Sunday Post December 6, 2020/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday December 7, 2020

I am linking with Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? now at The Book Date (at Wordpress)

What Are You Reading?, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

We had a busy week and it doesn't look like things will calm for the month.
My left eye has been uncomfortable all week and Saturday morning I woke to it feeling scratched. I wore a patch and stayed home all day. I used the time for extra reading.
Hubby made me pancakes one morning and egg in a hole another.

I posted pictures as memories which you can see at this link. (Oops. This sentence was left by mistake cause those pics were from Thanksgiving dinner.)
Temps last week got cold for us, down into the high 20s. We had to cover the citrus.
This coming week is set to be alittle warmer: highs of mid 60s and low of 33.

I enjoyed my reading and listening this week. I finished four audios and one childrens' ebook. I posted four reviews and my usual memes. 
Countdown to finish challenges:
TBR -need to finish 5.
NetGalley - Need to finish 3 - all in current reading.

I visited 15 blogs last week.
Shout Out this week to HOTT BOOKS. Gina has a well organized blog which she has managed since 2010.

Don't forget- Audible is offering free children's titles during these days at home.
Audiobooks.com is also offering free listens for children.

These were last week's posts:

• Sunday Post November 29, 2020/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday November 30, 2020.

• ATBR- Audio Book Review: Christmas in Sugarcreek: A Christmas Seasons of Sugarcreek Novel by Shelley Shepard Gray; Genre: Amish, Christian, Christmas, Romance; My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.0.

• Author2020- Book Review: The Prepared Investor: How to Prevent the Next Crisis from Affecting Your Financial Independence by Christopher Manske Genre: Investment, Nonfiction; My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0.

• Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway December 4, 2020. Open Worldwide. Ending 12/10/2020.

• ATBR- Audible Book Review: The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester; Genre: Hard Sci Fi, Vintage; My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.0.

• NG2020- #NetGalley Book Review: The Boy Who Moved Christmas by Eric Walters, Nicole Wellwood; Genre: Children, Death, Illness; My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0.

• Sunday Words of Encouragement December 6, 2020.

Finished Reading:

1. NetGalley App on Phone (NG2020)

Calvin the Christmas Tree
by Stephen G. Bowling
This is cute for Christmas.
Source: NetGalley 2020.
Click on book title for full description.

2. Audio/Smartphone (ATBR)

Little Donkey
A Short Story
By: Jodi Taylor
Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis
Length: 1 hr and 5 mins
Release date: 03-24-15
I liked this and will now go back and read book 1 (in 2021). Source: 2/16/2019 Free at Audible.
Click on book title for full description.

3. Audio/Smartphone (ATBR)

Letters from Father Christmas
By: J.R.R. Tolkien
Narrated by: Derek Jacobi, John Moffatt, Christian Rodska
Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
Release date: 10-04-05
This was okay, but not as good as I had hoped.
Source: May 2019 Sale at Audible; $3.09.
Click on book title for full description.

4. Audio/Smartphone (ATBR)

Jingle Bell Pop
By: John Seabrook
Narrated by: Erin Moon
Length: 1 hr and 14 mins
Release date: 12-06-18
I really enjoyed this informative little work and wished there had been more.
Source: 12/13/2019 Audible Member Sale $2.98.
About This Audible Original
It seems like every year, the holiday season arrives earlier and earlier. Before Halloween’s ghosts and ghouls have even had their chance to come out of the shadows, sleigh bells and ribbons begin to materialize at the mall and towering tinsel-tinged trees appear in our living rooms. But the most telltale sign of the arrival of yuletide festivities is the unceasingly merry melody of the seasonal songbook, from "Silent Night" to "Santa Baby." Love them or loathe them, these holiday earworms are here to stay. But how do these songs endure for decades? And why are there so few contemporary Christmas carols?
In this holly jolly Audible Original, New York Times bestselling author and New Yorker columnist John Seabrook uncovers the mysteries of the holiday music machine, exploring how these hits were made and why they’ve dominated the soundwaves each and every winter. From the mid-century reign of songwriter Johnny Marks ("Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer") to the manufactured musical nostalgia of modern holiday hits like "All I Want for Christmas Is You," Seabrook, alongside a cast of singers, songwriters, and producers, reveals the untold stories behind the songs that have us rockin’ around the Christmas tree year after year.
©2018 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2018 Audible Originals, LLC.

5. Audio/Smartphone (ATBR)

An Angel for Christmas
Written By: Heather Graham
Narrated By: Christina Traister
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Duration: 5 hours 48 minutes
I was very pleased by this easy listen with suspense and guardian angels at Christmas.
Source: 2019 September Christmas deals $3.00.
Summary:
Christmas has never brought out the best in the MacDougal family. Still, year after year, they gather together in the Blue Ridge Mountains to try to make the season merry and bright. But this year is an especially strained one, with Shayne's impending divorce, Morwenna's slavish devotion to work and Bobby's reluctance to face what life has to offer. They've never felt less like a family. Then, in the midst of a snowy sibling shouting match, a mysterious stranger appears. He could be a criminal, a madman - or something far more unexpected. Despite their fears and the growing danger in the dark woods around them, the MacDougals take a leap of faith. But when another stranger arrives on the mountainside, they don't know which of them to believe. One of these men can't be trusted. And one is about to bring Christmas into their hearts.

Currently Reading:
1. NetGalley App on Phone (NG2020)

Survive the Fall (EMP: Return of the Wild West Book 1)
by Grace Hamilton
I am mid way in this and like the dual storyline for a post EMP.
Source: 2020 NetGalley.
Survival of the fittest becomes harsh reality in the blink of an eye. Greg Healy isn’t fooled. The hunting trip is merely a ploy contrived by his wife and mother to force Greg and his father to end their estrangement. Not even Greg’s teenage daughter or his father’s hunting buddies along for the ride will be enough of a buffer to heal the rift of long-standing resentments. But the helicopter has barely dropped them in the remote Canadian wilderness when they discover their new equipment is dead with no explanation. Now they’ll have to rely on each other and resort to Old West ingenuity to find their way home—before the hunter becomes the hunted.
For seventeen-year-old Darryl Healy, things aren’t much easier on his grandparents’ cattle ranch. Not when his highly intelligent and successful mother keeps hounding him about college applications. But college quickly loses its allure when the lights go out after a cyberattack. Frightening responsibilities fall squarely on Darryl’s unproven shoulders as a power-hungry politician is determined to confiscate the ranch’s resources—by any means necessary.
Danger and death await the Healy family as each group attempts to navigate this terrifying new post-apocalyptic world while the vast wilderness separates them. When deceit arises from within their ranks, they’ll face threats as lethal as the grizzly bears and mountain lions lurking in the shadows.
And in order to survive the nightmare, a deal with the devil might be their only saving grace.
Prepper survivalist author Grace Hamilton invites you to step into a post-apocalyptic, EMP-ravaged world filled with strong, resourceful characters, survivalist knowledge, and edge-of-your seat action.

2. NetGalley App on Phone (NG2020)

Megge of Bury Down
The Bury Down Chronicles, Book One
by Rebecca Kightlinger
Narrated by Jan Cramer
This sounds interesting and will fill the "M" for my NetGalley Alphabet Challenge.
Source: 2020 NetGalley.
In thirteenth century Cornwall, young Megge has just come of age to be apprenticed to her mother, the healer of Bury Down. But first, she must accept and vow to protect The Book of Seasons, an ancient tome that holds life-sustaining power harnessed centuries earlier by Murga, the first seer of Bury Down. At her vowtaking ceremony, yearning to accept her inheritance and take her place among her family's long line of healers and seers, Megge reaches for the book. When she touches it, she feels something writhe within it and becomes convinced that the book is cursed and that she too will be cursed if she accepts it.
Despite her mother's pleas to protect the book from the one who would usurp its power, Megge refuses to even look at it. But when a Blackfriar abbot arrives in the village claiming to be under orders to root out heretics, and imprisons the healer for refusing to turn over her "demon's book," will Megge finally summon the courage to take that vow?

3. NetGalley App on Phone (NG2020)

Yang Warriors
by Kao Kalia Yang
I found this title for a "Y" at NetGalley and it adds to Alphabet Challenge and competes my NetGalley Challenge goal at 40.
It looks like a worthwhile read to me.
Source: 2020 NetGalley.
Award-winning author Kao Kalia Yang delivers an inspiring tale of resourceful children confronting adversaries in a refugee camp.
After lunch the Yang warriors prepare for battle. They practice drills, balance rocks on their heads, wield magical swords from fallen branches. Led by ten-year-old Master Me (whose name means “little”), the ten cousins are ready to defend the family at all costs. After a week without fresh vegetables , the warriors embark on a dangerous mission to look for food, leaving the camp’s boundaries, knowing their punishment would be severe if they were caught by the guards.
In this inspiring picture book, fierce and determined children confront the hardships of Ban Vinai refugee camp, where the author lived as a child. Yang’s older sister, seven-year-old Dawb, was one of the story’s warriors, and her brave adventure unfolds here with all the suspense and excitement that held her five-year-old sister spellbound many years later. Accompanied by the evocative and rich cultural imagery of debut illustrator Billy Thao, the warriors’ secret mission shows what feats of compassion and courage children can perform, bringing more than foraged greens back to the younger children and to their elders. In this unforgiving place, with little to call their own, these children are the heroes, offering gifts of hope and belonging in a truly unforgettable way.

I'm keeping track of my Alphabet here as I finish the books. These are the letters that remain:
NETGALLEY:  H  M  U  X  Y and Z
AUDIO:             X 

December 6, 2020 - I continue enjoying reading first thing each morning, even this week while away.
I am still enjoying the devotions and readings with the One Year Bible plan through You Version App. I considered changing but this is the reading group that is closest to my husband's reading so we can sometimes discuss the same passages.
I meant to start the 25 day advent study but missed two nights. So I chose a shorter one.

I completed five books, posted four reviews and I remain up to date.
Since I am reading three NetGalley titles, my shelf is back to the three remaining titles from 2012-13.
I have two author titles in queue which will carry over to 2021. (Plus a few that I received from newsletter sign-ups, not specific review requests.)
Still many titles through InstaFreebie and many new author requests I haven't replied to.

Welcome to Mailbox Monday.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. This Meme started with Marcia at A Girl and Her Books (fka The Printed Page) and after a tour of hosts has returned to its permanent home at Mailbox Monday. Thanks to the ladies sharing hosting duties: Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit and (yours truly). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
I picked up one new NetGalley title this week but plan on more in the next few weeks.

I selected six titles at Chirp.
Only one free Kindle titles this week.
(Note these are in my Amazon library, NOT on my Kindle until I download and transfer them.)
Are your mailbox and TBR piles blooming?

Review Titles

I picked up one NetGalley title.

Yang Warriors
by Kao Kalia Yang

For more information see the description under Currently Reading.

Won

NONE

Purchased

I picked up six titles at Chirp for $15.94.

Night Stalker
by Shirlee McCoy
Read by Emily Durante
Run Time 5h 37min
$3.99

Falsely Accused
by Shirlee McCoy
Read by Emily Durante
Run Time 5h 34min
$1.99

The Mapleton Mystery Novellas
by Terry Odell
Read by Steve Marvel
Run Time 9h 32min
$1.99

Operative 66
by Andy McDermott
Read by Simon Mattacks
Run Time 11h 41min
$3.99

Faith
by Lori Copeland
Read by Holly Adams
Run Time 8h 13min
$0.99

The Memory Painter
Written by Gwendolyn Womack
Read by Will Damron
Run Time 12h 13min
$2.99

Free

One free Kindle title this week. Free titles often found at Bookbub, Bookfun, Ereader News Today, Free Par-tay, Ignite Your Book, Inspired Reads, Pixel of Ink or Kindle ebooks.