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.
Don’t forget to look at my giveaways on the right sidebar. The one for A Very Merry Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams and Wicked All Night by Jeaniene Frost end tonight.
Sunday, I’m excited to get to everyone’s posts today and see what they’ve been doing. I’m happy to see people are signing up to join the 2023 IDC Read-along and various challenges. It’s early days and there are this year’s challenges to finish right now anyway. Lulu and I went walking by the pond but didn’t see the swans today. We all went to bed early with lots happening tomorrow.
Monday, so today is the rescheduled neighborhood electrician to work on my two outdoor outlets and to install light fixtures in my upstairs hall at 11am. It is also when the warranty repair for the fridge ice maker is scheduled. Of course, the warranty would only say 8-5am so I had to get up early in case they showed up right at 8am. At 7am, they showed it would be in the afternoon. GRR. Even though I hate having repair people it went well. The fridge was fixed quickly. The electrician got the outdoor outlets working and put up the new light fixtures in the upstairs hall. All of them wore masks in the house. They all left just in time for me to take Lulu on a walk. I disconnected hoses from the outdoor faucets since it’s freezing at night now sometimes. I managed to write 3 reviews today. I’m feeling a bit more caught up. But then I stayed up way too late talking to the ex about Christmas gifts for our daughter and various family news.
Tuesday, there is no rest for the wicked. Lulu didn’t even wake me up but I got up earlyish to feed her and take her out. Then I slept for another hour. OMG Kevin Hearne published his newsletter which mentions the Read-along and links to my blog post. It looks like we have about half and half for the Read-along, newbies and diehard fans.
Wednesday, I needed to get going because the afternoon would be full of chiro / massage appointments and errands. I reworked the main post format and rafflecopters for the 2023 Read-along which I’d been mulling over for a couple weeks. I finally started to review healthcare plans, finalized mine. Then I started working on my daughter’s options. I also handled a call from her dermatologist about an RX refill. I had narrowed down her options when it was time to go. I picked up a few things at Aldi but wow, eggs are getting expensive. I wanted to get fat free half n half to make clam chowder but all of them in two boxes expired today. So I got the regular half n half which expires 12-31. My daughter worked on her practice math exams before dinner. I finalized the choice for her health plan. I made a batch of food for Lulu and figured out a few items to pick up at Sam’s Club tomorrow.
Thursday, I started out with a cleanup of papers and tasks. It’s great to see clean spaces on my desk. I made sure the auto payments were updated for our medical and dental plans for 2023. My daughter had her math final exam. While she was on campus, I went to Sam’s Club for a few items. Of course, some items were not available. I should have walked Lulu but instead I vacuumed the upstairs. After dinner, my daughter and I watched Kitchen Nightmares with Lulu between us swaddled in blankets. I stayed up too late reading.
Friday, I didn’t get up too early. I went ahead and got the Groupon for two month free trial of Apple TV+. I want to watch Shantaram with Charlie Hunnam. Any other recommendations? I should go out and do some yard work but I feel cold, tired and lazy. I managed to convince myself to go out and string the one string of solar holiday lights we have, then I planted the pansies. Lulu and I did a medium walk. So I still have the leaf cleanup.
Saturday, well it would have been an ordinary day but I got an early wake up from Lulu. I did manage to go back to sleep but that made it a later start. I wrote a review and need to write a few more. Lulu and I walked a medium route and I spied the swans in the distance. My daughter finished her second final today and is glad to be on break!
As a reminder, the Top 10 posts start next week.
Monday, December 19th– Top 10 Books of 2022- Tuesday, December 20th– Top 10 Audiobooks of 2022
- Wednesday, December 21st – Top 10 Book Covers of 2022
- Thursday, December 22nd – Top 10 Book Characters of 2022
- Friday, December 23rd – Top 10 Your Choice Category ( Narrators, New to Me, Couples, Series, Books I Meant to Read in 2022, Books Out of My Comfort Zone, etc)
- Saturday, December 24th – Top 10 Books I Want in 2023
Each day will have a linkup so we can see everyone’s favorites.
#Top10of2023 @BooksofMyHeart Tag and grab the button!
Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Marlene at 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):
My grateful thanks to Tantor Audio, SocialButterflyPR.
(If you click on the cover, it will take you to the Goodreads entry)
NOTHING.
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. My freebies totally went holiday this week.
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.
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.
Friend or follow me at Goodreads.
- Sunday Series: Joe Pickett by CJ Box @cjboxauthor #DavidChandler @RecordedBooks#SundaySeries #LoveAudiobooks - April 21, 2024
- Sunday Post – 21 April 2024 @kimbacaffeinate @readingreality - April 21, 2024
- 🎧 Funny Story by Emily Henry #EmilyHenry @BerkleyRomance @BerkleyPub @justjuliawhelan @PRHAudio @Librofm #LoveAudiobooks - April 20, 2024
I will try to visit more often next week or do a recap at the end of the week because I am very curious about your top ten Anne!! Also I too should clean up my desk of papers! I admire people who have clean and ordained houses every minute of the day like it was a hotel! Mine is not a mess but it’s a little bit mess(ish) LOL
Thanks Sophie. I am enjoying my (temporarily) clean desktop. I have sorters too but sometimes things just pile up because I plan to work on them and procrastinate. Our house is definitely lived in no matter how much I try daily to pick up and put things away.
I’m amazed how ALL food prices are going up. I’m actually passing on things I would normal buy because I don’t want to spend the money. This would be a great time to raise hens for eggs, lol. Have a good week, Anne.
Idk Tammy. The gluten free stuff has stayed about the same but it was already high priced. A loaf of bread is $7-8, flour is $18 for 4 pounds. I remember getting regular bread or flour for 99¢ on sale but double that normally. But meat is going up, produce is not so different. We do tend to buy things when they are on sale, sometimes stocking up in the freezer.
Food prices are crazy over here, have been talking about it with friends and family a lot.
My BF tried to buy bulks of food last few weeks and we’re amazed by the quality so might do that for a while longer.
Have a great week!
yes we do the bulk and sale thing. And the produce hasn’t been so much more.
I’m so bad at joining in challenges and link ups, but I’ll try to join in the top 10s. If I don’t get myself organized – I’ll still be excited to see the other posts!
Thanks Jennifer. You can pick and choose and do the ones you are the most interested in doing.
Looks like you’ve had another busy week. We have chickens for eggs, but they are getting older and don’t lay many egss in the winter, so I still have to buy them, as we eat a lot of eggs. Have a great week, Lisa.
Thanks Wendy. Eggs have always been an inexpensive protein option. They’ve really gone up recently though.
Sweet Lulu💜
You’re not kidding you went holiday with the freebies! What a great time to pick these up and I hope it keeps you in the holiday spirit.
Enjoy everything!
Thank yo Jonetta. There were so many holiday freebies. It’s unlikely I will read them until next year’s HoHoHoRAT or sometimes there’s a July one but I needed some mysteries, even cozies, instead of just sappy insta-love novellas. That’s not to say there weren’t some good romances to read but I need to diversify my genres or I can get bored.
I was going to try and have my act together in time for the top 10 but it’s not looking good. I’ll try to at least visit though! Groceries have gotten ridiculous. And eggs are one of Dante’s staples so we go through at least a dozen a week (usually more). I’m trying this new thing where I prep a month’s worth of crock pot meals and freeze them to make my life easier. It’s not really that much considering that each recipe makes about 6 servings, so we’ll do leftovers 2-3 times and I only need to prep like 6 recipes (we eat take out as a treat once a week). My grocery list isn’t looking too bad for today so fingers crossed it’s not too expensive. And then for the next 4 weeks I should just need the staples (bread, milk, eggs) at the store. I’ll see how it goes. Have a great week!
Thank you Berls. We don’t actually use much bread or milk. What I need 1-2 times a week is produce like lettuce, green beans, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, cabbage, carrots, onions. We get our meat in bulk or on sale and can store that in the freezer. We do use a lot of eggs and they have gone up a lot. You could do just 1 day of the top 10, maybe.
Sounds like a busy week! Love the Lulu sleeping pic. I started Drama King today. Good so far! I’m going to do your Top 10, but am going to add one more day that I like from the one I have done in years past. Hope you have a good week!
Thanks Lisa. We will be happy to have you with us on the Top 10 and there’s your choice and of course you can add others as you like.
Defending Jacob on Apple TV + is so good!! And if you are okay with darker stuff, Black Bird is based on a true story and it was really good as well.
Have a great week!
Thanks for the Apple TV recs Samantha.
I pay here in Germany at the supermarket for ten normal eggs (not bio), € 1,99 (about $ 2,10). Bio eggs cost up tp € 2,29 (about $ 2,49) or more, depends where you buy them. If I can I walk to the local bio farmer and his little shop (similar to the farmers markets in the US) run by his family, and buy there. Thank you for the lovely Lulu picture. Glad your fridge is running again. Here in Germany not many houses got their Christmas lightning up and running. Electricity has become very expensive and with the electricity price going up and the next day down, it is a bit of a gamble around here. Ah well, we will survive it, one way or the other… Happy reading and have a good new week, Anne.
Thank you Vi. I only have a solar set of lights on the tree in my front yard.
Look at all of those Christmas titles! How fun. Speaking of… I don’t have Apple TV, but heard the new Will Farrell Christmas movie is good. Of course, everyone loves Ted Lasso. My brother in law raves about Foundation as well.
I’ve been busy this weekend getting ready for my daughter’s surgery. I’ve blogged ahead for next week and still have a couple reviews to write.
Thanks Jen. I hope to watch something before the day the trial expires. I bet it feels good to be organized and ahead on things. I hope the surgery goes very well.
It sounds like you’ve been having a busy week. I’m always adding to my freebies even though I really don’t need anymore. As you said, they are free 🙂 Hope you enjoy Apple TV. I have a free trial but haven’t really watched much on it yet.
Have a great week!
Thanks Yvonne. I think the freebie cozies I got are in your wheelhouse. I don’t use KU enough while I have it or other free trials. I keep reading the things with due dates – ARCs and library books.
That’s a lot of freebies this week. ^_^ Happy Reading!
yes, stocking up for next year’s HoHoHoRAT. lol
You got ever so much done this week with insurance set up, shopping, pet food, contractors in, clean up, and blog work. That is fabulous about Kevin Hearne putting your readalong in his newsletter- nice buzz. I was sick all last week so I didn’t get to as much as I would like, but now my energy is coming back and I’m hoping to tick lots off the list for this week. 🙂
Have a great week, Anne!
Thank you Sophia! You were ahead I think so you will be fine. I was ahead and I still am just a little. But yes, last week had lots of Read-along excitement and I finished off a bunch of long neglected tasks.
I’m glad the repair was done quickly. It’s such a pain when they seem to take hours to fix something. My dog gets me up early every morning to go out. But at least he wakes me up when he needs to go.
Yes it is better she gets me up if she needs to go. But I think she doesn’t need to go sometimes and just wants company. She was spoiled by me being up all day and my daughter up all night so she always had attention.
I always get a lot of satisfaction from a good clean. Unfortunately, it doesn’t usually stay that way for long – especially my desk. I just see so many books and ideas as I’m on the computer and jot them down on a tablet or a scrap paper and then never get around to transcribing all that random info to the computer. It’s a problem. 🙂 I’ve been busy figuring out my challenges for next year – I’m in for COYER and your Library challenge (plus a lot more). It’ll be a busy challenge year for me. Hope your upcoming week is cheery and bright.
Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
https://www.bookshelfjourneys.com/post/sunday-post-28
Thank you Terrie. I hope you enjoy the new challenges. I totally get what you mean. I get piles of paper of things I want to do something with them and now I finished doing some things and organized the rest of the piles. It includes things like printouts of anthologies where I then go find out if the stories in it are books or novellas and if they are in a series for example.
I love getting trades in to get things working and more functional. You’ve got some great new books this week – all new to me. I enjoy Ginny Baird’s books and will look for this one. Have a wonderful week ahead Anne!
Thank you Jodie. I love how freebies let me try new authors and new genres.
You were able to get quite the haul of freebies this week! How exciting that Kevin Hearne is sharing your read-along! I need to sign up for his newsletter. I am so glad that my husband and I can handle most repairs because waiting on repairmen is not any fun. I hope that you have a fantastic week!
Thank you Carole. I have managed to learn some basic stuff but other things I need to call in help. I had to stock up for next year’s HoHoHoRAT. lol It’s so exciting to have Kevin Hearne involved.
the unbreakable bladesong druid cover is awesome
It is! I’m listening now.
That’s nice that the repair people wore masks. I’ve had repair people come out and not do that and it irritated me, especially when it happened back in the height of the pandemic.
I’ve heard there’s some good stuff on Apple TV. Several bloggers have mentioned For All Mankind, saying it’s quite good. I haven’t done a trial yet though…
We will see what I find Greg. I just have to watch Shantaram. My daughter is on break now so I’m sure she will find something too.
Grocery prices are definitely crazy and don’t seem to be getting better. You gotta love a long service window. That always drives me crazy. It sounds like a super productive week and Lulu looks so cozy! Have a wonderful week.
Thank you Katherine. Last week I managed to get some things finished. This week is running into a few roadblocks.
Looks like a nice selection of Christmas books! I hope you have a great week!
Thank you Cindy. I’ve collected them all up for cozy reading for next year’s HoHoHoRAT
We had to pick an insurance through my husbands work since I went into a per diem position at my hospital organization so I wouldn’t have to be committed to a schedule or working as much. Unfortunately, his choices suck. It was either Kaiser for $400+ a month or an EPO for close to $500 where we can only use drs in their network or claim won’t be paid or PPO for $1200 a month! I went with the EPO but it’s been a lot of work trying to get into a PCP because we live in a small town. Went to a bigger neighboring town and finally have appointments as of this morning. Just spent the whole morning getting that accomplished. As you know, all this is very time consuming!
I saw the Newsletter (I’m a subscriber) with the link to you and the info on the read-along! I was excited for you and planned to tell you when I next commented. Forgot because we had to head down south because my son’s wife just gave birth to their first child. Exciting times. The reason I didn’t post a Sunday Post. Here now and have a bit of time on the computer.
I got a copy of Drama King too. Looking forward to it. Hope we love it, Anne.
Thank you Rachel. You are preaching to the choir about medical appts. We’ve had some good doctors but then they seem to leave the practice or we moved. It’s frustrating. I was so excited to see my Read-along in his newsletter. He’s doing a fantastic job of supporting the Read-along. It’s a thrill.
I follow a FB group that lists all the reading challenges this time of year and so many are instagram and Storygraph, I felt kind of left out. I feel so old fashioned wondering where all the blog reading challenges have gone. Haha
I always enjoy reading the top ten posts. 🙂 My favorites will come out just after the new year, I think. I put together the post, but it can change between now and then. I didn’t do a cover one, but I should. I like looking at pretty covers.
I hope you have a good week! I have been enjoying the rain today. The sun peeking out now for a bit. Take care!
Thank you Wendy. COYER had a post with all the challenges and there are many options where you don’t have to have those sites. The ones I am hosting Library Love and Thrifty Thursday Challenge don’t need it either. There was also the Audiobook Challenge, New Release Challenge, Diversity REading Challenge and Finish the Series Challenge. Those are the ones I remember and I’m sure there is more than one TBR challenge. I can send you a link to one of those if you are interested. I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone’s favorites whether they do 1 day or more of the Top 10.
Mmm clam chowder!
Glad all the electrical / fridge work got done.
yes the clam chowder was excellent. Soup is my daughter’s favorite. I’m so glad when anything can get finished.
You got a lot done this past week! For Apple TV+, I actually like a lot of shows. Ted Lasso, of course, is phenomenal. Foundation was good past the 3rd episode. Mythic Quest is great, very funny. Severance was my favorite show last year. It’s weird and creepy and the final episode of the show will blow you away. So good.
Thank you! I’ll have to try some of those recommendations.
I grabbed some of those freebies. <3
I hope you enjoy them. There were a lot of good holiday themed ones.
Oh, ugh, healthcare plans. Our system truly sucks. Glad you got yours all done. Ours was last month for hubby’s work. So thankful they didn’t do any changes, so I could just approve it and be done with it. This year though hubby’s employer is requiring birth certificates and marriage licenses to prove who he has on his W2 are real people. That’s a new one. So I have to dig those out and make copies.
The weather has been chilly lately. I don’t want to work outside at all. Of course it was just drying out from last week now it’s been raining all night and today. blerg
Thank you Carol. I’m debating when to try to finish the leaves. It does feel cold now.
I’m glad everything got fixed that needed fixing. I just love the covers for holiday novels.
Thank you! I’ve collected those holiday books so I have some mysteries along with the huge pile of romance holiday stories.