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.
Hello! It was quite a week here with band performances, rainy days and sunny days, school, work, visits with friends, and all the usual. I need to remember to set my clocks ahead this weekend. I hope your week has been going well. I have not been sleeping well, although that is nothing new. It just seems worse than before. I just cannot seem to shake this exhaustion I feel. We finally took down our Christmas tree and the cats are happy to have the couch back under the window so they can sit on the back of it and look out during the day.
On the health front, my Great Aunt is back home after her brief hospital stay and even briefer stay in a rehab facility. She seems to be doing better and is being set up with in-home services. Thank you for all of the well wishes! My mom is hoping to return to California from Washington sometime this next week if everything works out. One of my uncles and aunts here in California recently came down with COVID, and my aunt hospitalized for a short time. While there, the doctors discovered a severe obstruction in an aortic artery valve, which will require surgery. She will likely have surgery soon after she recovers from COVID. We are all hoping for the best.
What have you been up to this weekend and past week?
This week I finished three books. One of which was a re-read for my upcoming Diverse Romance Book Club: The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava. I decided to try the audio version this time around since my library had a copy on CloudLibrary. I originally had read it in print last summer and it was among my favorite 2025 reads. The other two I read were Fate's Edge (The Edge #3) by Ilona Andrews and Haunting and Homicide (A Ghost Tour Mystery #1) by Ava Burke. I plan to post my thoughts on all three soon, but the short version: The Truth According to Ember was just as good the second time around; Fate's Edge is my favorite in the urban fantasy/romance Edge series so far; and I really enjoyed Haunting and Homicide--especially after just having gone on a real ghost tour this past weekend (my only regret is it wasn't in New Orleans where the book takes place)!
I am still reading Ida, In Love and In Trouble by Veronica Chambers. It took me a little bit to get into it, but I am enjoying it. It is a YA historical fiction novel about the great Ida B. Wells, and is the March selection for my Historical Mystery Book Club which meets in a couple of weeks. I also recently started Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott, a modern day re-imagining of Baga Yaga steeped in Jewish lore.
What are you reading right now?
Thank you to everyone who voted in this month's TBR List Poll! The approaching spring has put me in the mood for fantasy and all of this month's choices reflected that.
This will not be the month I finally read my first T. Kingfisher book, which is okay. It's time will come. A Sorceress Comes to Call came received four (4) only four votes. The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love (Love's Academic #1) by India Holton came in second with ten (10 votes). The winner this month is The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst, earning twelve (12) votes. The Spellshop made many people's favorites list last year and I am eager to read it finally!
Thank you again to everyone for voting in this month's TBR List poll!
What are you reading next?
Following in the footsteps of Deb of Readerbuzz, who shares three good things in her Sunday Salon posts, I thought I would try to do the same. With all the worries and stressors in life, I want to highlight some of the good, even the seemingly small stuff.
1. Seeing Mouse perform is always a joy. She plays the flute in her middle school band. They put on a good show for family and friends, showing off what they would be performing in an upcoming competition.
2. We had a fun time on the ghost tour last weekend, learning a little about the city's history and legends of haunts. We went out for a late night dinner after, which was a nice way to top off the night.
I hope you have a great week! Let me know what you have been reading!
We have a cat tree in front of our sliding glass doors and all the windows have rather large ledges so the cats get plenty of window time. I hope everything goes well for your aunt. I would love it if one of my babies wanted me to pick them up! They both just tolerate that I do that. Have a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteCarla - Our windows don't have particularly large ledges, but they find a way to make do sometimes with the narrow ones we do have. :-) We have a couple of cat trees in the house that are positioned near windows for them. Gracie especially likes the one next to my desk in the library. :-) Gracie is my only cat that likes to be picked up. My other one hates it. My aunt is doing much better, thank you. Thank you for visiting!
DeleteYour cat is so adorable!!!!
ReplyDeleteI am hoping to read The Spellshop this week too. The Truth According to Ember looks good as well.
Erin - Thank you. She is a sweetheart. :-) I hope you enjoyed Spellshop! Thank you for stopping by!
DeleteThat's good your Great Aunt is doing better now. I hope your other aunt recovers soon. 3 books is amazing and I like the idea of a Diverse Romance Book Club. The ghost tour sounds fun! And pets are the best. The kitty looks beautiful in that photo. Enjoy your week!
ReplyDeleteNaida - I am really enjoying the Diverse Romance Book Club. I had really only planned to attend the one meeting in January because I had been wanting to read that selection for some time, but I enjoyed it so much, I decided to stick with it. Thank you for visiting!
DeleteI've heard there is a wonderful ghost tour in Galveston. I'm glad you enjoyed the ghost tour you took so much.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get some good sleep this week. So much is going on that is painful and shocking that it's hard to move through a day, I think.
Deb - I was surprised how many ghost tours there are available out there, but they are very popular evidently. There are even vampire tours. I told my husband that if we ever visit New Orleans, I definitely want to take a vampire tour. Thank you for stopping by!
DeleteI'm glad your aunt is doing better. COVID is not over either. So far Fate's Edge is everyone's favorite in the series. I LOVE George and Jack. And Audrey is amazing. A heist is always fun.
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
Anne - No, COVID is definitely not over. I don't think it ever will be unfortunately. I love George and Jack so much too. I was very happy to see them in Steel's Edge too! Thank you for visiting!
DeleteSounds like a pretty good week. I also have trouble sleeping and have been working with a functional medicine doctor trying to sort it all out. I hope your sleep schedule improves. I really want a nap, but today I think it is best to stay awake, and hopefully sleep decent tonight. We will see.
ReplyDeleteCindy - I hope your sleep has improved with the help of the functional medicine doctor. Mine is all over the place. I think I slept fairly well during spring break, but some nights are definitely better than others. I rarely nap because I know it will hurt my chances of sleep at night. Thank you for stopping by!
DeleteI'm glad the ghost tour was fun. Glad to hear your great aunt is doing better. My cousin got Covid last week and it's been not too bad. But then my grandson got a cold, just a cold because he was tested for everything else and it came back negative but he ended up in the ER because he was coughing so bad. Poor kid has been sick for weeks with whatever horrid cold it is. Thankfully no one else got it. I hope you get more sleep.
ReplyDeleteMary - I am glad your cousin's bout with COVID wasn't too bad, but am so sorry to hear your grandson's cold was so bad. I hope he is much better now and completely over that cough. Thank you for visiting!
DeleteThe time change always throws me off. And best wishes to your aunt! I hope her surgery goes very well.
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to read The Spell Shop too!
Greg - Thank you!
DeleteSorry to hear about both of your aunts ... and hope they have a good recovery. I didn't realize Mouse is a flute player ... that's wonderful she is in the band at school. Great activity. Enjoy your week ahead.
ReplyDeleteSusan - Thank you. My aunt's heart surgery is still pending, but hopefully will be soon. My great aunt's pneumonia evidently wasn't completely gone, but she's being treated and doing better. Thank you for stopping by!
DeleteI plan to start visiting more blogs in the upcoming weeks!
ReplyDeleteYour books look good, and so do the cats!
Laurel-Rain - Thank you!
DeleteLots of family news this week. Praying for your family and their health concerns. Thistlefoot sounds good. Hope you have a blessed week.
ReplyDeletehttps://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2025/03/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-mailbox.html
Cheryl - Thank you!
DeleteYour kitty so pretty! What a love.
ReplyDeleteI have been so busy that I am not reading and not blogging and am woefully behind on checking on other people's blogs. I really hope this changes after this week. I don't like this feeling.
Helen - Thank you. I am so behind with my blog visits and review posts. I really don't like this feeling either. :-( Thank you for stopping by!
DeleteI love your pawsitive thoughts! And I'm so glad your Great Aunt is doing better. Have a wonderful week! :D
ReplyDeleteLark - Thank you!
DeleteI have been really slow with my reading this month. Looks like some good books read and to read.
ReplyDeleteHena - I hope you are able to squeeze in more reading time in. Thank you for visiting!
DeleteGood luck to your Aunt! A ghost tour sounds fun.
ReplyDeleteJill
https://www.allthebooksihaventread.com/
Jill - It was a lot of fun. :-) Thank you for stopping by!
DeleteIt sounds funny, but it was a good thing that your aunt got Covid and ended up in the hospital so they could find the heart issue. I hope she recovers from the covid soon so she can have her surgery to correct the issue. I hope you enjoy The Spellshop , Wendy. How wonderful that Mouse will be playing in a band competition and you got a sneakpeak. Have a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteCarla - Yes, we are so glad they were able to find the heart issue. I enjoyed Spellshop quite a bit. Thank you for visiting!
DeleteCute kitty!! I really miss my son's cat Root Beer.
ReplyDeleteI am not sleeping well either and I am a champion sleeper. It's because my elderly pup wakes between 11:30pm-1am since she can't walk downstairs anymore so she gets me up so I can take her down. I am just fine taking her down but it catches up with me later in the day.
Ti - That must be so hard. We love our fur friends and will do just about anything to help with their comfort. Gracie wakes me up more than she used to as she's gotten older. I haven't figured out her reason though, other than wanting attention. She has food and a clean litter box. Haha. Luckily it isn't every night. Thank you for stopping by!
DeleteAwww spellshop, I want to read that one
ReplyDeleteBlodeuedd - I hope you will! It was good!
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