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Welcome to my weekly update for December 15, 2024!
Since we had recovered from our Thanksgiving colds, my husband and I decided to drive from Phoenix up to Sedona last weekend and spend a few days. This was our first visit and we fell in love. It’s gorgeous with all the towering red rocks but it still has enough trees and green scrub to satisfy my East Coast heart.
We stopped by Montezuma Castle National Monument on the drive up. This was our second time seeing cliff dwellings since we arrived in Arizona and it’s just amazing to me that these structures are still standing. We did a lot of hiking the other two days.
Slideshow:
All images © Jennifer G. at Introverted Reader 2024
- Montezuma Castle
- Overlooking Sedona
- Close to the beginning of the Boynton Canyon trail. We walked beside the grounds of a resort for a while then left it behind as we entered the canyon proper.
- My husband taking pictures at the mouth of Subway Cave. We were not sure I was going to successfully clamber up the rocky entrance and getting down was an even dicier prospect but I did it!
Posted:
Nothing this week.
Read:
The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily (Dash & Lily #2) by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, read by Tara Sands and Ryan Gesell–3 Stars (Link to my review on GoodReads)
Currently Reading:
A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter, translated by Jane Degras
Amari and the Despicable Wonders (Supernatural Investigations #3) by B. B. Alston, read by Imani Parks
Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb, read by the author
Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell by Sy Montgomery, illustrated by Matt Patterson
Up Next:
I have a review for American Christmas Stories, edited by Connie Willis, scheduled to post on Wednesday. I’m linking it to Comfy Cozy Christmas, hosted at Cracker Crumb Life and Boondock Ramblings.
I don’t know what I’ll read next but it feels like I’m almost done with all of these. Maybe I’ll finally get to that stack of graphic novels and picture books I checked out from the library last week.
What did your week look like?
Hosts:
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon and Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts Sun-day Post. Kathryn at Book Date hosts It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
36 Comments
I appreciated your review of The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily. I really like David Levithan, so I might have read it just because of that. I realized that I haven’t even read the first in this series. I’m trying to decide whether to add it to my list or not. I’ve added the Sy Montgomery title because I liked The Soul of an Octopus. I’m also looking forward to reading What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World’s Most Familiar Bird by her.
I definitely recommend Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares, especially at this time of year. I have Montgomery’s Soul of an Octopus to read too.
I had to go on a little side venture and look up Montezuma Castle. How amazing. Such an amazing building from so long ago.
I’m glad you took a look!
Lovely country and so alien to this Minnesotan! I still have to read the first Dash & Lily which I think is on my Kindle somewhere. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
Dash and Lily is perfect to read at Christmastime!
We’ve only been to Sedona once (on one of our big RV trips from OR to TX), and unfortunately it rained the entire time. I was so disappointed as I had planned to do some hiking. 🙁 Your photos are gorgeous and make me think we need to try to get back there in the fall.
Oh no! We feel like we travel under a rain cloud but so far it’s only rained twice since we arrived in Arizona. Fingers crossed! If you have time, you should definitely make a trip to Sedona. Flagstaff is nearby and nice too and they’re not far from the Grand Canyon.
We did visit Flagstaff on that trip. Hit the Grand Canyon for several days, drove down to Cottonwood (Dead Horse Ranch State Park) for a night, then up to Sedona. After that rainout, we headed to Flagstaff. Found an awesome coffee shop (Firecreek Coffee Company) there and talked about possibly moving to the town someday. That was, until we learned how much snow they get every winter! Here’s a link to my travel posts about the area: https://lesleysbooknook.blogspot.com/search?q=Flagstaff
We are doing our best to avoid snow and don’t really see that changing! I don’t blame you for deciding against a move to Flagstaff for that reason.
Gorgeous photos! It sounds like you had a wonderful trip.
Thank you!
A good mix of books there. Beautiful photos.
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2024/12/15/sunday-post-sunday-salon-30/
Thank you!
Gosh, you are bringing back memories from when I visited Sedona back in the early 90s!
Have a great week!
Oh, how fun! That was quite a trip from Australia!
We lived in Arizona for a spell, Apache Junction, and sadly didn’t get to visit the cliff dwellings, or Sedona.
Oh, I know Apache Junction. It’s practically underneath the Superstitions. So pretty!
Sedona looks beautiful! And, of course, it’s sunny blue skies in Arizona. I’m headed there in mid-February to see one of my best friends, but we won’t have enough time to leave town and see any other sites.
These blue skies and temperatures are so nice. How nice to visit your friend. Even if you can’t get out of town, it’s still beautiful to just see the surroundings in Sedona
I’ve only read one of Sy Montgomery’s books but loved it and have some on my ’25 list.
I just finished her turtle book last night. It was good but I loved her book How to Be a Good Creature even more.
I grew up in Scottsdale but have only passed THROUGH Sedona on the way to the Grand Canyon. My dad was one of those dads that did not stop on the way to his destination. lol Luckily, Montezuma’s Castle WAS a destination one time, so I did get to see that. So cool.
My dad is a back roads, take his time kind of guy so he probably would have been happy to stop places but we would only go to the beach for vacation one week a year and that was probably a seven hour drive. We drove straight there and straight back because who wants to be in a car with kids any longer than that? 🙂 Maybe you can make it to Sedona some time in the future. It’s definitely worth a stop!
I’ve been to Sedona a few times. Once was on my Harley and I spent a whole day riding around in those gorgeous hills. Glad to hear you are feeling better.
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
Riding through Sedona on a Harley just seems like an iconically American thing to do.
I loved Ritter’s idea that she would be going up there and just reading and being all cozy. It is something I would think too, had I been her. Lol. That book was incredible. The Sy Montgomery book looks great as well. I love her.
I’m telling my husband about Ritter’s book as I read and he just keeps shaking his head. “Why do people do that? You don’t have to worry about me inviting you up to spend a winter in the Arctic.” And then I just raise an eyebrow and say, “Maybe I’ll invite you up to spend a winter in the Arctic,” which he knows is complete BS because I hate the cold and complain if I don’t get enough sunlight 🙂
The subway cane is gorgeous! On your current reads are you reading all of them now? I’m a monogamous reader and get confused when I have multiple reads going on. Unless one is nonfiction and the other fiction.
Yes, I’m usually reading several at one time. I used to be a one-at-a-time reader but I branched out when I left a job where I was allowed to read on my downtime. I had a physical book to read on my lunch break, an audiobook to listen to on my drive, and eventually started reading books on my e-reader on the cardio machines at the gym. I was desperate to fit in more reading time! I’m not at that job anymore but I continued the habit. I’m usually reading a fiction book, a nonfiction book, and an audiobook that doesn’t overlap with the other two in genre. This week I have my own audiobook and an audiobook I’m listening to with my husband on road trips in the mix.
We went to Sedona for a vacation at the end of 2020. We were so cautious that we even wore masks while hiking! It was stunning. Those red rocks. You and your husband are braver than I would be…no Subway Cave for me!
I’m curious about A Woman in the Polar Night.
We were in Oregon in 2020. Laws? Guidelines? said that we should wear masks on trails if we were within 6 feet of other people so we spent a lot of time hiking with masks, at least within easy reach. It’s so weird to think back on that time isn’t it?
I think you would like A Woman in the Polar Night. I haven’t finished it yet but it seems like your kind of book, as long as you’re okay with some hunting.
Spectacular scenery!
Wishing you a happy reading week
Thank you!
What a spectacular adventure!
Definitely spectacular scenery!