Weekly Mews: December Is Finally Here (Please Vote in My TBR Poll!)

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.

I am linking up Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality a meme in which participants share what new books came their way recently.  

 

I hope your December has gotten off to a good start. I cannot believe the end of the year is nearly here.

We spent the day running errands--getting my car checked out, a stop at the bookstore so my daughter could get the next book in her favorite series (the last book had a cliffhanger and she couldn't wait to read the next), and then a stop at the Dollar Tree for a few items I needed. We dropped by the post office to see about picking up our mail since our community mailbox had been broken into (again), only to find out it must be fixed because the mail person had taken the mail with her on her route today. Fortunately, the packages I was expecting made it safely here. 

We may or may not put up the Christmas decorations tomorrow. Even though I have had Christmas music on the radio, most of my holiday gift shopping is done, and the annual cards are in the mail, I am not quite feeling in the spirit this year. 

What are you up to this weekend? 

Read Recently

It is so nice to read a series where an older woman not only comes into her magic later in life, but is also the only hope for saving the world. I most recently read and enjoyed the second and third books in the series, A Gathering of Crones and Game of Crones, by Lydia M. Hawke.

Reading Now

I am reading The Dark Archive (Invisible Library #7) by Genevieve Cogman at the moment. Someone is trying to assassinate Irene and her friends--there's the usual mix of magic, fae, werewolves, and dragons. This continues to be one of my favorite series. 

Up Next

I could use your help deciding which book to read next! Which of these three books do you think I should read next? 

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson

I, Maggie Banks, solemnly swear to uphold the rules of Cobblestone Books.

If only, I, Maggie Banks, believed in following the rules.

When Maggie Banks arrives in Bell River to run her best friend's struggling bookstore, she expects to sell bestsellers to her small-town clientele. But running a bookstore in a town with a famously bookish history isn't easy. Bell River's literary society insists on keeping the bookstore stuck in the past, and Maggie is banned from selling anything written this century. So, when a series of mishaps suddenly tip the bookstore toward ruin, Maggie will have to get creative to keep the shop afloat.

And in Maggie's world, book rules are made to be broken.

To help save the store, Maggie starts an underground book club, running a series of events celebrating the books readers actually love. But keeping the club quiet, selling forbidden books, and dodging the literary society is nearly impossible. Especially when Maggie unearths a town secret that could upend everything.

Maggie will have to decide what's more important: the books that formed a small town's history, or the stories poised to change it all. [Goodreads Summary]

High Spirits (A Haunted Haven Mystery #2) by Carol J. Perry

Set during the Christmas season, the latest novel in this exciting new supernatural cozy series from the author of the Witch City Mysteries features a New Englander transplanted to a Florida town along the scenic Gulf of Mexico when she inherits a charming, century-old—and very haunted—inn from a mysterious benefactor. Fans of Amanda Flower and Heather Blake will delight in murder, ghosts, and the heroine’s golden retriever, Finn.

Christmas lights on palm trees and Santa hats on plastic pink flamingoes are far from the snowy landscape Maureen and her beloved golden retriever, Finn, are used to. But Maureen is determined to make this a holiday to remember—which means finding a way to promote Haven House on a shoestring. Fortunately, Haven’s vintage movie theater, the Paramount, has come up with a great “Twelve Days of Christmas” idea. They’ll feature an impressive list of the best classic Christmas movies ever made—shown by one-time movie actor-turned-projectionist Decklin Monroe . . .

But nobody bothered to tell Maureen that the Paramount is haunted by the ghost of a man who was murdered a few years back. Haven’s top cop Frank Hubbard doesn’t believe in ghosts but, believing that Decklin Monroe was somehow involved, he wants a reluctant Maureen’s help.

That plan is derailed when, on the first day of the festival, a fresh murder victim is found at the theater. Now Maureen has to defend her staff and guests, while trying to keep her high-spirited resident ghosts out of the picture—before they have company for the holidays . . . [Goodreads Summary]

Mother Daughter Traitor Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal

A mother and daughter find the courage to go undercover after stumbling upon a Nazi cell in Los Angeles during the early days of World War II--a tantalizing novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Maggie Hope series

June 1940. France has fallen to the Nazis, and Britain may be next--but to many Americans, the war is something happening "over there." Veronica Grace has just graduated from college; she and her mother, Violet, are looking for a fresh start in sunny Los Angeles. After a blunder cost her a prestigious career opportunity in New York, Veronica is relieved to take a typing job in L.A.--only to realize that she's working for one of the area's most vicious propagandists.

Overnight, Veronica is exposed to the dark underbelly of her new home, where German Nazis are recruiting Americans for their devastating campaign. After the FBI dismisses the Graces' concerns, Veronica and Violet decide to call on an old friend, who introduces them to L.A.'s anti-Nazi spymaster.

At once, the women go undercover to gather enough information about the California Reich to take to the authorities. But as the news of Pearl Harbor ripples through the United States, and President Roosevelt declares war, the Grace women realize that the plots they're investigating are far more sinister than they feared--and even a single misstep could cost them everything.

Inspired by the real mother-daughter spy duo who foiled Nazi plots in Los Angeles during WWII, Mother Daughter Traitor Spy is a powerful portrait of family, duty, and deception that raises timeless questions about America--and what it means to have courage in the face of terror. [Goodreads Summary]

Thank you for voting!

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 let you vote for my next read during that month. My review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise). 

New to the Shelves

Mouse and I added more books to our bookshelves recently.  Let's take a look!

The Witch with No Name (The Hollows #13) by Kim Harrison

The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev

An Impossible Return by Caroline Laurent

Mouse has added way more books to her bookshelves than I have in the last couple months. These are her additions: 

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Gracie Lin

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 4 by Kaiu Shirai, illustrations by Posuka Demizu

Map of Flames (Forgotten Five #1) by Lisa McMann

Snow & Rose by Emily Winfield Martin

Lodestar (Keeper of the Lost Cities #5) by Shannon Messenger

Nightfall (Keeper of the Lost Cities #6) by Shannon Messenger

Flashback (Keeper of the Lost Cities #7) by Shannon Messenger

Demon Slayer, Vol. 2 by Koyoharu Gotouge, translated by Antonio Valdez

What new books made it onto your shelf recently? 

What I Have Been Watching

Andor, the latest Star Wars series, was very good. I really hope Disney follows through with a second season like they plan to. My family and I started the Willow series this past weekend and like it so far. We are only two episodes in though so it's early yet to know for sure if it will live up to the original movie.

I was in the mood for the movie Notting Hill the other day, and it started me on a binge of romcoms (mostly holiday themed ones) while I addressed the holiday cards and got them ready to mail. Mouse and I also recently started watching Heartstoppers. I haven't read the graphic novels, but the show looked good--and it is!


What have you watched recently?

This Past Week In Reading Mews

• Bookish Mewsings: Grave Reservations & Flight Risk by Cherie Priest
• Top Ten Tuesday: Defining a Cozy Read

I hope you have a great week and month of December! 

Let me know what you have been reading and watching!

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