, or even knows what treats or pets are. While she is extremely human shy, she doesn’t seem to have that problem with other dogs. Perhaps lived in a kennel all her life just turning out puppies? Who knows? This kind of shelter/rescue dog will take months of patience, kindness, and consistency. We’ve been at it now three weeks. According to the 3-3-3 rule, the first two big hurdles done. Hopefully, progress by three months. How do you go about house-training a dog that was never turned out to potty and won’t allow you to take them?
So you might have guessed where a bulk of my time went in October. Even deleting one post per week, I’m still backlogged and playing catch up. We did manage thirteen books in October, always including NetGalley books. I’ve experienced fits and starts with audiobooks but you’ll note one at five stars in the list below. (And as always, links below are to my reviews that include purchase or source info.)
The CE greatly enjoyed several of his books and I always enjoy my auto go-to Rosenfelt books (audiobooks especially). My vote for October, however, is going to Jonathan Kellerman’sThe Ghost Orchid. Love the way the author plays off the main characters and maneuvers two negative victims to sympathic.
My Reading Challenges page… I have 122 books of a goal of 145 in Goodreads (at this point two books ahead of schedule) and still at a 97% feedback ratio in NetGalley. My Reading Challenges page has suffered from neglect–again.
In another move of the social media upheaval separating from each other, I got a notice that Goodreads will no longer connect with your Facebook account. First the change of Later for Instagram scheduling, the disconnection from Twitter (BIG BLACK X) and the push to sign up for paid accounts, then the change in Canva with an eye on providing all that scheduling if only you’ll go “Pro.” Soon the privilege of sneezing will require a paid account or risk the redoubling of the work and effort to continue a simple blog. Any change at my age is difficult, but change that comes with increased expense, more so. How are you coping? Signed up for paid accounts formerly free?
As always, welcome to my new subscribers! And I never stop appreciating those who read and comment.
Yes, September brought our long-awaited East Coast trip! While I did get some reviews scheduled, I relied on my little tablet and the “stick” to which I’d downloaded the activity for the month. Unfortunately, it didn’t work although I’d tried, tested, and thought I had it before we left.
New YorkLincoln Memorial
Our timing landed us in DC during their record-setting heat wave where walking the National Mall was a major test of the constitution of the physical kind. We planned to hit Philly, New York, Boston, Bar Harbor (my personal designation), Nova Scotia (the CE’s personal designation), Montreal (Canada), and Toronto (Canada). Hurricane Lee knocked Bar Harbor out, however, and we diverted to Plattsburgh IL, and a ferry ride—thence a quick and easy cross at the border into Canada.
Scaddabush Front Street Italian Restaurant in Toronto. So good we went back a second time.
We did experience a major downpour but nothing like New York just experienced with flooded subways. Our son did all the driving, the scenery was beautiful—much of it looked like home actually—except for the majestic skylines of the massive cities. My personal daily walking goal is 3,500 steps. Walking those cities achieved more than 21k steps one day, my equivalent of…10 miles? And there was always a lot of walking! Do you use a FitBit or equivalent; chronicle your steps? You’d think with all that walking I’d have shed some pounds. Nope. One—it was just one.
I mentioned last month our puppy adoption failure. Even with a lot of steps, could not keep up with a puppy. Still, back home and missing a dog’s joyous grin when we return home and a little couch buddy. I shouldn’t, but can’t help looking for an adult rescue.
If I was looking for some downtime, walking miles every day for almost three weeks wasn’t it, nor the backlog faced when we returned. Still trying to play catch up.
So a slow reading month—we read (or listened to) twelve books in September. These are still predominately from NetGalley, but more now from a variety of sources as we search for good, easy reading. (As always, links below are to my reviews that include purchase info.)
These included historical fiction, literary fiction, cozy mystery, and paranormal.
Sorry, not sorry, but there is no contest here. Hands down, this month’s favorite (and will likely be the favorite of the year is The Women. Okay, you might accuse me of prejudice because we lived through that time—spent in nearby support—and heard that protest music echo in my head as I read. But I’d argue that the well-developed main character nailed the reality of the time—and perhaps could be applied to the present as well. Not due to release until February of 2024; I’d urge you to put it on your must-read list.
Book of the Month for September—The Women by Kristin Hannah.
My Reading Challenges page… I have 110 books of a goal of 145 in Goodreads (at this point one book ahead of schedule) and still riding at a 97% feedback ratio in NetGalley. Haven’t even looked at the Reading Challenges page. Soon…
Autumn is making herself known in crisp morning temps, changes of weather from erratic warm to very cool and back again. (In our neck of the woods, 80 will plummet 20 degrees shortly.) I do enjoy leaf peeping and did see the start of it on our trip. For me, though, it’s a harbinger of winter and I’m not a fan. As pretty as those northern states were, I couldn’t help but visualize and feel the snow and cold. I’ll proudly wear my Toronto sweatshirt, but I’ll be glad I’m no longer there.
Welcome, as always, to my new subscribers. I always appreciate those who read and comment.
A Pomeranian—one I never would have considered and she is proving to be the problem I expected she might. A 4 ½+-year-old with absolutely no history has apparently never been introduced to a house, never mind house training, commands, or even knows what treats or pets are. While she is extremely human shy, she doesn’t seem to have that problem with other dogs. Perhaps lived in a kennel all her life just turning out puppies? Who knows? This kind of shelter/rescue dog will take months of patience, kindness, and consistency. We’ve been at it now three weeks. According to the 3-3-3 rule, the first two big hurdles done. Hopefully, progress by three months. How do you go about house-training a dog that was never turned out to potty and won’t allow you to take them?
Rosepoint Publishing 