November wasted no time getting us right into the winter mood with an early snow and frigid temps. Of course, we celebrate Thanksgiving and that’s usually about the time Mother Nature rears back and blows an ill wind. We got a weather break both coming and going to southern Illinois to celebrate with our daughter and enjoyed dinner with our son as well, although our granddaughter and her family were not able to join us with our great-grandchildren. Fortunately, they are not so far that there won’t be other opportunities. Unfortunately, it appears a four-hour auto ride is harder on us than it used to be.
Hoping to get a good Christmas pic of Punkin to post, but nothing successful so far. In the meantime, our son got into the mood with his dog, Cooper, whom I’ve written about before. We think she’s part mini-Aussie and Jack Russell. The mini-Aussie part comes out in boundless energy and smarts and the rest with personality and more smarts. Also—it appears she is photogenic! I used to take yearly Christmas pics of the family until the idea was met with groans all round. Now, everyone is scattered around the country. Not so easy to gather for a family photo anymore.
Reading and reviewing is hit and miss—it’s that time of year. Thank heaven for audiobooks! We reviewed a total of thirteen books in November—six in audiobook form, with the CE contributing three (ebooks). As always, the major source of our books is the library (audiobooks as well as ebooks), NetGalley, author and publisher requests. The links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase information.
The Gift from Aelius by Michael Colon (CE review)
Soaring Above by Amanda Hughes
Dogged Pursuit by David Rosenfelt (audiobook)
Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox (audiobook)
Greetings from Lavender Valley by Tammy L Grace
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger (Audiobook-Bookclub)
A Walk Among Heroes by James McDevitt (CE review – 5*)
Muddled Through by Barbara Ross
Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben (audiobook)
Grid Zero by Andrew Diamond (CE review)
Judge and Jury by Stephen Penner
The Christmas Train by David Baldacci (audiobook)
The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner (audiobook)
The CE gave five stars to A Walk Among Heroes and in fairness must award the favorite to his five stars. It was a good month for ebooks as well as audiobooks!
Favorite for November – A Walk Among Heroes
My Reading Challenges page…sorry still didn’t get it caught up. I swear, I’m not sure how I got so far behind.
I’m trying to promote my posts more quickly with social media as well as blog hopping. The Goodreads landing page now shows 173 books read of a goal of 150, so I’m at 115% of the challenge. A JavaScript problem, I guess, is that the code stopped at 136, and won’t ever show I’ve achieved the 2025 goal. That will impact a number of other little Goodreads goals. I’ve actually achieved their little ribbons for every month (last being November, of course). Assuming December, that should open to other ribbon goals, including the Grand Slam and Nailed It. Have you checked your Goodreads Achievement ribbons lately?
As you no doubt noticed, I tried this year to include some Christmas reads, audiobooks, and movies this year—something cheery for the holidays. Not easy, as I usually avoid those. And I actually found a couple I enjoyed! Hope you did as well.
Thank you again for your visits and comments. I always appreciate your comments and I’m trying to respond faster. Keep those likes and comments coming—and I thank you for each and every one!
©2025 V Williams
Our trip to southern Illinois for her birthday found us exploring a botanical garden in Springfield, somewhat disappointing with not only the size but end of season flower displays. Usually, we love botanical gardens this time of year as they yield some interesting seeds (shush!), but there weren’t many of those yet either. We loved the bell tower though, the sound much like an active cathedral. Unusual trees—but unfortunately no name plates to tell us what they were. Also, our granddaughter arrived with her family to celebrate her mother’s birthday so we got to see our great-grandchildren. Good grief, have they grown!!
Punkin, now seven years old. She’s pretty much housebroken at this point. She’s allowed me to pet her a couple times—but not approach her unbidden. Unfortunately, she’ll likely never understand what a toy is. She enjoys going outside now—but only when she’s ready. Also, she’s decided my treadmill is a good place to relax. At least it gets some use.
Also, despite all the prep and barricades surrounding my veggies, the varmints found a way to eat the beans and peas, and most anything else I was hoping to harvest by July. I am, however, raising a bountiful crop of mosquitoes in the little water tub for the lotus seeds I planted and coaxed to the surface. The lotus seeds need six hours of sun and don’t get that on the deck but appear quite happy for the time being.
Rosepoint Publishing 