Thursday, December 10, 2020
148. Nick and Noel's Christmas Playlist by Codi Hall
narrated by Brooke Bloomingdale and Edward Thomas
Unabridged audio (10:07)
2020 Audible Originals
290 pgs. - an estimation
Adult Christmas RomCom
Finished 12/10/2020
Goodreads rating:
My rating: 3
Setting: contemporary rural Idaho
What I posted on Goodreads: Very cutesie story to listen to when trying to get into the holiday spirit.
Goodreads synopsis: Press play on happily ever after in this charming, heartfelt holiday rom-com.
Nick Winters and Noel Carter have known each other their whole lives. After years of shared family holidays, working together on the Winters’ Christmas tree farm, and being each other's safe haven, they wouldn't dream of crossing the line from friends to something more....
But when Nick comes home for the holidays after serving overseas and finds that his long-term girlfriend has decided to get her stocking stuffed elsewhere, Noel is there to pick him up and show him that instead of a Blue Christmas he can still have a Wonderful Christmastime without his cheating ex.
A night on the town and an impulsive kiss later has Noel thinking that perhaps this year they’ll be rockin’ around the Christmas tree as a couple, but only if the ghost - er rather - girlfriend of Nick's Christmas past doesn’t decide to haunt their holiday....
Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Loaded Cauliflower Bake
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
147. Beheld by TaraShea Nesbit
narrated by many readers
Unabridged audio (6:17)
2020
288 pgs.
Historical Fiction
Finished 12/8/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.55 - 1508 ratings
My rating: 3
Setting: 1630 Plymouth
First line/s: "We thought ourselves a murderless colony."
What I posted on Goodreads: same as comments below
My comments: Some of this story was very frustrating because of the flipping back-an-forth timewise and narrator wise. I enjoyed being put into the middle of the history of early colonization where the author glamorizes nothing. Who knows what really happened during that time....white male supremacy, God is mightier than anything else, saints vs. sinner (or "hypocrites" vs. indentured servants). This was not the history I learned, but is probably closer to the truth. Sadly, so much hate, meanness, selfishness, pettiness. The jumping around was bothersome. I enjoyed this book in some ways, but less in others....
Ten years after the Mayflower pilgrims arrived on rocky, unfamiliar soil, Plymouth is not the land its residents had imagined. Seemingly established on a dream of religious freedom, in reality the town is led by fervent puritans who prohibit the residents from living, trading, and worshipping as they choose. By the time an unfamiliar ship, bearing new colonists, appears on the horizon one summer morning, Anglican outsiders have had enough.
With gripping, immersive details and exquisite prose, TaraShea Nesbit reframes the story of the pilgrims in the previously unheard voices of two women of very different status and means. She evokes a vivid, ominous Plymouth, populated by famous and unknown characters alike, each with conflicting desires and questionable behavior.
Suspenseful and beautifully wrought, Beheld is about a murder and a trial, and the motivations―personal and political―that cause people to act in unsavory ways. It is also an intimate portrait of love, motherhood, and friendship that asks: Whose stories get told over time, who gets believed―and subsequently, who gets punished?
Saturday, December 5, 2020
On the Road
Pennsylvania Jaunts
Places
Quilt Shopss and Other Great Places to Stop
Friday, December 4, 2020
Snyder - Union - Northumberland - Montour Counties
What a great fun field trip today. Our first actual FRIDAY Field Trip in awhile, and it was wonderful. We hit four adjoining counties, two of which have no State Parks (there are only four counties that don't have one). Interesting note: Laura read somewhere that the Pennsylvania State Park System wanted to have a State Park within 25 miles from every resident in the state. How cool is that?
First stop: Snyder County. Selinsgrove. We found a letterbox - they are few and far between up here - in Shamokin Dam, PA, high up with a great view of the Susquehanna River.From here we headed up to another great view at Shikellamy State Park, whose western part is in Union County on the west side of the Susquehanna, and whose eastern side is in Northumberland County, on the east side of the river. We picnicked in the car - it was a tad chilly, although the sun poked out for much of the day.
Across the river, at the Park Office, was a super-cool SQUIRREL Feeder/Habitat, lots and lots of picnicking, and what looks like a canoe/kayak marina (many floats/docks were piled neatly in the parking lot). We all loved watching the squirrels chasing each other, scampering up and down....the park ranger says there are at least a dozen who romp here.We took a photo with a cool bridge in the background (I put it at the top of the post) - it must traverse this side of the park, because there was a similar bridge on the opposite side.From here we headed back across the river to Union County's Sand Bridge State Park, which is the smallest in PA - only 3 acres. It's got picnicking facilities and a stocked-by-the-department-of-fisheries stream. Lovely place, Laura and the kids tramped up the hill to a third picnic pavilion.Five miles further down the road is R. B. Winter State Park, which is quite large. There's a dam with a cool beach on the far side of the small lake, with a great-looking playground. There's a 61-site campground, with three camping cabins. Cabins B & C look quite private, and are tempting to look into for next summer. The kids threw rocks down by the water - some ice had skimmed the edge of the lake - and it was fun to watch the pebbles break through the super-thin surface. We'll have to come back in the summertime, for sure.Back over yet another bridge to head for Montour County, the smallest county in Pennsylvania. Although it doesn't have its own state park, we discovered (via a letterbox) an wonderful free-and-open-to-the-public park called Montour Preserve. It surrounds a lake, has lots of hiking trails and picnicking as well as an environmental center. The kids and Laura hiked about two miles and found a letterbox.
The drive was about 1 3/4 hours to get home, but an easy drive down 81. It began to drizzle just as we finished our Christmas Lights tour, but not bad enough to be a crappy drive home.
FUN DAY!
146. The Last Flight by Julie Clark
narrated by Kristine Hvam and Lauren Fortgang
Unabridged audio (9:23)
2020
302 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 12/4/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.13 - 33,696 ratings
Setting: mostly Berkeley, CA, contemporary
First line/s: "Terminal 4 swarms with people, the smell of wet wool and jet fuel thick around me. I wait for her, just inside the sliding glass doors, the frigid winter wind slamming into me whenever they open, and instead force myself to visualize a balmy Puerto Rican breeze, laced with the scent of hibiscus and sea salt."
What I posted on Goodreads: A story of two women switching places, one abused, one running for her life because of bad choices. Certainly kept my interest! Set mostly in Berkeley, California. Great readers.
Goodreads synopsis: Two women. Two Flights. One last chance to disappear.
A chance meeting in an airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision to switch tickets ― Claire taking Eva's flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. They believe the swap will give each of them the head start they need to begin again somewhere far away. But when the flight to Puerto Rico goes down, Claire realizes it's no longer a head start but a new life. Cut off, out of options, with the news of her death about to explode in the media, Claire will assume Eva's identity, and along with it, the secrets Eva fought so hard to keep hidden.
The Last Flight is the story of two women―both alone, both scared―and one agonizing decision that will change the trajectory of both of their lives.
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
My Munzeeing
145. Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith
narrated by Robert Glenister
Unabridged audio (31:52)
2020
944 pgs.
Adult murder mystery
Finished 12/2/2020
Goodreads rating: 4..335 - 31,606 ratings (lots of 1 ratings from people who haven't even read the book, but from people objecting about J. K. Rowling's supposed transphobia.)
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary London and Cornwall
First line/s: " 'You're a Cornishman, born and bred,' said Dave Polworth irritably."
My comments (also posted on GoodReads): Three "negatives" and many positives to ponder as I finish this book. Yes, it was too long. Way too long. There were too many people to remember, although Galbraith did a decent job of reminding the reader each time one was mentioned. And thirdly, I didn't like all the chapter beginnings (quotes from Spenser's Faerie Queene). Other than that, it was spot on....great mystery, excellent plot (just too lengthy), great characters, and a really perfect ending, both for the professional pair of Strike & Robin, and for their personal side as well. Enough going on in their personal lives to keep that part of the story quite interesting.
Goodreads synopsis: Private Detective Cormoran Strike is visiting his family in Cornwall when he is approached by a woman asking for help finding her mother, Margot Bamborough — who went missing in mysterious circumstances in 1974.
As Strike and Robin investigate Margot's disappearance, they come up against a fiendishly complex case with leads that include tarot cards, a psychopathic serial killer and witnesses who cannot all be trusted. And they learn that even cases decades old can prove to be deadly .
Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Love My Munzee Badges
The following numerical order is approximate:


















