Sunday Post 100

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. 

Welcome to my 100th Sunday Post! Actually, I was doing this before I started calling it the Sunday Post, so this is about my 107th...but that's a technicality. Let's just call it my Centennial Sunday Post. Thanks to everyone out there who reads and comments on my posts! And thanks to everyone who hosts blog hops so we can connect!

I had a pretty low-key week. The daffodils are blooming, the pear and plum trees are flowering, and soon the tulips will be bursting with colors. The cherry blossoms are just now beginning to emerge, so look for spring pictures on my Friday posts in the coming weeks. I've already posted pictures of the daffodils. 

We had temps in the 80s today (Saturday), which is not my style at the end of March, but thankfully, it was just a one day fluke. We'll be cooler on Sunday and through the coming week. We are expecting storms on Monday, which I'm really not a fan off. Hopefully they won't be too bad.

I am not sure if I'll have time to compose a Sunday Post next weekend, but if not, I should be back the following weekend. The weekend I return will hopefully be my birthday weekend! In the meantime, I'm planning to publish other posts during the week.

IN THE BOOKS

RECENTLY FINISHED

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I listened to Bayou Book Thief (Vintage Cookbook Mystery 1), written by Ellen Byron and narrated by Amy Melissa Bentley. I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it. There were times when a character was about to say a curse word, then paused. I appreciate that there was no cursing in the book, but those pauses took me out of the story. But overall I liked it.

IN PROGRESS

In progress, but this week I made no progress with The Puzzler: One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaw to the Meaning of Life, by A. J. Jacobs. Maybe this coming week I'll make it a point to read at least one chapter in it. I am looking forward to it, as the next chapter covers my favorite type of puzzle - the jigsaw.

I'm about 70% through The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (Mrs. Pollifax Mystery 1), by Dorothy Gilman. This is not the typical light and fluffy cozy I'm used to reading and I honestly never imagined I'd enjoy it as much as I am. Dare I say, I'm more of a fan of Mrs. Pollifax than I am of Miss Marple. It's a page-turner. I hope to have my review posted this coming week, but in the meantime, you can read some excerpts on Friday's post.

UP NEXT

Why, yes. You do see The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (Mrs. Pollifax Mystery 1), by Dorothy Gilman, twice on this post. After I finish reading it, I want to listen to the audiobook. I've heard it's excellent. It will be good for me to consume it in more than one format before discussing it at Malice Domestic next month.

ON THE SCREEN

• The Food That Built America - I'm still working my way through season 2 and really enjoying it. I had been watching it on Hulu, but since I now have all of the episodes recorded, I'm watching it on the DVR. That way I can skip the commercials. (My Hulu plan is free with my cell phone plan, but it is with ads.)
• American Idol - I forgot to mention last week that Carrie Underwood pulled me back into American Idol. It's like we were playing tug-o-war and she won. I used to watch this show like it was a career. When my best friend was alive, we would watch it, then discuss each episode. We also went to a few of the American Idols concerts. I stopped watching it a couple years after she passed, which was in 2010. I have always loved Carrie Underwood. I voted for her each week when she was a contestant on the show. I loved her from her very first audition. Now that she's a judge, I'm watching it again. I'm not crazy about the auditions, but there's only one more week for those. I'm watching it on Hulu the day after it airs on ABC (which I don't have). There are a couple of contestants from Maryland, so I'm interested in seeing how they do, as well as the guy who is a wheelchair user. There are a few others I like as well.
• Murder, She Wrote - I finally started watching season 4. I'm also listening to a rewatch podcast after each episode. And I'm taking notes on each one. So far I've only watched S4E1. I liked it, but I prefer the ones set in Cabot Cove. This one was set in Paris.
• Blind Date Book Club - This Hallmark movie premiered last year. I didn't understand the way the book club worked, but otherwise I really enjoyed it. With that understanding I now have, I watched it again. It's a pretty perfect Hallmark movie that's great for spring.
• Hearts Around the Table: Jenna's First Love - This was a Hallmark Spring Into Love premiere. It is the first one in a series of four. Mindy Cohn (Natalie from Facts of Life) is the glue that's going to hold this series together. She plays the foster mother. While this movie was okay, I really love the premise of the foster family. There was some disability representation with a wheelchair user in the first movie. What I loved about this was that the story did not focus on her disability. She was just living her life as a working woman. She had a very small role in the movie, but it was still nice to see.
• Gourmet Detective Mystery series - This is an older movie series on Hallmark that airs in reruns. I've watched the first three, so I have two more to go in the series. It isn't perfect, but I am really enjoying the series, with the second movie being my favorite so far.

ON THE BLOG

• Sunday Post - 03/22 - Weekly Recap
• Movie Review - 03/26 - Mystery Island: Winner Takes All
• The Friday Six - 03/28 - Bookish response and excerpts, Feline Friday, Nature Pic
• Puzzle - 03/29 - Spring Vibes

Have a great week!