Blogging slump, empty nest

After a very busy spring and summer of college visits, high school prom, senior trip, baseball games (championships too!), banquets, rehearsals, graduations, parties and more parties, college paperwork, last minute packing and apartment hunting -  my baby left for college last month. The house is too quiet now and I hate it. We were so busy for so long and now the flurry is tapering off. There is still paperwork and details to work out for college, more packing and things to buy for his house (filled with 8 baseball players!), weekend college baseball games and other odds and ends but it's not the same. I miss my kids and I miss having them need me. The house is too quiet, I don't have to run the dishwasher and washing machine every day and a gallon of milk lasts a long time now.

I have been pleasantly surprised by how much college boy has called home. We send text messages back and forth every day like we always have but we've also been receiving actual phone calls as well. And not just because he needs something, sometimes it's to talk and tell us about his day! I don't know about you but where I come from 18 year-old boys don't often talk to their parents any more than they have to. It's so nice to hear him say he has a break between classes and wanted to chat or wondered what we were doing. He's also become quite responsible doing chores at his house, giving friends and teammates rides to school, even doing homework early!

Most days I'm fine and I'm enjoying the  last days of summer and time with my hubby. I'm getting back to blogging and reading. My two oldest boys live here in town and come to the house often. I do have to shed a few tears here and there though. This will be the first soccer season in 16 years that we don't have anyone playing. We have no (local) school functions to attend, teens wandering in and out of the house (the pitter patter of really big feet), and the house is too darn quiet. But on the good side there's also no detention slips for being late - again, no school functions to attend (I've had enough parent/teacher conferences and spring concerts to last a lifetime!), no uniforms or school clothes to wash, homework to fight over, late nights waiting for the last kid to come home... I guess it's not all bad.

When I really get lonely I remember that next month we are taking our first real family vacation ever. (Hubby won a trip to the Universal Resort in Orlando, Florida last year. More on that later.) The five of us get to go the amusement parks and stay on sight in a beautiful hotel and for 4 days and 3 nights. How wonderful! BUT...we also get to travel together by planes and shuttles, stay together in 1 hotel room with 2 beds and 1 cot,  and bicker... When I think about all of that "quality" time together I don't seem to feel as sad anymore!

We were also blessed to welcome a new little person into our lives last year. My oldest son met a sweet girl who already had an adorable daughter. We were happy to have them join our family and the little one is my favorite 3 year-old. And now my son and his girlfriend are expecting a baby boy in November! Somehow, I think having these little people in my life is going to keep me very busy and it won't always be so quiet around here. We've already got toys scattered around, a Barbie townhouse (we aren't used to girl toys!), and a new cradle to keep in the spare room. Ah, the pitter patter of little feet again! And when I get tired or need peace and quiet, I get to send them home to their parents!! Of course I'll make sure they are all sugared up first and have learned a few new tricks before they go... Isn't that what a grandparent is for?

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday (started at The Printed Page and now a traveling meme) is at Amused By Books this month and is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Whew, it's been some time since I've been here and I have some catching up to do! I didn't get a lot of books over the summer but I still had plenty to read. These are the goodies I got recently. I hope your mailbox was full of goodies too!


The Stranger You Seek (ARC) by Kyle Williams
From Random House for review

The papers have called me a monster. You’ve either concluded that I am a braggart as well as a sadist or that I have a deep and driving need to be caught and punished.

In the sweltering heat of an Atlanta summer, a killer is pushing the city to its breaking point, preying on the unsuspecting, writing taunting letters to the media, promising more death. Desperate to stop the Wishbone Killer before another victim meets a shattering end, A.P.D. lieutenant Aaron Rauser turns to the one person he knows can penetrate a deranged mind: ex–FBI profiler Keye Street.

And you must certainly be wondering if I am, in fact, the stranger you seek.

Keye was a rising young star at the Bureau until addiction derailed her career and her life. Now sober and fighting to stay so, Keye picks up jobs where she can get them: catching adulterers, serving subpoenas, chasing down bailjumpers, and dodging the occasional bullet. With multiple victims, little to go on, and an entire police force looking for direction, the last thing Keye wants is to be pulled into the firestorm of Atlanta’s worst nightmare.
Shall I convince you?

And then it suddenly becomes clear that the hunter has become the hunted—and the stranger she seeks is far closer than she ever dared imagine.An electrifying thriller debut, The Stranger You Seek introduces a brash, flawed, and unforgettable heroine in a complex, twisting novel that takes readers deep into a sultry Southern summer, a city in the grips of chaos, and a harrowing cat-and-mouse game no reader will ever forget.

All These Things I've Done (ARC) by Gabrielle Zevin

From Macmillan for review

 In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.'s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidently poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight--at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family.

You Don't Sweat Much For A Fat Girl: Observations On Life From The Shallow End Of The Pool  (ARC) by Celia Rivenbark
From Wunderkind PR for review and giveaway

From the bestselling, award-winning author of "You Can't Drink All Day If You Don't Start in the Morning" comes another collection of hilarious observations that are sure to resonate with women, mothers, and girlfriends everywhere.

Coming Up For Air (ARC) by Patti Callahan Henry

From Wunderkind PR for review and giveaway

On the coast of Alabama, there is a house cloaked in mystery, a place that reveals the truth and changes lives...
Ellie Calvin is caught in a dying marriage, and she knows this. With her beloved daughter away at college and a growing gap between her and her husband – between her reality and the woman she wants to be – she doesn’t quite seem to fit into her own life.
But everything changes after her controlling mother, Lillian, passes away. Ellie’s world turns upside down when she sees her ex-boyfriend, Hutch, at her mother’s funeral and learns that he is in charge of a documentary that involved Lillian before her death. He wants answers to questions that Ellie’s not sure she can face, until, in the painful midst of going through her mother’s things, she discovers a hidden diary – and a window onto stories buried long ago.

As Ellie and Hutch start speaking for the first time in years, Ellie’s closed heart slowly begins to open. Fighting their feelings, they set out together to dig into Lillian’s history. Using both the diary and a trip to the Summer House, a mysterious and seductive bayside home, they gamble that they can work together and not fall in love again. But in piecing together a decades-old unrequited-love story, they just might uncover the secrets in their own hearts… 

Firespell by Chloe Neill

From Paperback Swap

New Girl.
New School.
Old Evil.

From the author of the Chicagoland Vampires novels.

A new series about a boarding school filled with something worse than homework.

Lily's parents have sent her to a fancy boarding school in Chicago filled with the ultra-rich. If that wasn't bad enough, she's hearing and seeing bizarre things on St. Sophie's creepy campus. Her roommate, Scout, keeps her sane, but keeps disappearing at night. When one day Lily finds Scout running from real-life monsters, she learns the hard way that Scout is involved in a splinter group of rebel teens.

They protect Chicago from demons, vamps, and dark magic users. It's too bad Lily doesn't have powers of her own to help. At least, none that she's discovered yet... 

Scorched by Sharon Ashwood

From Paperback Swap


Ex-detective Macmillan has a taste for bad girls, but his last lover really took the cake-and his humanity. Now a half-demon, Mac's lost his friends, his family, and his job. Then a beguiling vampire asks for his help to find her son. Suddenly, Mac has a case to work-one that leads him deeps into the supernatural prison where Mac learns that cracking the case will cost him his last scrap of humanity.

Happy Labor Day!

I hope you all have been enjoying a wonderful long weekend and reaping the fruits of our labor(ers)!

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday (started at The Printed Page and now a traveling meme) is at Life in the Thumb this month and is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

My books are from the last two weeks but I didn't get to this last Monday.  I haven't had a chance to read any of them yet either but they all look good! I hope you all had a bountiful harvest of books as well!

Shelter by Harlan Coben

From LibraryThing Early Reviewers

A young adult debut from internationally bestselling author Harlan Coben

Mickey Bolitar's year can't get much worse. After witnessing his father's death and sending his mom to rehab, he's forced to live with his estranged uncle Myron and switch high schools.

A new school comes with new friends and new enemies, and lucky for Mickey, it also comes with a great new girlfriend, Ashley. For a while, it seems like Mickey's train-wreck of a life is finally improving - until Ashley vanishes without a trace. Unwilling to let another person walk out of his life, Mickey follows Ashley's trail into a seedy underworld that reveals that this seemingly sweet, shy girl isn't who she claimed to be. And neither was Mickey's father. Soon, Mickey learns about a conspiracy so shocking that it makes high school drama seem like a luxury - and leaves him questioning everything about the life he thought he knew.

First introduced to readers in Harlan Coben's latest adult novel, Live Wire, Mickey Bolitar is as quick-witted and clever as his uncle Myron, and eager to go to any length to save the people he cares about. With this new series, Coben introduces an entirely new generation of fans to the masterful plotting and wry humor that have made him an award-winning, internationally bestselling, and beloved author.

 

Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

From Paperback Swap

Succubus. An alluring, shape-shifting demon who seduces and pleasures mortal men. Pathetic. A succubus with great shoes and no social life. See: Georgina Kincaid.
When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants, the wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?

But Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid's life is far less exotic. Her boss is a middle-management demon with a thing for John Cusack movies. Her immortal best friends haven't stopped teasing her about the time she shape-shifted into the Demon Goddess getup complete with whip and wings. And she can't have a decent date without sucking away part of the guy's life. At least there's her day job at a local bookstore--free books; all the white chocolate mochas she can drink; and easy access to bestselling, sexy writer, Seth Mortensen, aka He Whom She Would Give Anything to Touch but Can't.

But dreaming about Seth will have to wait. Something wicked is at work in Seattle's demon underground. And for once, all of her hot charms and drop-dead one-liners won't help because Georgina's about to discover there are some creatures out there that both heaven and hell want to deny...

 The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
Won from Sim Sational Books

It's always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.
Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.
Kate is sure he's crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading and asks you to :

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3 . Share 2 "teaser" sentences also citing the title of the book and the author and in that way people can have great recommendations if they like the "teaser".
4. Please avoid spoilers!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

On My First Day Of Kindergarten
"You thought that was hard? If kindergarten is busting your ass, I got some bad news for you about the rest of life."
~page 5


On Slumber Parties
"There's chips in the cabinet and ice cream in the freezer. Stay away from knives and fire. Okay, I've done my part, I'm going to bed."
~ page 33


On Picking The Right College
"Don't pick some place because you think it will be easy to get laid there... No, no that's a very good reason to pick a lot of things, just not this."
~page 77

Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday (started at The Printed Page and now a traveling meme) is at A Sea Of Books this month and is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

 

I only got one book recently but it sounds like a good one. With the beautiful weather we've been having I've been able to lounge in the hammock and make a dent in the pile of books I already have! I hope you have a great pile of books too and that you are able to enjoy them this holiday weekend. 

 

Mercy by Rebecca Lim 

Won from The Book Butterfly  

A fallen angel haunted by her past. Yearning for her immortal beloved. Forever searching for answers.Who will show her Mercy?

Mercy has lost herself. She can’t count how many times she’s “woken up” in a new body, and assumed a new life, only to move on again and again. During the day she survives in the human world on instinct and at night her dreams are haunted by him. Mercy’s heart would know him anywhere. But her memory refuses to cooperate.

But this time is different. When Mercy wakes up she meets Ryan, an eighteen year old reeling from the loss of his twin sister who was kidnapped two years ago. Everyone else has given up hope, but Ryan believes his sister is still alive. Using a power she doesn’t fully comprehend, Mercy realizes that Ryan is right. His sister is alive and together they can find her. For the first time since she can remember, Mercy has a purpose; she can help. So she doesn’t understand why the man in her dreams cautions her not to interfere. But as Ryan and Mercy come closer to solving the dark mystery of his sister’s disappearance, danger looms just one step behind.

Will Mercy be able to harness her true self and extraordinary power in time?

The first in a dazzling new series, Mercy masterfully weaves romance, mystery and the supernatural into a spell-binding tale.

Happy 4h of July!

Have a happy and safe holiday!
Wishing extra blessings and special
thanks to our troops and their families!