It's Sunday so time to link up with Kimba at the Caffeinated Book Reviewer to talk about what's happened this week and what's coming up.
What I Got:
It was a quieter week in book acquiring land though not completely silent. I ended up with a few.
Deadly Tasting by Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noel Balen for a book tour in October.
Epic Tomatoes: How to Grow and Select the Best Varieties by Craig LeHouillier so I can be prepared for getting my garden started next year.
Death and the Redheaded Woman by Loretta Ross - a cozy about a woman who specializes in auctioning off houses. There's also a PI looking for lost family heirlooms. How could I pass this one up!
Scandalous Summer Nights by Anne Barton - I've heard good things about Anne Barton and this sounds like a unique premise with a childhood friends angle.
Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin - While Rubin and I will never be BFFs I did get a lot out of her book about Happiness so I'm curious about this book about habits. There's definitely some habits I could have and habits I'd like to get rid of!
*All of these are from NetGalley.
Currently:
Reading: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. I'm planning on doing an in-depth look at this one and it's movie versions in the next couple of weeks.
Of Monsters and Madness by Jessica Verday. I've heard mixed reviews on this one but I like the idea of a closer look at Poe before Annabel Lee is written.
Dreamweaver Trail by Emily March because after the above 2 I need something a little lighter!
Listening: I finally finished The Great Escape by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I ended up really enjoying it though I think I'm going to stick to short audiobooks for awhile. I'm now listening to The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister. It's not quite what I expected but so far I'm really enjoying it.
Watching: Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad which was recommended by Angela at Angela's Anxious Life. The Mysterious Affair at Styles - a Poirot TV adaption featuring the amazing David Suchet. I'm trying to watch all of the Poirots as I'm reading the books.
Off the Blog:
This week ended up being even more chaotic than last week and I'm so far behind in blog visiting. I've seen lots of great posts out there that I have saved. So don't be surprised if I suddenly comment on a 2 week old post! I'm hoping to spend next week playing catch up on all the things that didn't get done these last few weeks. Plus I want to start working on making the thrift store nightstand that's been in my garage for over a year look halfway decent. It's for Emma's room as I want the little table she's currently using for something else.
School is still going well and everyone seems to be adjusting. Emma has started waiting tables some at her job instead of just hostessing and she's liking that. Eleanor is loving her bookstore job which we're excited about. The Tornado has started having homework which I'm not sure how I feel about. He's 4! We chose this preschool because we liked the structure but I wasn't ready to start the homework battles quite yet.
My garden is about finished for the season. The sudden rise in temperatures coupled with how late it is in the season effectively killed everything off. I'm at the point where I'm sad to not have a constant flow of zucchinis and tomatoes but also kind of glad I don't have to deal with it anymore!
I bought a jar of Biscoff cookie spread for a recipe that I didn't end up making. Biscoff is now officially on the list of products I'm not allowed to buy. I can't stop eating it! I haven't really figured out what to eat it on so I'm just eating it by the spoonful.
I bought a jar of Biscoff cookie spread for a recipe that I didn't end up making. Biscoff is now officially on the list of products I'm not allowed to buy. I can't stop eating it! I haven't really figured out what to eat it on so I'm just eating it by the spoonful.
On the Blog:
What Happened This Week:
How to Be a Parisian Wherever You Are - Review
The Top Ten Characters at my Lunch Table
Talk Sweetly to Me - Review - I've finally read Courtney Milan. I have no idea what took me so long!
Death in the Dolomites - Review
Friday Linkups: Golden Malicious
August Edition of the Cook it Up! Challenge a linkup with Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity as well as the Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads featuring Micheal Symons' 5 in 5 cookbook.
The Top Ten Characters at my Lunch Table
Talk Sweetly to Me - Review - I've finally read Courtney Milan. I have no idea what took me so long!
Death in the Dolomites - Review
Friday Linkups: Golden Malicious
August Edition of the Cook it Up! Challenge a linkup with Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity as well as the Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads featuring Micheal Symons' 5 in 5 cookbook.
What's Coming Up:
Monday: People I Want to Punch in the Throat - Review
Tuesday: My Top Ten Underrated Books/Authors
Wednesday: Of Monsters and Madness - Review
Thursday: The Moment of Everything - Review (this may have one of my favorite covers of the year!)
Friday: linkups featuring most likely Dangerous Denials by Amy Ray. It's on my To Read list and I'm in the mood for a thriller
Saturday: Reasons My Kid is Crying by Greg Pembroke - Review
Happy Reading!
Good and eclectic choices this week, Katherine! I've only heard of The Haunting of Hill House, so I have all those others to look up and see what they're about. Glad your older kids are getting along well with their jobs, and homework at aged 4, that's just wrong!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm looking forward to reading these and am working on getting even vaguely caught up book-wise! The homework thing is a little weird. It's mostly letter sheets and not huge amounts but I was still surprised.
DeleteThe homework battles are never fun. My 9 year old is coming home with so much it's ridiculous, I'm not sure when he is going to have time to be a kid.
ReplyDeleteYour books are new to me but I hope you enjoy them.
It is kind of crazy. On top of that I know so many people who have scheduled activities for almost every day on top of all the homework and everything. I'm all for organized activities but everyone needs some down time!
DeleteI watched The haunting by Robert Wise many, many years ago but I still remember vividly lol ! If I were you, I'd avoid reading the book before going to sleep ;) Have a great week !
ReplyDeleteWe watched it a couple of weeks ago and it was definitely creepy! I've read the book before but it's been years. Still, it's definitely not one I'll be reading while home alone at night!
DeleteDeadly Tasting certainly sounds interesting, I think the mystery and wine angle are a pretty good combination! Looks like you have some scary stuff on tap for the beginning of fall, hope they're good.
ReplyDeleteI'll watch for your review of The Moment of Everything- that one caught my eye and I love the sound of the bookstore in this story. And I agree about the cover. Cats and books do go well together!
The Haunting of Hill House is pretty great. It's the right kind of subtle scariness.
DeleteSo far I'm enjoying The Moment of Everything. There was no way I could pass up that book between the cover, the cat and the premise!
Um, four years old and doing homework??? That sounds just so wrong to me. o.O When I was four I'm pretty sure all I did was eat dirt and play. I hope you manage to find time to play catch-up for your blogging! I'm super behind too. >_< I was away for almost a week and, gah, things just pile up, eh?!
ReplyDeleteMy Sunday Post!
He's much happier with structure but the homework thing has been a surprise. It's mostly coloring and tracing letters so we're talking serious homework but it's still a surprise! It's amazing how quickly it's possible to go from on top of things to way behind!
DeleteI didn't even try a garden this year! The season was just so late this year. Too frustrating, indeed.
ReplyDeleteI have Of Monsters and Madness - I need to read that one, too! I hadn't heard anything about it so I'll have to see what I think myself ;)
Have a great week!
That was our weather last year. It went from too cold to too hot with nothing in between.
DeleteI'll be very curious to see what you think Of Monsters and Madness. I'm not quite sure how I felt about it.
I'm curious about The Moment of Everything and the other novels on your list. Hope you enjoy them all. They'll be your reward for having to endure the homework battles.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week. My recap: http://www.bookclublibrarian.com/2014/09/weekly-book-recap-81.html
So far I've enjoyed everything I've read this week. Even one I didn't care for wasn't a bad read. Love when that happens!
DeleteI noticed most of the garden out where we live, they all seem to be dying too. The weather has been so weird and nothing know how to react. Cool one day and burning the next. Ugh... Enjoy the new books.
ReplyDeleteJenea @ Books Live Forever's Sunday Post
The last few weeks have definitely been weird weather-wise though we've mostly been in the burning phase. This week looks like it will be cooler though.
DeleteI'm excited about the new books!
Ooh, like the sound of Death and the Redheaded Woman...and Scandalous Summer Nights.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh about the cookie spread...I have trouble with cookie dough. I've been known to eat all the dough without making any cookies!
Enjoy your books...and here's MY WEEKLY SUNDAY/MONDAY UPDATES POST
Oh I love cookie dough! The only good thing is that normally I've eaten so much cookie dough I don't want the actual cookies!
DeleteI'm excited about the book. Death and the Redheaded Woman especially sounds interesting!
This is my first visit to your blog and I love its name! Looks like you've had a busy week. I love Angela's Disney project posts. I'm a huge Disney nut and am planning a visit to WDW for later this month.
ReplyDeleteTerri M.
Second Run Reviews.com
Oh enjoy your visit to WDW! I love it and it's been far too long since we've been! Angela's Disney Projects are such fun. I always enjoy reading them.
DeleteSounds like you got a nice selection of books going. I currently have one tomato plant growing that a friend gave me back in March. I thought I killed it but after we moved it shot up and started producing tomatoes again.
ReplyDeleteKristin @ Book Sniffers Anonymous
Tomatoes can be such odd little plants. Sometimes you can't kill them and sometimes they die if you look at them wrong. Glad you got a few more tomatoes out of yours!
DeleteHow are you liking The Haunting of Hill House? I want to participate in the readalong for RIP if I can finish An American Tragedy this week.. at the 70% mark of the 900 pages!
ReplyDeleteWow! 70% of 900 is impressive. I'm guessing you're enjoying it? Can't wait to hear what you think.
DeleteThe Haunting of Hill House is really good! I'm very much enjoying it. It'll be a much shorter read for you than American Tragedy!
Lovely haul this week!
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge fan of Anne Barton and can't wait for Scandalous Summer Nights! I totally recommend checking out the other books in the Honeycote series, too! Hope you enjoy it! Hope you have a awesome week!
I have the first one in the Honeycote series but have yet to read it. I'm really looking forward to reading both of them!
DeleteI love your mix of books. I read the Shirley Jackson story years ago but don't remember it. I'll read your posts and may have to haunt library for it.
ReplyDeleteThe pre-school is assigning homework? MEGA loss of brownie points for that school. There's no educational value to it, says the currently unemployed toddler/preschool teacher. Ah well, it is what it is. Good luck!
I've enjoyed Shirley Jackson's books. She's definitely worth a read.
DeleteI really like this preschool and I understand what they're trying to do which is get the parents involved but the first worksheet was a bit surprising!
I like the title for that gardening book Epic Tomatoes, i would love to grow my own vegetables once we have a garden, unfortunately at the moment we only have a baclony and only room for a strawberry plant, which doesn't give edible strawberries and we bought a grape plant this year, so maybe we have some grapes next year.
ReplyDeleteThis was a chaotic week for me as well, I hope you have a more quiet week next week! The beginning of a new school year always takes some tiem adjusting, I'll be glad when we're into the new schedule again. That Biscoff cookie spread sounds delicious although I have no idea exactly how I should imagine it looks like.
Tomato plants don't take up to much room. I know they sell a patio variety here that can fit in a medium size pot. You do have to have good sun though.
DeleteSo far this week is much more quiet which is nice! Taking a break is always good but I do love being back in a routine. The Biscoff spread kind of looks like peanut butter but a little darker and the texture is a little grittier. It's so good!
You do have a lot going on :) It's great though when you know that the children are settled. I was trying to get the garden ready for fall / winter, but it keeps raining so I can't mow the lawn.
ReplyDeleteReading-wise I'm a bit stuck this week with a review book which doesn't flow as much as I would like it to.
Peggy @ The Pegster Reads
I hate when that happens bookwise. When it's a review book I feel somewhat obligated to keep going when I'd have given up on a regular book.
DeleteOur weather has been a bit on the inconvenient side as well for getting things done. It'll rain for just long enough to get everything wet but not long enough to have a real rainy day!
Love mix of books, I haven't read any of them but a few are catching my eye. And yum, I love home grown tomatoes. They are so sweet, my mum grows them and its such a treat when she gives me some. Have a great week and enjoy your books.
ReplyDeleteHomegrown tomatoes definitely put grocery store tomatoes to shame! We had a pretty good season for them this year which was really nice as last year was terrible. I'm looking forward to reading these and getting ideas for my garden next summer!
DeleteIt sounds like you've been busy! I hope things settle down a bit next week. The book on growing great tomatoes looks interesting. I hope you get great ideas for you tomatoes next year.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to reading the tomato book! I can get some inspiration ahead of planting time.
DeleteI really want to read Of Monsters and Madness. It looks so good!
ReplyDeleteI read The Happiness Project earlier this year. I got a lot out of it, though sometimes I thought Rubin went overboard with things. I will be curious to see what this new book is like.
I'm not so sure what I think of Of Monsters and Madness. It's not quite what I expected.
DeleteI agree about Rubin. She did kind of annoy me in parts of her first book but it was useful. I'm definitely excited to get to this one!
I'll have to come back to see your Top Ten Tuesday this week! I love finding new underrated authors and books, so that'll be a fun one to see from people. Have a good week! Happy reading. Here is my post: http://duckduck-books.blogspot.com/2014/09/sunday-post-2-work-work-and-sleep.html
ReplyDeleteThe topic for Tuesday was definitely challenging but I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else says! I'm sure my TBR will grow to rather epic proportions!
DeleteI have a book by the authors of Deadly Tasting to review that I got from Edelweiss. It looks really good.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great week!
I figure murder and wine have to be a pretty good combination! I'm definitely looking forward to reading this one!
DeleteCan't wait to read your review of the Haunting of Hill House, one of my all time favorite truly scary books!
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely a favorite of mine as well! Shirley Jackson has so many great books.
DeleteAre you doing the in-depth look at The Haunting of Hill House for yourself? I had to do this for a film class I tool years ago. We read the book then watch both movies. I still prefer the '63 movie.
ReplyDeleteThe most recent movie was just bad. The 63 version is definitely much better! Yes this is definitely just for me though I do plan on writing a post!
DeleteOh! I have People I Want To Punch in the Throat to read too. Maybe I should read that next. I just finished some really good romance/erotica. I need to switch gears (or genres) often or I lose momentum. I'll be looking forward to your review for The Haunting of Hill House as well.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed People I Want to Punch in the Throat - much more than I was expecting in fact! I'm the same way about having to switch up genres. When I don't I always end up in a slump.
DeleteOh I'm with you on commenting on two week old posts. lol. The season for gardens are about done here too. The weather is chilling in the evenings and the sun is setting sooner and sooner each day. *sigh* Fall is around the corner.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week this week!
I like the clothing options for Fall a bit better than summer but I'm with you on not being quite ready for summer to be over!
Deletesounds good. Hope you enjoy and have a great week.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm looking forward to reading them!
DeleteSounds like everyone is busy at your place! Looks like you picked up some nice reads. The cover to Deadly Tasting is interesting!
ReplyDeleteThanx for visiting My Weekly Wrap-Up!
Naomi @ Nomi’s Paranormal Palace
It's definitely busy but seems to be calming down thankfully. I"m looking forward to reading them all.
Deletelooking forward to your review of Deadly Tasting!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm excited to start reading it!
DeleteI'm filled with envy...lucky you....you scored the new Gretchen Rubin book!
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited! There may have been dancing (very bad dancing) when that approval came through.
DeleteI can't believe they are trying to give your 4 year old homework. My little girl is 4 and a half and just about to start school full time and she's didn't get homework in nursery. She had a few things that we could do with her for her learning journal but it wasn't homework. I guess the school are just very different where you are.
ReplyDeleteThough I haven't heard of them, great haul this week and happy reading :)
Thanks! I'm really looking forward to reading them!
DeleteThis is a 5 day a week preschool but it's only about 3.5 hours a day. We're thinking of keeping him there for kindergarten as well before moving him to full school for first grade.
I've read every SEP book but I haven't tried any audiobook of hers yet. And yay for you finally reading Courtney Milan. I hope you get to her other books as well because they're even more amazing than Talk Sweetly to Me. I promise. LOL :) Thanks for dropping by my Sunday Post and have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the audio though it did take longer to really get into it. I'm looking forward to a full length Milan novel. I was impressed with what she was about to do in terms of development in a novella!
DeleteWow you have your hands full with three. I just have the one who is 2 almost 3. We are working on the potty training stage and fallowing directions. So far so good.
ReplyDeleteI think it is cool that some people take old things and bring them back to life or make them into something new that people can use. I have a friend who picks up old things and does this. I wish I had the patients/drive for it, but my passion is with books.
I love your blog name.. Have a great week.
We actually have 4 but the oldest is at college so we don't see her all that much except during the summer. Teenagers require a lot less work though they do cause more worry! Once they are driving you barely have to do much with them. I don't envy you potty training. I tried a few times and it just wouldn't take until suddenly it did and we haven't looked back.
DeleteI have a friend who is great about picking up old things. I'm not that person either but I figure surely I can paint a piece of furniture. My passion may be books but I'm also as cheap as can be!
I love how you mix up the genres and also new and old books! It's so much like what I like to do. I've really been enjoying your Christie reviews.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm dying to see what you do with the nightstand project - pictures, please, when it's done?
As for homework, they do start it too young these days. Children need to play and be kids.
That's because we're reading sisters Lark! I've got the first decade of Poirot coming soon. I've really been enjoying going back to the beginning and I've been watching the movies as well.
DeleteI'll definitely do pictures though I'm not sure what the results will be. This is my first time doing anything like it and I do kind of want to get all pinterest-y. Though since I'm not crafty it could definitely get interesting!
It seems a little much to me too but as it's gone on I'm more on board. It's more of showing the parents what's going on then actual homework plus school is only 4 hours a day or so!
Kindred spirits! :-)
DeleteA book about a tomatoes. Yum! And Susan Elizabeth Phillips... She always has good characters and writing and even though I like cleaner books, she is one adult author that I read. Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteTressa @ Wishful Endings
I do like Susan Elizabeth Phillips and they're always really fast reads for me so the audio was a little different because it was so long and it took a little while to really get into it. The characters were great and it ended up being a lot of fun. Glad I listened to it!
DeleteWhat a *great* title for a blog. I studied Library Science because I thought it would be so neat to go to work in a library every day. By the way, I like the way you've organized your summary post. I just started my weekly summary (thank's for stopping by) and trying to decide exactly how to structure that post.
ReplyDeleteYou can use the Biscoff spread on ice cream! Makes for a great sundae alone or along with chocolate syrup or caramel sauce.
I'm not sure if there's enough Biscoff left to put on ice cream but I'll keep that in mind if I ever allow the stuff to come back in the house. An ice cream sundae sounds amazing especially with chocolate syrup!
DeleteI briefly considered library science but ended up going into computer science. Library Science looks absolutely fascinating but in truth I don't know all that much about it. It's tricky to come up with a structure that works for you. I know a lot of people go free from but I end up rambling too much if I go that way!