Sunday Post January 2, 2022/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday January 3, 2022

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.

Happy New Year 2022!


We only had two official days of work this week since we took Monday, Thursday and Friday off. Tuesday we had cake for two of us in the office who had our birthdays on 12/27.



Heather and I went in on Thursday to fund and record our last closing of the year. I also had to organize my desk as I am preparing for a trial mid January.

This is the only picture I found with my son and daughter and all six grandkids although two are on the edges. We celebrated on Christmas Eve before Santa brought the tree.

I am looking forward to reading in 2022. One resolution I know I will keep: enjoy reading! It is fun starting the year with open season on TBR books. :-)

Our weather got a little too warm last week. We even had to turn on our AC a couple of nights. But we have had rain all day today and tonight it goes back down in the 30s to start a colder week.

It still feels like I am not getting much reading done as a result of being busy and then falling asleep after 5 minutes of listening instead of 15 or more. I enjoyed the one audiobook I finished. I posted three reviews to finish for 2021 and my usual memes (other than Sharing Beyond Books).

I only visited 14 blogs last week.
Shout Out this week to LAURIE READS. Laurie is "an reader from the Netherlands."

Audible offerings for free children's titles ended June 30.
Audiobooks.com is still sharing some free listens for children.

These were last week's posts:

• Sunday Post December 26, 2021/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday December 27, 2021.

• A2021- Audible Book Review: Every Day in December by Kitty Wilson; Genre: Christmas, Holiday, Romantic Comedy; My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.25.

• ATBR- Audio Book Review: The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross; Genre: Fantasy, Monsters, Paranormal; My Rating: 3.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 3.75; Narration 4.25.

• Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway December 31, 2021. Open Worldwide. Ending 1/6/2022.

• First Book of the Year 2022: The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel.

• A2021- Audio Book Review: Sleigh Spells by Bella Falls Genre: Christmas, Cozy Mystery, Paranormal; My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

• A2021- Audio Book Review: Christmas In Evergreen by Nancy Naigle Genre: Christmas, Contemporary Romance, Romance; My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.25.

• Sunday Words of Encouragement January 2, 2022.

Finished Reading:

1. Audio/Smartphone (A2021)

Christmas In Evergreen
by Nancy Naigle
Read by Kathleen McInerney
Run Time 6h 34min
This is another fun "Hallmark" story.
Click on book title for full description; review linked above.

Currently Reading:
1. Audio/Smartphone (A2021)
First Book of the Year 2022.

The Case for a Creator
By: Lee Strobel
Narrated by: Lee Strobel
Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
Release date: 10-05-04
I've had this ebook and have planned to read this for a while. Now I can listen to it. I am almost half way and enjoying the scientific analysis.
Source: May 18 Purchase at $2.99 with Whispersync.
Publisher's Summary
Discover the astonishing evidence for intelligent design in this New York Times best-selling book by award-winning journalist Lee Strobel.
"My road to atheism was paved by science...but, ironically, so was my later journey to God," Strobel says.
During his academic years, Lee Strobel became convinced that God was obsolete, a belief that colored his journalism career. Science had made the idea of a creator irrelevant - or so Strobel thought.
But today science points in a different direction. A diverse and impressive body of research has increasingly supported the conclusion that the universe was intelligently designed. At the same time, Darwinism has faltered in the face of concrete facts and hard reason. Has science discovered God? At the very least, it's giving faith an immense boost, as new findings emerge about the incredible complexity of our universe.
Join Strobel as he reexamines the theories that once led him away from God. Through his compelling and highly readable account, you'll encounter the mind-stretching discoveries from cosmology, cellular biology, DNA research, astronomy, physics, and human consciousness that present compelling evidence in The Case for a Creator.

2. ebook/Kindle App on Phone (ebTBR)

I

The After Days Trilogy
(After Days Trilogy #1-3)
by Scott Medbury
I am going to try a Kindle book that I am more interested in and see if I can get it read.
Source: Free Kindle 2017.
The complete After Days trilogy
Fifteen year old Isaac Race has already lost everyone close to him. He is about to lose a lot more. We all are. A mystery outbreak sweeps North America, it is chilling in both its speed and deadliness. The odd thing is though, it is only fatal to adults. Too late, it becomes clear to authorities that the virus is man made - a biological weapon - and that the United States is at war... a war it has already lost.
As his country is invaded and occupied, Isaac must help his ragtag group of survivors find refuge in a world turned upside down. A world full of fear and danger. A world where enemies can be friends and friends... worse than enemies.
Don't miss Scott Medbury's After Days, the dystopian trilogy destined to become a classic.
This version includes:
Affliction
Sanctuary
Attrition

[This is the same or previous edition of America Falls. Affliction and part of Sanctuary became America Falls Book 1, Hell Week and Book 2, On the Run, which I listened to in October 2021. So I have started this in the middle of the book.]

3. Audio/Smartphone (A2021)

Artificial Condition
By Martha Wells
Narrated By: Kevin R. Free
Duration: 3 h 21 min
I have wanted to continue this series.
Source: 8/28/2021 Two for One Credit at Audiobooks.com.
Summary:
The follow-up to the hugely popular science fiction action-adventure All Systems Red Artificial Condition continues The Murderbot Diaries, a science fiction series that tackles questions of the ethics of sentient robotics. It appeals to fans of Westworld, Ex Machina, Ann Leckie's Imperial Raadch series, or Iain M. Banks' Culture novels. The main character is a deadly security droid that has bucked its restrictive programming and is balanced between contemplative self-discovery and an idle instinct to kill all humans. 'As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure.' It has a dark past-one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself 'Murderbot.' But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more. Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don't want to know what the 'A' stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue. What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks.

January 2, 2022 - I started a new Bible Reading Plan: BibleProject | One Story that Leads to Jesus. I know it won't match my Hubby's reading but I wanted some different insights/devotions and I like the look of this project. I am looking forward to keeping up with my reading each day.

I may start smaller studies soon.

I completed one book (and the Bible) and finished all reviews for 2021!
My NetGalley shelf has two old ebooks titles and one new audio which I will listen to soon.
I still have two author titles remaining in queue. They will (obviously) be read in 2022.
(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 new to the team, Velvet at vvb32reads. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

No new review books.
I went on a binge to fill up my TBR shelf before 2022 started.
I picked up two for one credit audiobooks at Audiobooks.com.
I purchased five audio books at Chirp for under $9.00.
I added 10 audiobooks through Audible Plus Catalog!

I got six Kindle books.

Are your mailbox and TBR piles blooming?

Review Titles

NONE

Won

NONE

Purchased

12/31/2021 Audiobooks.com Two for One Credit (these sound like fun cozy mysteries):

A Skeleton in the Family
By Author Leigh Perry
Narrator: Katina Kalin
Duration: 7 h 57 min

The Skeleton Takes a Bow
By Author Leigh Perry
Narrator: Katina Kalin
Duration: 7 h 47 min




I picked up five audiobooks at Chirp for $8.95. Two in a series I like and three authors I want to try.

Tattered Loyalties
Written by Carrie Ann Ryan
Narrated by Gregory Salinas
Run Time 7h 13min
$9.99 $0.99

Winter Hawk
Written by Rachel Grant
Narrated by Nicol Zanzarella
Run Time 4h 57min
$9.99 $0.99

The Fixer Upper
Written by Maggie Mae Gallagher
Narrated by Zura Johnson
Run Time 9h 36min
$19.95 $1.99

The Ordeal of the Haunted Room
Written by Jodi Taylor
Narrated by Zara Ramm
Run Time 2h 36min
$7.98 $1.99

Why is Nothing Ever Simple?
Written by Jodi Taylor
Narrated by Zara Ramm
Run Time 2h 20min
$7.98 $2.99

Free

I did my last minute purchasing and free picks to load up on books for 2022TBR.
Ten Free Audio Books from Audible Plus Catalog.
The first three Maberry books are part of his Zombie series. The fourth is a space adventure.

Zero Tolerance
By: Jonathan Maberry
Narrated by: Ray Porter
Series: Joe Ledger, Book 1.1
Length: 44 mins

Material Witness: A Joe Ledger Bonus Story
By: Jonathan Maberry
Narrated by: Ray Porter
Series: Joe Ledger, Book 1.2
Length: 1 hr and 16 mins

Deep, Dark: An Exclusive Short Story
By: Jonathan Maberry
Narrated by: Ray Porter
Series: Joe Ledger, Book 1.3
Length: 50 mins

Mars One
By: Jonathan Maberry
Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins

Next are two First Contact Sci Fi.
Then Wild Shore is a post-apocalyptic and the eighth book is a cozy mystery that caught my eye.

Tomorrow's Kin: Yesterday’s Kin Trilogy, Book 1
By: Nancy Kress
Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
Series: Yesterday's Kin, Book 1
Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins

Proxima Rising: Proxima, Book 1
By: Brandon Q. Morris
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
Series: Proxima Trilogy, Book 1
Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

The Wild Shore: The Three Californias Triptych, Book 1
By: Kim Stanley Robinson
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
Series: The Three Californias Triptych, Book 1
Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins

Dead in the Water: Welcome Back to Scumble River, Book 1
By: Denise Swanson
Narrated by: Tanya Eby
Series: Welcome Back to Scumble River Series, Book 1
Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins

The last two are military action thrillers.

Sons of Valor: The Sons of Valor Series, Book 1
By: Brian Andrews , Jeffrey Wilson
Narrated by: Ray Porter
Series: The Sons of Valor Series, Book 1

Beijing Red: A Nick Foley Thriller, Book 1
By: Alex Ryan
Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
Series: Nick Foley, Book 1


Six Free Kindle titles:
A New Beginning (Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds Book 1)
M.A. Nilles, Melanie Nilles

Hero Unit
JC Bybee

Panacea
C. L. Phillips

Blood & Feathers, Episode 1: North of the Wall
Beth Revis

The Red King: An Urban Fantasy Trilogy (Visions of Darkness Trilogy Book 2)
Krysten Harlow

Smoke and Mirrors: An Urban Fantasy Trilogy (Visions of Darkness Trilogy Book 1)
Krysten Harlow

Other Free titles often found at Bookbub, Bookfun, Ereader News Today, Inspired Reads, Pixel of Ink or Kindle ebooks.

Sunday Words of Encouragement January 2, 2022

We attended church for a wonderful Sunday School lesson in Revelation. Then went into church to worship and to say goodbye to our Pastor and his family as God has called them to another church. Our church is on a pastoral search again.

Pastor’s last sermon was “Eternity Matters”.
He noted that when you are young you look at life open in front of you. When you are older you may look behind. But when you are in midlife you might be thinking “What if?” both for the past and future.
When pastor was young, and even now in midlife, he is optimistic with youthful idealism. He wonders if the youth of today might be missing that idealism. And, of course, many people felt/feel the duty to spread realism to temper expectations and enthusiasm.

The church has a different idealism because God has set up His church to be His hands, feet, messenger! The church still has great years to come and we hope 2022 will see a church surge. Pasto hopes it will a year of the church through the power of Holy Spirit. The church can spread a message the world needs: a message of joy, life, love! And our God believes in us! He believes we can do this because He has directed us to spread the message.

So Pastor has been wondering - What if....?.

• Every Christian in the church came on Sunday already full?
• Every person in church felt they were being fiercely protected by every other person in the church?
• There was always forgiveness.?

Ephesians 5:21 ‘submit to one another’.
Romans 12:10 ‘love each other’.

• We all fought for unity?

We realized that the real enemy is Satan.
The church is a body. It functions as a body. It moves best in unity.

Paul wrote about unity in almost every letter. But he focused on this in Ephesians 4.

• What if every Christian in the church understood they are called by God to be a minister?
• What if every Christian asked God right now: “What are You calling me to do this year?”

God wants us to live a life worthy of His call
Build up the church, the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:1-16.
Don't bow to society pressure.
Be “healthy and growing and full of love.”

What if we lived this life as if eternity mattered? Psalms 103:15-17.

Pastor shared this song on a video. Build Your Church.

Verses for Today:
Ephesians 4: 11-16 NIV
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.


Lord, please direct me to do Your calling from this day forward!

Audio Book Review: Christmas In Evergreen by Nancy Naigle

This is another fun "Hallmark" story.

Christmas In Evergreen
by Nancy Naigle
Read by Kathleen McInerney

Run Time 6h 34min
Release Date: June 18, 2019
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Genre: Christmas, Contemporary Romance, Romance
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.25.

Publisher Description
Evergreen, Vermont is about to be in the rearview mirror of Allie Shaw’s vintage red pickup truck. It’s hard to say goodbye to her small town and her veterinarian practice, but she’s moving to Washington D.C., where her big-city-loving boyfriend lives. Ever since Ryan Bellamy’s wife died, he hardly knows how to celebrate Christmas. He’s decided to take his daughter Zoe to Florida, and Evergreen is just a quick stop on the way to the airport. While they’re there, Zoe partakes in a local tradition, making a Christmas wish on the snow globe at the town diner. But neither Allie’s nor Ryan’s Christmas goes as planned. They’ve checked their wish lists twice, and they didn’t say anything about meeting someone new…or about a fresh chance at love. This sweet holiday romance includes a free Hallmark original recipe for Vermont Christmas Card Cookies. Includes an exclusive preview of Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa, book two in the Christmas in Evergreen series.

Review:
Allie is a veterinarian in the small town of Evergreen, Vermont, where she has headed the organization of the Christmas Festival for years. But not this year. This year Allie has made arrangements for her customers to call on another vet and her good friend is organizing the festival. Allie is on her way to Washington, D.C. to be with her on again and off again, long-distance beau, Spencer, who wants her to move to the city full time.

Ryan has been raising his daughter Zoe since his wife died. This year, to celebrate the Christmas holidays away from his wife’s memories, he has planned a trip to take Zoe to Florida and on a cruise. When the airport is shut down due to the weather, Ryan and Zoe head towards Evergreen. On the way, they run across Allie trying to get her red, vintage truck to start. Allie offers to show Ryan and Zoe around her beloved town.

Zoe is enchanted watching Allie as she helps a farmer’s cow give birth to a calf. And Zoe gets to make a wish on the local snow globe and then shares in the excitement of making cookies and decorating stockings. Ryan and Allie make wishes on the globe too, but as they spend more time together, somehow their plans and wishes are changing.

This is true Hallmark fare with the heroine meeting a new man and having to sort out her dreams as well as facing a boyfriend who doesn’t share the same interests. Zoe adds a nice element and of course there is Christmas cheer abounding and perhaps a little Santa magic. It is not a Christian story but it is a nice holiday romance. I enjoyed this easy-going story and would be glad to try the cookie recipe. I recommend this to fans of the Hallmark genre.

Audio Notes: Kathleen McInerney does a nice job with the narration. She provides suitable voices as she conveys the Christmas spirit. I am glad I got to listen to this as my last Christmas story for 2021.

Source: 12/4/2021 Purchase at Chirp for $.99. This qualifies for 2021Audiobook goal and a 2021color title.

Audio Book Review: Sleigh Spells by Bella Falls

This is a delightful story with an extra short included.
Sleigh Spells
Author Bella Falls
Narrator: Johanna Parker

Series: Winter Witches of Holiday Haven, Book 1
Duration: 6 h 10 min.
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Genre: Christmas, Cozy Mystery, Paranormal
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

Summary:
Have yourself a very Merry Witchmas in Holiday Haven, where the magic and mystery of Christmas is snow joke!
Aurora Hart hates everything Christmas, but how could she turn down the opportunity to serve one year of probation in Holiday Haven versus a full sentence for her crimes? Saddled with a talking squirrel roommate, Aurora is doing her best to keep a low profile as she bides her time. Everything is going fine . . . until Santa's sleigh gets stolen.
Now, all eyes are on her and the other town Humbugs, and it's up to Aurora to keep her behind from ending up back in jail. With the help of a very important person from the North Pole, she finds herself hot on the trail of the real culprit. But it will take her having to do something she's never done before-accepting new friends and their assistance. Only then will Aurora be able to turn not only her own life around but also Christmas for the entire world!
Will Aurora be able to solve the mystery of who stole Santa's sleigh in time? Or will the culprit get the final sleigh?...

Review:
All her life Aurora has struggled with witch powers, ice and fire, that she is unable to control. No one helped her learn along the way and she ended up helping a con man until they were arrested. Rather than spend time in jail, she accepted the offer of one year on probation in Holiday Haven. Aurora isn’t exactly crazy about Christmas since she has never had the chance to enjoy the season. She is trying to keep a low profile but her talking squirrel roommate, Nutty, doesn’t help with his constant thieving. Her first couple of jobs haven’t worked out thanks to her uncontrolled powers. Then a new ‘parole officer’, Clara, shows up with a new position and firm belief that Aurora can succeed.

Aurora's new boss isn’t particularly nice, but then she isn’t particularly nice to anyone. Aurora/Rory makes a new friend of one of the shop baking elves and half-witch, Vale. Vale introduces Rory to some other seeming misfits in town, including handsome Wyatt, and Nutty’s friend Amos. When Santa’s sleigh is stolen from the town park, all of these former criminals, aka the Humbugs, are the first ones pulled in as suspects. Clara, with special authority, appears and releases the group. She assigns Rory the task of finding the real thief. Can Rory accept the help of new friends to find the culprit and save Christmas?

Aurora/Rory is a sweet character who just needs some true friends and a bit of magic guidance. I love how Clara’s support bolstered Rory’s confidence in her own abilities and helped bring Rory and her new friends together. Nutty is a crazy character, of course, and the romance with Wayne (a shifter) is extra cute. I totally enjoyed the friends, the mystery and the magic of Christmas shared in this story. 

There was an extra short story included that is a sweet continuation. I highly recommend this to cozy mystery fans who enjoy magic with their mystery. I hope to read more in this series or other books by this author.

Audio Notes: This book did look/sound cute, but I’ll admit part of my purchase decision was due to the narrator. Johanna Parker is a voice I know and like from the Sookie Stackhouse series. Parker is a delightful narrator, and I am believe I have a couple more new to me series that I have on my TBR shelf that have been narrated by this talented performer. The narration added to my enjoyment of an already fun story.

Source: 12/12/2021 Audiobooks.com Two for One Credit. This qualifies for 2021Audiobook goal.

First Book of the Year 2022: The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel

 We get to say "goodbye" to another 'interesting' year as we Welcome 2022 with hopes of improvement.

Thanks again to Sheila @ Book Journey for hosting this fun event.

I have participated in First Book (links to my posts) since 2014 with these books:
2014: The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn (audio and print)
2015: Shopping for Time: How to Do It All and NOT Be Overwhelmed by Carolyn Mahaney (ebook)
2016: X Minus One 3 short story Vintage Sci Fi (audio)
2017: All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life by Mark Batterson (print)
2018: What If God Wrote Your To-Do List?: 52 Ways to Make the Most of Every Day by Jay Payleitner (ebook)
2019: The Prayer of Jesus by Kevin Jackson (ebook)
2020: The Possibility of America How the Gospel Can Mend Our God-Blessed,God-Forsaken Land by David Dark (ebook)
2021: The Harbinger II The Return by Jonathan Cahn (audio and print.

As you can see, except for 2016 I have picked Christian or self help books. This year I narrowed the field to a social (political) treatise (commentary), American Marxism, and the book I have chosen.

I am working on updating a Bible study on Creation which I did over 20 years ago. [I just discovered that I have (hopefully only momentarily) misplaced my prior study folder! ARGGH..]

The Case for a Creator
By: Lee Strobel
Narrated by: Lee Strobel
Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
Release date: 10-05-04
I've had this ebook and have planned to read this for a while. Now I can listen to it.
Source: May 18 Purchase at $2.99 with Whispersync.
Publisher's Summary
Discover the astonishing evidence for intelligent design in this New York Times best-selling book by award-winning journalist Lee Strobel.
"My road to atheism was paved by science...but, ironically, so was my later journey to God," Strobel says.
During his academic years, Lee Strobel became convinced that God was obsolete, a belief that colored his journalism career. Science had made the idea of a creator irrelevant - or so Strobel thought.
But today science points in a different direction. A diverse and impressive body of research has increasingly supported the conclusion that the universe was intelligently designed. At the same time, Darwinism has faltered in the face of concrete facts and hard reason. Has science discovered God? At the very least, it's giving faith an immense boost, as new findings emerge about the incredible complexity of our universe.
Join Strobel as he reexamines the theories that once led him away from God. Through his compelling and highly readable account, you'll encounter the mind-stretching discoveries from cosmology, cellular biology, DNA research, astronomy, physics, and human consciousness that present compelling evidence in The Case for a Creator.