 |
| Hosted by The Book Date |
Life
Happy Superbowl, Valentine's Day, and Mardi Gras! Wow, there's a lot going on this week. We are big into small celebrations, so this is a fun-filled week for us! We had two friends over last night for Superbowl, and our son stayed home with us, too (his friends were all in Philly, and he had no interest in being there--win or lose, Eagles fans can get crazy). We enjoyed yummy snacks, and the game was exciting right up until the end. My favorite part of Superbowl is the ads! Some of my favorites from last night include Hamm and Brie (very clever), the EV one with scenes from all the TV shows, the babies at the wedding (though I don't remember what product it was selling!), and Tubi's rabbit hole ad was very clever and certainly got our attention. The one that stole my heart, though, was one of the last ads, with John Travolta in the T-Mobile ad; as a long-time Grease superfan since age 13, I loved that one! I just wish Olivia Newton John could have been there to accompany him.
 |
| Superbowl snacks! |
We'll probably just do takeout or an easy home meal tomorrow night for Valentine's Day, but we used to go all out when our sons were little, with the house decorated, hearts hanging from their doorways, treat bags, and chocolate fondue for dessert. I have treat bags ready for my husband and son, and my husband bought a fabulous sea salt-chocolate chess pie for us.
 |
| This is what our sons woke to every Valentine's Day! |
 |
| We celebrate love with treats for all! |
All of this celebration is nice after one of "those" weeks. You know when you plan to do some small task, and one thing after another goes wrong? Yeah, it was like that. I sat down to edit a video Tuesday afternoon and ended up spending two hours on the phone with Apple help, having to update the system on my laptop, update all my software, and then buy, download, and install new Microsoft Office. I finally got that video edited on Friday! Not much else got done last week. So, I'm hoping for a more productive week with fewer issues!
__________
On the Blog
Movie Monday: A Man Called Otto - excellent adaptation of the book that we both enjoyed.
Fiction Review: A Serpent's Tooth by Matty Dalrymple - book 5 in my favorite series, about a woman who solves mysteries by talking to the dead.
__________
On Video
Here's that video that took all week to edit and upload!
January Reading Wrap-Up - overview of the 6 books I read/listened to last month
__________
I finished reading Dead of Winter by Stephen Mack Jones, book 3 in his August Snow series. I first met Stephen at Booktopia 2019, and I enjoyed his first two novels, August Snow and Lives Laid Down (which was featured at Booktopia). Snow is a half-Black, half-Mexican ex-cop who made a lot of money in a lawsuit that took down dirty cops in Detroit, where he lives. This makes him unpopular among most of the police force. In each book, Snow takes on some sort of mystery in his hometown, usually focused on cleaning up the city. These are action-packed thrillers with a great sense of humor, and my husband enjoys them, too. They tend to be a bit more violent for my taste, but the story, characters, and suspense are great.
Today, I will start my next book group selection, Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger. Last year, Krueger's This Tender Land was our All-County Reads book, and all of us loved it (it was my #2 book of the year!), so we're excited to read this one. All I know about it is that it won the 2014 Edgar Award (so it must be a mystery), and it's a stand-alone, not part of his Cork O'Connor series. He's an excellent writer, so I'm excited to dive into this one today!
On audio, I'm still listening to Anywhere You Run by Wanda M. Morris, historical fiction that is also a mystery/thriller, and a good fit for Black History Month. It's set in 1964, and begins in Jackson, Mississippi, during Freedom Summer. Two sisters each decide to flee town for different reasons: one killed a white man who raped her, and the other is single and pregnant. One ends up in a small town in Georgia, and the other heads north, but they don't realize that a man is tracking both of them. It's great so far!
My husband, Ken, is reading book 3 in the Ann Kinnear series, The Falcon and the Owl by Matty Dalrymple. He enjoys this series, too (my favorite). This one takes place near us, in southeastern PA, at a small airport where Ann is taking flying lessons. Murder, ghosts, and mystery ensue! I read this one last fall (my review at the link).
Our son, 28, is still reading The White Tower by Michael Wisehart, book 1 in The Aldoran Chronicles, in preparation for book 2, which he just bought with a Christmas gift card. He's discovered new updates to an old favorite video game that is taking up some of his reading time!
__________
You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.
What are you and your family reading this week?
I have heard lots of good things about Krueger's books, enjoy!
ReplyDeletehttps://wordsandpeace.com/2023/02/12/sunday-post-78-02-12-2023/
He's such a good writer! This Tender Land was outstanding, and my husband says his Cork O'Connor mystery series is also great.
DeleteSounds like Super Bowl was good, and the adds even better! Ouch over all that updating to edit your video. Dead of Winter sounds good and the new Krueger book should be interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe ads during Superbowl are SO creative! Very excited to be starting the new Krueger - I read some at naptime today, and it's great so far - he does young narrators and coming-of-age stories in historical settings so well!
DeleteAnywhere You Run sounds great!
ReplyDeleteI'm at the end now, and it's been excellent - a great mix of suspense, family drama, and historical fiction.
DeleteMicrosoft, ugh! We don't watch the Super Bowl and in fact, I just realized I never even heard who won. I saw a lot of complaints about the half-time show on Facebook, but the only ad I heard about was the Dunkin ad with Ben Affleck.
ReplyDeleteHow did I not know that your favorite series is by Matty Dalrymple? I don't think I've heard of her, but I'll have to try her books. Usually I don't read mysteries, just listen to them on audio, but there's always an exception if they're not available on audio.
ha ha Kansas City won! And the Dunkin ad was one of the first - there were lots of really clever, smart ads later. We never ignore a reason for a celebration of any kind! I don't read many series from start to finish - like, usually none! - but I really love this one. She has this Ann Kinnear series about a woman who can sense spirits and communicate with the dead and also another series of more typical mysteries. And, yes, they're available on audio!
DeleteI watch the SuperBowl mostly for the ads too! There were several very clever ones this year, and I also liked the John Travolta/Grease one. This is the first year I can remember that we're really not doing anything (today) for Valentine's. Not having the kids or grandkids around I didn't go out of my way to decorate this time. Happy Reading - the selections look interesting!
ReplyDeleteYeah, we had a low-key Valentine's Day, too, this year. Hope you've had a good week!
DeleteYour celebrations sound fun. I am not a football watcher, but the game was a good one. I was disappointed in the half-time show and most of the ads.
ReplyDeleteI liked Ordinary Grace, but not quite as much as This Tender Land. I also liked the one August Snow book I read so should look into the others.
I'm enjoying Ordinary Grace so far!
Delete