Sunday Post 115

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 had what felt like a busy week. I am making slow progress with physical therapy. But slow progress is still progress, right? I am back with the original therapist I had on the first day. She had taken a couple weeks vacation, plus she is only there part time to begin with. She will be my therapist for at least the rest of this month. The other two are good, but everyone has a different method, so it's hard to adjust each time. Now I can have some consistency. I also had the exercises emailed to me, which include video demonstrations. So that will be helpful. Friday was the first day since I started physical therapy one month ago that I began to notice a positive difference. The issue is mostly with my left shoulder. The range of motion in that arm seems to be improving. It isn't much so far, but it's something.

This past week, I also attended "What's On Your Shelf" at my local library for the first time. There were about 15 of us. This is a monthly event where we sit in a circle and share whatever we've been reading. There was a nice variety of books shared. There are some I know I won't read, but I did add some to my TBR list. I was five minutes late (I had physical therapy before this event), but they hadn't really begun yet. It ended 15 minutes late, plus I stayed and chatted with one of the librarians for a bit. This all meant I drove home in rush hour. Ugh. It was less than a half hour drive, but I really don't like driving at that time of day. I was exhausted when I got home. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I want to do this again. If it was earlier in the day it would work better for me. At least now I know. Oh, and I accidentally left my phone in my car during the event, probably because I was rushing. Not something I want to make a habit of doing!

This past week was also the book club I attempted to start in my condo community. Thanks to everyone who shared your insights. My main goal with this is to build connection and community with my neighbors. Finding an online book club is super easy. The ones at the library and local bookstore don't work for me for various reasons. Plus both of those defeat the purpose of trying to build connection and community with my neighbors.

Anyway, among the four buildings in my community, with 28 or 26 units each, one person said they would show up. I decided to go ahead with it and see if others show up at that time. I waited 20 minutes. NO ONE, not even the other person who agreed to be there, showed up. I'm still glad I gave it a try, though. I can forget about it and move on.

Next week should be more low key. Just my usual weekly appointments (which is still a lot). Because of my shoulder issue, it takes me longer to do basic things. And it takes me longer than most people I know to do things on a good day, so this is adding to that. It makes even a "regular" week exhausting. One day, one step at a time. As long as I take things slow, I'm fine.

IN THE BOOKS

As many of you know, I usually have multiple books going at once. I don't read all of them every week, so from now on, I will only list the ones I made progress with the previous week.

RECENTLY FINISHED

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I listened to Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust (Deep Dish Mystery 2), written by Mindy Quigley and narrated by Holly Adams. Although there was a lot to keep track of in this book, I enjoyed the mystery. I'll definitely continue the series.  I love spending time with these characters. 

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I also listened to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, narrated by Dan Stevens. This is the kind of book that I want to go back and read or listen to again and again so I can pick up on things I didn't notice before. It relies heavily on the epilogue to explain things, but the mystery is twisty and solid. You can read some excerpts here.

IN PROGRESS

I'm at about the 70% mark in Fatal Sign-off (Book Blogger Mystery 3), by Sarah E. Burr. I will post my review on my blog when I'm done, but in the meantime, you can read some excerpts here. I am enjoying it, as I do all of her books.

I'm about 25% of the way through It's Not About the Food, by Mary Perry. Although I no longer have the challenges with food that she talks about, it does make me think about the choices I make and how to continue on a healthy path. Books like this keep me on track.

I'm currently listening to The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday (Borrow a Bookshop 1), written by Kiley Dunbar and narrated by Helen Duff. You may recall over the summer I listened to Christmas at the Borrow a a Bookshop, which is the second in the series. This first one so far doesn't have the emotional impact that the second one did, but I'm still loving it. It's just what I need after having just finished And Then There Were None.

UP NEXT

My next audiobook listen will be You Can't Candle the Truth (Glenmyre Whim Mystery 1), written by Sarah E. Burr and narrated by Melissa Green. I already listened to this once and I loved it. This is my favorite series that she writes. It's the perfect blend of cozy mystery and light paranormal. I'm listening to it again to prepare for an upcoming virtual book club discussion.

My next e-book read will be Murder Under the Marquee (Elmo Simpson Mystery 2, by J.C. Kenney). The first in this series, Panic in the Panhandle, got me out of a mental slump around this time last year. I'm really looking forward to spending more time with these quirky and fun characters.

ON THE SCREEN

• The Toys that Built America - I finished watching season 2. There's only one more season of this series, which I shall begin next week.
• Dating the Delaneys - This movie has my whole heart. I first watched it when it premiered in 2022 and I was sick. It was such a comfort to me during that time. I've watched it a few times since then and I still love it. It's kind of a fall movie, but doesn't have too many fall feels. It stars the powerhouse leads, Paul Campbell and Rachel Boston. It's a multi-generational rom-com.
• Catch of the Day - This was a movie that just recently premiered on The Hallmark Channel. It stars Michael Rady and Emilie Ullerup. It wasn't terrible and it wasn't great. Just middle-of-the-road.
• Love, Of Course - This is my favorite fall Hallmark movie. It's perfect for the beginning of fall. It has all the fall feels without feeling too staged. It stars Cameron Mathison and Kelly Rutherford and it's from 2018.
• And Then There Were None - I watched the 2015 mini series adaptation after listening to the audiobook once. It helped me understand the novel better. My only criticism of the mini series is that the grim tone was there from beginning to end. I thought the beginning should have been more upbeat. It would have made the later grim parts more impactful. It was still really, really good, though! (However, I can confirm that I'm done with slasher books and movies for a long, long while!)
• Mystery Island - This is a 2023 Hallmark mystery that I had already watched and reviewed. I watched it again recently since it was loosely inspired by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. It was fun to notice the nods to the classic novel.
• Death on the Nile - I had already read the book and seen the 2022 adaptation with Kenneth Branagh as Poirot. So this time I watched the 2004 adaptation with David Suchet as Poirot. I liked both versions for different reasons. I think the 2004 adaptation captures the spirit of the novel best, but the 2022 adaptation is more visually appealing.
• Golden Girls  - I watch this show when I want something quick in the morning while having breakfast, usually on the day of an appointment. I'm still enjoying it. I'm almost halfway through the first season. I'm still not a huge fan of Rose's character, but overall I like the show. Dorothy remains my favorite character for her sarcastic humor.
• Murder, She Wrote - I watched a few more episodes in season 4. I was happy to see one of the episodes is set in my home state of Maryland (even though they didn't really show Maryland). I'm not sure if it was filmed in Maryland. It was S4E14 called "Curse of the Daanav". It was a little silly at times, but it had a great mystery.

ON THE BLOG

• Sunday Post - 08/31 - Weekly Recap
• Friday Features - 09/05 - Bookish Response and Excerpts, Feline Friday, and Nature Pic
• Puzzle 09/06 - Saratoga Mums
• Friday Features - 09/12 - Bookish Response and Excerpts, Feline Friday, and Nature Pic.
• Puzzle - 09/13 - Mirrors Living Room

Have a great week!