WEEKLY UPDATES: VISUALIZING FALL….

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.

Turning the calendars in my house to September was a cheery thing.  I love fall, and I am now visualizing it.  Isn’t visualizing a thing you want a good way to get it?   Or not, since it is still triple digits here.  But that’s okay, as I know that falling leaves signal the upcoming crispy season.  Now I’m also visualizing apples, pumpkins, and cooler weather.

My reading was all over the place this week, as I picked up print books from my nightstand, and then turned to my Kindle for more, a peripatetic cycle that finally led to the completion of three books.  My Read the Books You Buy Total:  78.

My purchased books for the month of August exceeded the numbers in previous months, totaling 17 books, my highest number since January when I bought 19 books!  I had been patting myself on the back for decreasing numbers in May, June, and July...but then I went wild.

Today I plan to curl up and read some of my books…and stay off the Amazon site.  LOL. 

On TV, I continued watching The Sinner; caught another show about Princess Diana; and started a new series on Netflix with Kathy Bates:  Disjointed.  I added a show called What Happened to Monday to my queue.  I may settle down with a few of these over the weekend.

Now…while we grab some coffee, let’s take a closer look at last week.

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LAST WEEK ON THE BLOGS:

Tuesday Excerpts:  “A Stranger in the House”

My Reading Week:  Current, Past, & Future…

Upcoming Events, Etc.

Wrapping up August!

Reprising a Review:  Midwives, by Chris Bohjalian

Coffee Chat:  Books, Movies, & Obsessions…

Bookish Friday:  “Y is for Yesterday”

Remembering Family & Friends…

Review:  The Good Daughter (e-book), by Karin SlaughterReview:  Home, by Harlan CobenReview:  Heartbreak Hotel (e-book), by Jonathan Kellerman***

INCOMING BOOKS:  (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon)

I received ONE purchased book in my physical mailbox…and downloaded three e-books.

Did You See Melody?, by Sophie Hannah

Downloads:

My Absolute Darling (e-book), by Gabriel Tallent

The Burning Girl (e-book), by Claire Messud

I’ll Have What She’s Having (e-book), by Erin Carlson

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WHAT’S NEXT?

Currently Reading:  Z:  A Novel of Zelda, by Therese Anne Fowler

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Then…

The Truth We Bury (e-book), by Barbara Taylor Sissel

Lies She Told (e-book), by Cate Holahan (NetGalley – 9/12)

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That was my week…what did yours look like?  Check out my salad and margarita, from a few days ago….Pippa was enjoying the ambience of the restaurant.

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WHEN AUTUMN SLIPS TOWARD WINTER: MEMORIES & AN EXCERPT

Fall is the season of new beginnings.  For me, that has always been the case, starting back in childhood when the season brought release from the long hot summer days…and the endless chores.  Living on a farm was like being on a treadmill of continuous chores.

Above is a photo of my second son and his daughter Aubrey, years ago when I still lived in my house in the foothills.  This snap was captured at Thanksgiving.  Aubrey is now in college, so you get the sense of the passage of time.

In the background, note the climbing device…my youngest son built that, and the grandchildren all clamored to it.

In my first published book, An Accidental Life, one of my characters lives in an A-frame house with a guest house next door.  Like mine.  Here’s an excerpt:

 

Autumn slipped toward winter, its days beginning with that hideous, low-hanging fog that characterized this part of the valley.   But Melody woke in the mornings feeling something akin to happiness.  Taking her large mug of coffee over near the tall side windows, where she had set up a little table and wicker chair, she would spread out the newspaper.  Reading, sipping her coffee, and occasionally glancing toward the guesthouse, waiting for the first sign of Hugh so she could invent some excuse to saunter on over.

Since their first encounter a few months back, the two of them had established a more or less regular routine.  One or the other would initiate contact, they would chat for a bit, and then they would end up in bed.  Melody still felt wonder when she reflected on their moments together.  What an unlikely pairing they were.

She felt the heat rising in her face as her thoughts raced backward and she quickly fanned herself with the front page of the paper.  Despite all the passion the two of them generated, however, she sometimes walked away afterwards wondering who Hugh Kincaid really was…They never really talked about anything substantive.  Oh, they had shared the superficial biographical sketches.  He knew that she had been in Haight-Ashbury in the sixties and on the road for awhile in the seventies.  He knew about the trust fund that had brought her this house.  She knew that he’d retired from a state job as an engineer, that he loved photography as art, and that he had been married once…But had no children.

Her brow furrowed as she tried to focus on the newspaper.  Her thoughts refused to cooperate, continuing instead to ramble in Hugh’s direction.  She realized that she wanted to know more.  And she was even willing to share more of herself.  The realization surprised and worried her at the same time.  What did it mean?

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What does Fall bring to you?  Family moments?  New beginnings? 

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SUNDAY/MONDAY UPDATES: I AM READY TO GREET OCTOBER!

 

Good morning!  Today’s post will link up to Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post,  and Book Journey, for  Weekly Updates.

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

Good morning, Bloggers!  Grab some coffee (or a mimosa), and let’s talk about our weeks.

 

 

I find myself writing this post much earlier than usual this weekend.  The hours ahead will be full of family time, a get-together that is a celebration of new beginnings.  My youngest son and his wife are moving farther north, and my daughter will be moving into their house here.  We will be lifting our glasses to what lies ahead!

Meanwhile, here’s a quick nod to last week…

ON THE BLOGS:

Bloggiesta Finish Line:  Success!

Tuesday Potpourri:  Intros/Teasers – “Hello from the Gillespies”

Reprising My Review of “The Banks of Certain Rivers” – Paperback Release

Hump Day Potpourri:  Waiting for “Unbecoming”

Reshuffling the Interiors:  A Touch of OCDD

My Bookish (and Not So Bookish) Thoughts:  Reshuffling, Renewing

Serendipitous Friday:  Book Beginnings/Friday 56 – “Friendswood”

From the Interior:  My Seven Deadly Sins

Creative Expressions on a Saturday:  Saturday Snapshots

Meadow Returns:  An Excerpt from “Interior Designs”

Review:  Quiet (e-book), by Susan Cain (For Mt. TBR Challenge)

Review:  Safe Keeping, by Barbara Taylor Sissel (Amazon Vine Review)

Review:  Friendswood, by Rene Steinke (Amaon Vine Review)

 

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INCOMING BOOKS (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon)

No books came in the mailbox!  But Sparky is happily feasting on the three downloads I found.

Leaves (e-book), by Michael Baron

 

 

 

 

 

Owen’s Daughter (e-book), by Jo-Ann Mapson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

River Road (e-book), by Jayne Ann Krentz

 

 

 

 

 

 

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WHAT’S UP NEXT? (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon)

Currently Reading:  Crooked River, by Valerie Geary (Amazon Vine Review)

 

 

 

 

 

Then I hope to read these books…and maybe more; we shall see!

 

Hello from the Gillespies, by Monica McInerney  (Vine Review)

 

 

 

 

Dance the Eagle to Sleep, by Marge Piercy (From Mt. TBR)

 

 

 

 

The Corn Maiden (and Other Nightmares), by Joyce Carol Oates (From Mt. TBR)

 

 

 

 

 

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With only a few more days left in September, I am feeling the fall…finally.  The temperature has slid down to the eighties and even mid-seventies on occasion.  I pulled some pumpkin and other autumn tidbits from the closets.  I am ready!

 

 

 

 

 

 

WELCOME TO OCTOBER!!

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SUNDAY UPDATES/MAILBOX MONDAY: FALL IS NEAR! — AUGUST 25

Good morning!  Today’s post will link up to Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post, and head over to  Bermudaonion for Mailbox Monday.

Another week has sped by.  School has started for the grandkids…and the temperature is going down just a tad.  I can sense that autumn is near at hand!  My favorite time of the year.

Here’s My Week on the Blogs:

Serendipitous Tuesdays:  Intros/Teasers – “Blue Plate Special”

On Tenterhooks for this One:  “Critical Mass”

Thursday Potpourri:  The Tea is Steeping and the Book is Delicious

August Bookshelf Clearing:  Come on Down!

Friday Potpourri:  Book Beginnings/The Friday 56 –“Accused”

Sweet Saturday Sample:  Another Look at Evan (Excerpt)

Sunday Potpourri:  A Trip to the Library

Review: Townie (e-book), by Andre Dubus III (From Mt. TBR)

Review:  Is This Tomorrow (e-book), by Caroline Leavitt

Review:  Blue Plate Special, by Kate Christensen (Amazon Vine Review)

Review:  The Great Gatsby (e-book), by F. Scott Fitzgerald

INCOMING BOOKS:

Accused, by Lisa Scottoline (Amazon Vine)

Mary Dinuzio has just been promoted to partner and is about to take on her most unusual case yet, brought to the firm by a thirteen-year-old genius with a penchant for beekeeping.  Allegra Gardner’s sister Fiona was murdered six years ago, and it seemed like an open-and-shut case: the accused, Lonnie Stall, was seen fleeing the scene; his blood was on Fiona and her blood was on him; most damningly, Lonnie Stall pleaded guilty.  But Allegra believes Lonnie is innocent and has been wrongly imprisoned. The Gardner family is one of the most powerful in the country and Allegra’s parents don’t believe in reopening the case, so taking it on is risky.  But the Rosato & Associates firm can never resist an underdog.  Was justice really served all those years ago?  It will take a team of unstoppable female lawyers, plus one thirteen-year-old genius, to find out.

The Supreme Macaroni Company: A Novel (Valentine Trilogy), by Adriana Trigiani (Amazon Vine)

In The Shoemaker’s Wife Adriana Trigiani swept her readers across generations of an Italian family, from the Italian Alps at the turn of the twentieth century to the cobblestone streets of Little Italy. In The Supreme Macaroni Company, she weaves a heartbreaking story that begins on the eve of a wedding in New York’s Greenwich Village, travels to New Orleans, and culminates in Tuscany. Family, work, romance, and the unexpected twists of life and fate all come together in an unforgettable narrative that Adriana Trigiani’s many fans will adore.

Good Girl, Bad Girl, by Christopher Finch (Amazon Vine)

In May of 1968, New York City is broke and on the skids, and private eye Alex Novalis is hard up for gigs. So when he’s offered a case from wealthy construction mogul Gabriel Kravitz, he can’t refuse.

Kravitz’s eighteen-year-old daughter Lydia has gone missing. Though she’s presumed to be with Jerry Pedrosian, the radical middle-aged artist and known womanizer she’d been sleeping with, there are few clues. Information is hard to come by; everyone seems to be hiding something. And then there’s Andrea Marshall, Lydia’s miniskirted and vinyl-booted best friend, who Novalis is deeply distrustful of…and unfortunately attracted to.

But as Novalis traverses the city, tracking Lydia from scummy artists’ lofts in pre-gentrified SoHo to luxury penthouses overlooking Central Park, he’ll face threats deadlier than any he signed on for.

Smart and sophisticated, Good Girl, Bad Girl provides a rare, fascinating snapshot of late 1960s New York City—a glimpse into the forbidden sex, politics, art, drugs, and counterculture violence that ran rampant in its once gloriously gritty streets.

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Another week to look forward to!  Come on by and share some thoughts….