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Welcome to my weekly update for March 21, 2021! My husband and I share a car while we're traveling with his job. I've been trying to drop him off at work and head over to Siesta Key for a walk as the sun comes up and before the crowds arrive. I'm not a morning person but it's a nice way to start the day. It's just me, a handful of other people, and the wildlife hunting for breakfast. I see dolphins almost every morning, various species of seagulls, pelicans, and even an occasional egret. The bird below is a Reddish Egret, I believe. I had to zoom in quite a bit because I didn't want to disturb him. The wildlife guide who took my husband and me on our "moose safari" in Maine a couple of years ago told us that a successful wildlife viewing is the one where you're the one who walks away rather than the animal. I try to live by that little nugget of wisdom, so I'm happy with my grainy, zoomed-in cellphone shots. (If you're curious about birds and know as little about them as I do, I recommend the Merlin app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I almost always find what I've seen and it's easy to use.) Posted: Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by Isabella Bird--3 Stars Ten Fiction Books I Never Reviewed Read: Vulgar Favors: The Assassination of Gianni Versace by Maureen Orth, read by Dan Woren--3 Stars. Despite only mentioning Versace in the title, this book is essentially a biography of his killer, Andrew Cunanan. While it was pretty interesting to follow a serial killer's descent to his final, horrific days, I don't feel the book has aged very well since its first publication in 1999. The author seems to be titillated…

Welcome to my weekly update for March 14, 2021! Did my fellow US-based readers remember to set your clocks forward an hour? Ugh. It takes me weeks to adjust to this time change! In other news, my husband's work contract near San Diego finished up (He's a traveling healthcare worker). We were being really choosy about locations (I am not interested in experiencing the end of a "real" winter in my RV) and the job market got difficult, but we've finally landed in Sarasota, Florida! The beach here is beautiful and only about a 15-minute drive away. That part is heavenly. But holy cow, Florida. Masks! Nowhere to be seen! Well, I take that back. People are wearing them in the grocery store but that's about it as far as I can tell. So we're double-masking and continuing to get take-out and avoiding people as much as we can. I knew I was going to have culture shock after spending the entire pandemic in cautious California and Oregon, but jumping straight to mask-free Florida has made me anxious. Turtle Beach on Siesta Key Posted: A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi--4.5 Stars Ten Books I Gave Away Read: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas Currently Reading: Vulgar Favors: The Assassination of Gianni Versace by Maureen Orth, read by Dan Woren The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty Up Next: I'm struggling a little with The Cooking Gene so I'm trying to focus exclusively on it in print for a while. I still need to choose a book set in Eastern Europe for this month's Book Voyage Challenge. What did your week look like? Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts…

Welcome to my weekly update for March 7, 2021! I disappeared for a few weeks while my husband was off of work but I should be back to my regular schedule now. I need to start building a bigger cushion of pre-scheduled posts! Scheduling one week ahead usually feels like an accomplishment to me. Lesson learned. We visited White Sands National Park and Carlsbad Caverns National Park while he was off. White Sands was beautiful in a way that's very different from what I'm used to, being from the lush southern Appalachian mountains. We do have caverns in the Appalachians and I've visited a few of them but they pale in comparison to Carlsbad Caverns. We spent hours drifting around, taking it all in. Unfortunately, we also had to wait over an hour and a half in line for the elevator, which was the only way out. No bueno. Posted: Nothing but I plan to get my groove back this week. Read: The Grand Tour: or The Purloined Coronation Regalia by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer, read by Roger Allam and Emilia Fox The Midnight Library by Matt Haig A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi Currently Reading: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty Reading Challenge Update: I’m including this in an effort to hold myself accountable. I'll try to remember to update at the end of each month. Challenge title links go to my personal progress page and host links go to the relevant sign-up page. Books in Translation Reading…

Welcome to my weekly update for February 21, 2021! We're still in Tucson at the moment. For Valentine's Day, we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, which is more like a zoo. We were excited to finally see a javelina! The gray wolves were beautiful. Posted: Nothing. My husband has taken some time off between work assignments so we've been enjoying time together. Read: The White Queen by Philippa Gregory Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by Isabella Bird Currently Reading: The Grand Tour: or The Purloined Coronation Regalia by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer Watching: Wandavision on Disney+--I won't lie--the first couple of episodes were cute enough but confusing. The third episode hooked us though. Now we're eagerly waiting for the new release each week. Up Next: I've been thinking about reading some Sarah J. Maas. I see her name everywhere but I haven't read any of her books. I think she has a few series out there? Where should a newbie start? What did your week look like? Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Welcome to my weekly update for February 14, 2021! Happy Valentine's Day! I've had another busy week so there hasn't been much going on in my little corner of the blogosphere. We left Joshua Tree National Park and headed to Saguaro National Park, staying as socially distanced as we can by traveling and staying in our RV. My husband actually likes this landscape more than that in Joshua Tree but I like them both about the same. Posted: Wires and Nerve Duology Review by Marissa Meyer, illustrated by Douglas Holgate and Stephen Gilpin--4 Stars Top Ten Romantic Books Read: A Blade So Black by L. L. McKinney, read by Jeanette Illidge Currently Reading: The White Queen by Philippa Gregory Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by Isabella Bird Watching: Wyatt Earp--I've never watched this movie because I'm not a big fan of Westerns. (My dad watched them all the time when I was little.) But since we're close to Tombstone, we decided to go for it. It wasn't my favorite but I did manage to stay awake through most of this 3 hours and 11 minute long epic. 😲 I fell asleep in the lead-up to the OK Corral though! I woke up for the battle but I was a little lost. Good thing I read Doc by Mary Doria Russell several years ago so I was able to fill in some gaps. Up Next: I don't even know. I can't believe I've been reading the same couple of books for weeks now! What did your week look like? Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sunday Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It's Monday! What Are You Reading? I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no…