January '26 Books Read

 Cold weather = reading time ..... ten books read to begin the new year. 

When The Cranes Fly South by Swedish author Lisa Ridzén is about a widower nearing the end of his life and his relationships with his beloved dog and his estranged son. A story about love, aging, regret and family told through first person narration.

Nash Falls is David Baldacci's latest offering. I have been such a big fan of this author - until now. I really did not like the ending because it keeps the reader hanging. Did he or didn't he? I prefer my books to be more succinct.

The Burning Library by Gilly Macmillan is set in the Scottish town of St. Andrews. It posits a world of two opposing factions of women both of which have been trying for more than a century to find and secure a medieval manuscript.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans is an epistolary novel - one of my favorite genres, told through a series of letters. Sybil is a woman who has used letter writing throughout her life to make sense of the world and her place in it.

The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick is about an experimental and controversial treatment center in a remote setting of a California desert. 

To The Moon And Back by Eliana Ramage tells the story of a Cherokee woman who wants to become an astronaut.

The Incredible Kindness of Paper by Evelyn Skye is about childhood pen pals who connect years later in NYC after Chole begins writing uplifting messages on yellow origami paper folded into roses and leaving them all over the city. When Oliver finds one it leads him back to the childhood friend he never forgot.

I thought I had read all the Sandra Brown books in my library until I discovered three large print versions and quickly read my way through play dirty, smash cut and Lethal.

With the exception of these three books plus David Baldacci's, the others are all new authors to me, none of which excited me. I'm hoping to find a new author with lots of books on the shelf that I can read my way through. Any suggestions? Until then, I'm currently, and slowly, reading a hefty 916 page tome. February might see an extremely rare one book read month. 

Prairie Wildlife

 

Ahh, a quick red fox ran through the back yard this morning - the first I've seen in this new year of 2026 even though I've been watching for them. Facebook memories have shown me several fox photos this month from years past.

It doesn't seem as though there is as much wildlife around as there used to be, or maybe I'm just not looking at the right times. 

I'm feeling vexed this morning. My computer won't do what I want it to. It took forever to get my fox picture posted to FB. I keep getting an "out of memory" message. I'm hoping I will be able to post this much. Time for a new computer again?

I'll keep trying to find/fix the problem. In the meantime if you don't hear from me for awhile, try the phone or send me a letter by snail mail. 

Now, let's see if this will post.    😅

You Light Up My Life

You Light Up My Life was a #1 hit song by Debby Boone in 1977. Pat Boone was her father. I was a big fan of his in the 1950's-60's. (Ain't That A Shame; Love Letters In The Sand; April Love and Moody River.) But I digress. This post isn't about songs.

It's about lamps, specifically two old lamps that belonged to my parents which I still have.

This one, I think, dates from the 40's. The base was originally cobalt blue. It was paint that easily washed off which I did after the blue became chipped and unattractive.

I let the designs in the glass be the focus now.

It's a rather short, squat, lamp. The shade is about the same size as the old pleated, worn out one was.

I like this lamp. It sets in my office.

This is the other lamp. It stands on the chest of drawers in the spare bedroom. Its shade is also newer, perhaps not the best match for the base, but, oh well.

I do know a bit more about the history of this lamp. It was given to my parents in the 1950's by the Corning Gun Club for the care and raising of pheasants to be released throughout the county for hunting.

The pheasants were raised in a brooder house up the road on the west side at another farm site which we referred to as the other place. There were at least two years of pheasant raising there and, I think, even another lamp though I can't recall what it looked like.

What I especially like about this lamp is that it has a 3-way switch.

The base is a night light on it's own. Or you can have just the lamp lit or both the base and the lamp.

This lamp sat unused on top of the wardrobe in the west room upstairs for years because the switch didn't work. 

I liked the looks of this lamp so much. I kept it and my talented handyman husband rewired it for me.

I love this lamp.

I am at the stage in my life that I really would like my children and grandchildren to speak up for items they would like to have either to use or to keep as remembrances of me and/or my parents and grandparents. Thus, the histories, as much as I know, of these objects that light up my life.

December '25 Books

 Eight books read this last month of 2025 for a total of 109 books read this year. 

What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon was sent to me by my friend Leslie. It alternates between present time and the teens and early twenties of 20th Century Ireland - the time of the 1916 Easter Rising and the Irish War of Independence. I had read so many books about Ireland's history when I was younger - this book brought back all the feelings I had from that time. 

Not A Happy Family is the second book I've read by Shari Lapena. She does write very good whodunnit books.

the Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai is probably the first book I've read about India, its people and culture.

Two Alone is another Sandra Brown book.  I think this is the last one I had available to read until she writes another new book.

Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein is a Reese's Book Club pick about two sisters and their life  goals.

Happy Wife by Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores is a 'Read With Jenna' selection. When a young wife's much older, rich, husband disappears and is then found murdered, it must be the wife, right? She proclaims her innocence, but how to prove it?

The Survivors Club by Lisa Gardner is one I somehow missed when I was reading my way through all her books. 

Flashlight by Susan Choi is a very different book than I usually read. I might not have finished reading it if I hadn't noticed it was #2 on Barack Obama's list of favorite books for 2025.

I've already been to the library and have seven books to start the new year off right.

Happy reading and Happy New Year! 😊🎉

A Few Xmas Photos

Christmas at Preston & Shalea's was similar to Thanksgiving as far as beating the bad weather. Saturday was a very mild day, albeit quite foggy.

I didn't take a lot of pictures and missed getting ones of everyone but my camera always finds the young ones.

Kathryn and Henri. He is old enough to verbalize that he does not want his picture taken. "No" everytime I pointed the camera his way.

He has changed quite a bit since July. Still just as cute though.

Deise's 'ugly Xmas sweater' suggests that she is a 'repeat offender'.

IMO, the only crime she is guilty of is bringing way too many goodies to entice us. This girl does like to cook and bake.

Her oreo cookie fluff was stupendously rich, aka, yummy, with almost zero calories, I'm sure. 😋

We came home with some of her homemade peanut clusters and chocolate covered pretzels.

Louis has also changed. It's crazy how quickly they grow up. 

The nice part is that he is not as shy with me as he was.

Unlike his little brother, Louis willingly posed for a picture.

Bud and the boys - Travis (Kathryn's husband), our grandson, Ki, and our newest grandson, Zach (Deise's husband).

The bulbs on his Xmas sweater not only lit up they blinked off and on.

There were many presents under the tree but it didn't take long to hand them out and see them opened, though it was impossible to see everything that everyone received.

Preston watched as Ayden and Katherine opened gifts before opening his.

Unfortunately Dominique had to work so she and Ian weren't able to there.

The boys and their transformers was the last picture I took. Left to right, Greyson, Louis and Ayden. The older boys get along very well with their younger cousin. Seeing, being with them, is always a delight. I got a goodbye hug from each one of them. 

Back to the "beating the bad weather just like Thanksgiving" - the weather forecasters were warning of the cold, snow and high winds moving in, so instead of staying through Sunday as planned, Deise and Zach headed back east to Davenport and Kathryn, Travis and the boys headed north to Minnesota. It was a good thing they did because by Sunday I-35 in northern Iowa was closed. 

Our weather yesterday started out with rain, changing to sleet, changing to snow, with very high wind gusts and bitter cold. This was the sunset photo I took last evening - through the window - no way was I going outside.

November '25 Books

 

Twelve books read in November --

Out Of Nowhere by Sandra Brown was at the tail end of my October reads and may be the last of her's that I read. There are still a few at the library that I haven't read but they are some of her older novels and those don't seem to be as well written as her newer books.

The Sands Of Sea Blue Beach is by Rachel Hauck a new author for me. It reminded me of our trip to Dauphin Island, Alabama and our stay at the Gulf Breeze Motel.

The Proving Ground is Michael Connelly's latest book in his Lincoln Lawyer series.

Forget Me Not is by Stacy Willingham another new author. It is about a young woman trying to discover what happened to her sister after she disappeared eighteen years ago.

These Summer Storms is by Sara MacLean yet another new author for me. It is about a wealthy family whose father pits his children against one another to see who inherits his estate.

The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin Harmel, was also on the new author shelf at the library. It was one my favorite new author reads* - a historical drama set during and after WWII.  

The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods, a new author introduced to me by a friend. I really loved this magical story and its beautiful prose.

Something to Look Forward To by Fannie Flagg is a book of warm-hearted, interconnected, short stories.

She Didn't See It Coming is by Shari Lapena, is a well-written whodunnit about the disappearance of a young wife/mother and the first book I've read by this author, though I have a second one waiting on my December reads stack.

The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian is a book I previously read in 2013, long enough ago that it was the same as reading it for the first time. It is a story of love, war and revenge set in Tuscany in WWII. 

The Story Collector and The Lost Bookshop both by Evie Woods and sent to me by the same friend who told me about this author. I really do enjoy magical realism novels. 

With the eight inches of snow we got yesterday, the only thing that would make me happier about this reading weather would be if I had a fireplace or a wood-burning stove.  😊

(*The others were the Evie Woods books.)

November - A Full and Changing Month

November is a full month for us - always with the anniversaries, birthdays and Thanksgiving and this year a wedding. For most of the month, the temperatures were above average.

 

On the 19th we quietly celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary - an achievement I was most grateful for.

This photo of us is from 2000. Just a few changes in twenty-five years. 

Also, without fanfare, we celebrated Bud's 80th birthday and my 82nd.

I should amend that, we did receive lots of birthday and anniversary cards and phone calls.

And my e-Pal, Leslie, spoiled me with a "variety pack" including Mabel the hen, a cute little pig, a watercolor of evergreens, books and other items.

My favorite is the picture which reads: To my dear Irish ePal "who loses herself between the pages and finds her soul in stories. Because sometimes, her heart belongs to worlds you cannot see knowing the greatest adventures begin when you turn a page."

Yesterday we went to Winterset for Thanksgiving at Preston and Shalea's. It was a smaller gathering this year with some of the kids working and because of the forecast for lots of snow.

First we stopped at grandson Devin's and had a nice visit with him, Jessica, Oakley and great-granddaughter Everly. She has really grown since we last saw her - now walking and talking and just being cute in general - those curls!

Somehow I managed not taking a single photo at Preston & Shalea's. Ayden and Greyson were playing a game of Go Fish. I joined in after being reminded how to play. Greyson won, Ayden came in second and I lost. (No surprise there.)  

After turkey and all the trimmings (including shrimp), there was pie. M-m-m-m, pie. And there were still all those warnings about the snow coming and hazardous driving. In order to get out ahead of it we all left around 2p.m. We didn't have snow on the way home but when we got to Creston there was some snow on the streets but none coming down.

A small flock of geese landed on the pond around 4:30 p.m.

They did not stay long - either continuing on south or going back out to Green Valley Lake.

I was awakened at 3:30 a.m. by the sound of a pickup with a blade attached going back and forth clearing snow off the street. It was so bright out with all the snow.

This was the view out my window around 10 a.m. - snow still coming down. It was about 2-3 inches on the deck railing then. Looking out now I would guess about 6-7 inches and still snowing.

That is the reason for my "changing month" line in this blog's title - after a perfectly lovely November - a big change. I'm not crazy about the snow and cold but after a lifetime in Iowa, I'm accepting of it. If nothing else it is beautiful.