Weekly Mews: Annie News, Cat Tree & Valentine's Surprise

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz  where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.

What I Am Reading: I am coming down from the reading high after finishing Jasmine Guillory's The Wedding Date earlier this morning. It is one of those feel good books that left me smiling as I reached the last page.

I imagine next I will be picking up this month's TBR Poll winner. I am looking forward to diving in.  Thank you to all who voted! I also am still reading and enjoying Becoming by Michelle Obama. It is slow going because it is my lunch time read during the week, but I hope to get in a little more reading of it this weekend as well. 

Mouse and I are reading Sink or Swim (Whatever After #3) by Sarah Mlynowski together. It's nothing like the Little Mermaid stories I have read or seen in the past. 

What I Am Watching: Mouse had been in the mood to watch some of the Disney Princess movies after having read a couple of the Whatever Ever books, and so we watched the original animated Snow White and Cinderella movies and then the Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella live action movie, starring Brandy and Whitney Houston.

We also watched the most recent episode of WandaVision. I swear that show gets better and better every week. 

Off the Blog: I got a nice surprise this morning when my daughter woke up and told me to stay in bed and that she'd get herself to her Zoom dance classes on time. So that's what I did. I fell back asleep for another hour and then laid in bed reading a bit before finally getting myself up and dressed for the day. I have not been able to do that on a Saturday in a long time. 

The rehearsals for the summer musical Annie started this afternoon. The cast list was announced earlier this week and much to Mouse's excitement, she has a part with an actual name! Her dad and I have done our best to teach her that any part in a performance is important, from the smallest to the lead, that everyone working together, including those backstage and behind the scenes, make a show what it is--otherwise, it wouldn't happen. But, let's face it, to be cast as a character with a name is pretty cool. I am just happy to see her excited about something again. Being so closed off and doing everything virtually has been rough on her. Rough on so many. 

Mouse painted a poster with her Annie character's name.

Friday was a holiday for us. No work or school. It wasn't too eventful. We watched movies, puttered around the house, and enjoyed the down time. The dance studio's booster club put on a Zoom Valentine's Paint Night (more like afternoon) event, which Mouse took part in. Right after she had her regularly scheduled Zoom Girl Scout meeting. 

The Christmas tree is finally down. It's been unadorned for awhile, waiting to be boxed up. In its place is a new cat tree we bought on sale for the cats the end of December. Their old one was broken--too tempting for a not-so-little-anymore someone to try to climb. The base was pretty shredded too from cats' scratching on it. So it was time. Nina loves high places and has barely left the top of the tree since it went up. 

Nina couldn't help but try out the new tree 

before it was put in place by the window

Nina on her perch

We have no special plans for Valentine's Day tomorrow. Anjin gave me a lovely bouquet of flowers and a balloon as an early Valentine's Day gift. We do not usually do much for the day, it being a minor holiday, but this year I did get both him and Mouse a little something. 

I got an e-mail a couple days ago announcing the local city's public libraries will be opening for curbside services on the 23rd of February. Yay! 

This Past Week In Reading Mews:

• Weekly Mews: January Wrap Up & February's TBR List Poll
• Bookish Mewsings: The Island of Sea Women by Lisa Sea
• Waiting to Read Wednesday: Down Comes the Night / The Lost Apothecary / The Book of Unholy Mischief
• Where Is Your Bookmark? (Romance Is in the Air)

Tell me what you have been up to! What are you reading, listening to and watching? How was your week? Do you have anything planned for this coming week?

Thank you for helping me decide what book from my TBR collection I should read next: 

My TBR List is hosted by the awesome Michelle at Because Reading. It’s a fun way to choose a book from your TBR pile to read. The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books I am considering reading and take a poll as to which you think I should read. I will read the winner that month. My review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise). 

Thank you to everyone who voted in this month's TBR poll. I was curious to see which would of my Valentine picks would win: the traditional romance, a story about friendship, or one with a more darker flare, a domestic thriller. All three of my choices this week have been getting a lot of praise around the blogosphere, and so I thought it might be a close race. It really wasn't, however. Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce came in with 6 votes, The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon earned 8, and The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins cleaned house with 16 votes. 

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

A delicious twist on a Gothic classic, The Wife Upstairs pairs Southern charm with atmospheric domestic suspense, perfect for fans of B.A. Paris and Megan Miranda.

Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates––a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.

But her luck changes when she meets Eddie­ Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie––not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.

Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past––or his––catches up to her?

With delicious suspense, incisive wit, and a fresh, feminist sensibility, The Wife Upstairs flips the script on a timeless tale of forbidden romance, ill-advised attraction, and a wife who just won’t stay buried. In this vivid reimagining of one of literature’s most twisted love triangles, which Mrs. Rochester will get her happy ending? [Goodreads Summary]

Thank you for voting! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Happy Reading!

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