Hi everyone!
Through Monday, I am linking with the following:
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 had a pretty uneventful week, which isn't a bad thing. I had mostly uninterrupted time for reading, blogging, and puzzling. The weather has still been very hot and humid, with storm chances every day. On Wednesday evening, my area received almost five inches of rain in a span of less than two hours. It was accompanied by lots of thunder and lightning and resulted in a 30-minute power outage. That's always my main concern with these storms in the summer because I can't tolerate such hot weather without A/C. I actually started packing when the power went out. I didn't want to wait until I was too hot to do anything. Better to be prepared. I would have had to find some place else to stay, some place with electricity, of course. I'm glad it didn't come to that.
Here's the puzzle I'm working on:
Whenever I finish for the day, I don't usually feel like I made much progress. However, I always take a picture when I'm done each time and when I compare the pictures, I see that I am in fact making progress.
Let's see what else I've been up to.
IN THE BOOKS
RECENTLY FINISHED
I finished listening to A Nutcracker Nightmare (Killer Chocolate Mystery 2), written by Christina Romeril and narrated by Rebecca Gallagher. I'm looking forward to reading or listening to the next installment when it's released later this year. Or perhaps I'll get an ARC before then. In the meantime, you can read some excerpts here. I'm planning to publish my review in the next week.
IN PROGRESS
UP NEXT
ON THE SCREEN
- The Food that Built America - I finished season 4 and started watching season 5. I'll be sad when I'm all caught up with this series, but I'm happy it's still ongoing!
- Christmas at Sea - This is a series that highlights some of the activities that took place on the Christmas cruise that Hallmark hosted last year. I'm curious to see what it was all about, but it's a background watch. I am doing other things while it's on.
- Holidazed - This is a series that was exclusively on Hallmark+ last year, but it's airing weekly on the Hallmark Channel this month. It received rave reviews and I can see why. It's a very entertaining series. My only gripe is that with all the diversity it has, there is no disability representation. I'm still watching and enjoying it, though.
- A Belgian Chocolate Christmas - This movie premiered on GAF in 2022. I had it recorded and chose to watch it on World Chocolate Day. I loved the chocolate scenes and the scenery, as it was filmed in Belgium, but the plot was lackluster.
- Unwrapped: Tina's Miracle - This is the first in a series of movies that aired exclusively on Hallmark+ last year and is now airing on the Hallmark Channel this month. This series did not receive rave reviews, but I really enjoyed this first movie. It isn't perfect, but it was entertaining and it felt cozy.
- My Christmas Dream - This is a 2016 Hallmark movie that I had never seen until now. It was entertaining enough, but I likely won't watch it again. There were issues with the plot and I felt that there was some overacting, which I found to be distracting. Also, what's with Hallmark's obsession (passion?) for playing music in the background while the characters are talking? It's distracting, but it happens in a lot of Hallmark movies.
ON THE BLOG
- Sunday Post - 07/06 - Weekly Recap
- Book Review - 07/10 - What the Spell? (Spellbooked Mystery 1), by Elle Wren Burke
- Friday Features - 07/11 - Bookish response and excerpts, Feline Friday, Nature Friday
- Puzzle - 07/12 - Cottage in Winter
Have a great week!
Okay. I don't get it. Is there a challenge you are doing to read Christmas books in July? I like the idea but I'm wondering if it a thing.
ReplyDeleteAnne, there is no challenge for this that I'm participating in (although that sounds fun!). Christmas in July is just a thing that lots of people across the country do. Hallmark is airing Christmas movies all month long because of it. If you Google it, you'll see the origins of Christmas in July. :)
DeleteI'm glad you did not have to evacuate during the storm. It is dangerous to be without air conditioning in these very hot temperatures.
ReplyDeleteReading about Christmas in July makes me feel cooler right away!
Thank you, Deb! :-)
DeleteNice summery puzzle! I thought there was a challenge for Christmas in July! Funny to learn there is not, but I have seen a lot of people reading Christmas books this month. I am not one of them, LOL!
ReplyDeleteCindy, I wish I knew of a Christmas in July challenge. I'd ace it. LOL. :-)
DeleteAll those cozies look so good. We're having lightning and thunderstorms today, too. I like the idea of Christmas in July. I hope you enjoy your books and the Hallmark movies. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Yvonne! You too! :-)
DeleteYou are keeping busy and this is clever, taking a photo so you can compare and know you really are making headway.
ReplyDeleteAs for the power outage, I get what you mean. We were 6 weeks with no electricity after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita came through, it's not easy.
I just can't imagine what that was like!
DeleteI love cozies with library, book shop, and knitting themes. The book, A Wicked Yarn, is new to me--after seeing it in your post, I requested it from my library.
ReplyDeleteWonderful, Catherine! I just finished it today and I did indeed love it from beginning to end! :)
DeleteThat puzzle does look complicated. I'm glad you are enjoying your Christmas in July. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kathy! :)
DeleteIt's frightening to have a power outage in this hot weather. Luckily, yours lasted only 30 minutes. I'd head for a hotel too if we had no AC for a long time.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Harvee! :)
DeleteI went back to a puzzle this week that I had left hanging for months. Nice idea to take photos each day. I have some Jacqueline Frost audio to listen to, to catch up to Book 6 which I do have as an ARC.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, Kathryn! Enjoy the series. It's one of my favorites! :)
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