The Cuckoo's Calling trailer

I want so very much to see this series. I have enjoyed the books (through the third one so far) and I want to see how it adapsts to the screen.

Stack of books

This is the reading stack for my girls and I for tomorrow's Dewey's 24-Hour readathon! We are so excited! We have a couple of other things to do tomorrow ( a tap dance show for a senior center and a Halloween event) but other than that we will be reading! Some of these books are for us to read together and some are for separate reading. There will be snacks and dineer and lots of togetherness. We are looking forward to it a lot!

Book club

I went to my first gathering of the book club I joined today. It was fun and I enjoyed it a lot! We discussed Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. It was a good book that I liked a lot but didn't love. Most people felt the same way. One woman did love it while another did not. Still our discussion was pretty good.

Our next choice is called The Other Girl by Erica Spindler. She is a pretty popular author from what I've read this afternoon but I've never heard of her. The book sounds really good, though. I'm looking forward to reading it. Here is the description from Good Reads:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Justice for Sara and The First Wife Erica Spindler comes The Other Girl, a chilling new thriller about a ritualistic murder of a college professor that sends a small town cop back into the trauma she thought she’d put behind her.

"Explosive.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A fantastic thriller from one of the best in the genre!” —RT Reviews

A horrific crime. One witness—a fifteen year old girl from the wrong side of the tracks, one known for lying and her own brushes with the law.
Is it any surprise no one believed her?

Officer Miranda Rader of the Harmony, Louisiana PD is known for her honesty, integrity, and steady hand in a crisis—but that wasn’t always so. Miranda comes from the town of Jasper, a place about the size of a good spit on a hot day, and her side of the tracks was the wrong one. She’s worked hard to earn the respect of her coworkers and the community.

When Miranda and her partner are called to investigate the murder of one of the town’s most beloved college professors, they’re unprepared for the brutality of the scene. This murder is unlike any they’ve ever investigated, and just when Miranda thinks she’s seen the worst of it, she finds a piece of evidence that chills her to the core: a faded newspaper clipping about that terrible night fifteen years ago. The night she’d buried, along with her past and the girl she’d been back then. Until now that grave had stayed sealed…except for those times, in the deepest part of the night, when the nightmares came: of a crime no one believed happened and the screams of the girl they believed didn’t exist.

Then another man turns up dead, this one a retired cop. Not just any cop—the one who took her statement that night. Two murders, two very different men, two killings that on the surface had nothing in common—except Miranda.

A good day

Books are gifts

Reverse readathon: Opening survey

Opening Survey

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Southern California, U.S.A.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I'm doing a re-read of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society I am most looking forward to that book.

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Mozarella Sticks

4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I'm a lifetime bookworm, a mom, a wife, a music lover and a crocheter - among other things.

5) This is our VERY first Reverse Readathon! How does it feel in your time zone? I LOVE this reverse readathon. It's five in the evening here and while HOT outside - it's nice and cool in my recliner where I will be spending the evening reading with my kids. :)

Summer Readathon

Dewey's 24-hour readathon is putting on a Summer Edition. I am so excited about this especially since it is a reverse readathon! That means that rather than beginning at five in the morning I get to start at five in the evening! The readathon runs from Friday, July 27th through Saturday July 28th. I am definitely going to participate and hopefully for the majority (if not all) of the time! So, if this sounds like fun to you there is still time to sign up at the link above. 

Enjoying a series

I am a huge fan of book series. I have recently discovered The Jim McGill series by Joseph Flynn. There are ten books in this series and I am a little more than 3/4 through the second book. Jim McGill is the husband of the first female president of the United States. The first book is called The President's Henchman and the following is the blurb1 of 5 stars:

As we've just seen, it's only a matter of time--and not that long a time--before the United States elects its first female president. Which will make her husband--what?

Well, if he's the ex-cop who solved the murder of the president's first husband and brought the killers to justice...and if he's not the kind of guy to stand on formality...and if he doesn't want to be the head of the FBI...and if he takes out a license and becomes the first private eye to live in the White House...

That would make him The President's Henchman.

Jim McGill's first case is to find out who is stalking a member of the White House press corps, before that stalker turns the tables on McGill and maybe even threatens the president herself. He also has to be a shadow adviser to a young Air Force investigator who is looking into a he-said-she-said charge of adultery leveled against a female colonel working at the Pentagon, a case with the potential to derail the new president's administration before it has a chance to begin.

The second book in the series is called The Hangman's Companion and here is the blurb:

Always a good sport, Jim McGill, the first private-eye to live in the White House, agrees to accompany his wife, the president, to London to be her escort at a dinner given by the queen—yes, the one who lives in Buckingham Palace. Problem is, he’ll have a week in England beforehand, while the president attends a G8 meeting, with nothing to do.

Then a client comes to McGill, the daughter of a former Chicago cop McGill knew but didn't like when he was a captain on the CPD. McGill’s former colleague went to Paris to scatter the ashes of his late, French-born wife in the Seine. While tending to that solemn obligation, the former cop managed to get into a brawl with and kill France’s national sports hero. The guy from Chicago claims he was only saving a blonde woman from being beaten by the Frenchman, as French law actually required him to do. Only problem is, the blonde has disappeared.

The former cop’s daughter asks McGill to find the woman and save her father.

Beats glad-handing the locals in nearby London, he decides. He just has to wrap up the case in time to get to dinner with the president and the queen. 

I am thoroughly enjoying this series so far and am so glad a friend recommended the first book to me.

Teaser Tuesday: Ravishing in Red by Madeline Hunter

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. 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 Ravishing in Red by Madeline Hunter:

"We are both compromised, Miss Kelmsleigh. We will both pay. The accounting will be much less, however, if we marry."

Bout of Books 22

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 14th and runs through Sunday, May 20th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 22 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Dewy's 24 Hour readathon

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon was this past Saturday. Here is the stack of books (plus books on my Nook) that I had hoped to read. It wasn't the most productive reading event as it turned out. I did get to read for all of about two hours out of the twenty-four. I didn't participate in one challenge or even get to interact all that much with other readers. I guess it just wasn't meant to be this April. The good news is that there will be another chance on October 20, 2018. I have marked it on my calendar already and plan to have books and food in place by the Friday before the event. I also plan on saying no to anything else people want to plan for that day. My daughters wholeheartedly agree. They want to spend the day in pajamas, reading books together and sharing yummy snacks. Since it will be in October (and hopefully cold - it can be hot as heck here in October!) they want hot cocoa, too. Not wishing our time away but still looking forward to the next readathon. 

Independent Bookstore Day

Independent Bookstore Day is this Saturday, April 28, 2018. HOW did I not know this was a thing? Granted, this is only the fourth year for the Independent Bookstore Day - but still! I really geel as though I should have known about this! If you are interested you can learn more about the day at the official website for the Independent Bookstore Day. There are a number of stores participating here in Southern California and a couple of them are fairly close to me. So I hope to go to those store on Saturday - provided I can fit it in around the other things I have going on. I really want to though! How about you? Did you know about IBD already and are you going to any Indie bookstores on Saturday?

Dewey's 24-Hour readathon

Sign-ups are open for the April 28th edition of Dewey's 24-Hour readathon! This is a fun event where the emphasis is on reading. However, there are plenty of other fun book related activities you can take part in, as well. If you fancy taking part you can go to their website to sign up. Oh, and there's absolutely no pressure to read the entire twenty-four hours. I've never been able to participate the entire time but I've always had fun with it. 

Books to Read

I am taking part in the March BohoBerry challenge on Instagram. Today's topic is Books to Read. I have a shelf on GoodReads with nearly 600 books on it. So obviously this is just a short list that I put in my Bullet Journal. I LOVE being a bookworm and reading. I read every single day - for myself and to my children - but I will never run out of books to read. That makes me really happy, to be honest. Also, some of the books, like A Wrinkle in Time and the Harry Potter series are re-reads for me. I want to read them with my kids. A Wrinkle in Time was one of my favorite books in childhood. 

Weekend reading

What are you reading this weekend? I am going to finish The Secret, Book and Scone Society tonight. Then I am going to start Montana Sky by Nora Roberts. Have a great weekend everyone!

The 2017 Christmas Spirit Challenge and readathon

The following info is taken straight from the Seasons of Reading blog post:

 

We are once again kicking off the Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge over at Christmas Spirit, with the annual Christmas Spirit Read-a-Thon...and it's now two weeks long!

The Christmas Spirit Readathon has a twist this year! It's a Christmas and Scary Readathon. Personally, I read scary (horror) books all year round, but I know many people reserve that kind of reading to October. But that's just ONE month! So, I decided to create this twist to give people the excuse to read scary for at least a couple more weeks (if no more!).

What does this mean? Well, you can read Christmas, or you can read scary, or you can read both. For example, A Christmas Carol could also be labeled as scary/spooky because of the ghosts. Dickens also wrote other spooky Christmas tales (check his "Christmas Books"). However, don't think your scary has to have a Christmas theme. You can read non-holiday scary, or you can read a Christmas themed mystery (which can sometimes be scary), or you can choose all Christmas books. It's entirely up to you!

Details:

• Read-a-Thon dates: Monday, November 20 at 12:00am CDT until Sunday, December 3 at 11:59pm CDT (adjust your time zone accordingly...there's a time zone converter in the blog menu) 
• You do not have to be signed up for the Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge to participate (but I sure would love for you to join us!) 
• I am not requiring that you read only Christmas/holiday books during the read-a-thon, but I hope you will pick up at least one holiday tale, even if it's just to read some children's books with your kids or some holiday short stories...and perhaps some scary fare...
• to check in on social media, we'll use hashtag #CSreadathon 
• as usual, you do not have to have a blog to participate...feel free to link up and check in from Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc. AND interact with us in our Facebook group.

I will be participating in this readathon and the Christmas Spirit reading challenge. I LOVE reading Christmas themed books - for myself and to my children - and look forward to it all year! So, if you'd like to join in the fun then please do so!

I will certainly be reading Chasing Christmas and Holiday Wishes both by Jill Shalvis. They are part of her Heartbreaker Bay series which I love. I will also read A Very Merry Princess by Susan Mallery. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is on our family reading list for the season along with favorites like The Polar Express (the book AND the movie!) and The Night Before Christmas. 

We will also listen to plenty of Christmas music and watch Christmas movies! As mentioned above we'll watch The Polar Express. I know for a fact we'll also watch Elf, Home Alone, White Christmas (my favorite!), Miracle on 34th Street. Also, my children will see It's A Wonderful Life for the first time. As you can see, we're huge fans of Christmas around here. LOL!

Readathon - Closing Survey

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Well, I fell asleep during hour 22 so I guess that one. :)

2. Tell us ALLLLL the books you read! I finished A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare. Then I read a nice chunk of Worlds Collide by Chris Colfer to my kids. I also read some of Secrets in Death by J.D. Robb. It was a nice amount of reading during a very busy day (other wonderful commitments) but only one book finished.

3. Which books would you recommend to other Read-a-thoners? Anything in the In Death series by J.D. Robb. 

4. What’s a really rad thing we could do during the next Read-a-thon that would make you smile? I love all of it as it is!

5. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? Highly likely! Would you be interested in volunteering to help organize and prep? Possibly - it will depend on other obligations at the time. 

The next Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon will take place on April 28, 2018.

Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon

One week from now we will be immersed in books along with all the others participating in the Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-Thon. I can't wait as it is always a really good day in my home. My kids participate with me so that makes it extra fun. We won't be able to participate for the entire event because we have a couple of other things we're committed to on the same day. However, we will read and do mini challenges as time allows. For us that will probably be through the evening and for me late into the night/ early morning. Still, as I said, we are very excited. My kids and I will go to the library on Friday October 20th and stock up on books to add to the ones we have a t home. We will also go to the grocery store and get snacks and something for dinner. If you're interested in a fun time where reading what you love is the point then it isn't too late to sign up.

Musing Monday: Non-Keeper Books

 Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by The Purple Booker 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: What do you do with your non-keeper hard copy books?

This is a simple answer for me. I either give them to family or friends or donate them the library bookstore. 

The glory of a good tale...

I LOVE this quote from Stephen King! I also happen to agree with it. In addition to a good tale belonging to each reader, I believe the tale can speak to a reader differently each time she or he reads the tale. This has been true for me on more than one occasion.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!