The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week, and showcase books and things we have received.
Stacking The Shelves is also a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Marlene from Reading Reality. It’s all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
Don’t forget to look at my giveaways on the right sidebar.
Sunday, I felt like a hamster on a wheel trying to do all the things I wanted to do. Apparently, there was an earthquake, in North Carolina, before I woke up. I kinda feel bad I missed it but hey, I was sleeping well for a change. My daughter did a gastro cleanout (sort of like a colonoscopy prep). I was eating leftovers and blog visiting.
Monday I did more reading and reviews. I also did more desk cleanup and organization. Tuesday, I picked up an order at Walmart. Then it was early enough I decided to mow the lawn even though it was supposed to rain. The grass was so long I had to empty the bag multiple times and both batteries were dead with just a little strip left. I pulled weeds all over the yard. I got the last part of the grill taken apart and into the garbage. I finished my audiobook while I created some post setups.
Wednesday, we had phone calls with the doctor as annual checkups. Then I did a second Walmart pickup to get items they were out of stock at the other location. They were still out of stock for the item I most wanted so I placed an order at another location for Thursday. Finally, I was able to get it. The temperature is about 5 degrees cooler but although it was supposed to rain every day, it hasn’t. I discovered the blog was no longer auto posting my reviews to Goodreads so I figured out how to fix it. I don’t know how it got disconnected.
Friday was finally a day where I could just stay home and work on things. I mostly read and relaxed though. Saturday we finally had some rain . This next week the temps look slightly cooler. The tomatoes are gangbusters but the green beans aren’t really producing. My fall plants of SDB iris and daylilies arrived and I hope to plant Monday with a north wind. So I’m working on garden design today. I could have done this when I ordered them a couple months ago but didn’t.
My daughter’s summer break is coming to an end with classes starting Monday. We didn’t get to work together on projects much but it’s just not that kind of year. I did make a new gluten-free recipe for pumpkin donuts with a maple glaze.
Early voting starts here October 15th. I researched a bunch of stuff yesterday. I would drive people to the polls if not COVID. We talked last night about doing that rather than absentee if the post office is too damaged. We could also take them to the election office. I’m afraid now the absentee ballots will be contested all over by Trump. When we voted in the primaries earlier this year, it was not crowded. If we go during the normal working hours with masks, maybe we could do it. If we do the absentee, we will do it immediately when we get it and take it right to the election offices. Vote people!
Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. These are the exciting ARCs I received this week (If you click on the cover, it will take you to the Goodreads entry):
Special squealing thanks to Harper Audio!
Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson, and Berkley.
(If you click on the cover, it will take you to the Goodreads entry)
Now the really scary one. This is all the Kindle and Audible freebies I grabbed this past week. You can see why I need to do Thrifty Thursday to be sure I read a few at least one each month.
I really meant to cut back on freebies BUT they are free so I guess that won’t be happening.
I’m not including things like reviews posted or upcoming as they are always in the right sidebar. And, my challenge status is also there.
If you like this and want to see me do the Sunday post, as often as I can manage, leave me a comment and let me know.
Anne
Sounds like you had a busy week, my girls are full time at school from tomorrow, they aren’t pleased.
I’ve been working in my garden too, the last few days have been warm, really warm for us so I’ve been pruning back trees, I’ve really enjoyed it.
Have a great week.
My daughter starts tomorrow and I can’t believe we didn’t have more time. It’s finally cool with a misting rain today which is great for the garden. I need to work on the plan so I can get things planted while it’s a bit cooler.
The voting in the US has been on the news here all week. Crazy!! I hope everyone will be able to vote.. in real life or through mail.
Time is definitely flying by. School is starting around here too this week. It feels like only yesterday when school closed for the summer.
Have a great week and happy reading.
Thank you Maureen. We just do the best we can. Time seems slow in some ways and too fast in others.
I heard about the earthquake up there. My brother-in-law is in Fayetteville but I don’t think they felt much. I do about one Walmart pickup order a week and it seems like if an item is unavailable it’s going to be the one I want most. First world problems, right? 🙂 I voted by mail for the primary but I’m unsure what I’ll do this fall. I trust the process but I don’t trust Trump to accept the process.
I do a Walmart pickup usually every 2-3 weeks with an Aldi Instacart order most weeks. Luckily the item I wanted at Walmart was more than $35 so I could order it by itself and I wouldn’t have to go pick it up if they didn’t have it. It was a Seresto collar for Lulu (flea/tick). I am totally with you on the voting problems. We will do things as early as we can.
I’m hoping there will be a drop off place (in person) for mail in ballots. That seems like the way to go. Our local schools start Monday too and that’s all anyone is talking about, how working parents are going to cope with distance learning. Its going to be a weird school year for sure.
Yes I am worried about the schooling and the voting. But I have to stop looking at social media after dinner at night. It’s stirring me up and ruining my sleep some nights. I am grateful my daughter is old enough to handle schooling with almost no input from me. I help her with the logistics of scheduling and researching the best professors and I edit her papers for grammar and spelling but that’s easy enough.
We need to get out into our garden – rather desperately! But last week was insanely hot and since then we have had hard downpours. I’m a fair weather gardener… but the weeds are having a field day:)). Glad you are getting plenty of tomatoes, but it might be your soil isn’t quite fertile enough for the beans to produce – they are very hungry plants. I hope the coming week is a good one, Anne:)
I don’t know about the beans. It is brand new composted soil. I think it may be the variety planted and they were too close together. They aren’t doing well in the heat either. It’s a cool misty rain today and it feels wonderful. I try to weed a little every day when I take Lulu out. The next couple days are going to be a bit cooler and a north wind so I’m excited for that chance to do some things.
Looks like this was your running around week. That’s what I did last week. We’ve had oh so many tomatoes, too. I do love the fun of giving them away to neighbors and family who couldn’t or don’t garden. There are still plenty for me. Neat that you got your bulb plants and can start figuring out your plotting for them. I’ve heard there are apps for that, but I still use my old fashioned pencil and paper method. 🙂
Your pumpkin glazed donuts sound delicious.
We thought about our options and plan to vote in person during the late morning when, hopefully, it will be a thinner crowd. They were really great during the primaries for wiping down between votes, keeping things distant, and providing sanitary stuff.
Nice haul! I need to catch up on this second season of the Ilona Andrews series.
Have a good week, Anne!
Thank you Sophia! The last two weeks were lots of appointments and running. I’ll be glad to just be home this week, although I probably have to go pick up a couple Rx after all the appointments. I saw one tomato, likely carried off to the very back of the yard and almost totally eaten by a squirrel, this morning. I also do all my garden plans on graph paper. I’ve sketched the area, now I have to make a plant list with their requirements and I can fill it in. I’m just glad the weather is going to be cooler so I can get the bed prep and planting done the next few days.
OMG Emerald Blaze! I hope you have a lovely week!
Anne, provided that you all wear masks etc I hope you’ll get to vote and …change things. I am not American but from Europe this presidency seems pretty bad and most of my US blogger friends seem to agree.
He’s the worst. I will vote and hope for kindness and decency to prevail.
Yeah I get with COVID the circumstances of voting is different I get both sides of the argument. I am just more of the idea that if you can protest for something you believe in or fighting injustice then you should be able to go vote at the ballot box if you want to. Or if you want to vote by mail…do that too. Let people do what they feel most comfortable doing. Have both options available and let the people decide for themselves. Just hoping voting this year will go smoothly and we can get 2020 over with LOL Because its been a challenge to say the least for everyone.
Yes we will have to decide what will work best for us with voting but we will vote!
I just read an article about dropping ballots off at the county office, so I am definitely going to do that! I still can’t understand why, with all the amazing technological advances in the world, we haven’t come up with a better way to vote! Have fun with your garden planning!
Well yes I think the problem with voting technology is hacking. Unfortunately I know how easy / bad it is because my nephew is an expert and works for a security company. I don’t know which we will do for voting but we will do it as early as possible. The weather has cooled down with a north wind forecast so I am excited to plant the next few days.
Such a busy week. I had a lot of stuff to do but can’t even figure what I did. .lol
I am not sure how I will vote yet but I do think the option should be each persons decision. And both Mail in and in person should be left as options like most school systems. Forcing one way or the other is sort of like pushing the vote for someone that things he can’t win. Just my opinion.
I hope you have a great week, Anne! I sent you a text about your header. I will have something for you this week! 🙂
Happy Reading! xx
Thanks Michelle! Yes we all have to make our own choices; that’s how it should be.
I can’t believe how difficult it seems to vote in the US, and how corruptible it is as demonstrated by your current President’s obvious interference in the postal system.
Maybe you can offer to collect people’s absentee votes to deliver to the electoral office?.
Wishing you a great reading week, and no more Earth shaking events!
Thank you Shellyrae. No I can’t offer to take others’ ballots to the election office. That’s illegal. It’s called ballot harvesting. I would offer to drive people to vote in person but not with COVID. Republicans, in general, are known for their suppression of the vote. I hope we manage to elect some competent folks. Too often I think in the state / local election people vote for their same old representation because they “know” them and believe it’s those congresspeople from other states who are horrible. I think there’s some rotten all over this year, including in my own state.
What a busy week for you. I’m not sure how were voting yet. It’s frustrating to hear about all the issues. I’ve been limiting my time on news either online or watching. It’s just so disappointing and depressing. I like your book haul this week. I’ve got Emerald Blaze on Pre-Order for all formats. Love the Andrews team. I’ve been doing a Kate Daniels bing re-listen. ^_^ I did pick up Newly Wed and Slightly Dead for free too. Have a great week!
Thank you Angela. We will have to see how things go before we decide too. I just finished Emerald Blaze and it’s awesome! At least, I’m reading well right now.
I’m glad the earthquake didn’t do any damage where you are.
I’m worried about the election, too. I am requesting an absentee ballot, which I will take to the registrar’s office when I have filled it out. I should be able to run in and drop it off without coming in contact with too many people. I am dismayed by Trump’s and his Postmaster General’s attempts to hamper absentee voting and sabotage the USPS. Apparently they don’t care about those of us who depend on the USPS to get our medications, paychecks, and online purchases, and to pay our taxes.
I’m glad you were able to fix it so your reviews post automatically to Goodreads. Alas, I have never been able to get that to work in the first place, so I have to do it myself.
Enjoy your garden!
We just have to wait and see how things go. Every day there is some new horror. I am going to have to stop reading news/ social media after dinner so I can sleep better.
Do you have the Ultimate Book Blogger and the Review to Goodreads Add-on? I could talk you through it on the phone or something if you want. If you don’t, and have to write your own code I’d be worthless.
Yum. I like the sound of making pumpkin donuts with a maple glaze. May give it a go. I do not have a donut pan but found a hack on how to make donuts without one.
They always run together anyway. I think I might as well use a muffin pan. I made a mistake on the glaze so it turned out more like frosting. They are really delicious though.
How frustrating that it takes so many orders to get what you want. I always joke at our Walmart you can never get the same things twice in a row. We finally got some much needed rain all day Saturday. It was a nice break. Once again you have some great books to read!
Thank you Barb. I’m just happy to get things. It may take longer and be more expensive but I’m getting what we need at least. I am so thrilled to have great books.
Busy week! Good luck to your daughter starting her fall semester.
I’m starting to think about fall garden plans – obviously I need to keep it simple since it’s just my balcony and I’m a new gardener.
I don’t think mail in voting will even a be an option here. I’ll find a way to vote for sure, I think early voting will be key for me. I early voted in my primaries and it was pretty empty, so I’m hoping to find a similar experience.
Have a great week and stay safe!!
Thanks! Anyone can get absentee here without a reason but I think we may go to early voting with the shenanigans. We did the primaries that way and it was ok, no line. I’m not quite ready for fall planting but in a couple weeks.
Trying to fight mail in ballots at a time like this is cowardly and but sadly not unexpected. *sigh*
Glad to hear you’re getting rain a some cooler temps.
Ah, I’m so jealous you got a copy of Emerald Blaze! I know it’s only a week and a half I still have to wait, but I was so diasppointed when I got rejected for an ARC. You’d think 8 years of actively blogging would count for something, but nope. I am not fortunate with Harper Collins or Edelweiss for some reason, and I got “You can wish for it” on Netgalley.
yes I’m not surprised at the shenanigans but I am disappointed with the GOP. I voted for them for most of my life but no more. I did not vote for Trump. I think I’m done with them forever.
I also did not get an eARC for Emerald Blaze and was also very disappointed. I was also jealous of people who got it. I got Sapphire Flames last year. But at least I got the audio because the audio people like me. I pre-order everything so they aren’t going to lose money by giving me ARCs on an Ilona Andrews book or audio. I buy both. It’s amazing! Of course, it is my favorite author. Of course I read it as fast as I could.
I was just talking about earthquakes with my fiance yesterday. It’s not something we deal with in the Midwest. I know abstractly what they’d feel like, but my brain simply can’t understand what the phenomenon is like. I have this odd desire to experience one, though an EXTREMELY tame one.
Sounds like it’s been a very productive week. I hope you have another great one!
Thank you! I keep getting sidetracked but I am still getting something accomplished.
My kids still have two more weeks before school starts but it’s creeping up on us. I’m busy with getting school uniform and supplies ready. Enjoy your new books.
I’m very worried about school this year. I hope it all goes well.
Since we’re traveling, absentee voting by mail is our only option. I’m dropping our requests for our ballots in the mail this week. I’m not sure how anyone can say they support absentee voting but not voting by mail when they’re literally THE SAME THING as far as I can tell. Oh well. Logic seems to be in short supply lately. Enjoy your week!
Yes, things are a bit crazy. I think we just have to do things as early as we can.
I enjoyed reading about your week, Anne? I wish it was safe enough for me to consider getting people to the polls, too. Hubby and I plan to early vote in person. Where we go, it’s safe so I don’t have concerns. He got us the non-latex gloves he used to wear in his lab and I wore them yesterday grocery shopping. They felt like skin and I forgot I had them on! Gave me such peace of mind.
Nice book haul, too! Enjoy everything!!
Thanks Jonetta! I’m thinking now we might end up with early voting if we are careful. I get all the best books!
You’ve been very busy! There are so many unknowns about our world at the moment, but it driving people to polling places is probably one we can’t do either. My husband and I have requested absentee ballots which should arrive the early part of October. If necessary we will drive to our election office. What strange times we live in.
Your books look great! Have a good week!
Thank you Jan! So happy you are back! I know it is a difficult time. I can’t remember another time in my life where I was so anxious and worried and upset every day. Or so concerned about the actions of the government.
I’ve been researching my options for voting as well and think I’m going to do absentee but drop the ballot off in person.
As long as you vote! I am struck by how difficult everything has become in the last 4 years and so many things I took for granted previously. Some things I am glad to be more aware but other changes are not so positive.
I am with you on the voting. I was mailed the application and I think I am going to go with mail-in and either drop it off or mail is asap. It’s not like I don’t know who I’m going to vote for right this very minute. I can’t believe how things stand right now. I hope our governor is able to stay put. ❤️
Yes. Volume 5 of the Senate Intelligence report just confirmed what we already suspected strongly. I am not happy with the Senate at all. They could have at least heard witnesses, but no, they just voted without bothering to review the facts. The totally partisan folks in either party are not my choice. (sorry end rant)
As busy as always *smile* It sounds great that you can auto post your reviews from WP to Goodreads. Maybe I should move my blog … Ah yes, the election in November. It is so pathetic what Trump is trying to do.
Yeah I can sleep when I’m dead. Trump IS pathetic. I didn’t vote for him and I won’t this time either.