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.
Sunday, I woke up reasonably without the alarm. There was the usual visiting and minor chores. I did some planning for this month’s reading. I helped with mounting the new TV above the fireplace. Then Lulu and I walked right before the rain and ran into the neighbor and Abbey. It wasn’t as cold as I expected because of not as windy. I noticed the lenten roses are ready to bloom.
Monday, I moved slowly this morning. It’s rainy. At least the ex was hot on the projects. I was doing laundry. I made maple muffins from a gluten free mix he gave as a Christmas gift. I put pecans in some and they were really good. Every time we find something great that is gluten free they discontinue it. I did the setups for the two new audio ARCs I got. I had lots of calls on RX refills and Prior authorizations as well as savings cards for the new year. I worked on posts for the Read-along and pacing schedules.
Tuesday, an earlier start with a round of errands to do today. I did the usual visiting and emails in the morning. Then I went to Wegmans, Aldi, Trader Joes and Papa Murphys to get the various things we needed. I wouldn’t have stopped at Trader Joes but Aldi didn’t have carrots. I was tired but I went out and walked Lulu at near dark. It wasn’t as cold as I expected. I figured out a method for attaching the greenhouse top to the bed which should work well, even if it’s windy.
Wednesday, I’m happy to have a day at home. Another cold day. I took Lulu for a walk and at least it was sunny. I managed to write a review.
Thursday, I’m overwhelmed momentarily trying to figure out Discord. I am considering what to do about Instagram, Threads and Facebook. I don’t have many followers on Instagram or Threads really. My personal FB is only to look at the neighbor FB pages. But my primary places will be Bluesky and Discord. I may post to others but I won’t personally be active on them so much. Friends, please get on to Bluesky and add it to your sharing buttons. I also set up a List for those who are in the COYER group. My daughter and I walked with the neighbor and Lulu and Abbey. It was COLD. I wrote reviews for the two books I finished today.
Friday, it seems warmer with south winds but the temperature is still cold. I made muffins, started some laundry, ran the dishwasher, read emails and visited blogs. The usual stuff. I am setting up a Discord server for BooksofMyHeart but it will be awhile before I figure it out. I hope it will replace Facebook functions. My ex went to pick up my daughter’s RX and got some of Harris Teeter’s $5 sushi. My daughter and I walked Lulu just after 2pm before the weather might rain or snow. We should have worn our warmer coats. I sent a message to FS Poster with some questions about how to connect to Discord. The tv is hung and now the cords have been fished through the wall.
Saturday, well I woke up mad because all the response from FS Poster did was send me a link to the documentation. The same documentation I quoted in my questions bruh! I fiddled around and got it all to work pretty quickly. I sent the first “post” to my posts chat-thread-channel, what are those called anyway? We will see if the autoshare works tomorrow (Sunday). My ex is working on installing boxes for the ends of the cords which went through the wall. Lulu is not a fan of the frozen snow. We got snow but then lots of freezing rain. I hope it melts quickly. Tonight we are watching the series finale for Vera.
Things I Learned This Week:
OK if I’m asking for help, I’m also going to share the cool things I learn. You may already know them but hopefully it will help someone.
So I’m not thrilled about Meta taking their socials to hellscape like Twitter with allowing misinformation. I will share posts to those places but I won’t be active on Twitter, Instagram, Threads, or Facebook. I did get the Discord server set up and you can find me on Discord books.of.my.heart and on Bluesky @booksofmyheart.bsky.social. Really it was so bad on Facebook that I never went to feed, I went straight to search. I deactivated my personal Twitter Northwomn and am considering making my personal Facebook inactive. For now, I am not leaving the other accounts but not accessing them regularly.
Stacking the Shelves is hosted by 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 Macmillan Audio (2).
(If you click on the cover, it will take you to the Goodreads entry)
NONE.
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.
Chirp Friday Freebies:
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
- 🎧 Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett #HeatherFawcett @Pottell @DoddsAndEnds @DelReyBooks @penguinaudio.bsky.social @PRHAudio #LOVEAudiobooks - February 13, 2025
- 🎧 Nemesis by Gregg Hurwitz @gregghurwitzbooks.bsky.social @ScottBrick @macmillanaudio.bsky.social @stmartinspress.bsky.social #LoveAudiobooks @GreggHurwitz@MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress @MacmillanAudio - February 11, 2025
- Sunday Post – 9 February 2025 @caffeinatedreviewer.com @kimbacaffeinate @readingreality - February 9, 2025
I also limit my social media but I have chosen Instagram. In a short time I have a decent following and have found a small group of friends. We support each other’s accounts and have really great discussions.
I have now gotten the freebie big and it’s out of control. I don’t have time to read them all.
Happy reading!
I’m glad Instagram is working for you. I don’t have a lot of followers there and it’s part of the Meta which will allow hate speech and misinformation. I enjoy having all the freebies so I have choices even though I won’t read them all.
Lulu looks very snuggly and warm😁 I am not deleting either Facebook or Instagram. Facebook is the way I keep in touch with both my old and new communities and Instagram is my happy place and where I get most of my book information, I follow mostly authors, publishers and dog accounts.
I understand what you mean and I’m not deleting them at this point. I have a similar bubble on Twitter or Facebook if I only look at those I follow. But I can’t actively look at everything all the time so Bluesky will be a primary place to be.
Darling Lulu💜
Social media providers are going to be the death of civil society. I’ve managed to get into safe Bookstagram clusters and have made some great friends for book discussions. It’s such a shame that a minority of idiots have been given elevated voice. Right now, I’m active on IG and BlueSky and that’s enough for me. I share to Threads but don’t interact much.
I got Head Cases, too, and can’t wait to start. Have a wonderful week, Anne!
Thanks Jonetta. You have a sensible social media plan. I’m cutting back on doom scrolling and being active where I choose. Discord is interesting and we will see how that goes. My daughter has been active there for 8 years because she’s a gamer. Mastodon has promise but just hasn’t gotten a lot of interaction.
I am so frustrated with social media. Meta and Twitter are just awful, and Tiktok might be banned. Its very frustrating. I struggle with bluesky. I can’t seem to find people without searching them out, it doesn’t feel as intuitive as other social media things, and I just kind of forget about it. Sigh. Have a wonderful week!
Social media is frustrating I really like Bluesky. It doesn’t have as much news as I got on Threads or even Mastodon. I created a starter pack for COYER friends. You may find some book friends there. You can follow all or pick and choose with a starter pack. The more of “your” people you follow the better it will be. There are feeds for Authors and Booksky to read and find others.
I have too much family that I would probably never interact with if it wasn’t for Facebook, so I refuse to give it up for my personal page. Too many authors that I interact with there as well. I don’t really use my blog page there, so I should probably just close that. I have the BlueSky app, need to figure out how to add the follow on my blog page. Of course I rarely get to looking at it either. I also like Instagram a lot for the authors I interact with there too. I doubt I’ll quit that either. Sounds like some ups and downs for you this week with blogging stuff. I think it’s great the relationship you have with your ex that he still helps out with things like he does! It reminds me of the relationship my mom and stepdad had with my dad and stepmom. That my mom still went to the dinner my sister who is my dad and stepmom’s daughter had when she was here from Scotland last month. I wish more people could see that it can be better that way. Although I guess some relationships end for reasons that make that impossible.
I get it. There are things I do just on certain platforms. While Twitter is a mess, I have a bubble of book people and that’s all I see. I just don’t want to support his misinformation / hate system. I may not be shutting down many but I’ll be less active in some places.
I love the look of TVs over fireplaces for some reason. Those maple pecan muffins sound good and Lulu Snuggle Bug is adorable as usual.
I’m getting used to the tv. Lulu loves the tv because it means more snuggling. We’d love to get more of that maple muffin mix but it’s not available anymore!
We got snow too! And I am not happy with the stand Meta is taking but my biggest follower base is on Instagram so I am not ready to leave…yet.
I am not sure what to do about social media, so it’s wait and see for now.
I hope you are enjoying your new tv! My husband and I are going over to my mom’s later to set up her new tv set. Her old one gave out on her right before she left on her cruise.
Thank you for setting up a starter kit on BlueSky of COYER people. That was so nice of you to do–and very helpful. I’m a bit intimidated by BlueSky and prefer Threads, so will have to decide if I want to use the site since it is Meta based. I won’t be letting go of Facebook. I have too much family and old friends on that site and it’s our main way of staying in contact. I rarely post there anymore as it is. I am not on Twitter at all anymore. I gave up my account.
I hope you have a great week and enjoy your reading, Anne!
Thank you Wendy. Social media is a tough navigation for now. I’ve been on Bluesky since July 2023 so I’m more comfortable with it. I have lots of posts and surprisingly more followers now than Threads, Mastodon and Instagram combined. The Lists and Starter packs are helpful because you can follow all or pick and choose. I find the more I follow people I like, the better the experience gets. Threads has a lot more political news that I want to read but I’m trying to follow my favorites there on Bluesky. Discord has been so interesting. My daughter (gamer) has been there for 8 years. I like the way it’s organized and it lacks ads or politics. I think it’s perfect for COYER.
I hate trying to get anything filled that needs a prior authorization. My insurance just stopped paying for my diabetic testing supplies and I had a heck of a time figuring out why. They only cover one brand but it would have been too easy for them to just tell me that. lol
yes Mary they make me crazy with frustration sometimes. I spend a lot of time on my daughter’s stuff. It’s a good thing I have so few needs myself.
We haven’t had snow yet this winter, but we’ve had quite a bit of rain. Looks like there’s sun for the next couple of weeks and higher than normal temps. I’ve been taking advantage of the mild weather by getting out on walks and runs. I need to make an account on Bluesky but I’m being lazy. I do a lot on Instagram and between that and the blog I’m all computered out. I need whatever time left to read.
I completely understand. Social media is exhausting. I think I prefer your winter to ours. We are very dry and colder than expected.
Way to go getting all those errands done and orders filled and figuring out your socials and connecting on Discord. The new raised beds are looking nice. I was finally starting to get my energy back and infection is gone this week so I hope to be productive next week.
Have a good week, Anne!
I hope you are feeling well and have a really great week. Are you on Discord or Bluesky? Social media makes me so tired sometimes.
Thanks for the well wishes. This week has been much more productive as the energy level is up.
No, I’m not on either. I looked at Discord because of COYER, but it stressed me out just looking it over and having no clue since I’m not part of the gaming world. I should be less on social media anyway not adding more, but I hope you and everyone else get settled in nicely.
I hear you. I hope you consider Bluesky as it is easy and growing quickly. The first time I looked at Discord I hated it. That was a few years back when someone set up a channel for new bloggers. I’m not a gamer either. But now Discord looked organized and made sense and doesn’t have all the ads and crap. So I hope you’ll take a look again someday.
Are Lenten roses similar to hellebores? How exciting that they are starting to bloom!
yes Lenten Rose are Hellebore. Common name vs. scientific one. I have two plants. I love them. I never tried them in Minnesota but they are fabulous here and one of the things that blooms in the winter.
I am going to figure out how to add a link to Blue Sky on my website. Right now I still use the meta products for book and personal communications. I’m working on trying to encourage people to subscribe to my newsletter, that’s a great way to reach people–no one elses platform is needed. I’m very excited about the read along this year. I loved On The Edge more this time I read it!
Thanks Victoria for reading along with us. I love Ilona Andrews so I’m excited. Social media is exhausting but I have it set up.
I’m doing the same with my social media accounts. I already deleted Twitter. Facebook I only keep to stay in touch with family and friends. I don’t really use it very much. I have Instagram but I don’t use that much. I like Bluesky and, so far, I’m keeping that. I’m not sure I’ll stick with Threads though.
I hope you enjoy your books and have a great week!
Yvonne, you have almost exactly my feelings about different social media. I have deleted my personal Twitter but not the blog. I also have Mastodon which has promise but low activity.
I haven’t ever looked at Discord, I do have accounts with most of the major social media platforms and share my posts on them but I’m not really active on any them. They are too ephemeral since they are subject to the whims of trends/owners/policies etc, which is why I prefer to stick with the blog.
I’ll definitely be searching out your Starter Pack on Blue Sky. I have one for Australian book bloggers, authors etc
Wishing you a wonderful reading week
Thank you. You can pick and choose or follow all in a Starter Pack. Social media is a mess. I’m surprised how quickly I am adapting to Discord for some of the Facebook functions. It’s more organized and no ads.
I love seafood, but have never tried sushi. It’s the whole raw fish thing, although that doesn’t even make sense because I love oysters on the half-shell. My business relies on Facebook and Instagram, so I cannot delete my accounts and all of our family lives on the east coast, so we communicate via Facebook. However, I am don’t socialize there because I hate all the junk in my feed. I chat on BlueSky.
Perfectly understandable. I am trying something similar. Leaving some accounts but not being active, I’m surprised how much I’m liking Discord.
Ooh, I like the cover of Killing Time in Georgia! As ever, hope you enjoy those freebies once you get a chance to read them.
Thank you ! I read a few freebies each month, usually with a theme of some sort.
Sounds like another busy week. We had about 10 inches of snow last week, primarily on Sunday and Monday and then another round on Saturday. My little pigskin boys do not like the cold and in our neighborhood, people don’t shovel sidewalks to well so they didn’t get out much. They did get to play in the yard in the snow Saturday afternoon and we built snowmen with them. They had a blast because it was a warmer afternoon.
I am using BlueSky more often and will completely cut off Twitter at some point. I pretty much only use it to announce reviews and blog posts and don’t follow the feeds on it much at all. I am working on a reading journal which will allow me to use some of my creative outlets (I have too many hobbies).
Lulu looks adorable as always and thanks for sharing her with us! Have a great week.
Thanks Barb. Is it possible to have too many hobbies? I’m in the running. I wish it would just go to more normal winter temps here. It’s all up and down higher or lower than usual. I’ve always like Bluesky and I’m glad it is getting more users so it is more active.
I am having second thoughts about Facebook as well. There are old friends that I am only in touch with on Facebook, so I haven’t figured out that conundrum. I will probably just visit their posts and skip everything else. I’ll be checking into other social media platforms as well.
yes I already just search for the ones I want to see because the feed is useless on Facebook. Even when I search sometimes it won’t show me the posts I am looking for. But I probably won’t delete it just use it much less.
I love the Things I Learned This Week section 🙂
Thank you. It seemed like a good idea and I use it when I have some things to share.
Your weather sounds miserable:(. Ice and freezing rain – urg!! As for Facebook et al – I hear you. I’ve stayed with the thought that if all the decent people leave the lovely little pockets of niceness, such as the book bloggers, then all that’ll be left are the toxic liars. Not that I ever go near any of the mendacious naysayers or respond in any way. I’ll not give them the compliment of my attention, for starters.
In the meantime, I love the look of your television on the wall and am very admiring of your weed-free garden! Have a great week, Anne:).
Thank you Sarah. I’m not enjoying the more extreme temperatures we are having this winter. I’m trying to hang in there with garden prep.
I’m so behind this week! The kids are both still home, so it’s really messing up my brain. It feels like I should be on vacation.
I have used Discord for a long while for a small group safe space… like a group text. The extend to which COYER is using it (how it’s meant to be used) is very overwhelming. I am trying to make it work, tho. I left Twitter well over a year ago. I closed Threads because I never used it. When it first started, you couldn’t close Threads without closing Insta as well, but I’m glad they’ve separated them. I am keeping my FB and IG for now because I use them to learn about family, friends, etc. And I’m in many groups. I mainly share my blog posts, so we’ll see.
Thanks Jen. It’s tough to know but I’m looking at some platforms less although not closing them down. I looked at Discord a few years ago and hated it. Now I like it. It is organized and makes sense to me. But everything new is overwhelming until you figure out how to work with it.
I haven’t figured out Discord yet but need to as there are a lot of fun things there. I’m with Lulu on not liking the frozen snow. My dog thinks it’s the best and has had the best time with it though which has been kind of fun. I hope you’re having a great week!
Thank you. I’m surprised how much I’m liking Discord because I hated it a few years back when I tried it. My daughter has been on it 8 years and is on about 40 servers! Gaming. I’ve been on Bluesky since July 2023 and it’s improving now with more active users.