Tag Archives: It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

The Year of Living Happily

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Hi everyone! We are joining Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Book Date’s It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading? 

The Year of Living Happily Finding Contentment and Connection in a Crazy World by Alli Worthington is a wonderful guide to help find your way to happiness.

*Disclosure: I received this book for free as part of The Book Look Bloggers book review program. I am not required to write a positive review, all opinions are my own.

 

KaTwo is my book model.

I had never heard of Alli Worthington. Apparently I have been hiding my head in the litter box once again. She has written two other successful books prior to this one. She also hosts a weekly podcast. On top of all that, she is a very involved mom to 5 boys.

The Year of Living Happy is an easy read. There are 100 “lessons” in it. Each is a page and a half long and includes a quote from The Bible. At the end of the page is a question to get you thinking of how this lesson applies to your life. There is space to record your answer and use it as a journal too.

For example, she quotes scripture, “By their fruit you will recognize them.” She then tells us to write down the fruit we want to see in our heart and life. On another page, she wants us to think of something perfectly imperfect in our life right now.

Most of these are simple lessons we have all heard before, but tend to forget. There are several lessons reminding us to be thankful and forgiving. She also suggests relaxing, recharging our batteries, breathing deeply and simple ideas we are often to busy to think about.

I think this would be a great gift for any woman ( sorry guys, this one is geared for women) in your life that needs to slow down. It is a beautiful book/journal with a pretty ribbon book mark built-in. There is also a spot in the front of the book with a presented to -from-date which would really personalize your gift.

My only complaint was a typo I found. The word quiet was spelled quit. I know that is not a big deal, but I expect more of a larger publisher.

I review for BookLook Bloggers

 

 

 

 

 

The Purrfect Gift for Kids

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Hi everyone! Today we are joining It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading? The kiddy lit version hosted by Teacher Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers.

I apologize if you are sick of reading about Prancie’s Prayer. I want to thank everyone who has purchased it and/or written a review. I was thrilled when I check my publisher’s home page and saw it listed as a best seller for October. Click here.

As most of you know, it is a children’s ( ages 3-7) picture book set at Christmastime. It is based on how our cat Prancie joined our family. She really did appear at our outdoor nativity. I always tell people she went to Jesus for help.

I started blogging because I wanted to help cats by sharing knowledge I have learned from living with them. I also hoped to make money blogging so I could donate to rescue groups. I will admit that I have not made much blogging, I have only had 2 paid posts in over four years of blogging.. I have decided to donate all my royalties from October-December to Boston’s Forgotten Felines. I get just under $2 on every book sold ( except those purchased through me).

I chose this Boston’s Forgotten Felines because I have been following on of the volunteers, Joni Nelson, on Facebook for years. She is out at 3 AM daily feeding ferals in Boston. Many people treat her badly and try to poison the cats. Many of the cats are friendly and not actually feral, she tries to rescue them and find them homes, but there are so many. Boston gets very cold in the winter and I wish they had a place they could bring them inside , but all they can do is make shelters for them and feed them.

Here are the links to places you can purchase Prancie’s Prayer. Please share this post and help spread the word.

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

We are also joining Comedy Plus’ Awww..Mondays. I hope Prancie’s Prayer will make you say Awww..

It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading?

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We are joining Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Book Date’s It’s Monday What are YOU Reading?

I just finished reading Ghostbuster’s Daughter by Violet Ramis Stiehl. Sounds like Harold Ramis was a good father to the author. I was disappointed to read about what a pot head he was though. I also would have preferred to not know about her parents open marriage.

I am currently reading Cats and Daughters They Don’t Always Come When Called by Helen Brown. I was enjoying it up until she wrote of leaving for a wedding. Her son left his cat at her house and had never met the resident cat. They just tossed them together and left. I found that incredibly stupid and dangerous for the cats.

Trouble says hello. I think she is part bat.

 

 

Monday Mewsic and More

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Hi everyone! We are joining Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Book Date’s It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading?And we are also joining Mewsic Moves Me (hosted by Curious as a Cathy, Xmas Dolly, JAmerican Spice and Stacy Uncorked.)

Being that it is Halloween time, I am going to try to read a vampire novel. I have been afraid on vampires since I was a kid and my aunt let me watch Salem’s Lot. I slept with my neck covered until about two years ago ( when the hot flashes started). My friend and fellow blogger, Marie (Athena’s Mum) has written a trilogy of vampire stories. I have enjoyed all her cat themed books so I am sure these will be good too. If you are interested, you can get the kindle edition of Poet’s Blood for free right now. Click here.

The Mewsic theme for this week is songs with hand claps and finger snaps. I couldn’t think of any with the finger snaps, but I have 3 with hand claps.

  1. Take the Money and Run ( Steve Miller Band)-

2. More Than A Feeling ( Boston)-

And because I spend a lot of time with an almost 3 year old:

3. Sesame Street If Your Happy and You Know it Clap Your Hands-

And here are Brody and Trouble. I am so happy that Brody has a friend, she even cleans his ears for him sometimes.

Books, Mewsic and More

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We are joining Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Book Date’s It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading?And we are also joining Mewsic Moves Me (hosted by Curious as a Cathy, Xmas Dolly, JAmerican Spice and Stacy Uncorked.)

I am sure many of you have heard of the DJ, Bobby Bones. Apparently my head has been buried in a litter box for years because I just learned of him. I love to read memoirs and self-help books and he has published one of each.

I started with his latest book, Fail Until You Don’t. His mantra is “Fight, Grind, Repeat.” And that is what he does and has done his entire life.  He has gotten to where he is in life through hard work day in and day out his entire life. He even continued working when he had his impacted wisdom teeth removed. He would take pain meds because he didn’t want to be loopy so he just kept going like an energizer bunny.

Bare Bones: I’m Not Lonely If You’re Reading This Book was published in 2016. He had a tough childhood, but didn’t let that stop him from achieving his dream of being on the radio. His father abandoned the family when he was young and his mom was an alcoholic who had him when she was age 15. Luckily, he had his Grandma and other positive role models in his life.  I was especially impressed that he doesn’t drink and never has. If you have heard of him then you probably love him too, but if not I highly recommend these two books. I am in awe of this man, I admire anyone who has a tough life and manages to succeed.

In addition to being an author, comedian and popular radio personality, he also has a band, The Raging Idiots, which is actually just him and another guy from the radio station, but they have raised a ton of money for charities Yes, he is a philanthropist too. So for my Mewsic choices I have some of their videos which are quite humorous.

1. Chick -Fil-A ( But it’s Sunday)

2. Friends In Low Places – Garth’s song, but he does a good job.

3. Hobby Lobby Bobby-

I hope Sammy posing with his book is Awww…worthy.

Prancie’s Prayer is Now Available

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Hi everyone! Today we are joining It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading? The kiddy lit version hosted by Teacher Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers.

Prancie’s Prayer is based on her true story of how she appeared at our outdoor nativity on a cold winter day. It is a Christmas book, but it is never too early to start your shopping. 🙂

I thought it was going to take 6 weeks for Prancie’s Prayer to be available, but it only took one week. I am thrilled, but it did throw me off with my marketing plan. I wish I could give every one of my blog readers one, but I can’t afford to do that. I have sent a few out to be reviewed ( I already contacted those bloggers about this).

I do have an offer for you all though. For anyone willing to write a review on Amazon, Goodreads or Barnes and Noble, I will give you  an e-copy. You would have to put a disclosure on the review saying you were given a  review copy. If you are interested, please let me know in the comment section and I will email you.Thank you.

I will be having a giveaway on here soon and on Goodreads for the paperback version.

If you want to purchase a copy ( or copies) through me, let me know in the comment section and I will contact you with my Paypal information. I am selling it through my blog for $10 which includes shipping in the USA.

It is available on Amazon for $12.99 with a Kindle version for $2.99. The Kindle version should be available internationally. It is also available on Barnes and Noble. I am trying to market it to religious stores and smaller bookstores too. If you have any of those near you, could you please tell me the names so I can look up their contact information. This is all new to me and I am determined to succeed because I have many more stories to tell.Thank you all for your help, it is greatly appreciated.

We are also joining Comedy Plus’ Awww..Mondays. I hope Prancie’s Prayer will make you say Awww..

 

 

 

 

Mewsic , Books and More

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We are joining Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Book Date’s It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading?And we are also joining Mewsic Moves Me (hosted by Curious as a Cathy, Xmas Dolly, JAmerican Spice and Stacy Uncorked.)

I am currently reading Once Upon a Farm by Rory Feek and I recently finished his other memoir, This Life I Live: One Man’s Extraordinary, Ordinary Life and the Woman Who Changed It Forever.

I was not familiar with Rory or his wife , Joey  who passed away in 2016. They had a tv show about their life together, but I didn’t know about it until I read these books. They both were country writers and singers. She helped raise his 2 daughters and sadly, when they finally had a child, Joey was diagnosed with cancer and only survived until the child’s second birthday.  Despite life’s problems, he maintains a positive attitude and writes of what he has learned from life.

Today is a freebie day on the mewsic so I chose songs written by Rory.

  1. Blake Shelton’s Some Beach- I always liked this, but had no idea that Rory Feek wrote it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTT2LEyjdC4
  2. Joey and Rory-When I’m Gone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcpjSMmWUDw This was recorded in 2012, long before she was diagnosed with cancer.

 

It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading?

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We are joining McGuffy’s Reader’s Sparks (even though she is on hiatus), Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Book Date’s It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading? I am skipping the Mewsic hop again this week. My post gets too long when I do the reading and mewsic hops together so when I have good books to tell you about I will skip the mewsic.

I have never seen the television show This is Us, but I enjoyed This Is Me: Loving the Person You Are Today by Chrissy Metz. As many of you know, she is one of the stars of the show. She did not have the best childhood, but she certainly has gotten past that. I am amazed at what a kind person she is despite her past. I could relate to her weight struggles too.

I usually don’t read fiction, but I was pulled in by the cover of Talk to the Paw by Melinda Metz. I was pleasantly surprised, it is a fun romance. And the cat is the main character, he works hard to bring people together even if it requires some cat burglary on his part.

My Spark for today is to tell you about a blog that started this year, The Gateway to Enlightenment, always has positive quotes and stuff to brighten your day.

 

Here is my awww…Mondays photo. Pardon the clutter, how many of my black cats do you see in this photo?

 

It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading?

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We are joining McGuffy’s Reader’s Sparks (even though she is on hiatus), Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Book Date’s It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading? I am skipping the Mewsic hop again this week. My post gets too long when I do the reading and mewsic hops together. Next week, I will do the Mewsic one.

I just finished Trooper: The Bobcat Who Came in from the Wild by Forrest Bryant Johnson. In 1987, the author found a baby bobcat trapped in a cactus plant. He rescued him and kept him for many years, until Trooper died of old age. I found this book fascinating, I enjoyed reading of the special bond these two shared. Trooper is such a sweet cat that he even befriends a stray cat and brings him home to share dinner. He ends up joining the family too and spends all his time with Trooper.

Trooper lived in Nevada where people can own bobcats, well, back then they could, the laws could be different now. They had a large kitty door put in so he was able to come and go as he pleased. I think you will all love this book as much as I did.

Our spark today is from Trouble, take time to stop and smell the flowers, just don’t eat them because they could be poisonous.

It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading?

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We are joining McGuffy’s Reader’s Sparks (even though she is on hiatus), Comedy Plus’ Awww….Mondays and Book Date’s It’s Monday! What Are YOU Reading?

River of Time: My Descent into Depression and How I Emerged with Hope by Naomi Judd with Marcia Wielke was excellent. I have read all her previous books and admired her honesty in telling all the details of her life, mistakes and all. This book is the same as she gives all the details of her severe depression including being so desperate that she endured electroshock therapy. It seems hard to believe that someone so successful could get into such a deep depression, but heredity plays a role in this too.

I’ve Been Thinking . . .Reflections, Prayers, and Meditations for a Meaningful Life by Maria Shriver is also well worth reading. Each chapter tells a lesson she has learned in life as well as a prayer or meditation at the end to tie in with the lesson. I have always admired the Kennedy family’s dedication to the service of helping others less fortunate.

My spark for today is a quote from Maria Shriver, “Time is our most precious resource, but very few of us use it as wisely as we could. We rush around so much that sometimes we forget to actually live. ”

Joanie was not particularly cooperative for her photo shoot.

Penny will be here tomorrow with one of her tips and Wednesday we will be showing photos of Moo’s first stop.