It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (September 7, 2026) 📚📚

Welcome to It's Monday! What are you Reading? It's hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, this is a weekly event to share what we've read in the past week and what we hope to read, plus whatever else comes to mind. What did I do this week: Monday it was off to golf. We had lunch before heading home. When I got home, my son and the kids were there. It was so muggy, no one wanted to go in the pool, so we just hung out inside. I wanted my son to be there as the guy who did my plumbing was coming back to fix it and I didn't want to be alone. He came, said he fixed it and left, but he hadn't. I had posted about his poor workmanship and ghosting me on facebook, and a plumbing company said they would come and fix it for free, so I called them. They are calling me tomorrow to let me know when they can come. Darryl and the kids left, so I had dinner, and talked to a friend who called me. We hadn't talked in months, so it was a great catch up. I went out and cut the back grass using the riding lawnmower and even that had me soaked when I finished. The rest of the night was reading, writing some reviews and reading. I also watched one more episode of The Hardacres. Tuesday was a quiet day. I It was really hot and humid (42/107 with humidex). I took out the garbage and pulled some weeds in the driveway early in the morning. I had to rake the back grass, so did about half of it before it got too hot. Three years ago, my daughter gave me one of those digital picture frames for Mother's Day. It was still in the box. I finally set it up and loaded over 275 pictures on it. I'm really enjoying seeing the pictures while I sit and relax in my recliner. I did go out in the afternoon and get in the pool for about an hour. I tried to sit outside to read, but the humidity made it hard to breathe. The plumbing company called and will be coming at 8:00 Thursday morning. The rest of the day was read, write some reviews, blog hop and nap. Wednesday Rose and I went on a road trip. We headed out into the county and visited an orchard, winery, thrift store, a couple of gift shops, a cute grocer and had lunch at a restaurant on the beach. It was hot, but being close to the water, there was a breeze. When I got home, I relaxed a bit and talked to two of my sisters. Otherwise it was reading, blogging and watching the next episode of Amazing Race Canada. I went to bed early. My son's dog is getting older (13). He was sleeping in my room, as my son was out, and he got up around 2:00 a.m.and went downstairs to look for my son. He had to go out but is getting scared of climbing the stairs as he slips a bit. He sat at the bottom of the stairs and howled, whined and barked. I got up, but I can't carry him up the stairs, he is a mastiff mix. I sat with him and almost cried. My son got home around 2:30 and carried him up and let him out. We are going to put a runner on the stairs Friday, hopefully that will help. Thursday a different plumber came and fixed the issues with my pump in the basement. It was exactly what I had said it was. It was wonderful that they didn't charge me, but now they have a customer for life. When they left, it was off to Thursday morning coffee. I got home around lunch and did some cleaning out of my closets and dressers. I also did some laundry. I finished raking the lawn and put the grass in the wheelbarrow. I will dump it in the field across the road. We had a tornado warning/watch after dinner, so I went downstairs. I didn't want to put the TV on as the power kept flicking off and on. There was a lot of damage in other areas of the city, but not here. I did some reading, then off to bed I went. Of course, I realized that I hadn't taken out the compost bin, so threw on my robe and took that out before heading back to bed. Friday morning I got up and folded the last of the laundry and put it away. I made some pumpkin cookies, blueberry bran muffins, zucchini brownie and orange cranberry shortbreads for church on Sunday. I did some blogging and reading as I couldn't do anything else with the rain. When the rain stopped, I dropped off the 4 bags of clothes and things at the Goodwill, then went to do some shopping and got gas. When I got home, my son was there with the dog and we worked on putting the runner on the stairs for him. I also pulled a bunch of weeds that were growing between the bricks. Because of all the rain, they came out easily. I can't believe how fast they grow and keep coming back. Saturday I relaxed in the morning. My son and the kids came over in the afternoon. The first thing we did was to fasten a carpet runner down the basement stairs. Hopefully the dog won't be afraid of slipping anymore. Then it was pool time. We all went in for a couple of hours and I was tired when we got out. I sat outside and read for awhile before coming in to change and make dinner. After dinner, the kids went downstairs and spent time with their dad while I relaxed and read. I got a call later from my friend's husband. She was placed in hospice on Thursday. I was shocked, but not completely. She has had health issues for the last 3 years, but kept rebounding. She wouldn't let us go to visit for the last 3 or 4 months and now I know why. She used to weight almost 300 pounds and now weighs 95. She is on morphine and asleep almost all day. My heart is broken for her husband, who has not other family. I know it is only a matter of time. Sunday we got up and had breakfast. The kids didn't want to go to church today, so they stayed home to spend time with their dad. He took them to the house for noon, where they mom was waiting for them. Church was really hot, but the minister gave a great sermon today. I went early to set up all the goodies for coffee hour. I had a meeting after that with the Christian Education team. By the time I got home it was around 1:00. I had to call some friends to let them know about Lucy, as her husband asked me if I would do that. It was emotional, and I had a nap after that. I was emotionally drained the rest of the day and didn't do anything besides dishes and make dinner. Monday, I got up and posted a couple of reviews, then off to golf. Have a great upcoming week everyone. What I'm watching: I'm caught up on The Amazing Race Canada and The Hardacres. I am not a fan of waiting week to week for the next episode. Other than that, I sort of watched Bluey and more Bluey with my youngest grandson. So, what did I read or listen to over the last week? This week, I read or listened to 13 books/audiobooks, with 9 of them being on my TBR list I set last week. I still have 2 books left from last week's TBR. I've only reviewed 8 of these books, but have all my reviews from previous weeks posted. That means I have 5 reviews to post for 2026, but 4 will be posted today and tomorrow. Clicking on the cover will take you to my review, if I have posted it. Autumn at the Cat Cafe: ALC, August Personal Challenge Guarded by The Sheriff: ALC, August Personal Challenge Misfortune Cookie: Audiobook (Library), Finishing the Series Love You More: Audiobook (Library) The Secrets We Hide: Audiobook (Library) Darkest Before the Dawn (A Sgt. Windflower Mystery #7): eARC, Audiobook (Hoopla), Beat the Backlist, Reading Across North America Flowers and Foul Play (A Magic Garden Mystery #1): eARC, Audiobook – (Audible), Beat the Backlist, Top Ten Catch Up All This Could Be Yours: eARC, Audiobook (own), Top Ten Catch Up Amish Front Porch Stories: eARC, Beat the Backlist The Paper House: eARC, Blog Tour The Twilight Garden: eARC, ALC, Blog Tour The Hotel Dancer: eARC, Blog Tour Seven Lies: eARC, Top Ten Catch Up, Beat the Backlist Reading Now: 1 Book for Top Ten Catch up/Beat the Backlist, 1 book for Bookclub, 1 audiobook for Top Ten Catch Up Stitches in Time: Books I Own, Top Ten Catch Up Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout: Bookclub Selection Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See: Top Ten Catch Up Reading Next: 2 Books for Blog Tours, 6 Books for my September Personal Challenge, and 1 audiobook from the library A Perfect Mother by Miranda Smith: Blog Tour The Wedding Favor by Sharon M. Peterson Shadow Sands: eARC: Top Ten Catch Up The Socialite: eARC, Audiobook (Library): Beat the Backlist, Top Ten Catch Up Female Husbands: A Trans History by Jen Manion: Top Ten Catch Up, Read Non-Fiction Challenge Abigail and Alexa Save the Wedding: Top Ten Catch Up An Amish Singing by Amy Clipston: Top Ten Catch Up Laying Down the Latte (Bakeshop Mystery #21) by Ellie Alexander: Finishing the Series This week, my TBR list is made up of books for challenges and a couple of blog tours. My August challenge is to stay away from the library and read eARCs and ALCs. I have a couple of books pending from the library, so if I get to the top of the queue, I will add those. I have really been mood reading this month, so I'll see how I do this week. What did you read last week? What is coming up for you next?