It's Sunday Post time! This is hosted by the awesome Caffeinated Book Reviewer and gives us all a chance to recap our week.
What I Got:
It's been another slow week around here book-wise! I haven't made any new NetGalley requests though I have 2 still pending. Why do some requests take soooo long? I managed to escape the library without picking up any new books for me and I'm actually starting to feel like I'm making some progress with my review books.
So what to do as a reward? Buy a book! Makes total sense right? I've been wanting to try the Celebration Bay series by Shelley Freydont since I saw the first review on the series and I've been wanting to read more Halloween-y type books for the month of October. Factor those in with the fact Amazon had Trick or Deceit for $4 and I couldn't resist! I'm excited to try this one especially since I read the first book in her new historical mystery series and really enjoyed it.
Currently:
Reading: The Liar by Nora Roberts (loving it!) and All I Want by Jill Shalvis
Listening: I'm almost done with The Weed That Strings a Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley which is the 2nd Flavia de Luce. I'm trying to decide what to listen to next.
Watching: I'm still finishing up last season's series finale. All I've got left is NCIS and Elementary.
Off the Blog:
A few weeks ago I mentioned I was baking a Banana Cake with Hot Fudge frosting and said I would report back. I'm just now getting around to that and I'm pleased to say it was delicious! The cake has a very banana bread flavor but is lighter than banana bread and the hot fudge was really great with it. I did leave out a little more than a cup of the powdered sugar which made the frosting more like a glaze but since it's in a 9x13 it worked out. I think with the full amount of sugar it would've been way too sweet for me. It was a fun change from the standard birthday cake and didn't last long!
Emma got a job with the athletic department at her University which is turning out interesting. She basically makes sure athletes go to class. The funny thing is that because it's through the athletic department itself she had to sign all this stuff saying she wouldn't date an athlete or give them any gifts. Paul also has a new job after working for over a year at McDonalds. He's still in food service but now at more of a deli that has the most insanely good avocado garlic spread and I'm not even a particularly huge avocado fan! He's enjoying it much more and no longer smells like french fries which is definitely a plus.
The Tornado is enjoying kindergarten and is has his first field trip coming up to a big local farm and pumpkin patch. We decided to keep him in the private school where he went to preschool and I'm really glad we did. The public school he'll be in next year is excellent but I'm glad he's not gone for quite as long during the day for now.
Emma got a job with the athletic department at her University which is turning out interesting. She basically makes sure athletes go to class. The funny thing is that because it's through the athletic department itself she had to sign all this stuff saying she wouldn't date an athlete or give them any gifts. Paul also has a new job after working for over a year at McDonalds. He's still in food service but now at more of a deli that has the most insanely good avocado garlic spread and I'm not even a particularly huge avocado fan! He's enjoying it much more and no longer smells like french fries which is definitely a plus.
The Tornado is enjoying kindergarten and is has his first field trip coming up to a big local farm and pumpkin patch. We decided to keep him in the private school where he went to preschool and I'm really glad we did. The public school he'll be in next year is excellent but I'm glad he's not gone for quite as long during the day for now.
On the Blog:
What Happened:
Monday: A is for Arsenic - Nonfiction Review
Tuesday: Top Ten Signs You're the Main Character in a Historical Romance
Wednesday: Peril By Ponytail - Cozy Mystery Review
Thursday: Beyond the Books: My Favorite Food + a Recipe
Friday: Friday Linkups with Excerpts from The Liar
Saturday: My Top Ten Favorite Pinterest Recipes
Tuesday: Top Ten Signs You're the Main Character in a Historical Romance
Wednesday: Peril By Ponytail - Cozy Mystery Review
Thursday: Beyond the Books: My Favorite Food + a Recipe
Friday: Friday Linkups with Excerpts from The Liar
Saturday: My Top Ten Favorite Pinterest Recipes
What's Coming Up:
Monday: Come Hell or Highball - Cozy Mystery set in the 1920s
Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday: My Fall TBR
Wednesday: Browsings - Bookish Nonfiction
Thursday: The Bedtime Book Tag
Friday: Linkups with Current Book
Saturday: Something Foodie
Have a great week and happy reading!
Have a great week and happy reading!
Trick or Deceit has a gorgeous cover, and looks like a perfect Halloween read. Enjoy! Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeleteI love the cover too! I'm looking forward to reading it and a few other Halloween books.
DeleteI want t read some October-y stuff too, I'm starting to get in that fall mode where I want mysteries and that kind of stuff. I also broke down and added Netgalley this week, although I haven't requested anything yet. I really hope I don't go overboard in the future!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Good look keeping Netgalley requests under control! I do all right and then all of a sudden there are a bunch I just can't resist!
DeleteI don't like Bananas but you've certainly hooked me with the cake.
ReplyDeleteAnd Emma's job sounds interesting... getting the athletes to class. I'm surprised they're worried about her dating them... I guess then her credibility would suffer, but it seems to be a strange clause to include!
It's a pretty major sports program so I think they have to be very careful. It's pretty funny.
DeleteGetting athletes to class sounds like it might be a hard job! And I gotta say, signing the waiver sounds like the plot of NA book :D
ReplyDeleteI hate when NetGalley requests pend forever like that as they can still go either way. I'd rather know!
Oh it so does! I'll try not to picture it though! Netgalley kills me with how they seem to release in bunches. I'll be doing good and then BAM 20 I can't resist.
DeleteTrick or Deceit sounds good, and i hope you'll enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteHow will Emma be able to ensure the athletes actually get to class? I hope she'll enjoy her job, and that the athletes won't make things difficult for her.
Have a fantastic week ahead and happy reading.
Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews
I wondered that too. Apparently she gets a list and a schedule and she shows up to different classes and they sign in. Should be interesting!
DeleteYay for Halloween reads. I don't usually read "holiday books" but I hope to get to at least one in October nothing to scary though LOL Yay for your kids jobs :) Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteMegan @ http://readingawaythedays.blogspot.co.uk
I'd never been big on holiday reads but I read some Christmas-y books last year and really enjoyed it so I thought it'd be fun to branch out to some other holidays.
DeleteThe Halloween cover is cute. Sounds like a fun book. My husband worked at McDonald's when he was a teen and I remember that smell. He had a the most eye-popping uniform. Bright green or bright yellow, the colors of his particular McD - of course this was in the '70's. LOL
ReplyDeleteInteresting job for your daughter. Seems a shame that someone has to 'make sure' athletes go to class. Do they provide that service for all students? 'wink, wink'
Have a good week! The pumpkin patch trip sounds fun.
Oh that does sound like quite a uniform! Now it's all black with the gold logo on it. I think because the school's sport program is pretty high profile they had to put a lot of rules in place. It's pretty funny!
DeleteThere was a good sale (through today I think) at Audible if you need a good listen. I have a "Candy Corn" book on my NG that I should get my brain inn gear and read.
ReplyDeleteI think at NG it is a case that who ever is supposed to do the approvals for that publisher does not. Maybe you could email them if there is a link on the blurb.
Audible keeps calling my name. I've resisted so far because my library has a great selection but audible has so much more!
DeleteBanana cake with hot fudge frosting sounds absolutely delicious! I'm imagining I'm tasting it now! :)
ReplyDeleteIt was so good! Definitely recommend it!
DeleteI have the same problem with NG- waiting on books and then bang, they all come at once. Some are near their archive date too. I guess I was not their first choice for reviewer, lol.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy Tornado's pumpkin patch trip. He'll have a blast. The school is afraid athletes will want to date Emma to get her to overlook their non-attendance, too funny!
Have a great week-- I enjoy your foodie talk too!
It's definitely weird how Netgalley works. I think some publishers keep up with it less than others.
DeleteHe's so excited about the field trip! We went on a similar one last year and it was such fun.
Trick or Deceit sounds really cute and perfect for a Halloween read. I love the Flavia de Luce series, Bradley's novels/characters are so entertaining and always get a kick out of Flavia outsmarting the adults. I hope you have been enjoying it and have a great week!
ReplyDeleteI just finished the Flavia de Luce today and can't wait to get the next one. The audio is fantastic if you haven't tried the books in that format.
DeleteOh Banana Cake! My daughter loves banana will need to pin the recipe to make soon.
ReplyDeleteCongrats you the jobs for your kids, does your son want to be a chef? He is at a good start if he wanted to
I need more Halloween books but I don't think I will be able to get to them for this year. I will probably stock up for next year. :)
Have a great week Katherine! Happy Reading! ox
I don't know if he knows what he wants to be yet though he does like food. Right now he's talking military and I'm in denial.
DeleteI definitely recommend the cake! Not only is it tasty but it's pretty easy!
Glad the jobs are going well for the kids. Some pubs take forever to approve on NetGalley. That banana cake sounds good, and I like the glaze idea. Have a wonderful week Katherine!
ReplyDeleteI think with the full frosting it would've been a bit to sweet. The glaze ended up working much better.
DeleteThat looks like such a cute read! I haven't read too many halloween ones.
ReplyDeleteI haven't either but I like the idea of it so I decided to make an effort this year.
DeleteOf course buying a new book to reward yourself for getting through review books and coming home empty-handed from the library makes perfect sense... at least in my world ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe Banana Cake sounds just delicious!! Hope you have a good week !
I figured it would make perfect sense to us even if no one else gets it! The cake was so good! And pretty simple to
DeleteJill Shalvis - yes! Banana Cake - yes! As you already know I can never remember what happens in a day, let alone an entire week, so kudos to you for getting it all done, girl! HUGS...
ReplyDeleteI live and die by my calendar which doesn't always make for spontaneity! The banana cake is tasty!
DeleteIs banana cake the same as banana bread? It sounds yummy. I like weeks where I don't buy books sometimes as I feel like I'm making a dent but a deal on Amazon can never be ignored! Have a good week.
ReplyDeleteFor this recipe the flavor is very similar but while banana bread tends to be moist and a bit dense the cake was really light and fluffy. If you like banana bread I think you'd like the cake.
DeleteI love Nora Roberts but I got the audio of The Liar from the library and couldn't get into it! :( I've got All I Want on my TBR list. I adore Jill Shalvis and I can't wait to see her version of Women's Fiction! I'm a big HR fan so I'll be checking out that top ten list!
ReplyDeleteAll I Want definitely had some spice but I really enjoyed it. I really liked The Liar but I can see where it wouldn't work on audio.
DeleteBanana cake, something I never considered until you mentioned it, it sounds wonderful! That's great news your kids have jobs and I think I would love to go on that field trip to the pumpkin patch.
ReplyDeleteI joined NG a while back and do you know, I have never taken advantage of the free books. I can check Kindle books out at our local library so I usually do that.
I've gotten into banana things recently and this was pretty tasty! It's pretty easy as well.
DeleteI'm looking forward to the pumpkin patch! There's lots of animals and it's always a good time.
Stay away from Netgalley for as long as you can! It's an evil temptress !
You are doing good with not getting anything why I seem to be grabbing everything...lol. At least no review books this week but boy did I got on a buying spree....lol.
ReplyDeleteThe sweetness at the bottom of the pie is at my library, I need to borrow it :) It looks like your kids are doing good ! Enjoy the banana cake and avocado spread (I'm drooling here), have a great week !
ReplyDeleteI have a NetGalley book to review too. Like the Trick or Deceit cover. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteTrick or Deceit looks good. This is another series on my list to read, but I would want to start with the first book. Hope you enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
Trick or Deceit looks like a fun read. Congrats to Paul on the new job and the first field-trip sounds so exciting for the Tornado. That banana cake sounds so good. As soon as I can afford some fudge it shall be mine. My daughter makes banana bread all the time, she loves to bake and agreed fudge on top sounded good. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteOh, that Halloween-themed cozy looks like fun and the banana cake sounds delicious! I can sympathize with you over the french-fry smell; I was an assistant manager for McD's for a year several decades ago, and I always came home smelling of the frying oil. Hope you have a wonderful week and that you're enjoying The Liar!
ReplyDeleteTrick or Deceit has an appealing cover. You showed impressive book restraint last week, go you! I'm so glad the Tornado is enjoying kindergarten.:) That banana cake sounds awesome, mmmmm.
ReplyDeleteHave a good week!
It annoys me sometimes when publishers keep requests pending for so long, sometimes even after the release date. Glad the little one is enjoying Kindergarten. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteCute cover on Trick or Deceit and I get where you're coming from, you totally deserved a new book :) ... I behaved myself on NetGalley but the same cannot be said for audible, but in my defense I had credits to use lol. Glad the kid's jobs are going well and same for Tornado at Kindergarten, the first field trip sounds like fun. Have a wonderful week Katherine!
ReplyDelete