Sunday Post 108

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. 

I hope everyone in the U.S. enjoyed the 4th of July, and if you have pets, I hope they did okay during the fireworks. I know such loud noises can be hard on pets and on some people. 

There's a parade that goes down my street every 4th. We had fairly comfortable weather, but I didn't go. It starts at 9 a.m. and doesn't get to my portion of the street until almost an hour later. Spectators start claiming their spots hours before it begins, so I'd have to get out there super early and wait a long time. I used to do this when I was able to consistently get out of bed at 4 or 4:30 a.m., but nowadays that doesn't happen. So I did grocery shopping, then had dinner with my family on Saturday.

It was an overall quiet week. I had a couple of appointments that went well, and one day I had lunch with friend I haven't seen in years. The food was less than stellar, but the company was nice. Hopefully we'll get together again this summer.

IN THE BOOKS

RECENTLY FINISHED

🍄🍄🍄🍄
What the Spell? (Spellbooked Magical Cozy Mystery 1), by Elle Wren Burke, is the book I finished last week. I'm planning to publish my review this week, hopefully Tuesday. So I hope you'll stop by again and read my thoughts on this magical cozy mystery.

IN PROGRESS

I finished the chapter titled, "Math and Logic Puzzles" in 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. There were a lot of puzzles presented in this chapter. I worked on some of them, but it got to be tiring, so then I just read them. I love math and logic puzzles, but they also hurt my brain. Lol. I can always go back to them later. 

I'm currently listening to A Nutcracker Nightmare (Killer Chocolate Mystery 2), written by Christina Romeril and narrated by Rebecca Gallagher. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but I'm enjoying it. This is one of the books I'm listening to for Christmas in July. (Anything to escape the heat!)

I'm reading A Wicked Yarn (Craft Fair Knitters Mystery 1), by Emmie Caldwell, and really enjoying it. The main character is a widow and I think the author handles grief beautifully while moving forward with the mystery and introducing us to the characters. This is the July pick for The Cozy Mystery Book Club.

UP NEXT

My next audiobook listen will be Mistletoe Murder (Lucy Stone Mystery 1), by Leslie Meier. I've heard this is a festive book and a great series, so I'm finally diving into it this month.

ON THE SCREEN

• The Food that Built America - I'm almost done with season 4. One of the most interesting episodes to me was the one about grocery stores. I didn't realize it wasn't until 1972 when there were scanners with cash registers. There are so many interesting facts in this series and I love how the hosts are all so enthusiastic about them. They're one element that makes it so fun to watch.
• Columbo - I have two more episodes to watch in season 1, then I might post a review. I am enjoying this series. I just don't watch it that often, though.
• Murder, She Wrote - I watched S4E10 titled, "Indian Giver". Well they all can't be great, I guess. This is my least favorite MSW episode so far, and that's despite the fact that it is set in Cabot Cove. The Cabot Cove episodes are typically my favorites, but not this one.
• Diagnosis Murder - I'm dabbling in this series and jumping around based on recommendations for specific episodes. I watched S1E11 titled "Flashdance with Death" and S2E11 titled "Death by Extermination". "Flashdance with Death" features a scene where Dick Van Dyke dances, so that was fun to see. I enjoyed both episodes, but I did figure out the whodunnit very early in "Death by Extermination".
• The Golden Girls - I watched S1E2. It was a fun episode, but I'm still hoping the character of Rose changes. I noticed in one episode of Diagnosis Murder ("Death by Extermination") Betty White played a similar character. I love Betty White as an actress, but these two roles that she played don't resonate with me very much.
• A Machu Picchu Proposal - This was the final movie in Hallmark's June 2025 Passport to Love collection. It had mixed reviews, but I enjoyed it. It's one of my favorites of the year so far.
• Christmas on Candy Cane Lane - This is a 2022 movie that premiered on GAF. I watched it because I wanted to see Andrea Barber who played Kimmie on Full House. It seemed like a fun movie from the previews, but it fell flat for me.
• Star Spangled Banners (also called A Family Reunion) - This is a 2013 Hallmark movie that I had seen before. I love it because Brooke White is in it. She competed on American Idol years ago and I loved her. My best friend (who passed in 2010) was also a fan of hers. So it's very nostalgic for me. I love the scenes when she sings in this movie.

ON THE BLOG

• Sunday Post - 06/28 - Weekly Recap
• Book Review - 07/02 Dead, White, and Blue (Northwoods Mystery 2), by Annie McEwen
• Book Review - 07/04 - Fourth of July Forgery (Holiday Cozy Mystery 6), by Tonya Kappes
• Puzzle - 07/05 - Colorful Balls of Yarn

Have a great week!