Ellie Potts's Blog, page 10

This coming week…

This week is the fourth. I do have a three day weekend yay. Because of the fireworks I will be inside dealing with my spazzy dog.

Bookwise-I should be finishing up Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole on Tuesday. Book 2 is on Kindle Unlimited so I have it primed and ready. I finished Fate of the Sun King last night. This one took me a while, and the emotional damage I thought I’d have at the end just didn’t hit. I will get back to Lor and finish up the series soon. Right now I’m reading Snowed in with Mr. Heartbreaker (Copper Valley Bro Code, #5) by Pippa Grant. It’s a short one so it should be fast. I seem to always be a book behind to keep up with my Goodreads yearly challenge.

TVwise-We are waiting impatiently for the next episodes of Murderbot Thursday Resident Alien on Friday. We are slowly making our way through Black Mirror, and thinking about rewatching King of the Hill to be ready for the reboot in August. Sandman season 2 comes out Thursday.

Moviewise-I’m excited for Monster Summer on Paramount July 1st. The hubby is excited for The Old Guard 2 which comes out Wednesday on Netflix and so Does Heads of State with John Cena Idris Elba on Prime.

Writingwise-I am finishing formatting on Write Well which I posted her last month and my Cannabis Grimoire. I plan on getting those out as soon as I’m done. And I need to get into the edits of Black Star. I have a slight medical setback that has gotten in the way of all these. So I’ll be seeing the Dr on Thursday [image error]

Snooze…

What are your daily habits?

If it’s a work day I hit the snooze button. If it’s a weekend I am the queen of Hurkle Durkle. I love to wake up and lounge around in bed playing on my phone or reading until I’m ready to get up.

I am also not a coffee drinker. So I start my day off with 2 tea bags of Harney & Sons Cinnamon tea. I like 2 bags with my sweetener makes it taste like a cinnamon bear. It makes it a sweet breakfast treat.

Part of my self-care is trying to set up evening habits. What are yours?

Summer Audio TBR list

I just started Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole. I should have a review for you by Tuesday

Here is my Summer Audio TBR

Savage Lands by Stacey Marie BrownThe Witch Collector by Charissa TweaksThe Ever King by LJ AndrewsShift by Hugh HowieThe Maze Cutter by James DashnerThe Wren and the Holly Library by K.A. Linden

Have you read any of these? Let me know what you thought. I am also taking recommendations.

Trying…

Are there things you try to practice daily to live a more sustainable lifestyle?

I am trying to be more conscious of living more sustainably. Using my water jug instead of using water bottles. I cut out swifters to reusable dusters. Being more mindful of the items I use are more eco friendly. What tips do you recommend?

Audiobook Review: One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

I loved The Knight and the Moth so I went on to One Dark Window. Each book is different in giving you a different world and interesting magic. The side characters are fun. The story moves well with the action and build up romance. The sex scene is artistic but doesn’t get in the way of the story. Will I listen to book 2? Yes, but I have to wait for my Spotify credit to roll back over or when I can get a free book on Amazon music. The next audible credit goes to my hubby.

Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.

But nothing comes for free, especially magic.

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.

Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

Simple

If you were forced to wear one outfit over and over again, what would it be?

I’m simple. I like comfy pants and a T-shirt. And usually when I’m not working that is usually what I’m wearing. What you wear should make you feel good, and I like being comfy.

Now it’s your turn to recommend…

I’ve posted a lot of audiobooks I’ve enjoyed and recommended. But now I want ones you would recommend and a little about what you loved about it. Was it the narrators, the action, the twists, amazing world building, or just great characters? Let me know so I can add them to my audiobook TBR list. Extra points if it’s dystopian or post apocalyptic with trial and games with a bit of spice.

Audiobook Review: Mr. Whisper by Andrew Mayne

I love Andrew Mayne. I picked up the Naturalist on e-book for a dollar, and was hooked. I read each Theo Cray book as they come out. And then was introduced to Jessica Blackwood. So I got the audiobooks for Jessica, and re-listened to Theos, and then started the Underwater Investigation Unit, and then there was The Jessica and Theo books! Then the newest character Trasker. I love that each main character has a certain Specialty. Which then leads all four to be in Mr. Whisper the 1st book in The Specialist series. What I love is that it is all the narrators, which really rounded it out. What I disliked is it felt too short. If you want great mystery books I can’t recommend these enough.

Mr. Whisper brings together Investigator Sloan McPherson with the Underwater Investigation Unit, former FBI Agent Jessica Blackwood, scientist Dr. Theo Cray, and corporate security expert and former counterintelligence operative Brad Trasker in a riveting thriller.

Start with Angel Killer. FBI agent Jessica Blackwood believes she’s left her complicated life as a gifted magician behind her . . . until a killer with seemingly supernatural powers puts her talents to the ultimate test.

Mr. Whisper is on Audible.

Four brilliant investigators combine forces to outwit an insidious master of online mind control in a gripping thriller by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Final Equinox.

Investigator Sloan McPherson finds a frightened vagrant suffering from amnesia living in a Florida swamp—then learns he disappeared from Oregon when he was a teenager. To find out how he ended up three thousand miles from home thirty years later, Sloan enlists the help of two brilliant colleagues.

FBI agent Jessica Blackwood and scientist Theo Cray have already made an alarming connection. A female classmate of the Everglades drifter disappeared at the same time, and their high school journals reveal ties to an enigmatic figure they both called Mr. Whisper. Under his influence they did as they were told. The case is also attracting the attention of corporate security expert Brad Trasker, whose trail is leading to the dark heart of a master manipulator.

Jessica, Theo, Sloan, and Brad must now bring their unique skills to the table to take down a diabolical adversary. Unless Mr. Whisper’s decades-long control of the vulnerable is too powerful and far-reaching to stop.

Battery recharge

How do you practice self-care?

Self-care is super important even now as I enter my mid-40s perimenipausal years. Listening to your body becomes the first step. The second step is that it is okay to speak to your doctor. Mine is going through it as well so she recommended natural stuff that has been helping her. As a reminder not all bodies are the same.

When I’m tired I go to bed earlier than normal. I go to “read” and usually I just cuddle under my blanket and sleep. It’s okay to rest.

Having a lazy day. It is okay to be a lazy couch potato and just have a Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Matrix, Jurassic Park/World, Godzilla/Kong, or whatever marathon. You have the right to have a day to cut out everything and just be lazy.

Read, take time out to do something that turns off your brain. A great book will do that. I call it my reading coma. I can get pulled in and it’s like waking from a good dream when I’m finished. Life is short do the stuff you like to do.

It’s okay to listen to your audiobook and spend a few hours on that puzzle you wanted to start. Watch that TV show and put your phone away. Play your favorite songs and sing and dance moving your body. Play your favorite game without guilt. You have one life and it’s yours.

Audiobook Appreciation: Swan Song by Robert McCammon

Swan Song by Robert McCammon is one of my favorite books. It’s up there on my top 5. I had read it many times, and love to share it with other readers. So when I started down my audiobook path, this was a must own and listen. It is a horror book set if nuclear war happened. It follows survivors all on a path towards Swan who carries in her the magic of life. This fits my post apocalyptic love and epic adventure. I love it so much that my hubby listened to it and enjoyed it. And so far it is being adapted into a TV show. Let’s hope they don’t fuck it up like the new version of The Stand.

An ancient evil roams the desolate landscape of an America ravaged by nuclear war.

He is the Man with the Scarlet Eye, a malevolent force that feeds on the dark desires of the countless followers he has gathered into his service. His only desire is to find a special child named Swan—and destroy her. But those who would protect the girl are determined to fight for what is left of the world, and their souls.

In a wasteland born of rage, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, the last survivors on earth have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil that will decide the fate of humanity….