Caboodle of Cozies

Hi everyone!

Through Monday, I am linking with the following:

Reading Reality, who hosts Stacking the Shelves

Caffeinated Reviewer, who hosts Sunday Post

The Book Date, who hosts It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Long time no see! The last time I published a Sunday Post was Fourth of July weekend, so it's been a little more than a month! I have been busy on the weekends and often during the week, so I decided to let this go for a while. I have posted a few reviews and puzzles, but that's about it. My weekends are slowing down now (for the most part), so I'm going to try to get back on track with my regularly scheduled programming.

Over the past month, I participated in two speed puzzling events, one of which my team of four came in second place! We had to complete a 300-piece puzzle, which we did in about thirty minutes. The team who came in first place completed it in about 15 minutes. There was no prize for second place, but we had fun. My next speed puzzling event will be in September.

A couple of weeks ago, on July 25th, was my 4-year blogoversary. Thank you to all of my readers and commenters over the past several years! I'm really enjoying this journey and although there are times when I have to take a break from it, I have no plans to completely stop doing this. I love sharing everything I do here and connecting with all of you.

Since it was my blogoversary, I decided to give my blog a minor makeover. I changed some of the colors and I moved the sidebar to the left. I also, with the help of a dear friend, created a logo. If you click on the logo on the left sidebar, it will take you back to the homepage where you'll always see my most recent post.

Over the past month, I have been consistently reading and listening to audiobooks. Instead of listing all of them like I usually do, I'm just going to share a graphic of all the books I finished in July. Then I'll list, as usual, my August update.

IN THE BOOKS

RECENTLY FINISHED

Most of these are cozy mysteries. The Masala Chai Mystery Club is a mystery that isn't too cozy. Something New at the Borrow a Bookshop and Hope for the Holidays (read for Christmas in July) are women's fiction/romance. The Twisted Lip is a short story in the Sleuthing Whiskers series based on Sherlock Holmes, except the detectives are cats.

And now for my August update:

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I read an ARC of Get a Candle on Crime (Glenmyre Whim Mystery 4), by Sarah E. Burr, and I loved it! I really enjoy everything she writes, but this series is my favorite of hers. You can read my full review here.

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I listened to Motorhomes, Maps, and Muder (Camper and Criminals Mystery 5), written by Tonya Kappes and narrated by Johanna Parker. I had listened to Santa Claus Surprise for a book club hosted by Tonya Kappes, and when I borrowed it from Hoopla, I was able to borrow books 4-6 as a set and count it as one borrow.

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I read The Case of the Crooked Terrier, by A.J. Chaudhury. This is a short story and it's the second installment in the Sleuthing Whiskers series. Like the first one, I loved it.

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I listened to Canyons, Caravans, and Cadavers (Camper and Criminals Mystery 6), written by Tonya Kappes and narrated by Johanna Parker. I also loved this one! This series is fantastic on audiobook. They are very quick listens too, as I don't think any I've listened to so far exceed five hours.
IN PROGRESS

I have been reading one chapter each week in The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year, written by Margaret Renkl and illustrated by Billy Renkl. I don't think this book would have held my interest if I read it all at once, but I like reading it each week as we go through the seasons.

I'm currently reading Shifting and Shenanigans (Magical Mystery Book Club 1), by Elizabeth Pantley, and I'm loving it! I'm so excited to finally dive into this series. It's been on my TBR for a long time. Since she just started a spinoff series, I figured it's time to finally read these books. Did I mention that I'm loving it?!

UP NEXT

The next book I'm going to read is Bakeries and Buffoonery (Magical Mystery Book Club 4), by Elizabeth Pantley. Yes, I'm skipping the second and third books for now because book 4 is the one I'm most excited about. I will eventually get to all of them.

The next book I'll listen to is Spellbound, Scones, and Secrets (Southern Magical Bakery 1), by Tonya Kappes. I really want to read or listen to every book written by Tonya Kappes. I love her writing style and I'm never disappointed when I read them. So I'm starting on this series.

ON THE SCREEN

The Brady Bunch - I finished watching the entire series, at least all episodes that have aired on television. That's most of them. I've also been listening to The Real Brady Bros podcast as they talk about each episode. They also have some Q&A podcast episodes. I've also re-watched all three parody movies, so I'm done with this series for a while.
The Food That Built America - Last year I binged the first six seasons and I've been eagerly awaiting the seventh season. It finally started airing on the History Channel in the spring. I've been recording all the episodes and I started watching them last week. I like how they're building on what they've already talked about. They have the same great hosts, along with some new ones.
New Hallmark movies - I've been watching all the new weekly Hallmark movies. As usual, there are some hits and some misses. I've also watched a few older romcoms for the first time.
Garage Sale Mystery - I watched the pilot episode and I plan to watch the entire series this month in preparation for the new one that will premiere next month on Hallmark. I like the premise and the characters, but the first episode was predictable. I identified the culprit as soon as that character was on screen. I hope the mysteries improve over the course of the series. I have not read the books this series is based on and I probably won't because I've heard the vibe is very different.
Ainsley McGregor: A Case for the Watchmaker - While I didn't think this was as good as the previous television installment, I still enjoyed it. It's a great mystery series on GAF. I want to read the books at some point.

ON THE BLOG