I am linking up with Deb at Readerbuzz, Kathryn at Book Date, and Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
Hello everyone! I hope that you all had a good week last week, full of books and movies and nature walks or whatever it is that makes you smile! We had a pretty ok week – Friday we even took a little road trip to the largest pet store in Michigan, which was amazing. I needed a little break and it was the perfect antidote.
Books:
Last week I read these two. I had no idea what I was going to read this time last week, and I plucked this one off the shelf where it has been sitting since October. I was immediately sucked in! Sleepy Hollow meets a summer camp vibe, with a family mystery and scandal too. I loved this book. I think it was a good example of the perfect book at the perfect time.
The Kindle Magic and Mystery series is out! I had been waiting for it because there are quite a few authors that I love who have short stories in this collection. I started of course with Sarah Beth Durst’s story, The Wednesday Witches Book Club. I loved it, and I really hope she uses this to start a new series with this premise. This story took about 20 minutes to read, it is just a shortie as I am sure they all are.
This week I have two I am thinking about.
And yeah, they look totally crazy right next to each other. They are both NetGalley reads and I am determined to do better this time around!! I even found my Kindle and dusted it all off and charged it and everything. Lol. I am also reading this one.
Screens:
Billy and I had been watching The Artful Dodger, but then season 2 wasn’t as good as season 1, so we switched over to Murdoch. Sometimes you just need some Murdoch in your life. I am sure we will finish The Artful Dodger but we needed a break.
We are also watching nostalgic 80s/90s movies with Wyatt this summer and last week we watched Camp Nowhere, which is a funny little movie! I am not sure what we are watching tonight yet but I had better pick one because Wyatt has been asking all weekend. Lol.
I also posted a few times last week.
Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in Cape Cod
Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up
Mini Book Reviews: A Cozy Mystery Series, The Haunting of Ashburn House and Sad Cypress
And remember, I am cohosts with Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and Cat at Cat’s Wire, of the linkup A Good Book and a Cup of Tea for all things books -not just books read or reviews, but bookstore visits or author visits or whatever else bookish you can think of! You can find the link up for August here!
In-Betweens:
Wyatt starts an online art camp this week, called Camp Cryptid. He is pretty excited about it, as the little art and spooky things lover that he is. Tomorrow is our first day, and the project is about the Loch Ness Monster. Today I need to make sure I have all of our supplies together for the week, and double check the details. We have never participated in anything like this before! They do have replays available too, which I like just in case anything comes up during the time it is supposed to happen. It also has a story element to it as well. I will keep you all posted!
And that is for me today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!
Murdoch is a favorite here too. 🙂
It’s just such a fun show!
You always seem to have such a fun mix of books! The Wednesday Witches Book Club sounds adorable, and I hope it becomes a full series too. Enjoy your NetGalley reads, and you can never go wrong with a little Murdoch Mysteries. Happy Reading!
Lol thanks!! I am leaning into horrors and thrillers right now, but I don’t always. The Wednesday Witch book was really fun.
Th Haunting of Paynes Hollow sounds like it might be good. I’ll try to reserve, but so often our library doesn’t have the books I’d like.
I hope you can find it! It was a good summer scare!
Ooh, the Kindle Magic and Mystery series looks good, I might need to check those out. Hmm, not sure if I have any recommendations for things for you to watch. Do you have Disney+? Have you watched the Percy Jackson series? Or read the books? Hope you have a good week!
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I love these short story collections, and this one has stories by at least three authors that I love. Yay!
We watched The Money Pit, and it was meh. We have a few we want to watch but they are more halloweenish. Lol.
The demonic looking horse is definitely intriguing on the cover of The Haunting of Payne’s Hollow. Haha! Yes, those two books together are quite the odd pair. And also yes, we do need some Murdoch in our lives. Camp Cryptid sounds amazing!
Lol! I know! I laughed when I saw them together.
Isn’t Murdoch just so fun?
You always have the fun and cozy creative activities. Sarah Beth Durst is everywhere. I need to get to the books I own.
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
Thank you! We love our little projects and things. 🙂 I really love Sarah Beth Durst. They are just like books of happiness.
The largest pet store in Michigan?? Now THAT sounds like fun!
It was really cool. It had an indoor creek flowing in part of it, with giant koi, and a brightly colored school bus that they had the small animal enclosures displayed in – there was just a lot to take in. We are going to go back in a few weeks!
Camp Cryptid sounds neat! I’ll look forward to hearing how it is, as we’re never done anything like that either. My boy is off to musical theater camp this week. He loves summer camps 🙂
Oh how cool is that!!! I hope he has the best time!
I’ve been wanting to read the Maddie Day book for a while. I have it on my Kindle. I don’t know why I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Hope you enjoy your reading and have a great week!
I am having a hard time getting into it! I might DNF and try again another summer. And thank you!
The Haunting of Payne’s Hollow sounds really good. It has all the elements I like.
Have a good week!
I really enjoyed it!! It was not great literature or anything, but it was perfect for what it was and what I needed!
We Already Dug the Grave sounds spooky and fun. I hope you get to it this coming week!
I love a southern gothic vibe!!
I love the idea of an online art camp, I can’t wait to hear how it goes😁 And I’m glad you loved the Kelley Armstrong book. It’s been on my TBR since last year so I’m excited to fit it in. Have a great week!
I really wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy it! But then I loved it. I needed something just like it at that moment though so it was perfect.
I love those Kindle collections! Will have to check this one out, especially since it’s full of authors I love.
I am excited to read them all too! So many great authors contributed.
I am putting myself on a book buying ban for August and reading the books I have! I have a lot that I haven’t read yet.
I think it is so cool you are watching 90s movies with Wyatt. I’ve been doing that in an unofficial way with my kids too.
Good luck with Camp Cryptid!
Mm-hmm. Book buying ban. Suuuuureee. Lol.
We are having a good time with some of these old movies. Not all of them though. We could have left The Money Pit in the past. LOL.
What?? I can do it! I can! I can stop anytime I want!
Now, that is a cool concept…an online art camp! I wish I’d seen Nessie when I was at Loch Ness. It’s an absolutely gigantic lake so I’m not sure how anyone could see her! I’m hoping to finish Miss Buncle Married this week.
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I wish you had too! LOL. Wyatt is excited about camp; I am too actually. But you know me, that is how I roll. I will have to read her books when I can settle down to read them.
Oooh! All of these books sound interesting! Camp Nowhere sounds like an interesting film!
Into the Unknown: https://intotheunknown61.wordpress.com/2026/08/01/%f0%9f%8c%9ffavorite-posts-from-the-other-side-3/
Camp Nowhere is literally a middle school kid’s dream come true. Lol.
Camp Cryptid sounds so cute! That would totally be something for me.
Doesn’t it? I think it will be neat!!
That art camp sounds like a lot of fun. I’m having a tough time reading/watching much of anything lately as nothing seems to hold my interest for very long.
He is excited about it!
I ended up wandering the library and just picking up anything, all different genres. Sometimes nonfiction works for me when I am in that mode, because it is not something my brain can gloss over. I need to focus on it. And if that doesn’t work I just wait it out and do more creative things. 🙁 I hope you can relax soon. 🙁
I just borrowed my first ever Durst book! I am looking forward to trying it!
Yay!! I hope you love her too!
Camp Cryptid sounds like fun! Sounds lie a good week.
Those two books, side-by-side, look crazy together! I’d love to visit the largest pet store in Michigan. Have a great week, Erin.
I had to look up The Artful Dodger, that looks like an interesting show. And I’ve never heard of an on-line camp before, but it’s a great idea!
I love anything and everything about cryptids. I hope Wyatt has a blast. 💟
I love the sound of the online art camp. The fact that they are starting out with Loch Ness has my interest piqued. I hope he has a lot of fun.
Kristin @ Book Sniffers Anonymous
A good mix of summer reads. We’ve just watched Kindergarten Cop, an old Arnold movie, and it lasted surprisingly well, we all enjoyed it.
Amalia
xo
I really enjoyed that Sarah Beth Durst short story! Heather Fawcett has a story in the same collection, “The Labyrinth of Bees,” that was also very good. I hope you have been having a good week, and that you’ve got some fun things to look forward to this weekend and next week.
I love your mix of books! I hope the art camp has gone really well, no doubt I’ll find out as I work my way through my blog lag!
You know I don’t think I updated on that!! We missed two days but completed the others. He loved it so much that I signed up for the membership to the website so we could have access to all of the other 100s of projects she has online.