Sundays with Sam - The Sunday Post

Sundays with Sam is a combination of Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

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My Week in Review

Happy Sunday! Can you believe that we begin the last month of the year tomorrow? This year is flying by. I love this time of the year though because I have a lot of time off for the holidays and my daughter comes to visit a bunch. 

We had a low key Thanksgiving at our house. It was just mom, dad, me, and the kid. The food was good, and I am obsessed with the cake my daughter made. I love home baked goods, and I haven't had cake in a while, so I am enjoying it. 

I have been off from work since I logged off on Wednesday. It's been a nice break since we were shorthanded last week. I do not go back until Tuesday, so I should be well-rested by then. Today, we are going to see Frozen at Paper Mill. I have only seen the park and cruise version of this show. I am looking forward to seeing the full length play. 

I have been trying to get some holiday shopping done. My mother is hard to buy for. I picked up an organizer for her. I am trying to get my dad to stop using pods, but he wants a single serve coffee maker. I found this one from OXO. I like that you can make one cup or 8. I will give it to him as soon as it arrives and get something small for under the tree. I had already sent a set of GreenPan Valencia Pro pots and pans to my daughter, but I did get a few small things for her to open on Christmas.  

On the Blog

• Monday: Reviews - Finding Her Edge, The Calculation of You and Me
• Tuesday: TTT - Feeling Thankful
• Wednesday: CWW - In Your Dreams
• Thursday: Reviews - Best Wishes From the Full Moon Coffee Shop, The Correspondent
• Friday: Six Degrees of Separation - The Forget-Me-Not Library
• Saturday: Five on My TBR - Holiday Books

Let's Discuss

• The Orangutan Librarian talks fanfic, retellings and plagiarism
• Samantha shares some black Friday deals
• Dini ponders bookish etiquette

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Stacking the Shelves

I was thrilled to get approved for Kara McDowell's adult debut. I enjoyed her young adult books and am glad she is crossing over. I couldn't resist buying the new Lindsey Kelk book. I love holiday romances and it was less than $1. Helena Hunting had a bunch of free downloads, so I grabbed a few books and also got a few invites for ARCs. 

Netgalley/Edelweiss

• The Write Off by Kara McDowell

Purchased/Free

• Christmas Fling by Lindsay Kelk
• If You Hate Me by Helena Hunting
• Not Just a Crush by Helena Hunting

Invites

• Such a Perfect Family by Nalini Singh
• Anne of a Different Island by Virginia Kantra
• Dear Debbie by Frieda McFadden

Read Last Week

I got more reading in than I have in the last few weeks which made me happy, and I had TWO five-star book. I always whine about how long Lucy Score's books can be. Where It All Began was normal length and simply wonderful. I will admit that I have read no other books in this series which Score warns readers to do, but I felt I could read it on its own. Maybe it spoiled things, but I didn't care because it was touching and wonderful and sad and happy. I loved it! I also adored The Life List. This was an Amazon recommendation for me based on my reading. The library had it, so I thought - why not! It was fun comparing notes with my daughter who recently saw the Netflix adaptation. They made some big changes, one that I have to wonder why because it was a great surprise in the book. 

Find all my reviews on Goodreads

Books

• The Gingerbread Bakery by Laurie Gilmore - ★★★★
• Where It All Began by Lucy Score - ★★★★★
• The Amberglow Candy Store by Hiyoko Kurisu - ★★★★
• Baking It Merry by Samantha Chase - ★★★★
• The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman - ★★★★★

Audiobooks

• Cross Check Christmas by Gigi Bume - ★★★★ 1/2
• Secret or Shut Out by Leah Brunner - ★★★★ 1/2

Currently Reading

• The Odds of You by Kate Dramis
• Cocoa Kisses by Melanie Jacobson

To Be Read

• The Irish Goodbye by Heather Aimee O'Neill
• Be My Love by Bella Andre
• The Lust Crusade by Jo Segura

How was your week?
Let us know in the comments!