Sunday Bookends: Winter temps have set in, The Spectacular, getting ready for Christmas movies

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

This week I’m joining up with  Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer  and Kathyrn at  The Book Date.

What I/we’ve been Reading

This week I am continuing to read chapters before bed of Little Women. It’s such a cozy read.

I’m also reading The Spectacular by Fiona Davis. It is a mystery.

A description in case you are curious:

From the New York Times Bestselling Author of The Magnolia Palace: A thrilling story about love, sacrifice, and the pursuit of dreams, set amidst the glamour and glitz of Radio City Music Hall in its mid-century heyday.

New York City, 1956: Nineteen-year-old Marion Brooks knows she should be happy. Her high school sweetheart is about to propose and sweep her off to the life everyone has always expected they’d have together: a quiet house in the suburbs, Marion staying home to raise their future children. But instead, Marion finds herself feeling trapped. So when she comes across an opportunity to audition for the famous Radio City Rockettes—the glamorous precision-dancing troupe—she jumps at the chance to exchange her predictable future for the dazzling life of a performer. 

Meanwhile, the city is reeling from a string of bombings orchestrated by a person the press has nicknamed the “Big Apple Bomber,” who has been terrorizing the citizens of New York for sixteen years by planting bombs in popular, crowded spaces. With the public in an uproar over the lack of any real leads after a yearslong manhunt, the police turn in desperation to Peter Griggs, a young doctor at a local mental hospital who espouses a radical new technique: psychological profiling. 

As both Marion and Peter find themselves unexpectedly pulled in to the police search for the bomber, Marion realizes that as much as she’s been training herself to blend in—performing in perfect unison with all the other identical Rockettes—if she hopes to catch the bomber, she’ll need to stand out and take a terrifying risk. In doing so, she may be forced to sacrifice everything she’s worked for, as well as the people she loves the most.

The Boy and I will be starting A Tale of Two Cities this week and I really hope I can make it through the old language because sometimes I am confused by it. Just being honest. I enjoy classic literature but sometimes the metaphors and allegory, etc. totally throw me off and I have to re-read a sentence more than once. I wouldn’t consider myself stupid (some might) but I don’t read classics all the time so it doesn’t come as easily for me as some. 

The Husband finished an ARC of the next Joe Picket book and recently started another Fiona Davis book.

Little Miss and I will probably finish The Black Stallion this week and I’m not yet sure what we will read next. We are reading a book about a Native American girl for school but I can’t find it and forgot the name of it.

What’s Been Occurring

Cold temperatures are becoming the norm now as we move into winter, which means lighting or keeping the fire going in the woodstove is also becoming the norm. It also means that hot cocoa and hot tea are the norm.

I am very lucky that I have a husband who makes amazing tea for me with just the right amount of honey and a daughter who makes me the most amazing hot cocoa with just the right amount of maple syrup.

Those have been my treats to warm me up this week.

Last week was a relaxed week with the Thanksgiving holiday.

Monday we will be back doing schoolwork and back to Kid’s Club at the church and gymnastics for Little Miss. The Boy has an extra day off trade school, but goes back on Tuesday.

Photos from Last Week

Here are a few photos from our Thanksgiving.

What We watched/are Watching

I started watching Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman last week. It’s been fun to go back because I don’t remember most of the episodes or what happened, even though I watched them during junior high and high school.

We also watched some episodes of Doctor Who this week and the 60th anniversary special, which I don’t want to talk about. Ever. I’m not kidding.

I’ll stick with the old episodes.

Little Miss and I watched the first Paddington movie since we have been reading Paddington books off and on during the week.

This week I’ll be watching a couple of Christmas-themed movies or shows as Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs get read for Cozy Christmas, which you can find out more about in her post here:

https://crackercrumblife.com/2023/11/24/comfy-cozy-christmas/

I’ll be posting my own separate post about this later this week as well.

What I’m Writing

I’m working on Cassie this weekend and will be this upcoming week after finishing preparations to release Gladwynn Grant Takes Center Stage next Tuesday.

On the blog this week I shared:

Black Friday Book Sale and a Chance to Win Some Books Wednesday Afternoon Tea and Chat Eight cozy gifts for the reader in your life

What I’m Listening To

This week I listened to Needtobreathe’s new album The Cave.

Now it’s your turn. What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.