Happy Halloween

I hope everyone had a wonderful, safe and fun Halloween!

Gryffindor scarf

The Harry Potter Gryffindor scarf I made one of my daughters for Halloween. I have already started a second one because naturally now my other daughter wants one. That's all right because it was fun and easy to make. Plus, they'll be so cute when they wear their matching scarves and show their love for all things Harry Potter. I'm going to make myself a Slytherin scarf - mainly because my favorite color is green. Also, it will be fun to see their reactions to my choice.

Never give up

"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop."

- Confucius

My kids climbed a rock wall this evening. They amaze me on a regular basis with their amazing willingness to try things and persevere at others. They make me so proud and humble me at the same time. Still, I was in awe of them climbing this rock wall this evening. One made it to the top of the darn thing more than once. The other - who happens to be afraid of heights - made it half way up the wall. Both were so amazing and so happy with their accomplishment - which they should have been. They were also really supportive and excited for one another. They made me smile and they made me think about perseverance and how neither of them ever give up anything. 

Happy Birthday Simon le Bon

Happy 58th birthday to Simon le Bon the lead singer of my favorite band - Duran Duran. Enjoy Come Undone by them:

Wordless Wednesday: Neon crocheted headband

Teaser Tuesday: Remember When

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB at Books and a Beat. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from page 59 of Remember When by Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb:

"Now I've got you worried."

"No, not worried. Disconcerted, maybe, at the idea that I could have enemies. Ordinary shopkeepers in small Maryland towns shouldn't have enemies."

Books are magic

This is so true! 

Kindness

Mid Readathon Survey

Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now? I'm about to begin Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
2. How many books have you read so far? 2
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Sleepy Hollow and Sweet Little Lies by Jill Shalvis
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Yes, a million and one interruptions! It's expected with kids, though. I deal with them as quickly as possible and get back to my book.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? I'm no longer surprised by the read-a-thon. I just love it and look forward to it so much!

Now, time for dinner then back to reading!

Food for Dewey's Readathon

It has to be said that food is an important part of the Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon. It's not the most important part of course but it is necessary - on any given day - but it's a part of readathon day. My kids are taking part in the day (some of it - not the entire 24 hours) with me. They asked if we could get some chips. Of course I said yes and even threw in a box of Milk Duds. Those aren't chips but they are chocolate and caramel. YUM!

The coffee is mine. All MINE! :) We will all also have water which I forgot to put in the picture. I can't allow a full day of junk so you see the fruit and vegetables. We'll have something healthy for dinner, too. 

The readathon begins in a little over twelve hours and I am super excited! I hope that it will be a great day with family, snacks and books, books, books! 

Choices for Dewey's 24 Hour readathon

This Saturday, October 22nd, is Dewy's 24-Hour Readathon. It's an amazing event that brings readers and book lovers from around the world together for hours of bookish joy! It's a free event and there's still time to sign up if you wish to participate. I'm sure people take part without signing up, too. The main point is to spend time reading.

I'm someone who reads and chooses my books according to what kind of mood I'm in at the time of choosing a new book. So, I put together a stack of books I know I'd like to read some time soon and possibly even this Saturday and early Sunday. Of course, if I'm not finished with The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts then that is the one I will begin with. After that I've got a nice selection of fiction and non-fiction to choose from. Plus, there are a number of books on my Nook (not shown, obviously) I can choose from. I will admit that at this point I am leaning toward The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. One, because I've never read the book and two, because we're close to Halloween and I feel like reading something that I think of as Halloween-ish.

Here is a picture of some of my choices for Saturday:

Wordless Wednesday: Yarn ball on stripes

Teaser Tuesdays: The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB at Books and a Beat. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from page 46 of The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts:

"It holds her here because this love is powerful. It's magic. It's what matters most. It's -"

The door at her back pushed open, knocking her forward and straight into Owen. His arms came tight around to balance her as she tipped back her head, looked up into his eyes. "Everything," she finished.

Musing Monday: Key players

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…
• Up next I think I’ll read…
• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I can’t wait to get a copy of…
• I wish I could read ___, but…
• I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Who are the key players in your current book? (or current themes, if nonfiction)

I am currently about halfway through a re-read of the Inn Boonsboro trilogy by Nora Roberts. The book I'm reading now is the second in the trilogy and called The Last Boyfriend. It's really good and I'm enjoying it a lot! The main characters in the book are Avery MacTavish and Owen Montgomery. They've known one another all of their lives. When they were little kids Avery had a crush on Owen and told him he was her boyfriend and that they'd grow up and get married. He bought her a bubblegum machine ring which his brothers love to tease him about as adults. Avery and Owen have been friends for years and thought that's all they were. Things change with the mild meddling of a ghost and they come to realize they mean so much more to one another than simply being friends. 

With her trademark style Nora Roberts fills this book with family, loyalty, hard and rewarding work, a bit of mysticism and at the heart of it all - love. 

Six days

Until the Dewey's 24-Hour Readahon! You can still go HERE to sign up if you'd like to participate! You can take part in the entire thing or part of it - whatever works for you. I am ready for a day devoted to reading and fun that is book themed! I have started pulling my books together for the event and so have my kids.

Our apple picking day

We spent the day out in nature apple picking. We went as a family but also met up with some great, long time friends! We had a wonderful day being together! This picture is one of the apple trees we actually did pick from.

We went to Oak Glen which is a place that I have been going to since I was a child. I used to go with my mom, brother and grandma. Other family members probably went through the years but I definitely remember spending time here with my grandma. Of course that makes it really special to me. Early on in my relationship with my husband - before we were married - I introduced him to this slice of nature and he fell in love with the area, too. Now we've made it a tradition to take our children, as well. I love that we have this tradition and hope to continue for a few decades. 

Another blanket

I decided to join in with the Yarnspirations and Joann's crochet-a-long. This gray yarn is super soft and squishy! I love it and I'm excited to see how the blanket turns out! 

Apple picking

Apple picking is one of those things that I think of as an Autumn activity. We're going to go apple picking soon with longtime friends and I can;t wait! I will definitely take plenty of pictures (the one above isn't mine) and post some of them. I love this time of year.

Wordless Wednesday: Gorgeous yarn

Teaser Tuesday: The Next Always by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB at Books and a Beat. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from page 4 of The Next Always by Nora Roberts:

"I know you're here." He spoke clearly and his voice echoed back to him. "I guess you've been here for a while. We're bringing her back and then some. She deserves it. I hope to hell you like it when she's done because, well, that's the way it's going to be."

He waited a minute or two, fanciful enough - or tired enough - to imagine whoever, or whatever, inhabited the place settle on a wait-and-see mode. 

Happy Birthday Nora Roberts

Anyone who knows me well knows I love Nora Roberts. Today is her birthday and in honor of it her new publisher - St. Martin's Press - has revealed the cover of her standalone for 2017. The book is called Come Sundown and is currently due to release in June. If you want to see the cover go to her Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/noraroberts/

I am super excited and can't wait to learn more about the book!

Write freely and rapidly

John Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors and I adore this quote. It is really timely for me as I am about to go into a major period of revision. I have a couple of opportunities to submit my books and I don't want to miss them. So I will be focusing on re-writes and making my stories sharp and hopefully page-turners through the rest of the month. I'm excited but will need to stay really focused to meet my self-imposed deadlines.

Who needs TV?

My friend posted this on Facebook (it's from the Read Across America page). I LOVE it and for me it is SO TRUE! 

Agree

Patience

Wordless Wednesday: Downtown Los Angeles at dusk

Teaser Tuesday: Don't Look Down by Suzanne Enoch

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB at Books and a Beat. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from Nook page 44 of Suzanne Enoch's Don't Look Down:

"You don't have to keep giving me things. I'm here because of you - not the Picassos."

"You don't like Picasso."

"You know what I mean. All I want from you is your trust."

The Samantha Jellicoe series

I read a book called Flirting With Danger by Suzanne Enoch this past week. I really enjoyed the book! Here is the description from GoodReads:

Samantha Jellicoe is a thief and proud of it. Raised to appreciate the finer things in life, Sam has no trouble divesting the wealthy of their treasures. This all changed, however, the night she attempts to steal a valuable item from a Palm Beach estate. Before she knew what hit her, a bomb goes off, a guard is killed, and Sam ends up saving millionaire Richard Addison. She's a good thief and will own up to her jobs, but if anyone thinks to tie her to murder, they better think again.

On any other night, having a one hundred plus pounds of female fling herself at you is a good thing. But on this particular night, Richard Addison is mad as hell. Not only did he just have his gallery blown up-with him about to enter it-but the woman who rescued him didn't stick around to offer any explanations. When the dust settles, Rick knows the only person with answers to his questions is the mystery woman. And if she thinks she can hide from him, she better think again.

This was a fun and delightful read for me. There are five books in the series and I am on to the next one - Don't Look Down. This one sounds just as good to me. Here's the description for that one:

The heat is on in Palm Beach-and Rick and Samantha are sizzling.

Samantha Jellicoe is no ordinary thief. At least, not anymore. She promised her significant other, British billionaire Rick Addison, that she'd retire from her life of crime. So no more midnight break-ins . . . no more scaling estate walls . . . no more dangling from the ceiling. From here on in, it's intimate dinners with Rick in posh Palm Beach followed by rock-your-world sex.

Who'd have thought that doing the right thing would turn out to be more deadly than her former life of crime? When the first client of her new security business is murdered, Sam is determined to find the killer. Now if only she can manage to stay out of jail, resist her former "associate's" lucrative job offers, and keep Rick from sticking his nose into her business, she might just manage to stay alive. Because trouble isn't just walking—it's running—to catch up with her. 

I'll let you know how I like Don't Look Down. By the way, the author of this fun series is Suzanne Enoch.

Anne of Green Gables

I'm in love with this quote. I saw it the other day and immediately agreed with it. Since then I am trying to remember if I've ever read Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery or if it's one of those books that I know of from hearing so much about it through the years. I honestly can't remember one way or the other. That being said, I'm going to get the first book in the series and read it. In fact, I will read it with my kids because I have a feeling it will be perfect to read together.

Also, I'm so happy to say that today it is FINALLY feeling somewhat Fall-like where I live. We don;t have the air conditioner on and it is actually breezy! I love it and am so grateful the heat has broken. Double yay for October! 

Happy October

It is my favorite time of year! There are so many fun things that happen in Autumn! The gorgeous picture above is an example of Autumn in New England. It's not my photo but I have many like this - I need to scan them and share them. This is the time of year when I miss New England most. One of these years I'll actually take my family for vacation to Massachusetts and up the New England seaboard into Maine during Autumn.

Until then, we will enjoy the season here in California. We'll go apple picking soon and hopefully see some of the colors depicted above. We'll decorate for Halloween (hopefully tomorrow). We'll also enjoy a lot of family time.