Sunday Post January 17, 2021/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday January 18, 2021

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.

Things are still tense in my beloved country.  The censorship of conservative accounts and conservative platforms (Parler plus more) and calls to silence opposing voices is appalling and alarming to me as a lawyer, former journalist student and citizen.

Heather was back in office but our newest employee was out three days. We keep plugging away, but now we have another holiday this week.

I almost forgot to mention that Hubby and I got our first vaccinations on Wednesday. Our little community did a great job funneling multiple lines of cars through a large parking lot to six inoculation stations. Everyone remained in a field parking lot for at least 15 minutes afterwards for monitoring. Hubby had to stay 30 minutes because he is on blood thinners. People started lining up at 5:30 for the opening at 9am. I went over at 1pm and it took just an hour. Hubby went at 1:30 and his line was even faster. At 2pm they put out an open call for additional people not over 65 as they still had vaccines left. Hubby had a sore arm the next day but I had no reaction at all.

My Christmas cacti are a couple weeks behind. The big pot apparently has two different plants - one with white blooms and the other with pink. The little pot has pink buds.

We continue to have cold days and rainy ones several times a week. Looks like we get some warm up this week - 33 to 68. 

I enjoyed the four books I finished last week: two audios, one print and one child ebook. I posted three reviews and my usual memes.

I visited 18 blogs last week.
Shout Out this week to Just Reading Jess. Jess is an engineer by day and, (like me), "always reading in my free time."

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 January 10, 2021/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday January 11, 2021.

• ATBR- Audible Review First Book 2021: The Harbinger II, The Return by Jonathan Cahn; Genre: Christian Prophesy, Inspirational; My Rating: 5.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 5.0; Narration 5.0.

• Print- Book Review: Coming Home for Christmas by RaeAnne Thayne; Genre: Christmas, Romance, Small Town My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0.

• Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway January 15, 2021. Open Worldwide. Ending 1/21/2021.

• ATBR- Audible Book Review: World Made By Hand, Book 1, by James Howard Kunstler; Genre: Dystopian, Sci Fi, Speculative Fiction; My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.0.

• Sunday Words of Encouragement January 17, 2021.

Finished Reading:

1. Audio/Smartphone (NG2020)

The Salvage Crew
by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne
Narrated by Nathan Fillion
Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
Release date: 10-27-20
This went to an unusual conclusion - interesting.
Source: 2020 NetGalley.
Click on book title for full description.

2. Audible/Smartphone (ATBR)

Break Shot: My First 21 Years
An Audio Memoir
By: James Taylor
Narrated by: James Taylor
Length: 1 hr and 33 mins
Release date: 01-31-20
I was surprised by this history of James Taylor's early years.
Source: 2/10/2020 Extra Free Audible Original.
About This Audible Original
"I’m James Taylor and I’m a professional autobiographer," says the celebrated folk singer at the start of this tender audio memoir. Through decades of music by one of the best-selling musicians of all time, who created classics like "Fire and Rain" and "Carolina in My Mind," James Taylor has doled out his history in the poetry of his work. Taylor says his early life is, "the source of many of my songs," and Break Shot is a tour of his first 21 years in rich, new detail. Praised by Forbes magazine as going "beyond the spoken word," Break Shot combines storytelling, music and performance to create a one-of-a-kind listening experience. Longtime fans will savor a crop of musical gems, including an unreleased recording of the beloved hymn "Jerusalem," selections from his newest release American Standard, as well as new original scoring by Taylor specially recorded for Break Shot and more from the Grammy Award-winning artist.
Recorded in his home studio, TheBarn in western Massachusetts, Taylor tells the deeply personal story of his youth, which is entwined with the story of his family. What started as an idyllic tight unit soon became a family sent to different emotional corners—like a break shot in the game of pool, he says, when you slam the cue ball into the fifteen other balls and they all go flying off. By the time Taylor released his breakout second album in 1970, Sweet Baby James, he had seen the disintegration of his parents’ marriage and his family crumble in the aftermath. He had committed himself twice to a psychiatric hospital, battled depression, a heroin addiction, suffered a relapse, and traveled far away from the wood smoke and moonshine of the North Carolina landscapes in which he came of age. Despite it all, he was also on the cusp of superstardom and on his way to bringing light and joy to millions. He was 21.
Journey with James Taylor to a time before he became a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Arts—and a beloved voice to millions.
© 2019 James Taylor (P) 2020 AO Media LLC

3. eBook/Computer (NG2020)

The Pugly Duckling
by Carla Siravo
This is very cute but has a major flaw.
Source: 2020 NetGalley.
Click on book title for full description.

4. Paperback/TBR

A Stockingful of Joy
by Mary Jo Putney, Jill Barnett, Justine Dare, Susan King
This reminds me why I like historical romance. I really enjoyed all four stories.
Source: My own print TBR stack and author collected books (Putney and Barnett).
Click on book title for full description.

Currently Reading:

1. Audible/Smartphone (ATBR)

Galaxy's Edge
By: Jason Anspach, Nick Cole
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
Release date: 02-20-18
I sometimes wonder why I enjoy sci fi military... but I do. I finished the first story and now on to the second.
Source: 3/8/2020 Two For One Credit Sale at Audible.
Publisher's Summary
Galaxy's Edge contains Legionnaire through to the end of Galactic Outlaws.
On the edge of the galaxy, a diplomatic mission to an alien planet takes a turn when the Legionnaires, an elite special fighting force, find themselves ambushed and stranded behind enemy lines. They struggle to survive under siege, waiting on a rescue that might never come.
In the seedy starport of Ackabar, a young girl searches the crime-ridden gutters to avenge her father's murder; not far away, a double-dealing legionniare-turned-smuggler hunts an epic payday; and somewhere along the outer galaxy, a mysterious bounty hunter lies in wait.
Galaxy's Edge combines sleek starfighters, exotic aliens, loyal bots, blasters, scoundrels, heroes, and powerful enemies in a thrilling adventure that will take you back to that magic place from a long time ago.
©2017 Nick Cole; 2018 Podium Publishing; 2017 Jason Anspach (P)2018 Podium Publishing.

2. eBook/Computer (NG2020)

Came A Horseman, A Hard Ride In A Fierce World
by Paul McHugh
The protagonist in this Dystopian is combative and that got the story off a little rough for me. I'm interested to see where it goes.
Source: 2020 NetGalley.
Ten years after Earth's electronics were fried by an immense solar flare, most human technology has turned useless and civilization has begun to fail. But one thriving pocket is a valley on California's coast, where farmers in a religious cult dwell. A tribe of local hunters protect them. But this arrangement gets upended when a young refugee, Kyle Skander, wrecks his kayak there as he seeks to paddle north to Arcata. Kyle finds himself accused of murdering a young woman from the commune. To win freedom, he must find the real killer. His combative personality and a background in logic and philosophy helps Kyle make headway at this task. His investigation begins to uncover the valley's deepest secrets. Then, buried rivalries erupt into a battle that alters forever this enclave's fate.
"Came A Horseman" re-imagines the Western as a post-apocalyptic adventure, with a murder mystery at the heart of its plot.

3. Audible/Smartphone (ATBR)

Death at the Gazebo
Mirror Pond Cozy Mysteries, Book 1
By: Minnie Crockwell
Narrated by: Michelle Babb
Length: 5 hrs
Release date: 12-22-20
This looks like a fun listen.
Source: 1/8/2020 Author Audible Code
Publisher's Summary
First in a new cozy mystery series from Minnie Crockwell.
Settling into her new condominium on Mirror Pond, novelist Sallie Chilcoat feels lost in Ashburn, Virginia, after moving to the state for love of a man. But with the end of that relationship, she finds herself at loose ends. She stares out the window at the pond and contemplates learning to kayak...or taking up painting...or climbing Mount Everest.
Movement in the overwater gazebo catches her eye, and she grabs up her people-watching binoculars to see a man sitting inside the gazebo playing an accordion. Curious about the musician who plays such a rare instrument, Sallie trots down to the pier to investigate.
The term “investigate” takes on a whole new meaning when Sallie reaches the gazebo to discover not a happy musician, but a dead body and a missing accordion. Forget Mount Everest! Sallie finds herself immersed in the mystery of the death at the gazebo.
©2019 Minnie Crockwell (P)2020 Minnie Crockwell

January 17, 2021 - I have been enjoying reading/listening to the Bible passages every morning.   I am reading/listening the NLT Tyndale version of the Bible on You Version App so Hubby and I are reading the same passages each day.
I enjoyed my first 2021 study: New Year: Living With Purpose.

I completed four books and posted three reviews. I'm up to date with four reviews to post this week.
NetGalley shelf is: 14.  (I peeked today and was so tempted but resisting for now.)
Three author titles in queue as I accepted a new graphic title and am listening to the author audio.
(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 received one new graphic novel for review.
I picked up five free plus catalog Audible titles.
No 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

1/11/2020 Received from Turner Publishing Marketing:

200
by Jennifer Brody, Jules Rivera (Illustrator)
A graphic Sci Fi to be released 2/16/21.

Won

NONE

Purchased

NONE

Free

I added five new Plus Catalog Audibles to my library:

Crisis Shot: The Line of Duty, Book 1
By: Janice Cantore
Narrated by: Alice Anne English
Series: The Line of Duty, Book 1
Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins

Q&A
By: Ben H. Winters
Narrated by: John Zdrojeski, Robert Creighton, Jay Snyder, Nicole Lewis, Kathryn Kates, Michael Braun, Elizabeth Evans, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Justis Bolding
Length: 2hrs and 8 mins

Home Shopped Holiday
By: John Burd, Kelly Goodner, Thommy Hutson
Narrated by: Ron Butler, LJ Ganser, Brina Palencia, Chris Kipiniak, Mia Jenness, Ann Osmond, Therese Plummer, Lauren Fortgang, Brittany Pressley, Suzanne Toren, Allison Hiroto, Ali Ahn
Length: 1 hr and 51 mins

Mountain Man
By: Keith C. Blackmore
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
Series: Mountain Man, Book 1
Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins

Safari
Mountain Man, Book 2
By: Keith C. Blackmore
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
Series: Mountain Man, Book 2
Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins


No 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.