The Sunday Post is hosted by the wonderful Kimberly, the Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week, take a look ahead, and showcase our new treasures—I mean books!
This week I’m also participating in The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz, and Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.
The Past Week
In real life: I spend most of Sunday with a headache. Midweek, we took a 2-day class on retirement financial planning offered through my husband’s job. It was useful but overwhelming—too much information packed into too few hours. We took several walks in our beautiful wooded neighborhood, enjoying the birds, the trees, and our neighbors’ flowers. My fitness is slowly improving with the walks and using the treadmill. Hopefully the fact that I’m eating healthier is paying off, too.
5 Good Things:
- We saw a barred owl twice on one of our walks! On both the outward and homeward leg of our route, sitting on the same dead tree trunk. It was beautiful, and such a thrill to be close enough to appreciate and even photograph it. I have only seen a wild owl two or three times that I can remember, though I know there are several owl species in our area.
- I’m feeling slightly less worried about our retirement finances after the class we took.
- On my way home from fiber guild yesterday, I saw a heron flying along the riverbank.
- My Owlcrate edition of Wooing the Witch Queen arrived, and it’s gorgeous! (See the “Added to the Hoard” section below.) I’ve never bought an Owlcrate book before (or any other subscription box book); I’m delighted with this one.
- I’m starting to get requests for my freelance work again, after a long drought.
Recent Posts
- Sunday Post – 4/06/2025
- Sunday Post – 4/13/2025 – this post
Looking Ahead
- reviews TBD
- Sunday Post – 4/20/2025
What I’ve Been Reading/Watching
Reading: I binge-read Mercedes Lackey all weak, finishing rereading Changes, followed by the rest of that series with Redoubt and Bastion (reviewed in 2013.) I then started the first book in the sequel series, Closer to Home (reviewed in 2014.) Hopefully I will feel up to returning to new-to-me books this week.
Listening to: I finished listening to Beauty by Robin McKinley (borrowed from Hoopla.) It put me in the mood to revisit more of my favorites by that author, so I borrowed and started Spindle’s End (also from Hoopla.) I love both of these books and reread them often; I’m honestly surprised I have never reviewed either one on the blog, or any of McKinley’s other books except Shadows (reviewed 2014). I’ll try to review both of these two soon.
Watching: We’re still rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 3.
Playing: Wordle, Connections, Strands, Spelling Bee, and Sudoku (all from the NYT.) Wingspan.
Added to the Hoard
(Click title for Goodreads page or my review.)
Purchased (Kindle, print, or audio)
Print: I love Stephanie Burgis’s books, so I just couldn’t resist this beautiful Owlcrate edition of Wooing the Witch Queen. The whole book is gorgeous; it has illustrations on the inside of the dust jacket, a gold-foiled cloth cover (front, back, and spine), illustrated endpapers, and it’s signed by the author, too.
Kindle: The Lost Story; Then Came You; The Muse of Maiden Lane
Marg @ The Intrepid Reader
How gorgeous is that special edition book! I want to start collecting them but I know that I will spend way too much money if I do!
Have a great week!
Lark_Bookwyrm
I have held out until now, for the same reason. And I’m not going to make a habit of buying book boxes or collector’s editions, except occasionally when it’s a book I really love.
Jorie
Hallo, Hallo,…
I had to click over to see if that edition was still available and it is – except, I’m on the fence if that is my sort of read. I just read a lovely blog post about Romantasy today and although, I have a better understanding of the genre itself now and what motivates the writers to write these stories – I’m still unsure if it is a good fit for me overall. I agree with you about this edition though – what a lush copy! I loved the artwork – so beautiful!
I LOVE owls but I only saw one locally once when I was out late one night – it flew straight in front of us and banked a bit in the moonlight. It was a rare and beautiful sight. I hear them more than I see them during the day.
There are definitely uncertainties for all of us in the future. Even for those of who are trying to plan ahead, it seems like there are still obstacles to overcome in order to remain on solid ground. I feel you on that one! I haven’t been blogging or reading as much lately myself – for different reasons which I’ve blogged about recently both on today’s post but also on my Best Books of 2024 where I explained more in-depth what has been going on lately.
I’m hoping I can pick up the stories again this week. They give me so much joy and solace and respite. Plus, I miss getting lost in the different lives of characters and worlds the writers are creating for us to experience.
May we both have a good week.
Jorie recently posted…#TheSundayPost | XXII | Wickedly delighted for this lovely #bookpost from Anna J. Stewart!
Lark_Bookwyrm
I don’t think I would have bought it if I hadn’t already read and enjoyed the book so much. I have very few collector’s or special editions, and they are all of books I love… like my leatherbound slipcover editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
I hope you can find some time to lose yourself in stories again. They truly do offer, in your words, “joy and solace and respite.” I’ll come check out your posts to see what has been going on. Whatever it is, I wish you the best as you deal with it or go through it.
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz
Oh my! That Barred Owl! I’ve only seen one owl in the wild and that was one someone made me come see at her house. Beautiful bird.
I’ve always wanted to try a subscription service. I’m glad you are happy with the first one you received.
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz recently posted…The Sunday Salon: Off to the San Antonio Book Festival and Then Company’s a-Comin’
Lark_Bookwyrm
They really are beautiful. I’ve occasionally (very occasionally) heard an owl in the woods of our wooded development, but this was my first sighting here. Or anywhere for that matter, of this particular species at least.
I didn’t sign up for a subscription. I can’t see doing that, when I don’t know what the books will be in advance. It’s a lot of money for a book that may not be to my taste. But luckily, Owlcrate had extra copies of this one, so I ordered it as a one-off.