SUNDAY POTPOURRI: CURLING UP WITH BOOKS, ETC.

Good morning!  I love Sundays, especially now that I don’t have to “go to work” on Mondays.

I’m curled up in my office reading Book Two in Melinda Leigh’s new Morgan Dane series:  Her Last Goodbye.

 

A missing wife; Chelsea as an alternate narrator, who has been abducted and restrained in a dank container; and Morgan Dane and her partner Lance Kruger searching for her, while trying to determine who, if anyone, has taken her.  Could she have left of her own volition?  They are beginning to doubt this scenario.

I finished Book One this past week:  Say You’re Sorry (click for my review), which held me hostage throughout.

I’m in my office this morning…this is what I see from the couch where I’m curled up to read:

 

And I’m sitting here:

Tonight I am eager to watch another episode of Ten Days in the Valley, with Kyra Sedgwick, and a continuation of the story of her missing daughter.

Madam Secretary is another favorite on Sundays, along with a new episode in the Hailey Dean Mysteries on Hallmark.

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Another distraction for me this week was ordering a new clock for my office.  The one I had broke, and while I don’t actually need one, since the computer shows the time, I want one to look at and check when the computer isn’t on.

So I ordered this decorative clock, coming by mail tomorrow.

 

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This week’s wildfires just north of here have heightened my anxieties….what next?  From hurricanes in the southern parts of the states to wildfires here, we have all had more than we were expecting.  And much more than anyone deserves.

Immersing myself in books and blogging keeps me distracted…but it doesn’t really alleviate the anxiety.  We’re all sending our positive energy out there, hoping for healing and resolution.

What are you thinking about on a Sunday?  Do your thoughts take you to a place of hope and healing?

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TUESDAY POTPOURRI: BOOKS, NETFLIX, ETC.

My coffee table stack of books is dwindling.  Even as I read more of my books purchased from Pippa, my Kindle, I am also focused on some of these hardcover books.

Reading more than one book at a time has helped…and it works for me if the genres are different, or even just the formats.

I Found You, by Lisa Jewell, is a book I’ve had since August 2016, so it would count on my current Read the Books You Buy Challenge.

Even though the book has just been released (today) on Amazon, I picked it up months ago.  I don’t know where, since it wasn’t from Amazon.  One of life’s mysteries.

I am reading an e-book from the author, Maria Murnane, received in February 2017:  Wait for the Rain.

 

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Another new book, downloaded today, will be one of my soon-to-read books:  The Red Hunter, by Lisa Unger.

 

 

Claudia Bishop’s perfect life fell apart when the aftermath of a brutal assault left her with a crumbling marriage, a newborn daughter, and a constant sense of anxiety about the world around her. Now, looking for a fresh start with a home restoration project and growing blog, Claudia takes on a crumbling old house—one that unbeknownst to her has an ugly history and may hide long buried secrets.

For Zoey Drake the defining moment of her childhood was the horrific home invasion murder of her parents. Years later, she has embraced the rage that fuels her. Training in the martial arts has made her strong and ready to face the demons from the past—and within.

Strangers to each other, and walking very different paths in the wake of trauma, these two women are on a collision course—because Zoey’s past nightmare and Claudia’s dreams for her future take place in the very same house. As Zoey seeks justice, and Claudia seeks peace, both will confront the monsters at the door that are the most frightening of all.

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On Sunday, I mentioned my need to clear the patio of dead leaves, etc.  Even though I wanted to put it off, I went out and did it.

There are still some new leaves that have fallen since then, but I don’t mind those as much as the ones the gardeners blow in with their equipment!

 

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So…yesterday I stayed home all day, even though I wanted to go to the post office to check the mail, pick up some groceries, etc.

But today I’m all ready to go!  Shower done, hair fluffed, and feeling energized.

Last night, I enjoyed Better Call Saul, but I wish they would get rid of that annoying Chuck!  He is so mean to “Jimmy,” who will become Saul.  It can’t happen soon enough for me!

Do any of you watch that show?  After Breaking Bad, I was intrigued by these characters and their life before that show.

I’ve added a new show on Netflix:  Girl Boss.  I haven’t watched it yet.

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With all the Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other shows on TV, it’s amazing that I read at all!  What vies for your attention?

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SUNDAY POTPOURRI: READING, TV SHOWS, & MOVIES….

It’s time to share thoughts about Sunday.  Once upon a time, when I was still working my “career job,” I didn’t like Sundays that much.  Mostly because Mondays followed.  And Mondays were also on my “not so favorite” list.  But now I love Mondays, too.

Nowadays, I enjoy Sunday night TV shows, like Madame Secretary, and currently, Feud:  Bette and Joan.

The Good Wife was a favorite Sunday show until it ended.  But now we have The Good Fight, a show that streams on CBS: All Access.  Today’s episode was the final one for the first season.  Waiting for Season II (yes, it was renewed) will be challenging.  Luckily there are other shows that come along.

 

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My other favorite things to do on Sundays, besides reading, are various Netflix shows and movies on my DVR.  Last night I watched an older movie, with Renee Zellwegger, called Miss Potter.  A sweet story based on a real person, Beatrix Potter.

This weekend, I watched some movies on Amazon Prime, too, like Miss Sloane.  Jessica Chastain is someone worth following.

Check out last week’s reading on my Weekly Updates post.

My blog changes brought about two new headers this week:

An Interior Journey

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Curl up and Read

 

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I can’t seem to leave my blogs alone!

What is your day like?  What are your favorite things?

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SUNDAY POTPOURRI: A FLURRY OF ACTIVITIES…

Welcome to my Sunday Potpourri post.  It has been a while since I’ve written one, although I’ve done some Weekend Potpourri posts lately.

Today it is raining…hard.  After a week of lovely sunshine, I should have known!  Luckily I did my round of shopping yesterday, and accomplished a lot.  I went to two shops and found two dresses as “potential” Mother of the Bride outfits.  My daughter vetoed one of them, but liked the other.  As it turns out, I think I will be happy with it, too.  A kind of silvery shade with lace over the top, but with very simple lines… and flattering.  I still need to find shoes, but I’m not going out in this rain!  Another day will work.

My other errands were a flurry of activities involving picking up medications; going to Fed Ex to get copies of some legal documents; and finally, settling down for this relaxing cup of Chicken Tortilla Soup…and, of course, the ubiquitous Pomegranate Martini.

 

 

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Tonight I am excited about another episode of Big Little Lies, as well as The Good Fight, streaming later on CBS: All Access.

Another miniseries I’ve set to record:  Feud, Bette and Joan, starring Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange.

Today I’m reading The Good Daughter, by Alexandra Burt.  I’m enjoying it so far, although there are alternating characters whose connection to the MC has not yet revealed itself.

 

 

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As I read and try to enjoy the rainy day, I keep a close eye on my skylight cover….so far, so good.

What do you enjoy on rainy days?  What does your weekend look like?

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SUNDAY POTPOURRI: MY GREAT ESCAPE….

What do I tend to do when I’m troubled, sad, or just bored?

Change things up on a blog…or read a lot of books.  This week I did both, reading and reviewing FIVE books…and changing up the headers on this blog (see above), and Serendipity, where you can read my Weekly Updates, with details about my reading.

 

The baby in the header above is my great-niece, who reminds us that you don’t have to be a grown-up to love reading whatever you can get your hands on…lol.

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I also love going to one of the neighborhood restaurants and eating soup…with a martini or a margarita.

Yesterday, it was pea soup and a strawberry margarita.  The book I was reading on Pippa was Two If By Sea, by Jacquelyn Mitchard.  I’ve had the book since May.

 

 

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Here’s the dessert, which I really shouldn’t have had…but sometimes we just have to go with our weakest impulses…lol.  Key Lime pie, with coffee.

 

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Then I came home to resume reading Rosemary:  The Hidden Kennedy Daughter, by Kate Clifford Larson.

 

 

 

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Tonight I am looking forward to a line-up of shows that make Sunday a wonderful day in the week:  Madame Secretary; Secrets & Lies; and a couple of movies from the DVR.  Next Sunday, The Affair returns.  Yay!

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What does your Sunday look like?  What great escapes have you planned?

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SUNDAY POTPOURRI: STAYING COOL @ HOME & ELSEWHERE…

Hello to Sunday!  Today is hot, just as the previous days have been, so I’m hoping to go to a nearby restaurant with Pippa….and sip something cold, eat something delicious, and enjoy my current read: Wilde Lake, by Laura Lippman.  It is one of her standalones, and I’m enjoying the MC, Luisa Brant (Lu), who is the newly elected and first female state’s attorney in Howard County, Maryland.  Her father was also the state’s attorney when she was growing up, a motherless child.  His benign neglect might have offered her the chance to be independent, fierce, and very skilled at her job when she reached adulthood.  But can she handle her very first case in this role, especially since it brings up many memories of the past?

 

 

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I like Sundays, as the Weekly Updates offer the opportunity to visit a lot of blogs, and have return visitors.  It feels so social!  Therefore, here I am in my nook, my newly reconfigured little office space, savoring those connections.

 

 

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Over in another part of the room is my TBR stack of new print books (and a couple of older ones).

 

 

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Of course, Pippa has a lot more books hiding in her covers, with even more in the cloud.  The cloud also has books I’ve read, so those numbers are deceptive.  555 books in all, including the 51 on my device.  The rest are floating in the cloud. 

I imagine that cloud as a heaven for books.  Yes, silly thought, I know.

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Later, I plan to do some more Netflix bingeing….and perhaps start watching the DVDs I received of the 1960s TV show Peyton Place.  I got Part One of the series, and if I enjoy it, the next one will follow.  So far, it’s kind of boring…I remember loving it at the time, but that was WAY back in the day, and TV viewing was a little less adventurous.  But I’m a fan of Mia Farrow, and back then, I also enjoyed Ryan O’Neal.

 

 

 

 

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So that’s my day so far….what are you up to? 

 

 

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TUESDAY POTPOURRI: COOL BREEZES & GREAT SUMMER READS

Curled up here, in this slightly messy spot, I can see the TV…and behind me, the cool morning air wafts into my space through the open patio door.

 

The early morning hours are the only time I can feel cool breezes…by 10:00 a.m., the door closes and the air conditioning comes on.

Today I’m happily recharging Sparky, full with recently fed books, like this one that came today.

All Fall Down, by Jennifer Weiner, is a story of addiction and recovery.

 

 

Blurb:  Allison Weiss got her happy ending—a handsome husband, adorable daughter, a job she loves, and the big house in the suburbs. But while waiting in the pediatrician’s office, she opens a magazine to a quiz about addiction and starts to wonder…Is a Percocet at the end of the day really different from a glass of wine? Is it such a bad thing to pop a Vicodin after a brutal Jump & Pump class…or if your husband ignores you?

The pills help her manage the realities of her good-looking life: that her husband is distant, that her daughter is acting out, that her father’s Alzheimer’s is worsening and her mother is barely managing to cope. She tells herself that they let her make it through her days…but what if her increasing drug use, a habit that’s becoming expensive and hard to hide, is turning into her biggest problem of all?

With a sparkling comedic touch and a cast of unforgettable characters, this remarkable story of a woman’s slide into addiction and struggle to find her way back up again is Jennifer Weiner’s most masterful work yet.

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Today I’m  visiting Nantucket Island via Nancy Thayer’s book Nantucket Sisters.

 

 

I have only read a couple of chapters, but I’m loving it so far.  I was distracted last night by the return of some favorite shows from hiatus:  Switched at Birth and The Fosters.  I was surprised at how much I enjoyed them when they first came out, since they are not my usual fare.

I also love Major Crimes, which has returned as well.  So the Monday night lineup was heavy!

What does your day look like?  Do you have favorite TV shows that are returning now after a hiatus?

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HUMP DAY POTPOURRI: ENDINGS & NEW BEGINNINGS — JAN. 16

Welcome to another Hump Day Potpourri, when we share our midweek thoughts, some of them bookish, while others are just the stuff of life.

As I ponder my Wednesday, I am still thinking about Tuesday’s TV shows:  favorites of mine, like Private Practice and Parenthood.  Already we are at the point of finales, and while usually those are just SEASON finales, the word is that, for Private Practice, it’s a series finale.  I am sad, as I love those characters.

The good news, of course, is that loose ends will be tied up (hopefully).  And I know that, for awhile, I will save the finale on my DVR so I can watch it again.  And cross my fingers that the DVR doesn’t die—which it has done on at least three occasions over the years.

At the same time, as with the old adage about “one door closes, while another opens,” I started watching (on Monday) a new series based on a book I happen to be reading now:  The Carrie Diaries, by Candace Bushnell.  A prequel, if you will, to the Sex and the City shows and movies.

So far, I’m enjoying it, and I liked the pilot for the TV show.  I’ve programmed it to record every week.

What books and TV shows are you interested in—or obsessed with?  What are the ingredients in each that pull you in and keep you fascinated?

THURSDAY POTPOURRI — REMINISCING — APRIL 28

Recently, I sent off for a DVD collection of the 1970s series Family, which I had remembered so fondly.

The DVD included the first and second seasons, and as I watched the series of tapes, I was transported back to another time and place.

I remembered who I was and what I was doing then.  I was a young mother, a social worker, and a graduate student (working on my master’s degree in counseling).  My life was poised on the threshold of a future that I had envisioned.

Now, watching the series long after those years had unfolded, I recalled those moments and the feelings I held.  The dreams.  Even though my life had changed directions a few times, I could still feel what I felt back then.

This recapturing of special moments is probably the best reason to watch something from the past:  recalling who we were then, and studying the pathway that led to who we are now.

The voices of the characters spoke to me with an echo of poignant nostalgia.  We can never go back, nor do we really want to do so, but to remember is to recapture a piece of who we were.

Five stars!