22 June 2020

Sunday Salon and Mailbox Monday 21-22.June.20

Welcome to another post for the Sunday Salon with Deb at Readerbuzz.
Her rules are simple.  There are no requirements for linking up at Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is simply a place for us to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. Sunday Salon is a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 
Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:
  • What was your week like?
  • Read any good books? Tell us about them.
  • What other bookish things did you do? 
  • What else is going on in your life?

What I Read

I finished three books this week - Final Judgment (Samantha Brickman #4) by Marcia Clark (my full ⭐⭐⭐ review and a giveaway ending 6/26/20 here), The Black Swan of Paris by Karen Robards (my ⭐⭐⭐ review here), and Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein (finished hours ago, my full ⭐⭐⭐⭐review to follow).

Currently Reading

I started The Last Sword Maker by Brian Nelson last night (a print book from the publisher - thanks!). Once I finish up my review from yesterday, my kindle will turn to Prairie Fever by Michael Parker (thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this one).
I'll also be jumping in to Of Bears and Ballots: An Alaskan Adventure in Small Town Politics by Heather Lende later this week (thanks again to the publisher and Netgalley).

Bookish

We're having our first book club in-person meet-up since before stay home/stay safe! We are still mostly staying home and safe for now, but figured since it's just four of us, and we're meeting outside, it's a small step we're comfortable with. We've still been meeting most weeks via zoom, although we haven't really discussed books too much. Hahaha...

Off the Blog

While a lot of people are suffering additional hardships due to job shutdowns, paycuts, etc, I've been lucky. While I only got paid for the hours I was scheduled (and I usually add in a lot of substitute shifts when we're open), I still got paid every two weeks for something! One of my old classics as a stay-at-home-mom was always focus groups. I was lucky enough to qualify for a $75 zoom focus group tomorrow! Yay for a few extra bucks in my pocket.
As a marketing major back in college, I learned enough about focus groups to get their purpose and motivation. I found a company that I enjoyed working with near my old house. I don't often drive the hour for in-person groups anymore, but this zoom one sounds perfect!

Three Good Things

I always hear this like the Olaf quote from Frozen.


Anyway. Three good things, eh?

1) Hot weather! I have loved sitting on the front porch to read, and then frequently moving to the back deck in a bikini to sunbathe. The sun definitely makes things better with the world.

2) Hubby's race next weekend! He is SO excited to take the racecar he's worked so hard on to the track to see how they can do. It's a 24 Hours of LEMONS race. They're not allowing spectators, and I don't think concessions are open, but these guys will take a chance to get on the track regardless of the limitations ;)

3) My house on Animal Crossing - New Horizons is expanding again today! LOL Hey, it's a good thing for me. I take a little time each day to go shake some trees and chase some bees :)

Mailbox Monday

And now a bonus! Since my computer has been presenting me with some extra challenges lately, I thought the whole house lost internet last night. Now I think it was just my computer. Regardless, I'm not posting all this til Monday, so I may as well join Mailbox Monday, right? I did get a pretty good haul last week!

On June 15, I downloaded The Preserve by Ariel S. Winter. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this one. Sounds creepy!

On June 16, The Lightest Object in the Universe by Kimi Eisele joined my kindle collection. Thanks again to the publisher and Netgalley.

June 16 was also a very fun day at the post office! The postal service to my house is pretty bad, so I keep a PO box for my special deliveries ;) I received three packages at my PO box - The Last Sword Maker by Brian Nelson, The Lives of Edie Pritchard by Larry Watson, and No One Will Hear Your Screams by Thomas O'Callaghan. Thanks to the respective publishers for all three of these.

And just like ginsu, but wait, there's more! When I got home, UPS delivered a treat next door. My neighbor brought over my copy of Legends from Mom's Closet by Sasha Olsen. I reviewed this one on Books I Think You Should Read via a pdf last month. The finished project is truly gorgeous! Thank you to the publisher.

10 comments:

Mary (Bookfan) said...

The Preserve does sound creepy but I've had good luck with the Emily Bestler imprint so I bet its really good! Hope you enjoy it.

Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews said...

Hi Becki,

Like myself, you seem to enjoy a very eclectic reading list, although there are a couple of stand out stories for me amongst your bunch this week.

'No One Will Hear Your Screams' is probably topping the list for me, with 'The last Sword Maker' and 'The Preserve' hot on its heels!

Why is it I wonder, since the onset of Covid 19, I have seen nothing but stories about pandemics, plagues and mass destruction of the human race by one means or another?

I like warm weather, but nothing too hot for me I'm afraid, unless there is a nice shady area in the sun, just so that I can have the best of both worlds :)

Thanks for sharing and enjoy your week :)

Yvonne
xx

Katherine Nabity said...

I had never heard of $500 cars or this sort of racing, but it sounds fabulous! Best of luck to your husband!

And hope you have a good week too!

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

Anything with "Paris" in the title seems to call to me, so I will take a look at Black Swan of Paris soon. Thank you for your review.

Our book club met outdoors for the first time last week. It went well. It gets hot here in my part of the world, but we hope to try to meet outdoors again next month, too.

Enjoy all those wonderful new books.

Yvonne said...

Your books all look interesting. I've wanted to try Marcia Clark's books. Those look really good.

I hope you have a great week!

Laura at Library of Clean Reads said...

I also love the hot weather and reading on the front porch! The Black Swan of Paris caught my eye. I wanted to revive my book club this summer. We had such fun times. I hope your book club meeting is fun. Enjoy the rest of your reading week.

Vicki said...

I see a few books that interest me. It's good that your book club will be meeting, and I think it's smart to meet outside!

It's been hot and humid here so I don't stay outside very long, but do enjoy sitting in the back yard while my dog roams around.

I've never heard of that type of racing but I clicked the link and it looks like fun!

Have a great week!

Martha said...

Lots of reading going on in your world! I started off hard and heavy on this years reading goals but since the pandemic hit I just haven't been able to concentrate on reading. Hopefully I'll be back to it soon. Have a great week :)

JoAnn said...

It's great you can meet with your book club in person - 4 people and socially distanced outdoors sounds perfect! Hope we can do that soon, but it's a larger group. We'll see... Nice mix of books this week, too.

Martha Eskuchen said...

I love your positive attitude. Enjoy your in-person book club.
Have a good week and enjoy your reading!