What's Samma Reading

Hey There & Happy 2018!!

I'm supposed to be cleaning and taking down Christmas decorations but I keep finding way more interesting things to do, like letting you know how the second half of the year went with my reading! Then I managed to catch the crud bug going around, probably from those sickos at Dillards on New Years Day!  At least it wasn't the flu!!!

This is going to be a much briefer version than before because....there's a LOT!!!  See what happens when you are a bad blogger.  oops!  Basically you'll get the category then underneath you'll get the book name with a link to Amazon.  (I'm forced by weird blogger laws-and yes, those do exist- that these are all my Amazon Affiliate links and there's like a million and one shot that I will actually earn some money from these if you choose to purchase.  It does NOT change your purchase price in any way).  You'll also get my rating of the book and that'll probably be it unless I have something specific that I definitely remember from the book.  Remember these go back to like June of 2017 so unless I loved it, it'll be brief.

I'm also going to group this in categories so if there's a genre that doesn't interest you then it'll be easier to breeze just past that section.  I  more than completed my GoodReads goal for 2017 so I did up my game a little for 2018.   If you are on Goodreads then click that link and find me.  I'm Samma Sims and we will be reading buddies.

Hang on and here we go.........

Cozy Mysteries:

1)Haunted Hijinks (An Agnes Barton Paranormal Mystery Book 1)  Rating: 3.5 stars
    First I've read in this series, not sure I'll read more.
2)Key To Savannah (Made In Savannah) (Volume 1)  Rating: 4 stars
    I LOVE this series, it's fun, it's an easy read and it involves the mob in a family friendly way and it
    is set in Savannah.  Also, you do need to read this series in order.
3)Road to Savannah (Made in Savannah) (Volume 2)  Rating: 3.75 stars
    I still love this series, this one just wasn't as good but important to the series.
4)Justice in Savannah (Made in Savannah) (Volume 3) Rating: 4 stars
    Back on track in the series and it's still entertaining me.
5)Swag in Savannah (Made In Savannah) (Volume 4)  Rating: 4 stars
    We're still having fun in Savannah with the Garlucci family. There are 8 books in the series (so far)                          
     and I intend to finish the series.
6)  Hook, Line and Blinker (A Miss Fortune Mystery) (Volume 10) Rating: 4 stars
     This is book 10 in this series and I find them to be hilarious!  I've read them all and can't wait for  
      the next installment.
7) Brew or Die: A Java Jive Mystery  Rating: 3.5 stars
     This is the 4th installment in this series, not my favorite but still good and I didn't realize the 5th
     installment was released in October so I added it to my "to read" list.
8)Dead on the Vine: (Violet Vineyard Murder Mysteries 1 (A Cozy Mystery))  Rating: 4 stars
    Wine, Murder, Napa....what's not to like?
9)A Vintage To Die For: (Violet Vineyard Murder Mysteries 2 (A Cozy Mystery)) Rating: 4 stars
    Another series I'm eagerly anticipating the arrival of the next in the series.
10)Just Around the Bend (Bellingwood) (Volume 18) Rating: 5 stars
     I've read every book in this series which must be read in order and I LOVE it.
11)Boundless Dreams (Bellingwood Book 19) Rating: 5 stars
     Another wonderful time with Polly & friends.
12)Mango Cake and Murder (Mom and Christy's Cozy Mysteries) (Volume 1) Rating: 3.5 stars
      This was a pretty good start to a series, not sure if I'll read more but the mother/daughter
       relationship is pretty funny in this one.
13) High Strung (Glass Bead Mystery Series) (Volume 1)        Rating: 3 stars
      It was ok, not as good as I wanted it to be.  If the volume 2 is free and I have nothing in my
      reading queue I'd probably read.
14) The Trailer Park Princess and the Middle Finger of Fate (Volume 1)  Rating: 1 star
      Nope, I'm done with this series and it's a good thing this was a free book.
15)Cream Puff Murder: A Seagrass Sweets Cozy Mystery (Volume 1) Rating: 3 star
     Not really my thing, won't search out the next one either.
16) Murder, Mayhem and Bliss (Myrtle Grove Garden Club Mystery Book 1)  Rating: 3.5
       I'd probably read another if the free download came along. It wasn't bad but it didn't leave me
       dying to read the next one.
17)The Corpse in the Cabana: A Viola Roberts Cozy Mystery (Viola Roberts Cozy Mysteries) (Volume 1)  Rating: 3.75 stars
       Pretty good, I'll probably find the next in the series when I'm low on books in my queue.

Thrillers:

1)Beach Lawyer (Beach Lawyer Series)   Rating: 3.75 stars
    There's a second in the series, I'm not sure I'll read it.  It wasn't bad but it wasn't great.
2)The Bourbon Thief: A southern gothic novel  Rating: 4 stars
    Bourbon, Murder, Kentucky and it's definitely a book after my own heart.  I gave it a 4 on GoodReads but I'm thinking it might be more like a 4.5.
3)Stillhouse Lake (Stillhouse Lake Series)  Rating: 4.5 stars
    Loved this book!  The second in this series just came out and I'm dying to get started on it.  Intense      
     and slightly disturbing  make for a win in my serial killer fiction world.
4)Signature Wounds (A Grale Thriller)  Rating: 4 stars
   A good book but one of those that I had to go back and read the description to remember it.  I also
   found out there will be more starring the main character.
5)Game Changer   Rating 4 stars
    Ok, so the whole premise of this book will freak you out a bit and maybe make you a bit paranoid      
     but it was good.  I'd never read anything by this author but I like his style.

Fiction:

1)The Secret of the Old Clock (Nancy Drew, Book 1)   Rating: 5 stars
   Seriously, Nancy Drew books are classics for a reason. My goal is to read all of them again
2) Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers (44 Scotland Street Series)  Rating: 4 stars
     This is book 9 in this series and I thoroughly enjoy these books.  I think I have 3 more in the series  
     to read and I will get to them for sure.  This is a sweet series that should definitely be read in order.
3)A Beautiful Poison  Rating: 3.5 stars
   I wanted to love this book, I really did and I keep plowing through the book thinking I would grow
    to love it.  Unfortunately it never happened, it was good and it gets pretty good reviews on
    Amazon so maybe it was just me.
4) The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper  Rating: 4 stars
    This was a sweet and charming book that was totally out of my norm but I loved it.  It made me
     smile and occasionally quirky old Arthur made me tear up.  Who knew a charm bracelet could
     bring so much to your life?
5) Origin: A Novel  Rating: 4 stars
     You guys.....I'm so sad! I've looked forward to this book for so long.  I LOVE Dan Brown, I love       his writing , the plot lines, the history and the Robert Langdon character.  I mean seriously, Angels &Demons is quite possibly one of my top 5 fave books and this, well this was just a big let down.  I worked HARD ya'll to finish this book.  I'm not even kidding, I pre-ordered the hardback version of this book and started it the day it arrived, October 3rd and I did not finish it until just before Thanksgiving when I passed it off to the Abogg.

Well, that's it for the 2017 year.  I didn't read much at all in December, too many Hallmark Christmas movies and such.  I'm currently about half way through Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.  It is definitely outside of my normal reading genre but I am enjoying it and have found it both fascinating and disheartening.   My reading list is growing by leaps and bounds and the next one hopefully won't be so full of cozy mysteries.  Normally those are my in the pool summer reads and winter is where I bear down into the hard stuff.  haha   I do have a couple of cozy mysteries in the queue ready to go as I usually throw one of those in after I finish something a little more hardcore.

What are you guys reading?  Anything good? Send my way because I certainly will be looking for more ideas about May!
                                                              Peace, Love &
                                                             

Time Change Chores

Hey Peeps!!

Gobble Gobble, it's almost turkey time!!

You might vaguely remember last year about this time I did a blog post on Time Change Chores.  I know we are a couple weeks past the time change and everyone is in full blown holiday mode BUT I figured there are a lucky few who aren't hosting on Thanksgiving and you might want to run through the check list to make sure you covered everything before we hit full on Christmas mode.

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First things first, go back to here and refresh your memory.  Go ahead, I'll wait............

Oh hey, welcome back. While you were gone I created you a little printable to use in case you want to remember and you're like me and love the feeling of marking things off the to do list!  Ok fine, I made the list for myself but I'm happy to share.

Time Change Chores Checklist

 I added a couple of items this year.

1)  Clean and organize your pantry, I believe I did this one the weekend after the time change. Hubster went hunting and I was home alone so the pantry was tackled.  This is a particularly great chore to do in the fall before the holidays hit.  You get a chance to toss out leftover stuff and get a better idea for what you need to purchase.   And then you will be greatly rewarded!!!

The main part of the pantry from the door

Far back right side

Left side as you enter

I'm very much aware that not everyone has a pantry this size.  Believe me I am very fortunate and we use every inch of it.   But a little organization goes a long way no matter the size.  Keep like things together and you don't have to go to a certain store that sells pantry organization kits to clean things up.  (although I LOVE that store, it's just a wee pricey for me)  Take a good inventory of your pantry, figure out what items need to be corralled then take a little trip to the Dollar Tree.  You can spend less than $20 and get all kinds of bins and such.  In case you wondered my spices are in these little gems from Ikea and they are $3.99 each. Once again, big impact for not a lot of moola.

I even grabbed an extra clear shoe storage container and popped a label "Holiday Supplies" on it and I've been adding the canned pumpkin, cranberry sauce, fried onions, etc to that bin as I purchased them.  Now when it is time to start cooking I can just pull that bin from the shelf and start cooking.   I also can then corral all the items I start purchasing for holiday baking in there after Thanksgiving.

2)  The refrigerator:  this normally isn't something I plan to do before Thanksgiving to the extent that I did this year but I was pretty much forced to do it.  About a week before the time change our refrigerator decided to stop working. Mind you we don't have a run of the mill hop down and get a new one refrigerator but it's a built into the cabinetry, extra wide dual compressor refrigerator.  You know the kind you are super happy to see when you buy a house then you come to your senses and realize it's gonna cost as much as a car to replace!   Anywho, refrigerator croaked and we lived out of coolers and the neighbors mini-fridge for about 2 weeks while we waited for repair people to diagnose and order parts so when it came time to reload the refrigerator I tossed and cleaned like crazy.  However it was excellent because in the process I also cleaned the garage refrigerator and freezer and now we have room for all the holiday stuffs!  So what I'm saying......take a minute to really clean our your refrigerator and freezer before the holidays.  Who knows what kind of goodies you'll find in there and you'll have room for the turkey AND the ham!!

See what I mean?  

3) Something we don't do every year but this year we changed out the weatherstripping on all the doorways.  Relatively inexpensive with a potentially large cost savings on the heating bill this winter. If nothing else just check those and make sure you don't have one or two that need replacing.  It's also time to put those insulators over your outdoor faucets.  (we have yet to do this as we've still been near 80 degrees and I'm watering plants outside-welcome to Texas!), you also want to move any outdoor plants inside that might not survive the winter.  It's also time to think about winterizing your sprinkler system and getting the pool ready for cold weather.  I need to call this week and set up our annual Winter tune up on the heating system and we'll be ready for winter. 

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I know it seems like a big list but really, most jobs don't take more than 15 minutes and you'll be glad you did it when you don't have to go running outside at 10:30 on a cold night because you forgot to cover the outdoor spigots and the weatherman reminds you.  Not that we've done that before or anything.  Also I can't say it enough, the batteries in the smoke alarms and cleaning out the dryer vents...If you only do those things then that's good enough!!  The safety of your family really is the best motivation!

I leave you with a copy of my phone wallpaper, I think it sums things up nicely!

                                               

Peace, Love & Pie

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