Sunday, August 17, 2014

Sunday Post - 8/17/14

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by the wonderful Kimba, the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  It's a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

We're halfway through our vacation/family-visiting-time. It was great to see my dad and stepmother and many of my cousins on that side of the family. Too bad I was sick for the first few days! But by Wednesday I was starting to feel a bit better except for some lingering congestion and cough. The highlights of the week were seeing the Broadway touring production of Wicked, and a family pot-luck/get-together on the night before we left.






Saturday, we drove down from Utah through southern Colorado and into northern New Mexico. It's a pretty drive in places; we went through Moab, Durango, and Pagosa Springs. But it's a long haul for one day! On the plus side, we saw these:


Bear cub, southern Colorado. Photo © K. Pekar

Buck, northern New Mexico. Photo © K. Pekar


We'll spend about six days here in NM with my mom and stepdad and my sister's family, then we drop Robin off at college in Arizona and head home. While we're here, we'll celebrate Robin's birthday. It's hard to believe she's a sophomore in college already!

Last week on the blog: 





The coming week:



  • Mon. 8/18/14: Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well, by Nancy Atherton (review)
  • Tues. 8/19/14: Top Ten Books People Have Been Telling Me I Must Read (Top Ten Tuesday)
  • Wed. 8/20/14: In the Dragon's Eye: To Die Fur and Memory Zero (W.O.W.)
  • Thur. 8/21/14: TBD
  • Fri. 8/22/14:  To Die Fur, by Dixie Lyle (early review)
  • Sat. 8/23/14:  News & Notes - 8/23/14  (tentative, because of everything that's going on this week.)

New additions to the hoard: 

(Cover links go to Goodreads)

For review:  

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20447676-generation-18https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20697426-penumbra
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20613597-wouldn-t-it-be-deadlyhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20579304-the-christmas-bouquethttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21855279-the-dress-shop-of-dreams


Many thanks to Dell, Minotaur, Harlequin MIRA, and Ballantine!

Bought or free for my Kindle:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17745703-doon

Because I love the story of Brigadoon, I wanted to read this back when it came out, but I didn't get an ARC and my library didn't buy it. It went on sale this week, so I snapped it up.


Have a wonderful week and happy reading!

18 comments:

  1. Mission to Murder, To Die Fur, Love Letters, The Dress Shop of Dreams...so many good titles you have!
    That is quite a long drive you made but at least you arrived safely and can enjoy time with family. When we drove cross country we came through the Texas panhandle, through New Mexico and Arizona, then into southern California. We all found Arizona and New Mexico to have beautiful scenery.
    Enjoy the rest of your vacation!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm just hugging myself about all those cool books!

      My daughter gets so irked when people who've never been there picture both New Mexico and Arizona as all desert. They really do have some breathtaking scenery -- and a surprising amount of green in the mountains and higher elevations.

      Delete
  2. Wicked is SO much fun! And exciting wildlife! Too bad it also sounds like an insane amount of driving. Sounds like you will need a vacation from your vacation:).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wicked was awesome. Just. . . wow. And Robin was so excited! It was her birthday present, and her first real Broadway show. (Not counting dinner theater productions of various shows, which are never as lavish nor as professionally produced and acted.)

      But yes, I'll probably need a vacation from the vacation. We flew to Utah, spent 5 1/2 days (half of which I was sick), drove to NM, and I promptly got sick again. (Low-grade fever this time, of unknown origin.) Oh, well! The fun stuff has been totally worth it.

      Delete
  3. What a bummer that you weren't feeling well the first part of the visit :( Hope you're feeling much better now! Did you love Wicked? I saw it when it came to Dallas several years ago - gosh probably like 5 years now - and it was really good. And I don't even like the Wizard of Oz that much!

    I have the first book in the Keri Arthur series you're reading - I plan to start it tonight actually :) So hopefully I'll be grabbing those soon too! Enjoy your reads and time with the family before dropping your daughter off. They sure do grow fast!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wicked was amazing! I loved it, and Robin was in seventh heaven because it's one of her favorites -- and the first Broadway touring production she's seen.

      I just finished the third Spook Squad book -- I couldn't help myself; I went through them like candy! I think you'll enjoy them.

      Delete
  4. You are in my neck of the woods. I love Utah and Colorado. So pretty. And Wicked.. I love WICKED! I have been twice. It comes to my city again in 2015 and I'll be there again. The book wasn't that great to me though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wicked was great! I loved every minute. The leads were all really good, especially Elpheba, and the music, choreography, sets, costumes, and everything were terrific.

      Delete
  5. Bears, Bucks and Witches oh my! It sounds like you had an amazing week despite the cold. Hope you are 100% soon! You snagged some great books this week

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL! Yes, we did have a great week despite the cold. And I'm on a roll with all these books - but I need to catch up on earlier books, too, so I'll be a busy lady this fall!

      Delete
  6. It's too bad you were sck, but I'm glad you got better and enjoyed your trip, great pics :) Have fun reading the new Keri Arthur books and have a great week !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've plowed through the 3 Keri Arthur books in under a week - they're addictive! I'll have to check out some of her other series now.

      Delete
  7. What was your favorite Wicked song? I used to be OBSESSED with that soundtrack. So fun to sing along to.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So many favorites! I love the soundtrack, too, though not as obsessively as my daughter does. The two that kept going through my head afterward, though, were "I'm Not That Girl" (the woman who played Elpheba was really amazing; the song almost broke my heart) and "For Good". I'm actually a singer, so I may try to add "I'm Not That Girl" to my repertoire, if I can hit the low notes. (I'm a lyric soprano, so Elpheba is a bit low for me.)

      Delete
  8. I got the Sherryl Woods and I'm curious about The Dress Shop of Dreams and Wouldn't It Be Deadly. I would love to see Wicked! It's come here a few times but there's always been a timing issue. Have a great rest of vacation and stay healthy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Since I am a My Fair Lady fan, I couldn't turn down Wouldn't It Be Deadly! And I heard such good things about The House at the End of Hope Street that when I saw Menna van Praag had a new book out, I requested it immediately.

      Wicked was really amazing. I'll be singing the songs for weeks. As for staying healthy, I'm still fighting something, but I'm trying to get over it.

      Delete
  9. When I saw Doon I bought it! I hadn't heard of it before. One of my daughters and I both like Brigadoon a lot! We're excited about this. And I've put Wouldn't It Be Deadly on my list for September. My Fair Lady and Pygmalion are favorites of mine. Thanks for the great recs, Lark!

    It sounds like your vacation/family visits are going great. I love the wildlife photos--very nice. How did you like Wicked? It's one of my favorites of the newer musicals. I hope the rest of your vacation goes well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wicked was awesome; I loved it! We're enjoying the visit with my mom & stepdad and my sister's family. Lots of card-playing and laughter!

      Delete

I love to hear what you have to say -- really! Unfortunately, I've been getting a lot of spam in addition to your wonderful comments, so I've had to turn on comment moderation. That means your comment may not post right away. I promise I'll post it -- and answer it -- as soon as I can!