Sunday Post 34

Hello, friends!

Today and Monday I am linking with the following: 
Reading Reality, who hosts Stacking the Shelves

Sunday Post, hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer 

Readerbuzz, who hosts Sunday Salon

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

On these blogs you will be able to see links to the posts from others who are participating in these blog hops, and if you're a blogger, you can join too. 

It was a hazy week in more than one way. Last Monday, I found out a friend of mine suddenly passed away. We met during the pandemic a couple years ago. We had only communicated online, but I always felt like we would eventually meet in person. We had been chatting online as part of a weekly group meetup. Even though we had only met online, I considered him a friend.

And then there was the smoke from the wildfires. I know Maryland didn't have it as bad as some other locations, but by Wednesday our air quality deteriorated. On Thursday, my area was in a Code Red for air quality and some nearby places were in Code Purple and Code Maroon. I didn't even know those color alerts existed! I did not go out at all on Thursday, but everyone around here said the air smelled really bad. I felt for the wildlife who had no escape. 

If it weren't for the smoke in the air, last week would have been great, weather-wise. It started to improve on Friday. Saturday was spectacular and today isn't bad either (though a bit too warm for my tolerance level). Monday we are expecting storms, then it should cool down again. We really need the rain, but I could do with the storms!

I didn't remember until Friday night to pre-order my farmer's market items, which was too late. However, I did get there just as it started yesterday, so I was able to come home with lots of goodies. I consider fresh organic veggies "goodies". :-)

I got way off track last week with everything. As a result, I didn't finish reading any books and I only blogged twice. The only reason I blogged on Tuesday was because much of that post was prepared ahead of time. 

To see how I'm doing with my bookish challenges, click on 2023 Bookish Challenges on the right sidebar.

RECENTLY FINISHED

I didn't finish reading any books last week. 

IN PROGRESS

I'm still currently reading A Flicker of a Doubt (Fairy Garden Mystery 4), by Daryl Wood Gerber, and I hope to finish it today or tomorrow.

UP NEXT

Not If I Date You First, by Krysti Meyer, is still next on my list to read. This is the one that will be my first ARC.

I think I'll also start reading Murders on the Beach: A Destination Murders Short Story Collection (Destination Murders 1) this week. The authors who wrote stories in this collection are Karen Cantwell, Ritter Ames, Lucy Carol, Barb Goffman, Eleanor Cawood Jones, Shari Randall, Shawn Reilly Simons, and Cathy Wiley. I am not familiar with any of these authors, so I'm looking forward to getting a taste of their writing styles. I had never heard of this series until the third one was released this year. 

I can't wait to start reading the prequel novella, Almost Fangmous, by Elle Wren Burke! It's part of her Vampire Pet Boutique Mystery series. I was able to download the e-book for free by signing up for her newsletter. This series features a physically disabled vampire, and the author has the same disability as the sleuth. I have been looking for so long for a cozy mystery featuring a physically disabled amateur sleuth!

Here's the recap of what I've recently posted. If you missed a post you want to read (or if you want to read it again!), just click on the link below. 

• Sunday Post 06/04 - What I've been reading and watching
• Top Ten Tuesday 06/06 - May Caboodle of Movies

I finished watching Season 1 of Once Upon a Time and I'll start Season 2 today. After seeing the Season 1 finale yesterday, I'm excited for what's to come!

I watched Hallmark's Dancing Detective: A Deadly Tango last week and I will watch Aurora Teagarden Mystery: Something New tomorrow. Since I didn't post any reviews last week, I will try to post reviews for both of these movies this week. After that, I don't think there are any upcoming new mysteries on Hallmark, so I'll start posting more book reviews.

I, of course. have also been watching all of the other premieres on The Hallmark Channel, as well as some of their older movies. So far, all of the movies I've watched this month have earned 4/5 stars from me - not a bad start to the month!

So, what's up in your world? Let me know if you have seen any of the above movies or series, or read any of the books I mentioned. Let's chat in the comments!