Friday Five: Winding Up The Christmas Shopping

Finally the holiday shopping is winding down. I have a few last minute things I need to pick up - and the Christmas meal is nowhere close to being taken care of, but I have managed to get things caught up at work (my desk is actually clean and the books are reshelved), and I feel energized to try and take care of the messes at home and get things organized there as well.

 I've found a few more things to share this week, and a few things (that I'm not sharing) that I really liked, but was disappointed to see it was sold out.  I'm sure that's for the best, because I have more new clothes than I need right now.

Enjoy! And Happy Holidays!

1.  Bailey Rose Reindeer Chunky Knit Sweater

2. Kortnee Leopard Print Jeans

3.  Christmas Tree Sweater Vest

4. Sequin Eyelash Top

5.  Mongolian Cashmere Full Zip Hoodie

6.  Fair Isle Crewneck Pullover Sweater

7.  Nike Killshot 2 Sneakers

8.  Rhinestone Embroidered Cardigan

9.  Enly Plaid Bomber

10.  Harry and Meghan's Christmas Card

Kate and William's Christmas Card 2024

That's it for me this week. What's caught your eye?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Map To Paradise

 Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature where I highlight a soon to be release novel I can't wait to read.

This week's pick: A Map To Paradise by Susan Meissner

Due out: March 18, 2025

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

1956, Malibu, California: Something is not right on Paradise Circle.

With her name on the Hollywood blacklist and her life on hold, starlet Melanie Cole has little choice in company. There is her next-door neighbor, Elwood, but the screenwriter’s agoraphobia allows for just short chats through open windows. He’s her sole confidante, though, as she and her housekeeper, Eva, an immigrant from war-torn Europe, rarely make conversation.

Then one early morning Melanie and Eva spot Elwood’s sister-in-law and caretaker, June, digging in his beloved rose garden. After that they don’t see Elwood at all anymore. Where could a man who never leaves the house possibly have gone?
 
As they try to find out if something has happened to him, unexpected secrets are revealed among all three women, leading to an alliance that seems the only way for any of them to hold on to what they can still call their own. But it’s a fragile pact and one little spark could send it all up in smoke…

Monday Mini-Reviews: Midway Through December

 I've got one more week of school and a bunch of things to check off my "to-do" list before I can officially consider myself on a break.

The kids are a little bit wound up, and I'll admit I'm not very focused on work right now.  My middle daughter is home from college.  Things will be a little different this year as my oldest daughter is now married and the "coming home" time will be split between our family and her husband's.  

I love a good dysfunctional family novel and I've loved Susan Rieger's other books so Like Mother, Like Mother was a fast (and entertaining) weekend read.

The stories of three generations of women from one family are uncovered in this novel.  Lila has great success in her professional life, but she isn't cut out to be a mother.  At least that's what she has always believed.  Her own mother was committed to an asylum when Lila was just two and then died when she was there. Her father, Aldo, was abusive and her Bubbe (aunt) who raised her wasn't a touchy-feely type of mother figure, either. 

Grace is Lila's youngest daughter.  Her twin sisters look like their mom, while she is dark and lean like her father.  Joe has been the primary parent for the three girls while Lila continues to devote all of her time to work.  Grace looks back on her childhood and eventually writes a novel that closely parallels real life.

While Lila has always believe that her mother died, Grace starts questioning if that is what really happened.  As technology has advanced it is now possible to learn about long-lost relatives, and Grace  (along with her mother's sister, Clara) take advantage of this development.

There was plenty to think about- the differences in mothers and being maternal, what makes a good mother, the double-standard that exists between acceptable behavior for a mother versus acceptable behavior for a father, the way parents influence our own parenting, and how the roles of parents are determined in each family. This would be a good book club choice and anyone who enjoys a good dysfunctional family story should pick this one up.

Friday Five: Only 12 More Shopping Days

Christmas is fast approaching and I've wrapped a few gifts, but there just are not all that many gifts that have arrived.  Or perhaps I've bought more for myself than for anyone else.  I still have a few things to get over the weekend, but I'm hoping that somehow things magically come together.  

We've got an ice storm heading our way this evening and are supposed to travel to our daughter's college XC banquet two and a half hours away.  We're still trying to decide if we can make it there and back before the bad weather hits.  

The onlines sales are not abating and even though I need to stop purchasing anything, some of these deals are amazing.  Here's what I found this week to share: 

1.  Legend Sweater Shirt

2.  Relaxed Turtleneck Sweater in Donegal Wool Blend

3.  Lizzie High Rise Patch Pocket Faux-Leather Pant

4.  Grunge Black Bow Crewneck

5.  Sparkler Sweater

6.  Straight Corduroy Pants

7.  Moonlight Eco Crop Pajamas

8. Colette Cropped Wide Leg Pants by Maeve: The Metallic Faux-Leather Edition

9. Dog Vest

10.  Christmas Carol Service with the Royal Family 2024

That's it for me this week.  What's caught your eye?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Sirens

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature where I highlight a soon to be released novel I can't wait to read.

This week's pick: The Sirens by Emilia Hart

Due out: March 

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

New from the author of the runaway New York Times bestseller Weyward comes a spellbinding novel about sisters separated by centuries, but bound together by the sea.

2019: Lucy awakens from a dream to find her hands around her ex-lover’s throat. Horrified, she flees to her older sister’s house on the Australian coast, hoping she can help explain the strangely vivid nightmare that preceded the attack―but Jess is nowhere to be found.

As Lucy awaits her return, the rumors surrounding Jess’s strange small town start to emerge. Numerous men have gone missing at sea, spread over decades. A tiny baby was found hidden in a cave. And sailors tell of hearing women’s voices on the waves. Desperate for answers, Lucy finds and begins to read her sister’s adolescent diary.

1999: Jess is a lonely sixteen-year-old in a rural town in the middle of the continent. Diagnosed with a rare allergy to water, she has always felt different, until her young, charming art teacher takes an interest in her drawings, seeing a power and maturity in them―and in her―that no one else has.

1800: Twin sisters Mary and Eliza have been torn from their loving father in Ireland and forced onto a convict ship bound for Australia. For their entire lives, they’ve feared the ocean, as their mother tragically drowned when they were just girls. Yet as the boat bears them further and further from all they know, they begin to notice changes in their bodies that they can’t explain, and they feel the sea beginning to call to them…

A breathtaking tale of female resilience and the bonds of sisterhood across time and space, The Sirens captures the power of dreams, and the mystery and magic of the sea.

Monday Mini-Reviews: Christmas Books

 Each year there is a new batch of holiday-themed books that are published.  Some years I feel like reading them more than others, and this year I have managed to already tear through three in the beginning of this month.  

Last week I picked up and enjoyed two Christmas books.

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter was such a fun romance/mystery.  Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt are mystery writers(who don't like each other at all) that have been invited to spend the holiday with Eleanor Ashley, a famous mystery writer.  But shortly after arriving Eleanor goes missing, the snow keeps falling, and the guests are stranded at Eleanor's home.  While Maggie and Ethan try to find their hostess, they are left to wonder if she is trying to test their mystery solving skills.  Until someone shoots at Maggie. Then the stakes are a lot higher and things turn deadly serious.  I loved the cozy mystery feel of this one.  There's a romance (which is probably pretty obvious and predictable) as well as a fun holiday setting and once I started reading I couldn't put it down.  I don't know that I've read anything else by Ally Carter, but that needs to change.  

A Home For The Holidays by Taylor Hahn is set during the holidays after Mel, a wedding singer, has to cope with the death of her mother.  When she meets Barb, one of her mom's best friends from her younger years, Mel feels at home and like she has recaptured a part of her mother that she had never known about.  Barb quickly accepts her into her life - and even convinces Mel to stay with her. But, of course, nothing is every as simple as it seems.  This one has a romance as well as a long kept secret that upends things just when it seems that Mel has found some happiness.  Not too Christmassy, this one is a great read for any time of year.

I have a few more Christmas books I'd like to enjoy before the holidays pass in a flurry, so we shall see how many more I have time to enjoy during the month of December.  

Friday Five: All I Want For Christmas

 

Every year as I Christmas shop for others, I find lots of things I want for myself. Despite my best intentions, the deals are usually pretty awesome, and I am also very good at justifying how much I need the things I find.  Sadly for my wallet, this year has been no different.  Here are just a few of the things I've found for myself.  I have only bought one of the things in this week's Friday Five, which I will have to take as a win.  Every week has not been so inexpensive.  

1.  Free Premium Shrunken Fair Isle Cocoon Sweater

2. Sailor Denim Trouser in 1996 in Semi-Stretch

3.  Ice Rose Cardigan

4.  Sequin Embellished Tee

5.  CashSoft Crewneck Sweater

6.  Sequin Shimmer Sweater

7.  Anytime Sweatpant in Leopard

8. Archive Shasta Crewneck Sweater

9.  Drawstring Bucket Crossbody Bag

10.  Shiny Gingham Puff Sleeve Top

That's it for me this week.  What's caught your eye?

Waiting on Wednesday: Show Don't Tell

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature where I highlight a soon to be released novel I can't wait to read.

This week's pick: Show Don't Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld

Due out: February 25 2025

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

A funny, fiercely intelligent and moving collection exploring marriage, friendship, fame, and artistic ambition—including a story that revisits the main character from Curtis Sittenfeld’s iconic novel Prep—from the New York Times bestselling author of Eligible and Romantic Comedy.

In her second story collection, Sittenfeld shows why she’s as beloved for her short fiction as she is for her novels. In these dazzling stories, she conjures up characters so real that they seem like old friends, laying bare the moments when their long held beliefs are overturned.

In “The Patron Saints of Middle Age,” a woman visits two friends she hasn’t seen since her divorce. In “A for Alone,” a married middle-aged artist embarks on a creative project intended to disprove the so-called Mike Pence Rule, which suggests that women and men can’t spend time alone without lusting after each other. And in “Lost but Not Forgotten,” Sittenfeld gives readers of her novel, Prep, a window into the world of her beloved character Lee Fiora, decades later, when Lee attends an alumni reunion at her boarding school.

Hilarious, thought-provoking, and full of tenderness for her characters, Sittenfeld’s stories peel back layer after layer of our inner lives, keeping us riveted to the page with her utterly distinctive voice.

Monday Mini-Reviews: Reading Over a Busy Thanksgiving

We spent a fantastic week in St. George, Utah, over Thanksgiving.  Our oldest daughter got married, we had pictures taken at Snow Canyon, a celebratory meal at Chef Alfredo's, toured the Hoover Dam, spent a day in Las Vegas, shopped, ran in the Thanksgiving day race "The Gobbler" in St George, celebrated Thanksgiving with way too much food, tried new restaurants, hiked at Zion National Park, and created a lot of memories.

I also read a lot.  It was hours of airplane and car time - and I did try to look at the scenery, but I'm pretty good at multitasking.

On the way to Minneapolis I read The Booklover's Library by Madeline Martin.  Historical fiction about books is an automatic winner and this is one I could give to almost anyone.  Emma is a widow in England, a mother to Olivia, which greatly reduces her options for getting a job.  When she persuades the manager of Boots' Booklovers Library to give her a job, Emma's life is forever changed.  There isn't any heart racing drama, but this is a solid, enjoyable read.

Next up was Where The Forest Meets the River by Shannon Bowring, the second in  the Return to Dalton series.  I loved the first book - and I loved this book just as much.  I love that the book features various residents of this one small town and shares the different events in their lives - from heartbreak to hope. I feel like this one ended on a little bit more of a cliffhanger and I'm already anxious to read the third book in this series.

The Five Year Lie by Sarina Bowen is a fantastic page turner.  I'm not sure where I even heard about this one, but I raced through it.  Ariel receives a text message one day from Drew, the love of her life - who she believes died several years ago.  Although the text message may be explainable, Ariel is quickly drawn in to trying to find out what happened when Drew disappeared and the answers are sinister - and dangerous.   As soon as I finished this one, my mom picked it up herself and she couldn't put it down, either.

I've got more books to share next week, but December is already off to a busy start so I'm so glad that I had time to enjoy so many great books over the past week.  

Waiting on Wednesday: The Quiet Librarian

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature where I highlight a soon to be released novel I can't wait to read.

 

This week's pick: The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskens

Due out: February 18, 2025

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

After the murder of her best friend, a librarian’s search for answers leads back to her own dark secrets in this sweeping novel about a woman transformed by war, family, vengeance, and love, from award-winning writer Allen Eskens.

Hana Babic is a quiet, middle-aged librarian in Minnesota who wants nothing more than to be left alone. But when a detective arrives with the news that her best friend has been murdered, Hana knows that something evil has come for her, a dark remnant of the past she and her friend had shared.
 
Thirty years before, Hana was someone else: Nura Divjak, a teenager growing up in the mountains of war-torn Bosnia—until Serbian soldiers arrived to slaughter her entire family before her eyes. The events of that day thrust Nura into the war, leading her to join a band of militia fighters, where she became not only a fierce warrior but a legend—the deadly Night Mora. But a shattering final act forced Nura to flee to the United States with a bounty on her head.
 
Now, someone is hunting Hana, and her friend has paid the price, leaving her eight-year-old grandson in Hana’s care. To protect the child without revealing her secret, Hana must again become the Night Mora—and hope she can find the killer before the past comes for them, too.