WEEKLY UPDATES: ANOTHER BIRTHDAY & GREAT READING…

On By Laurel-Rain SnowIn Weekly Updates

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves, for weekly updates.

**Mailbox Monday is hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.

And let’s join Kathryn, our leader in It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?, at Book Date.

 

Every day this week was full of running around, errands, and finally, my birthday lunch on Wednesday with my daughter.  We had Mexican food, with the obligatory Margarita(s).  I forgot to photograph our food!

While the weather was cooler, there were some warm days midweek again!  My reading was good…THREE books read and reviewed, bringing my challenge total to 97!  Fewer blog posts…but let’s chalk it up to too much celebrating.

Today I enjoyed a Netflix documentary featuring Joan Didion:  The Center Will Not Hold.

Now that my birthday is over, and Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are waiting around the corner, I need to focus on more housework…just because I’m feeling the need to polish up the nest.

So…let’s grab another cup of coffee and chat about the week.

 

LAST WEEK ON THE BLOGS:

Rainy Day Excerpts:  “Seven Days of Us”

A Week of Engaging Reads…

Thursday Potpourri:  Exploring My Archives…

Coffee Chat:  Another Year & More Adventures…

Facing Reality:  An Excerpt from “An Accidental Life”

Bookish Friday:  “Unraveling Oliver”

Review:  Odd Child Out (e-book), by Gilly MacmillanReview:  Then She Was Gone, by Lisa JewellReview:  White Bodies (e-book), by Jane Robins

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INCOMING BOOKS: (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon)

No books came to my physical mailbox…but I received TWO NetGalley review books.

Watch Me (e-book), by Jody Gehrman – (1/23/18)

The Good Liar (e-book), by Catherine McKenzie – (4/3/18)

Purchased Downloads:

The Cruelest Month (e-book), by Louise Penny (Gamache #3)

Merry & Bright (e-book), by Debbie Macomber

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WHAT’S NEXT?

Y Is for Yesterday (e-book), by Sue Grafton

The Surrogate (e-book), by Louise Jensen

And then…wherever my moods take me.

***

That was my week…another year older and still many more books to read.  What did yours look like?  Here is my birthday dessert:

***

82 thoughts on “WEEKLY UPDATES: ANOTHER BIRTHDAY & GREAT READING…”

  2. Happy Birthday!! Sounds like you had a great week… and that dessert – yum! A friend just recommended The Surrogate to my mother, so she’s on the library hold list now. I have a feeling that between the two of you, it will end up on my list.

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    1. Thanks, Maureen, I do love Macomber’s Christmas reads…and other books that remind me of lovely friendships and settings.

      Enjoy your week! I enjoy a breakfast of Special K every day. Some of my favorites include a mix of quinoa, nuts, and coconut.

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  7. fuonlyknew

    Happy Birthday! Sounds like you had a lovely one. And look at those books. A great mix of genres too. The holidays are fast approaching and I’m trying to sort out my house too. Even pulled out Christmas decorations. I have a ton and figured it was time to sort and get rid of stuff I never use.

    My Sunday Post

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    1. Thanks, Laura, I like the idea of sorting out the Christmas decorations. Last year’s Christmas was a sad one for me, as the state of our country weighed me down, leading to minimal decorations. Now I’m starting to feel hopeful.

      Enjoy your week!

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  9. A very Happy Birthday Laurel – and too much celebrating is absolutely required for another year rolling by:). Hm. I rather desperately need to clean my house – but then it is ALWAYS in dire need of a clean! I hope you enjoy Y is for Yesterday – I don’t think it’s one of her best and I wasn’t particularly impressed with the way the victim was treated. I’ll be interested to see what you think. Have a great week. My Sunday Post – https://sjhigbee.wordpress.com/2017/10/29/sunday-post-29th-october-2017/

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    1. Thanks, Sarah, and yes, my house is always in need of more cleaning, too…the deep kind. But I did a pretty good job of it yesterday and then I was exhausted! I had to take myself out to lunch. What else is new? LOL.

      I am hoping to enjoy Y is for Yesterday…because of the MC, who is one of my favorites.

      Enjoy your week!

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    1. Thanks, Evelina, and I had whittled my NG stacks down to three books, both with future dates, so I felt justified in adding two more…also later dates. LOL.

      Lemon meringue pie sounds wonderful! Enjoy your week.

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    1. It seems like it was summer just the other day! Fall here is all too brief. I’m not ready for the holidays, Natalie, but I will spend more time eating Mexican food in the weeks ahead. Thanks for stopping by.

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    1. Thanks, Yvonne, you are right about the Margaritas that must accompany the food! Living in California, we enjoy many lovely restaurants with good Mexican food. My eldest son lives in Prague and really misses the Mexican food, which they don’t seem to know how to make there! LOL.

      Enjoy your books! Are you loving General Hospital right now?

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  18. Happy Birthday 🎈 I do that all the time I’ll be having such a great time, I forget to take pictures. The life of a blogger right? We’re having cooler weather here in Michigan too, but I welcome it. I really enjoy the colder months and all the wonderful holidays.

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    1. Thanks for visiting, Bleu Bailey, and I do enjoy the cooler weather….not so much the storms, but they aren’t usually too bad around here. I still kick myself for not photographing the lunch, though.

      Enjoy your week!

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  21. Hi Laurel: Happy belated birthday! You’re getting better with age 🙂 I’d like to see that Joan Didion documentary. I’m a big fan of hers – so I’ll look for it on Netflix. Thanks for mentioning it. Enjoy your week!

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    1. Thanks, Susan, I really enjoyed the Joan Didion documentary…she looks very fragile in the contemporary scenes (she is 83!), but we also got to see her when she was stronger and more vigorous. It was emotional and really good. I like to see older people following their causes.

      Enjoy your week!

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    1. Thanks, Kathryn, “enjoy” is probably not my word for housework, but I like the feeling afterwards. LOL

      Loving the memories of the birthday, and looking forward to holidays ahead…and this week’s books. Enjoy yours!

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  26. Sounds like you had a fun birthday celebration!
    Our temps have really dipped and the furnace clicks on regularly. That also puts me in ‘nest polishing’ mode. We host Thanksgiving so I’d better get going on that!
    I need to read the second Louise Penny book. Getting to the point where I need to say no thank you to review books and read my own! Have a lovely week!

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    1. It is hard to say “no” to some review books, but I have managed to keep those numbers down…for now. I haven’t hosted Thanksgiving for many years…not since I downsized. It is a relief! I do miss the leftovers, though.

      I loved the first two Louise Penny books, so I’m looking forward to No. 3…and more.

      Enjoy your week, Mary, and thanks for visiting.

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  31. It is difficult to take time to “polish up the nest.” 🙂

    I actually have a schedule about dusting/cleaning which room on a certain day – that’s the only way I get it done.

    Love the cover on THE SURROGATE.

    ENJOY your week, Laurel.

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      1. A schedule is the only way to go with my a four-bedroom house. 🙂 We need to move, but I hate the idea of moving.

        You have so many cute knick knacks around to dust, though. I don’t know how you keep up.

        Good to hear THE SURROGATE was good.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I hate moving, too, but I did it in a big way ten years ago…and I’m still remembering what a nightmare it was. But that house and yard were impossible to manage!

        This place is small enough that, now that I’ve moved many of my collections into the garage, I can manage it…if I get off my couch and do it! LOL

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  34. carolesrandomlife

    Happy Birthday! It sounds like you were able to fit in some birthday fun and that dessert looks amazing. Enjoy all of your new books and have a great week!

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