Sunday Post, 2/12/2023

February 12, 2023 Sunday Post 27

The Sunday Post is hosted by the wonderful Kimberly, the Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week, take a look ahead, and showcase our new treasures—I mean books!

It’s Superb Owl Sunday!

Superb Owl Sunday (Superbowl Sunday)

Jesting aside, if you plan to watch the Super Bowl today, have fun!

The Past Week

In real life: I had a writer friend over for tea, and we talked about travel and writing and dogs. (She’s a breeder and a dog show judge.) I played around a little with the Diamine inks I got for Christmas and the new (very inexpensive) fountain pens I just bought. I did a little preliminary work on an index project, but most of my time was focused on the fiber guild: preparing slides for yesterday’s meeting, finding my supplies for yesterday’s guild program, and emailing copiously about four upcoming programs.

We had a few warmer days this week, and the crocuses bloomed, but now it’s cold and rainy again.

Yesterday, we had our monthly fiber guild meeting. It was a good gathering, with 18 people present in person and 3 attending virtually. The meeting was followed by a hands-on program on how to make Dorset buttons, which was a lot of fun. And now I know a whole new craft!

Dorset button (photo © K. Pekar 2023)

Writing accountability: My writing goal for February is 10,000 words, or about 360 words per day. Word count so far this month: 1524. I am 2436 words behind schedule, which is a lot, but I can make it up with an effort. I let too many days slip by while I was focusing on other things, and while fiber-guild stuff and housecleaning really needed to get done this week, I also need to make writing a priority.

Reading and blogging: I’m trying to set up review post “shells” for each book within a day or two of when I start reading it. (Basically, I prepare a post with everything except the rating and the actual review.) Same with my reading journal, only I set up pages instead of posts, and use them to log thoughts and reactions.

Unfortunately, I can already feel myself falling behind on reviews for the year. It seems I can either write a few thoughtful reviews, or many quick but trite/cliched reviews that make me cringe. I know some reviewers do mini-reviews once a week or once a month, and I may decide to try that for the books that I don’t want to take the time (or don’t have the time) to review more thoughtfully.

Recent Posts

Looking Ahead

  • My Favorite Love Stories – Top Ten Tuesday, tentative
  • Sunday Post – 2/19/2022
  • UPCOMING REVIEWS (dates uncertain):
  • Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik – review
  • Murder on Black Swan Lane, by Andrea Penrose – review
  • Well Met, by Jen DeLuca – review
  • Of Manners and Murder, by Anastasia Hastings – review
  • Artfully Yours, by Joanna Lowell

What I’ve Been Reading/Watching

Audiobook cover: Hounded (Iron Druid #1), by Kevin Hearne, read by Luke Daniels

Reading: It’s been a week for mysteries. I finished The Bride Wore White by Amanda Quick (ARC; due out in May), which is romantic suspense/mystery. Then I read Artfully Yours by Joanna Lowell (ARC), which comes out on Feb. 21; it’s a historical romance, but with sort of a mystery element since the hero is trying to track down an art forger. (Little does he know, the forgers are the heroine and her brother.) Next, I buddy-read the second Wrexford & Sloane mystery, Murder at Half Moon Gate (Andrea Penrose) with my COYER friend Sophia Rose. I am totally hooked on this series!

Currently, I am reading Three Can Keep a Secret by M. E. Hilliard (ARC) and How to Keep House While Drowning by K.C. Davis. I’m also rereading Partners In Crime by Agatha Christie. Next up is Bound for Perdition by Celia Lake.

Listening to: Hounded (Kevin Hearne; read by Luke Daniels) for the Iron Druid readathon. I put the the third LOTR book on pause until I finish Hounded. I also started Season 4 of the Writing Excuses podcast.

Watching: We finished up Our Great National Parks, a documentary series about national parks around the world. We watched the first episode of the Brokenwood Mysteries. And I’m back to watching season 1 of A Discovery of Witches. I binged 3 episodes on Wednesday night, which tells you how much I’m enjoying it, because I rarely watch more than 1 or 2 episodes of anything in a single night.

Playing: Wordle, the NYT Spelling Bee, Sudoku, Carcassone (app), and Pokemon Go. I play each of them occasionally, not every day.

Added to the Hoard

For Review or Consideration

Many thanks to Minotaur for The Raven Thief!

From the Library

Library: How to Keep House While Drowning (and a few cookbooks)

Purchased

Kindle: Partners In Crime; The Burning Page; Bound for Perdition; The Serpent’s Egg; Past Crimes. (Note: usually I buy Kindlebooks on sale, but I needed Partners in Crime for a read-along, and Celia Lake is an autobuy author for me, so I was happy to pay full price. The rest were on sale or free.)

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay kind… and may you find books a haven in the coming weeks.

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27 Responses to “Sunday Post, 2/12/2023”

  3. Stormi

    Oh I see you read Wrexford and Sloane! I love that series! I am all caught up on it. 🙂 I have The Raven Thief as well, I thought the first one was okay but wanted to try book two and see if I like it better.

    Have a great week and happy reading!
    Stormi
    Stormi recently posted…Week in Review #21My Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I am loving the Wrexford and Sloane series so far! So far I have been buddy-reading them with Sophia Rose. It sounds like maybe we will do one per month. Part of me just wants to binge them, but I have a lot of other books I need and want to read for various challenges, and ARCs to review, so I think one a month is a good speed.

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      Will I see you at the chat on March 5? (Or whenever it is; I don’t have my calendar in front of me at the moment.) Have fun reading it — it’s such a great series.

  5. Anne+-+Books+of+My+Heart

    You have been doing so much! I have to let certain things go for a time and then get back to them. Of course, some things like gardening and yard stuff are cyclical, less this time of year. I look forward to hearing what you think about Hounded. I tend to write something in between mini and long thoughtful. I try to be thoughtful but also not spoilery, which it’s a real balancing act.

    Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
    Anne+-+Books+of+My+Heart recently posted…Vegetable Garden Soil Science Made Easy by James Bright #JamesBright @sophiarose1816My Profile

  6. Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews

    Your books look really good. Lately I’ve been having problems writing reviews. It’s hard to come up with different words to use especially when you are reviewing books that are part of a series. I try to make them all sound different but it’s not always easy.

    I hope you enjoy your books and have a great week!
    Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews recently posted…The Weekend Review – February 11th-13thMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I went through a couple of years of struggling with reviews for the same reason. I’m not entirely over the slump yet, but I think it’s going a little better.

  8. Rachel @Waves of Fiction

    Trying to write while busy with life would be a challenge! Good luck with your endeavors! I’ve also resorted to mini-reviews just to get a book check off my list. What can you do?

    Love Agatha Christie hope you enjoy her too. Luke Daniels really makes the Iron Druid series come alive! Enjoy!

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      Thanks! I love Christie; I’ve read almost everything she wrote, except the Mary Westmacott novels. I’ve read the first four Iron Druid books before, but it was so much fun to listen to the first one. Now I will have to decide if I want to listen to the rest of them for the read-along, or read them.

  9. Berls

    Busy week! really cool about button, it looks fantastic! Someday I hope to get back to my knitting and maybe even learn some new craft skills. And also my writing. So many things I just don’t have time for with Dante… I’m sure as he gets older that will eventually change. Good luck with your writing, even if you don’t hit the goal for the month, you’re making your writing a priority which is so exciting! Curious – what genre are you writing?

    Have a great week!
    Berls recently posted…Sunday Post with Berls | February 12th 2023My Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      You will have more time eventually. It’s hard when kids are little—I remember! I’m currently working on a fantasy fanfic and a historical-fantasy novel.

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      There are a bunch of tutorials on YouTube! Look for the ones that are doing actual button-size buttons, rather than the bigger ones. And keep writing; the words will pile up over time!

  12. Literary Feline

    I like to set up shells for book reviews too, but it hasn’t helped me keep up the way I would like. I need actual review writing time and that seems to be scarce. The mysteries you have been reading all look good! I am in the mood for mysteries. I am reading one now and will probably pick up another one after I finish this one. I hope you have a great week!
    Literary Feline recently posted…Can’t Wait to Read Wednesday: The Secrets of Hartwood Hall / The Love Wager / Murder Your Employer / The TapestriesMy Profile