Christmas, Dogs and Books

I can't believe that Christmas is almost here. How did this happen? I swear this year has zipped by much too fast. I still have to do some last minute Christmas shopping, but it's a rainy day and I'm dreading going out in that. Hmm! I might finish up with Amazon and Walmart gift cards. Ebooks are always great gifts too.

Here are some Christmas eBooks you're sure to enjoy:

Married by Midnight by Talli Roland
Mistletoe in Manhattan by Talli Roland
Last Christmas by Talli Roland
Big on Christmas by Jan Romes
The Christmas Contract by Jan Romes
Xmas Affair by Ruth Kerce (a sensual short)
Any Given Christmas by Candis Terry
Christmas of the Red Chiefs by Linda Lael Miller
Mrs. Scrooge by Barbara Bretton

Series eBooks that would make great last minute gifts:

Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
Rei Shimura Mystery Series by Sujata Massey
BEYOND Series by Maureen A. Miller (YA/NA SciFi)
Lei Crime Series by Toby Neal (Hawaii)
Samantha Jamison Mystery Series by Peggy A. Edelheit
Texas Boys Falling Fast Series by Jan Romes (Romance)
Xylon Warriors Series by Ruth Kerce (Elora's Cave)
Maggie O'Dell Series by Alex Kava (mystery/suspense)
Hetta Coffey Mystery Series by Jinx Schwarts
The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell
Build a Man Series by Talli Roland (Chick Lit)
Bluewater Series by C. L. R. Dougherty (suspense/thriller)
Sackett Series by Louis L'Amour
Sullivan's War Series by Michael K. Rose (SciFi)
Saxon Tales Series by Bernard Cornwell (historical fiction)

I could go on and on listing books and series. As you can tell, I LOVE BOOKS and think they make the best Christmas presents ever. So don't forget to buy books and eBooks for Christmas for yourself and your friends and loved ones.

Well, I have to apologize for neglecting my blog these past few months. I added a new puppy, Jazzy, to my fur-family back in September and she's taken up a lot of my time. Honestly, I practically live at the dog park these days. That's what happens when you have two dogs, Dude and Jazzy, who insist on going to the dog park nearly every single day. My other dog, Shani, is almost thirteen years old and isn't interested in the dog park. Shani has a lot of medical issues, so we're taking it day by day.

I went to Winter Fest and rode on the Christmas Trolley in Pensacola with my grandkids on Saturday night. Christmas lights everywhere. It was very festive and we all had a grand time.

We're planning a Christmas dinner of turkey and all the trimmings. Yum! The leftovers are the best part.

Well, the rain is temporarily letting up, so I need to make a mad dash to finish my shopping.

I hope you all have an awesome, wonderful, Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays!

Summer Reads

Ever since I was a little kid, summer and reading have gone hand in hand. I remember walking, usually barefoot, to the library and spending hours searching for just the right books to bring home. Then I'd walk back home with an armload of books. My next door best friends almost always went with me and sometimes we even let my little brother tag along. I always came back home with an armload of books.


Obviously I'm no longer a kid, but I still look forward to summer reads. Most of the books I enjoy these days are on my Kindles (my old Kindle Keyboard and my newer Kindle Fire), though I still make regular trips to the library. I no longer walk barefoot to the library, but I do drive home with an assortment of books.


Considering we've reached the mid-point of a long, hot, muggy (Hey, I live in Florida) summer, it seemed like the perfect time to write a post about summer reads. So here's a list of the books I've read since the first day of summer. All of them were great reads which I can definitely recommend.


My Summer Reads:


Outback Station by Aaron Fletcher
Summer of the Loon by Deanna Lynn Sletten
Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Virgin, Widow, Whore by Deanna Lynn Sletten
Jungle of Deceit by Maureen A. Miller
When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman
Becoming Queen Victoria by Kate Williams*


I'm almost always reading more than one book. So what am I currently reading?


Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman
Sharp's Tiger by Bernard Cornwell
Time Trap by Micah Caida
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing


What other books are on my summer reading list? Hmm! That's a good question. I always have more books on my list than I have time to read. However, here are some books I hope to read the second half of this summer.


On My Summer Reading List:


BEYOND: Three Paths by Maureen A. Miller
Devil's Brood by Sharon Kay Penman
Her Perfect Life by Vicki Hinze
The Norman Conquest by Marc Morris*
City of the Sun by Juliana Maio
Hurricane Hole by R.P. Dahlke
We Two: Victoria and Albert ... by Gillian Gill*
Crisis of Identity by Denise Moncrief
Across Great Divides by Monique Roy
A Dangerous Inheritance by Alison Weir


* = Non-Fiction


I know, that's a pretty ambitious reading list. I doubt that I'll get to all of them before the summer is out and, of course, I'll most likely add more to my list. Oh well, I read all year long, so I'm sure to get to all of them eventually. Just remember, there's no such thing as too many books.


What are you reading this summer? I'm always looking for suggestions, so please feel free to add yours in the comments below. Happy summer reading to y'all.

In Love With Books

I've been in love with books since I was a little kid. Some of my happiest memories are all those times I spent at the library perusing the bookshelves and then carrying home an armload of books. Then I'd curl up on the couch, stretch out on my bed, or sit on the patio and read, read, read. To this day I read every chance I can get.

In my last blog post I promised to list the books I've been reading lately. I loved and can recommend every single book I've listed below. Most are fiction, but those marked with (*) are non-fiction. I like to read a variety of books, so you'll find historical fiction, history, contemporary fiction, romance and everything in between. I've listed the books by the month I finished reading them, from January of this year to the present month.

January:

Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer

The Queen of Lost Hopes by Susan Higginbotham

February:

The Traitor's Wife by Susan Higginbotham

1215 - The Year of Magna Carta by Danny Danziger & John Gillingham *

Hugh and Bess by Susan Higginbotham

1066 - The Year of the Conquest by David Howarth *

Death of Kings (Saxon Tales #6) by Bernard Cornwell

March:

The Pagan Lord (Saxon Tales #7) by Bernard Cornwell

The White Princess by Philippa Gregory

The Stolen Crown by Susan Higginbotham

The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

Through a Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen

April:

The High Sheriff of Huntingdon by Anne Stuart

Now Face to Face by Karleen Koen

Before Versailles by Karleen Koen

Under an Enchantment by Anne Stuart

May:

How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill *

Dark Angels by Karleen Koen

The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart

Supercell by H.W. "Buzz" Bernard

Divergent (Divergent Trilogy #1) by Veronica Roth

June:

The Unforgiven by Alan LeMay

Insurgent (Divergent Trilogy #2) by Veronica Roth

The Light Horseman's Daughter by David Crookes

I'm almost always reading more than one book, usually something from the library and the rest are usually eBooks on my Kindles (my old Kindle Keyboard and my newer Kindle Fire).

Currently Reading:

The Black Count ... The Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss *

Outback by Aaron Fletcher

Do or Die by Suzanne Brockmann

Summer of the Loon by Deanna L. Sletten

If you're at a loss of what to read next, you can't go wrong with any of the books I've listed above. All of them are great reads.

I hope you all love books as much as I do.

Floridaze

For those who read my blog from time to time, it's apparent that I've been absent for quite some time. I have lots of excuses, including computer and server problems, ice storms, thunderstorms, raging floods and just plain procrastination. Yes, all those things really happened.


I live on the Gulf Coast of the Florida Panhandle and this year we've faced more storms than in years past. A few months back an ice storm brought my part of Florida to a standstill for several days. Roads and bridges were shut down and only those with 4-wheel-drive managed to get from one end of town to another without slip-sliding all over the place. My two dogs, Shani and Dude, thoroughly enjoyed playing in the ice topped with a tiny bit of snow.


Florida normally gets thunderstorms year around, but this year we've had some really wild ones that lasted for hours and hours. Dude is afraid of thunder, so he had a lot of bad, sleepless nights. I don't much care for thunderstorms, but if I'm really exhausted I can manage to sleep through a storm now and then.


A couple weeks ago we were hit with 'The Mother of All Storms' which dropped between 17 and 30 inches of rain here on the Florida Panhandle and the Gulf Coast of Alabama. Thousands of homes were flooded, including over 350 homes near where I live. No, my house didn't flood, but houses less than a block away did flood under several feet of water. According to the latest reports, approximately 30 inches of rain fell in my neighborhood in less than 10 hours. It's being reported as a "500 Year Flood." I hope that means there won't be another deluge of this magnitude here during my lifetime. But then, you never know.


To sum things up, I'm "The Queen of Procrastination." I needed a break from writing and blogging. Though I never intended to take this long of a break. But now I'm ready to jump back in and write, write and write. Oh yeah, unless I decide to procrastinate some more.


For the record, I've been reading lots of books over the last few months. So in my next post I'll list some of those books I read and loved.