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 was rainy and cold. I was fed up with my clothes all being in the clean basket and so I hung everything up, or put it away. I did the usual blog visiting. Somehow I am not getting emails when people comments now and it’s making me crazy. I can find them in the comments but it is messing with my normal routine. I ate the last of the garden tomatoes and some lettuce on my taco salad.
Monday my daughter had a doctor appt so we went out. I don’t really want to go out at all. I also got the car inspected so I could get the new license tags. I found out I could renew them online for a $3 fee but that’s better than waiting in line inside a building. I had some blog issues to try to handle. But it was also the start of the fun Top 10 posts. I had to get my new audios ARCs uploaded so I could listen to them too. My daughter made this tree from catalogs.
Tuesday, I had an Instacart. My daughter had a tele medical appt. She expressed she was unhappy because she didn’t get As in her courses. I looked it up online while they were talking and saw she got an A and a B. She seemed surprised she got the A. I told her that those were excellent grades and she should be proud of herself in this tough year. She is so critical of herself; she thinks a B is failing. smh I worked on finishing up the Top 10 posts. In the late afternoon, my daughter and I took Lulu on the short walk when the wind finally died down. I spent a lot of time on my narrator post but I’m finally happy with it.
Wednesday started out with nice weather but more Google Chrome Not Responding. I did some things which seem to have solved it for now. I took Lulu for another walk and made a batch of food with her favorite – chicken. While I made dinner, my daughter got the lights on the tree.
Thursday was an amazing day. I woke up about 2 hours earlier than normal (6:30am – I think I heard my daughter going to bed) and decided to get up because I could get the dog out before it started raining. The weather was warm but very rainy and high winds. My computer was behaving and finally, I started getting my Comment emails and stats for the first time since December 15th! It’s incredible how much my routine was disrupted by not getting them. I got my reviews written for next week I got bills paid and doing some tax planning.
Friday was Christmas and we didn’t do much. My daughter had decorated the tree during the night. She made these cute ornaments with origami paper. I was up first as usual, wrapped gifts and put them under the tree, and filled the stockings. I was reading books by favorite authors Ilona Andrews and Patarica Briggs. The high was close to freezing. Brrr. I made my daughter’s favorite clam chowder. My daughter made me a matching necklace and earrings. She also made me 20 origami hearts with messages in them.
I FINALLY got to read the eARC of Blood Heir by Ilona Andrews I was saving for Christmas. So I didn’t get going fast on Saturday. My daughter went to bed at 12 noon so I wasn’t worried about getting up early for her. She had stayed up to do some online gaming partnership she had set up. I made breakfast for dinner with pancakes, bacon and eggs. I didn’t get to several things I wanted to do, so hopefully I will get to them this upcoming week. I’m glad it’s going to be warmer so I can walk with Lulu more this week.
Take a look if you missed our Top 10 posts this week (each one has a link up so you can share your favorites) :
Monday, December 21st– Top 10 Books of 2020
Tuesday, December 22nd– Top 10 Audiobooks of 2020
Wednesday, December 23rd – Top 10 Book Covers of 2020
Thursday, December 24th – Top 10 Book Characters of 2020
Friday, December 25th – Top 10 Favorite Narrators (Blogger’s Choice)
Saturday, December 26th – Top 10 Books I Want in 2021
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):
Many thanks to Brilliance audio.
(If you click on the cover, it will take you to the Goodreads entry)
I finally decided on my Amazon first read for December which comes with Prime.
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.
I look forward to hearing about your holiday week in visiting Sunday posts today!
Anne
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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I need to check out all your top 10’s, I should do an audiobook but I usually just lump mine all together…lol. I added my top ten to your linky. 🙂
Have a great week and happy new year!!
Stormi
Thanks so much for sharing your favorites on the linky. It makes it so much easier to find them all at once. I love seeing them all.
Sounds like you had a nice quiet Christmas. I love the origami ornaments. I’m looking forward to New Years because there’s much less stress. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on Blood Heir, it’s got lots of buzz!
Thank you Tammy. My daughter is so creative with origami. Blood Heir is a new favorite of 2020/2021 – it’s fabulous as all their work is.
Sounds like a good Christmas and I’m glad you had quiet enjoyment. We had an easy relaxing holiday too.
Thanks Sophia I’m happy to hear you had a peaceful time. We are always pretty calm. The weird thing is the nights have been in the 20s so it’s been very cold compared to usual but this week it will go back to the normal 50s days and 30s nights. Happy New Year!
I am loving all the Top 10 posts that you are doing, this week has been crazy but I will get to catching up today. I am so happy to see that you had a relaxing Christmas, those are always the best to have peace and joy with one’s loved ones.
Thank you Renee. I’ve enjoyed seeing all the different ideas and posts people have done. I might have to go to 7 days instead of 6 because there are more books I want to celebrate.
Sounds like you enjoyed a wonderful Christmas. Love the ornaments-they look absolutely pretty. Happy reading and stay safe and well.
Thanks Vi! My daughter is so creative – I love the ornaments she made.
Your week sounds cozy and enjoyable. I like the look of your books, and Bloodline is going on my list. I also love Lisa Gardner’s books.
Enjoy the New Year…and here are my WEEKLY UPDATES
Thank you. I hope this week is even quieter.
I think all kids are tough on themselves when it comes to grades. We have created a idea in them that is the only acceptable grade is A and everything else is subpar. I don’t know when it started, but I battle it all the time with my students!
I renewed my plates on line as well. I was not keen on waiting at the DMV before COVID!
It’s too bad. There are many things to learn and not all of them are the most important. This year has taught us so much about what we can do online or with technology.
Sounds like you had a good week Anne. And I can totally understand why not getting those emails would throw you off a bit. I can’t stand when things do go like they used too without any explanation. So frustrating!
Your Christmas sounds lovely.
Have a great week and happy reading!
Thank you Maureen! I hope you have a smooth week and then a restful time on your leave.
Your daughter did a great job with the ornaments. We didn’t do a tree this year. I am still trying to figure out where I would put one if I decided to put one up. I can’t think of a better way to spend Christmas than reading Blood Heir! Congrats to your daughter on her grades. She did great! I hope you have a great week and enjoy all of your new reads!
Thank you Carole! I thought it was a good plan. I love her ornaments, so creative. Our tree is a baby, shorter than me.
It sounds like you had a very nice and quiet Christmas with your daughter, Anne 🙂 And you’re right, an A and a B are definitely good grades, your daughter is doing very well.
I hope this last week of 2020 will be a good one, and that 2021 will be much gentler with all of us.
Thank you Linda. I hope this break will give you and me and everyone some peace and rest to start the new year.
Well I am happy to see that you finally got to read that book and that you seem having had a great Christmas Anne!
Thank you Sophie. It’s good for everyone to have a break.
Love your fireplace and the tree looks quite nice! I used to feel that way about getting a B, but it is a grade to be proud of! It’s hard not to be critical of ourselves when we shouldn’t be.
I’m so excited for Blood Heir, that was definitely a great way to spend Christmas Day! I’m waiting to request Wild Sign (I can’t wait!) until I get a few Netgalley reads off my list. I always think when looking at requests that the publisher will deny if I have a lot of outstanding books I need to review.
Thank you Rachel. We like our new home, although it’s our 2nd Christmas here. I love our tiny tree with my daughter’s creative ornaments. My plan for reading what I want has worked out well. I’m trying to reread the Alpha & Omega series now as I am recently read Mercy Thompson, and to prepare for Wild Sign. Everyone will enjoy Blood Heir!
Merry Christmas to you and your girls, Anne. I just started Blood Heir today. I’ll have it read pretty quickly. Looking forward to it!.
Thank you Jen! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you! Blood Heir is just what I needed – enjoy!
We enjoyed a little rain on Christmas Eve–a teaser for a storm that is on its way. I do hope the rain will last a while this time. We get so little of it.
I have that problem with comments too, but only certain people. They aren’t blocked and their doesn’t seem to be any pattern to it. I just don’t get notified when they comment. And since I moderate all my comments, I have to make sure to regularly check to see if any are waiting to be approved. I hope whatever your problem is with comment notification, it is resolved soon.
Your Christmas with your family sounds nice, Anne. Ours was fairly low-key. We got up early because my daughter couldn’t sleep anymore and came downstairs to see if Santa visited. Later we connected with my mom online and opened presents together. Later in the day, we got online to visit with some of my extended family (mom, brother and his wife, aunts and uncles). That was the extent of our socializing. Mostly it was movie watching, games, reading and eating.
I hope you have a Happy New Year, Anne. Hopefully things will get better this coming year. In the meantime, stay safe and well.
Thank you Wendy. The comment problem is resolved. It had something to do with a Google outage apparently and I am SO glad it is fixed. I was so happy to have everything relaxed for these holidays.
Some nice things there and I’m glad you had a good christmas:
Thank you. It was a nice, peaceful time.
Sounds like a very nice week! I’m glad you got your comments/email issue sorted. Your daughter should be super proud of her grades!
I hope you have a happy new year, Anne, and I can’t wait to see what you thought of Blood Heir! I’m super excited to return to that world. 🙂
Thank you Nicci! I like a week without much scheduled, so I can do what I want and just go along with what captures my thoughts. Of course, there is much I want to do, so I don’t really relax too much. I was thrilled with Blood Heir.
Your Christmas tree looks great, hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Free books are always great and I say you can never have too many books! 🙂 Have a great week and a Happy New Year!
Thank you Jamie. I did plenty of reading this past week of just what I wanted which is my normal plan for December. I like the really small tree. It’s easier to handle and still smells great.
I’m loving those origami ornaments! And thanks for the the Lulu fix?
I got the Lisa Gardner book, too! I’m looking forward to it as after the book I’m listening to, I’ll be caught up in the Detective D. D. Warren series.
Loving your international Christmas greeting tree! Have a wonderful week, Anne!
I still have the last DD Warren to read. I love the ornaments, she is so creative. Thank you Jonetta!
I haven’t been able to comment via Google in over a month and have no idea why. It’s annoying to have to enter my info for every single comment but I suppose I’m not tech savvy enough to figure it out. Glad you got the commenting notifications sorted out! Sounds like it was a lovely, lowkey Christmas on your end. Same here and I thoroughly enjoyed the quieter day.
Yes it is frustrating when things don’t work. I contacted Mailpoet which is the plugin I use to send the post emails. The problem seems to actually be from a Google outage and they had my email as a bounce email and Mailpoet was able to take me off the bounce list. It started working last week except my actual post emails but they just notified me today so maybe I’ll get my post emails tomorrow? I love the peaceful time to work on some things.
I’m glad to know you and your daughter had a lovely Christmas together.
I haven’t done any favourite posts this year, I enjoy reading them but I find the process too stressful, so I’m just not going to this year.
Wishing you a great reading week and a joyous new year
Thank you! Different things work for different people. While it is hard to choose, I love celebrating and recalling some of my favorites.
I love your origami ornaments! And it sounds like you had a lovely Christmas together. 🙂
I love breakfast for dinner. 🙂
My daughter is so creative and an expert at all kinds of origami. Thank you!
Glad I’m not the only one who leaves the clean laundry in the basket for way too long. I think it’s so sweet that your daughter made your Christmas gifts—glad you had a nice holiday, even if it was low-key.
My daughter is very creative so her gifts are special.
A lovely Christmas indeed ! Thanks to your daughter, I’m now thinking origami for Christmas decorations – I was beginning to think of making crochet stars and other ornaments, but origami sounds good too 🙂
I love them. She is so creative.