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Sunday, July 23, 2023

Sunday Post July 23, 2023/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday July 24, 2023

Sunday Post #318 Chairs, Compliance, and Storms
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.



I had a very long week this past week with VBS at church. I had to miss one night while I prepared for a court hearing. It was a lovely, if tiring week.

Now I am pushing to finish work as I will be going out of town soon to visit with my son and his family. My eldest granddaughter from Panama City is traveling with me to Kansas City where we will enjoy a week at Great Wolf Lodge Water Park.

I don't have the event pictures available but here is the scenery for our church Kingdom Keepers VBS. I took these at the last volunteer meeting.
It was awesome and provided through God's blessings.
The Castle

And the red fire breathing dragon our tech team fixed up!


My continuing prayers include prayers for more unity in all nations, a calmer social atmosphere, and for revival. We are also continuing prays for family and church.

We had several heat advisories this week. And some scattered storms.  We are expecting temps in mid 90s again for this coming week.

I finished three audios and posted two reviews and my memes.

I visited 16 blogs last week.
Shout out this week to THE BOOK BAG. Susan, who loves books, shares reviews and giveaways.

Audiobooks.com is still sharing some free listens for children.
  • ANG2023: #NetGalley Audio Book Review: The Never-Ending End of the World by Ann Christy; Genre: Dystopian, EOTW, Post-Apocalyptic; My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.75; Narration 4.75.

Finished Reading:

1. Audible Smartphone (ATBR)


Mountain Man
By: Keith C. Blackmore
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
Series: Mountain Man, Book 1
Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
This is gritty - zombies of course - but entertaining action.
Source: January 2021 Audible Plus Catalog.

Click on book title for full description.



2. Audible Smartphone (ATBR)
Perestroika in Paris Audiobook By Jane Smiley cover art


Perestroika in Paris
By: Jane Smiley
Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
I chose this story for the #parisinjuly2023 event.

The story is sweet and I did enjoy it through the end.
Source: 4/5/2021 Audible Daily Deal $2.95.

Click on book title for full description.



3. Chirp Audio Smartphone (ATBR)
Book cover for Christmas at Cozy Holly Inn by Meredith Summers with featured deal banner


Christmas at Cozy Holly Inn
Written by Meredith Summers
Narrated by Hollis McCarthy
Run Time: 7h 9min
I wanted a Christmas in July and this was a nice one.
Source: 12/31/2022 year end purchase at Chirp for $.99.

Publisher Description
A sweet, cozy small town holiday romance perfect for snuggling up by the fire with a steaming mug of hot cocoa and a cat or two by your side.
When Julie Green’s ailing grandmother asks her to arrange one last party at the old Inn she used to run, Julie can’t say no even though the last thing she wants is to leave the city for middle-of-nowhere Vermont. Even worse, Cozy Holly Inn is in disrepair, there’s a persnickety cat hiding in the basement and the family of grinches who own the competing inn down the street seem determined to ruin her chances of success.
Nolan Miller retreated to Pinecone Falls, Vermont, to heal his broken heart and help his grandfather run Barrington Lodge - a rustic old bed-and-breakfast that has been in the family for generations. This year, though, he needs to find a way to get his Christmas spirit back before he turns into a grinch like his father and grandfather. But even if he gets his spirit back, he’s not letting anyone in again, especially not Julie Green who has made it clear she’s leaving town as soon as she can.
But when Julie needs help, Nolan can’t say no and putting the party together makes Julie realize that small town friendships might have more to offer than big city lights.
Kringle, the cat, only wants a warm home and his forever human. This girl, Julie, does not seem to fit the bill no matter what the nice lady at the animal shelter told him. Julie knows nothing about cats so he will do his best to get her to return him to the shelter. But as the week unfolds, Kringle discovers that people can change in surprising ways and sometimes what you thought you wanted, isn’t what you really needed at all.



Currently Reading:
1. Audiobooks.com Smartphone (ATBR)
Midnight Crossroad, Charlaine Harris


Midnight Crossroad
By Charlaine Harris
Narrated By: Susan Bennett
Duration: 9 h 31 min
I picked this from the TBR shelf and it has a time of day in the title (one of my individual challenges).
Source: 8/28/19 August VIP Free selection at Audiobooks.com.
Summary
FIRST IN A NEW TRILOGY - From Charlaine Harris, the bestselling author who created Sookie Stackhouse and her world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, comes a darker locale-- populated by more strangers than friends. But then, that' s how the locals prefer it. Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It' s a pretty standard dried-up western town. There' s a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There' s a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there' s new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he' s found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own). Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal. Stay awhile, and learn the truth...



2. Audible Smartphone (A2023)
The Snow Killer  By  cover art


The Snow Killer: The DI Barton Series, Book 1
By: Ross Greenwood
Narrated by: David Thorpe
Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
This is only available to 8/10/23 so I thought I would listen now.
Source: February 2023 Audible Plus Catalog.

Publisher's Summary
‘Fear the north wind. Because no one will hear you scream....’
A family is gunned down in the snow, but one of the children survives. Three years on, that child takes revenge, and the Snow Killer is born. But then, nothing - no further crimes are committed, and the case goes cold.
50 years later, has the urge to kill been reawakened? As murder follows murder, the detective team tasked with solving the crimes struggle with the lack of leads. It’s a race against time and the weather - each time it snows, another person dies.
As an exhausted and grizzled DI Barton and his team scrabble to put the pieces of the puzzle together, the killer is hiding in plain sight. Meanwhile, the murders continue....
The first in a new series, Ross Greenwood has written a cracking, crackling crime story with a twist in its tale which will surprise even the most hardened thriller listeners. Perfect for fans of Mark Billingham and Stuart MacBride.
©2019 Ross Greenwood (P)2019 Boldwood Books



3. Audible Smartphone (ATBR)


1984: New Classic Edition
By: George Orwell
Narrated by: Simon Prebble
Length 11h 22m
I have not read this in years but it seems it would be timely to read now!
Source: September 2020 Audible Plus Titles.

Publisher's Summary
Blackstone Publishing presents a new recording of this immensely popular book.
One of the most celebrated classics of the twentieth century, Orwell’s cautionary tale of a man trapped under the gaze of an authoritarian state feels more relevant now than ever before.
George Orwell depicts a gray, totalitarian world dominated by Big Brother and its vast network of agents, including the Thought Police, a world in which news is manufactured according to the authorities’ will and people live tepid lives by rote.
Winston Smith, the hero with no heroic qualities, longs only for truth and decency. But living in a social system in which privacy does not exist and where those with unorthodox ideas are brainwashed or put to death, he knows there is no hope for him. He knows even as he continues to pursue his forbidden love affair that eventually he will come to destruction.
The year 1984 has come and gone, yet George Orwell’s nightmare vision in 1949 of the world we were becoming is still the great modern classic of negative Utopia. It is a prophetic and haunting tale that exposes the worst crimes imaginable: the destruction of freedom and truth.
©1949 Harcourt Brace and Company, renewed 1977 Sonia Brownell Orwell (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.



July 23, 2023
- I am doing the daily readings of BibleProject plan: The Full Story - "From the beginning to the Amen". The readings continue in Ezekiel. I didn't recall how long this book is with its pronouncements of punishment and destruction... with hope only for the remnant and repentant. 


I finished three audio titles and posted three reviews. I posted the one I was holding as it releases in August. I still have five to post so I better get posting on those.

NETGALLEY STATUS--
I have one newer audio and an older one on my shelf.
I still have the two old NetGalley ebook titles.

I have one author review in my queue that I need to start reading on my computer. (I need to look back and see which one this is.)
(Plus a few that I received from Facebook links and 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: Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, me, and newest to the team, Emma at Words and Peace.
Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

No new review title this week.
I picked my two Audible credits.
I selected three new audios from Audible Plus this past week.
I selected 2 for 1 credit at Audiobooks.com.
No free Kindle titles last week.

Are your mailbox and TBR piles blooming?

Review Titles
NONE

Won
NONE

Purchased
7/20/2023 Two July Audible credits – both series I want to continue.
Phule’s Paradise
Phule's Company Series, Book 2
By: Robert Asprin
Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine

Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins


My Enemy's Enemy
ONSET Series, Book 2
By: Glynn Stewart
Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins


7/22/2023 July Vacation Thriller 2 for 1 Audiobooks.com - one series new to me and one new to me author.
The Last Mile
The Last Mile
Blood Ties, Book 2
By: Kat Martin
Narrated by: James McAdams

Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins


Shutter
Shutter
By: Ramona Emerson
Narrated by: Charley Flyte

Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins




Free
7/18 to 21/2023 Audible Plus Catalog.
Hidden Currents
Lantern Beach Mysteries Series, Book 1
By: Christy Barritt
Narrated by: Dara Rosenberg

Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins

Suture Self
By: Mary Daheim
Narrated by: Anna Fields
Series: Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries, Book 17

Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins

Three Hours in Paris
By: Cara Black
Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
Series: A Kate Rees WWII Novel, Book 1

Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins



No new titles added to Kindle library.  Free titles might be found at Bookbub, Book Adrenaline, Ereader News Today, Inspired Reads, or Kindle ebooks.

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