Sunday Post 114

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. 

Happy Labor Day Weekend! This may be one of my favorite holidays because summer is my least favorite season (that's putting it lightly) and fall is my favorite (that's also putting it lightly). I'm happy to celebrate the unofficial end of summer and the beginning of meteorological fall. I'm one of those folks who loves the "BER" months.

Last weekend I got to have lunch with cozy mystery author Mindy Quigley, a few other mystery authors, and a fellow cozy reader. Mindy and a few other authors did a book signing at a bookstore near me. Long story short, I was not able to attend the book signing. I messaged Mindy to let her know my reason for not attending. I told her I was really disappointed that I wouldn't be able to make it. But lucky me, she invited me to lunch with some of the other authors and a fellow cozy reader. I was able to make it to that. We had a blast! Lots of laughter and a good time was had by all.

The rest of the week was pretty average, which was fine with me. I had two physical therapy appointments, none of which were with my original two therapists. He was fine, but it's frustrating having to basically start over each time with a new therapist. I need some consistency, which I will get soon. This week I have one appointment and it's with the therapist I had last week. However, starting next week, I'll have the therapist I started out with twice a week for at least the rest of September. This will be good for a lot of reasons, one being she will be able to email me the exercises, with videos, I should be doing at home. That can't happen until she comes back. I remember some of the exercises that each therapist has been teaching me, but there are so many that I can't remember all of them. Plus, just having the consistency of one person will help immensely.

I do get nervous every time I go because I have a latex allergy. All of my doctors' offices are completely latex-free, but I have yet to see a physical therapy practice that is. It's a mild allergy, but I still need to avoid touching things made of latex. A lot of physical therapy equipment is made with latex. I honestly can't even stand the smell of it. So, finding ways around the latex equipment is a challenge, but doable.

In other news, I went to an actual brick and mortar store yesterday that wasn't for groceries. I was looking for a new reading chair, one that glides and swivels. I was surprised to see how empty the store was, though glad I didn't have to deal with crowds. I love brick and mortar stores, especially for items like a comfortable chair. I need to test them out to know which one works best for me. 

It turns out, none of them did. I realized that swivel and glider chairs are not stable enough for me. Once I'm on the chair it's fine, but getting on it is like an amusement park ride I'd rather not take the chance on. So, I realized that I already have the chair I need at home. (That was the other thing. I kept comparing the chairs to the one I currently use and they just don't measure up to the comfort level.) That chair just needs to be moved into another room. It's currently in the living room, but I want it moved into the room I call the library. That will happen after the windows are all replaced, which will hopefully happen in the fall.

IN THE BOOKS

RECENTLY FINISHED

🍄🍄🍄🍄
I finished reading Edam and Weep (Grilled Cheese Mystery 6), by Linda Reilly. I will publish my review this coming week, but what I can say now is while this isn't the strongest installment in the series, I enjoyed visiting with these characters again. I love how their lives are progressing while solving crimes. You can check out some excerpts here.

IN PROGRESS

I finished the chapter titled "Visual 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. I'm going to pause this book for a while (that's an option on The StoryGraph app). There's another non-fiction book I'd like to finish by mid-October.

I'm still listening to Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust (Deep Dish Mystery 2), written by Mindy Quigley and narrated by Holly Adams. Great timing for this one. I hadn't realized before listening to it that it's set around Labor Day weekend. I have a little more than one hour left to listen to.

I started reading Fatal Sign-off (Book Blogger Mystery 3), by Sarah E. Burr. I'm enjoying it. She wasted no time diving into the mystery. I'm almost 40% into it. I'll probably finish it this week and publish my review next week. This will likely be the featured book on Friday's post this week, so please do come back for that.

Murder at Sea is a collection of short stories by various cozy mystery authors. I started reading some of the stories in it as part of a challenge. So far, I've read "A Sail of Two Continents", by Tina Kashian, and "Last Chapter at Sea", by Meri Allen. I'm not a fan of swearing, which is in one of them, but other than that, I loved them.  They have great characters and are well-paced. 

Okay, so this one I started last year and never finished. I left off with the fall poems, so I'm going to finish it. I love fairies, so The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies, by Cicely Mary Barker, is perfect for me.

UP NEXT

It's Not About the Food, by Mary Perry, is the non-fiction book I mentioned that I want to finish by mid-October. My dietitian wrote this book and my next appointment with her is coming up. Of course, it's nothing I have to read before the appointment (or at all), but I want to. She has been such a big help to me.

With Agatha Christie's birthday coming up on September 15th, I want to finally dive into And Then There Were None. I won't have time to read it before then, so I'll listen to the audiobook. I've never read it or listened to it before, so I'm excited about this one. Agatha Christie's birthday is also declared Cozy Mystery Day.

Some people wonder how I (and many others) can read more than one book at a time. I think it's a lot like watching more than one television show at a time. I never have just one television show or series of movies going. It's pretty much the same for books.

ON THE SCREEN

• The Toys that Built America - Although I still like the food series the best, this is a fun one. I think there are about 20 episodes that have aired so far and I've only watched a few of them. Some of the hosts from The Food that Built America are in this series, so that makes me happy.
• Providence Falls: Thief of Fate - I watched the third and final installment in the Providence Falls trilogy and I loved it. I can see why this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but the production value can't be denied. It's one of the best series of movies Hallmark has ever done.
• Double Scoop - This is your standard Hallmark rom-com that premiered last weekend. It most likely won't be a re-watch, but I enjoyed it once. It's light-hearted and fun, and it has bright colors. So it's visually appealing, too.
• At Home in Mitford - This is a Hallmark movie from 2017, starring Cameron Mathison and Andie MacDowell. You can't go wrong with these two, at least not in my book. Again, this likely won't be a re-watch, but I enjoyed it once. It's probably the last summer movie I'll watch this year.
• Diagnosis Murder - I watched one more episode. I think I'm done with this show, at least for a while. I prefer Murder, She Wrote for the cozier vibes.
• Golden Girls  - I watched a few more episodes in season 1. I'm still enjoying it. Some of the episodes are so funny!
• Murder, She Wrote - I watched S4E11, "Doom with a View". I enjoyed this episode. It felt cozy and I thought the mystery was good, too. Also, I recognized some of the guest stars, which is always fun. 
• Gilmore Girls - This show has such a devoted fan base. Hallmark started airing it, so I decided to finally give it a try. I watched the pilot and thought it was okay, but I'm not interested enough to continue watching the series right now. I've also heard that some of the writing didn't age well, which makes me not want to watch it.

ON THE BLOG

• Sunday Post - 08/23 - Weekly Recap

Have a great week!