I no come out

The last 3-day weekend for a few months. This is it. And a cold front is moving in. And it's snowing now.  Other than a couple errands tomorrow, I'll be hunkering down.

It's the end of the year. Time to make reading goals for 2017. The last couple years I've made the goal of 100 books and each year I've only made it 90. (I'm at 91 right now).

So I will take heed of these statistics, and set my reading goal at 90 for 2017.

In some years I've set a reading goal that included one nonfiction book per month. I don't think I'll do that this year. I'll just read what I want to read. I had toyed with "one audiobook per month" but perhaps I won't push that as well.

I also have felt that the first book completed in the new year has significance for the coming year. A good omen, shall we say.

So I will stack the deck, so to speak, and read the 3rd book of the Kushiel's Legacy Trilogy this weekend. KUSHIEL'S AVATAR by Jacqueline Carey.

A decade of peace has passed in Terre D'Ange, the country founded by the god Elua. Since the world's most famous courtesan saved her queen from assassination, Phèdre n? Delauny has been enjoying a quiet life until a prophetic dream calls upon her to serve her gods one last time. But what they ask may be too painful for even an anguissettte to bear. When the young son of the traitor Melisande Shahrizai—Imriel de la Courcel, who stands third in line for the crown—is kidnapped, Phèdre enters an uneasy bargain to find the boy in exchange for the information that will free her beloved childhood friend Hyacinthe from his eternal imprisonment as the new Master of the Straits. When it becomes clear that Imriel's disappearance is part of a larger, far darker scheme, Phèdre knows it is her sacred duty to end it. At her side is her loving consort Josselin, who will also risk losing himself in Phèdre’s gamble to rescue Imriel and save her country from a spreading darkness. And beyond her doubt, her fear, dangles the promise of a holy mystery so great that it could transform Phèdre into justice incarnate… or consume her in the flames of her own passion.

Published in 2003, it has 716 pages.

I'm still reading THE WINTER PEOPLE so maybe I'll hit 92 books read in 2016.

I also need to to some cooking this weekend. Portuguese Sausage and Bean soup for Steve. Beef stew for me. And making some snackage-y things for me for New Years - salmon dip and maybe some avocado/guacamole something or other. I have to make Chex Mix for Steve.

I don't think there's anything on TV for us. Maybe a movie via On Demand. We don't stay up and party for the New Year. I'll be awoken at midnight because of the inevitable fireworks and Ryker will be afraid.

I did start to watch on Netflix, How To Get Away with Murder which intrigued me. And I will perhaps continue to watch the first season of Hunting Hitler on the History channel's website.

Oh! I forgot. New Sherlock on Sunday! Woot!

For old time's sake, I should watch Casablanca. It was always on New Year's Eve when I babysat.

Have a safe and happy New Year

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Dude, I was just saying hi

Better now.

I've GOT to go grocery shopping today. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

I believe it's supposed to start to be winter again starting on Friday - snow and so forth. So I'm planning on stocking up now for the upcoming 3-day weekend.

I'm getting really tired of people in business world this week. Really tired.

So I'm going to end there. Have a great day.

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Cranky!!

We've switched over to a payroll service instead of doing it in house. What a freaking nightmare.

Figuring out what they did with taxes, the expenses to us, the Accountant-speak-to-real-Human-English pain.

Yesterday and today I've been pulling my hair out and fighting a headache to try to understand what they were doing and trying to figure why we were being charged so much for something. Almost there now.

Nothing on TV for me, of course. No Arrow for four more weeks.

But who's counting?

So I don't want to play office anymore today.  I'll probably read tonight. I don't know what's for dinner. I should go get groceries.  Steve has shooting.

So there.

Have a great day!

Much love
PK the Bookeemonster

Must be Monday on a Tuesday

I read THE BEST BOOK over the weekend. I totally loved KUSHIEL'S CHOSEN by Jacqueline Carey. Fantasy. Epic fantasy. True-love-delayed fantasy. Read it in two days. Didn't sleep very much overnight.

I will wait to read the next book in January.

Currently reading UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES by Marti Green. 1st of 4 in Innocent Prisoners Project series featuring attorney Dani Trumball.

Nineteen years ago, Indiana police found the body of a young girl, burned beyond recognition and buried in the woods. They arrested George Calhoun for murdering his daughter, and his wife testified against him at the trial. George maintains he didn’t do it. That the body isn’t his little Angelina. But that’s all he’s ever said—no other defense, no other explanation. The jury convicted him. Now his appeals have been exhausted, and his execution is just six weeks away. Dani Trumball, an attorney for the Help Innocent Prisoners Project, wants to believe him. After all, there was no forensic evidence to prove that the body in the woods was George’s daughter. But if the girl isn’t Angelina, then who is it? And what happened to the Calhouns’ missing daughter? Despite the odds, the questions push Dani to take the case.For nineteen years, George Calhoun has stayed silent. But he’s ready to talk, and if the story he tells Dani is true, it changes everything.

Published in 2013, it has 294 pages.  Cold cases are one of my favorite police procedural-type crime fiction and the TV show Conviction that I like so well this year has this same sort of premise.

About to start BOOKS FOR LIVING by Will Schwalbe. Nonfiction.

Why is it that we read? Is it to pass time? To learn something new? To escape from reality? For Will Schwalbe, reading is a way to entertain himself but also to make sense of the world, to become a better person, and to find the answers to the big (and small) questions about how to live his life. In this delightful celebration of reading, Schwalbe invites us along on his quest for books that speak to the specific challenges of living in our modern world, with all its noise and distractions. In each chapter, he discusses a particular book—what brought him to it (or vice versa), the people in his life he associates with it, and how it became a part of his understanding of himself in the world.  These books span centuries and genres (from classic works of adult and children’s literature to contemporary thrillers and even cookbooks), and each one relates to the questions and concerns we all share. Throughout, Schwalbe focuses on the way certain books can help us honor those we’ve loved and lost, and also figure out how to live each day more fully. Rich with stories and recommendations, Books for Living is a treasure for everyone who loves books and loves to hear the answer to the question: “What are you reading?”

Published 2016, it has 288 pages.  I read his previous book, THE END OF YOUR LIFE BOOK CLUB and enjoyed it very much.

 On TV, tonight we have The Curse of Oak Island "All That Glitters":

The Laginas hope the second massive dig in the Money Pit uncovers proof of a shipwreck located in the swamp.

Which makes me nervous because the quote is "... is not gold." Grr. And Hunting Hitler "Unmarked Grave":

Teams scour Chile and Paraguay and follow leads from declassified files.

A shorter work week. Mild-ish weather (for winter). Christmas is passed and a New Year imminent. Have a lovely day! 

 
Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Merry Christmas

Ryker would totally be at the milk. 

 Currently reading KUSHIEL'S CHOSEN by Jacqueline Carey. 2nd of Kushiel's Legacy trilogy. 

Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye and sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with a very special mission--and the first to recognize her for who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one. Phèdre has trained in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Having stumbled upon a plot that threatened the very foundations of her homeland, she gave up almost everything she held dear to save it. She survived, and lived to have others tell her story, and if they embellished the tale with fabric of mythical splendor, they weren't far off the mark. The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phèdre's brow, and they are not yet done with their charge--for while the young queen who sits upon the throne is well loved by the people, there are those who believe that other heads should wear the crown. And those who escaped the wrath of the mighty are not yet done with their schemes for power and revenge. To protect and serve, Phèdre will once again leave her beloved homeland. From the sun-drenched villas of La Serenissima to the wilds of old Hellas, from a prison designed to drive the very gods mad to an island of immutable joy. Phèdre will meet old friends and new enemies and discover a plot so dreadful as to make the earth tremble, masterminded by the one person she cannot turn away from.

Published in 2002, it has 704 pages.  I was trying to wait until next month to read this because I try to avoid reading the same author too close together. But I was slumping ... maybe BECAUSE I really wanted to read this sooner. I love true-love-delayed stories.

Last night was watched The Magnificent Seven via On Demand.

I'm sure I've seen the original but I couldn't really remember much of the plot. The movie wasn't bad. And I like Chris Pratt a lot.

Today, just relaxing, relaxing, relaxing.

Some reading, laundry, napping, Interneting, maybe a movie, some football. 

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster

Christmas Eve Eve

Merry Christmas!

I won't be posting tomorrow and Sunday, per usual, and probably not Monday.

I'm still kinda book slumping but I've ordered a favorite from when I was young, THE WINTER PEOPLE by Phyllis A. Whitney. Gothic romance. It's only in paper, not ebook. It should be here tomorrow.

Hopefully that will help my book mood. It's a long weekend -- I'd hate to stuck in a non-reading mood.

We're playing it by ear tomorrow going over to Mom and Dad's house for Christmas Eve. Depends on incoming weather and wellness.  

Faves:








I'll be tracking Santa via Norad tomorrow:  http://www.noradsanta.org/

And we have a local flying family who does Santa flying over Billings on Christmas Eve via helicopter to watch for.  Depending on the weather; we have a storm coming in.


Have a safe and Merry Christmas!

Much love
PK the Bookeemonster

Bah humbug

I was in line a Petsmart this afternoon. A woman checking out, two people ahead of me, was saying that now that's old she doesn't have to be nice anymore. She was nice when she was young and now she didn't have to be. 1) she was in her sixties which isn't that old and 2) there is no expiration date on being nice to people. Ever.

And she was saying she was going to sue anybody whose parking lots were slippery.

Last night I didn't cook what I was supposed to cook -- lamb and apricot stew for the office party. No, I decided to make paleo slow cooker chicken tikka masala.

So tonight I HAVE to cook. Nothing on TV for me so that's ok.

I've fallen in love with three men. Il Volo -- a group of three p-opera singers from Italy. 



La sigh.

I also think this girl, Jackie Evancho, has the voice of an angel:



She's SIXTEEN. Dayyum.

So that's about it. I haven't picked a next read yet. Hopefully soon. Actually too much from which to choose, is the problem.

Have a great day!

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

Stop it, hooman. I'm spying.

Well the main roads weren't that bad today. It got to about 43 yesterday ... not good when there's almost 2 feet of snow on the ground. But it was warm enough that the stuff on the cleared roads went away.

NOTHING on TV tonight. Because Arrow is on hiatus.

 Dang, I miss it. Five more weeks. 

But I should start some Christmas cooking tonight, perhaps. On Friday, we're bringing goodies to work so I could start that. And I should wrap Steve's present while he's gone shooting.

By the way:

Longest night of the year. Magical. Lots of energies flowing.

Have a lovely day!

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster