Sunday Post 88

Hi everyone!

Through Monday, I am linking with the following: 

Reading Reality, who hosts Stacking the Shelves

Readerbuzz, who hosts Sunday Salon

Caffeinated Reviewer, who hosts Sunday Post

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

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

Hello, everyone! Woweee...it's been just about a month since I've published a Sunday Post! I've had a lot to do on Saturdays over the past month. That's the day I usually compose my Sunday Post, so I had to put it off for a while. I was pretty sporadic with blogging in general. I should be back on a more regular schedule now. 

During this time, my blog turned 2 on July 25th! Thanks to all of you for following my blog, reading my posts, and commenting. Your support is most appreciated!

Also, I'm in my puzzle era. I've been doing several of the New York Times games - Worldle, Letterboxed, Strands, Mini Crossword, and Connections. I don't have a NYT account, so I can't keep my streak, but I enjoy working on them. I've also been working on my Murdle book and the Murdle puzzles online. In addition to these, I started a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. I bought a new puzzle board for easy storage, protected from the cats. It comes with a very sturdy cover. Here's a picture of the puzzle board:

In my previous Sunday Post, I told you I was scheduled to get my permanent crown on July 8th, and I did. The appointment to get the permanent crown was only about 30 minutes.  I didn't need to get numbed.  It did hurt for a few seconds, but since then it has felt completely normal. So I'm good-to-go until my next cleaning in November. I'm so happy to have this behind me.

Without further ado, let's see what I've been reading, listening to, and watching over the past month. You will see that it was heavy on Christmas in July. I need to fully embrace this theme every July. It was such a fun way to forget about the many 90s and 100 degree days we've been having.

IN THE BOOKS

Click on 2024 Bookish Challenges on the right sidebar to see how I'm doing with this year's goals.

RECENTLY FINISHED

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I finished reading an ARC of the fifth installment in the Christmas Tree Farm Mystery series, by Jacqueline Frost, I'll Be Home for Mischief. This book releases in November, but I grabbed the ARC from NetGalley. I love this series and this installment did not disappoint! You can read some excerpts here and you can read my full review here.

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I listened to Christmas, Campers, & Criminals (Camper and Criminals Mystery 4), written by Tonya Kappes and narrated by Johanna Parker. I really enjoyed this one as well. I have not written a review on my blog yet, but I can say I'll definitely keep reading or listening to this series. 

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I listened to Tide and Punishment (Seaside Café Mystery 3), by Bree Baker. She is the same author of the Christmas Tree Farm Mystery series, just different pen names. Each of these three books I listed are set around Christmastime, but the settings are quite different. I didn't think this was as strong as previous installments, but I still enjoyed it and will continue the series. 

IN PROGRESS

A Train is Late for Christmas, written by C.P. Ward and narrated by Penny Wyatt-Gold, is carried over from Christmas in July. It's a cute story about how passengers on a train have to stay in one little town because of a snowstorm. It focuses a lot on one character, but there are several that keep it interesting.

I started reading The Summer of Yes, by Courtney Walsh. I requested this ARC from NetGalley before it was released, and to my delight, I was approved. Courtney Walsh is one of my favorite romance authors, although this one reads more like women's fiction. I'm not too far into it yet, but I am enjoying it so far.

UP NEXT

Cathy Wiley is a local author to me and ever since I heard about this cozy mystery series, I've been wanting to read it. I love the idea of a food festival theme. This first installment centers around a crab festival in Texas. Although it isn't set in my home state, Maryland is well-known for crabs. When I saw that it's only $0.99 I grabbed it from Amazon. At the time that I'm writing this, it is still $0.99

ON THE SCREEN

• Psych - I think I now have this entire series recorded. I finished watching season 1 and I'm currently a few episodes into season two. Still lovin' it!
• Monk - I've been watching this while I exercise on my hand cycle and do strength training. I had previously watched the pilot and wasn't crazy about it. However, I gave it another chance and watched a few more episodes. I'm now hooked on it! Soon I'll probably go back and re-watch the pilot to see if my opinion of that episode has changed. I'm currently a few episodes into season one.
• Signed, Sealed, Delivered: A Tale of Three Letters - This long-awaited movie for the popular series on Hallmark Mystery aired in July. I love this series, but this installment fell short for me. It was average, but not great like the previous installments have been. 
• Christmas in July - I'm not going to list every Christmas movie I watched over the past month because there were so many. Most were Hallmark movies, with a few others in the mix. I'm planning to post my July Caboodle of Movies and Books on Tuesday, so you can see the full list then.

ON THE BLOG

• Sunday Post - 07/06 - Weekly Recap
• Book Review - 07/09 - Love at On Deck Café (Mapleton 1), by Leah Dobrinska
• The Friday Six - 07/12 - Bookish Response and Excerpts, Kitty News and Pic, Nature Pic
• Puzzle - 07/13 - Christmas in July
• Book Review - 07/23 - Sticks and Stones and a Bag of Bones (Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mystery 1), by Heather Weidner
• Movie Review - 07/25 - A World Record Christmas
• The Friday Six - 07/26 - Bookish Response and Excerpts, Kitty News and Pic, Nature Pic
• Puzzle - 07/28 - Christmas Tree Farm
• Book Review - 07/31 - I'll Be Home for Mischief (Christmas Tree Farm Mystery 5), by Jacqueline Frost
• Puzzle - 08/03 - Cottage

Have a great week!