Bout of Books Update Day 1

by Carol1 Comment
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 16 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team Day 1 Update: Book finished: Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh Book started: Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton In the middle of: Night Shift by Charlaine Harris Challenge Participated in: Introduce Yourself #insixwords https://twitter.com/carolsnotebook/status/729663732603756545 Pages read: ∼190 Time listened: ∼1 hr Running Total: Books finished:  Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh Pages read: 190 Time listened: 1 hr  ...
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Readers’ Workouts – 5/10

by Carol2 Comments
Here are my steps for the week. I just barely made my week overall. If you're on fitbit, you can find me here. My current plan is to do cardio on Tuesday (60 mins), upper body on Wednesday, cardio on Thursday (60 mins), a total body workout on Friday, cardio on Saturday (60+ mins), and a core workout on Monday. I'm also doing a 10 minute-ish Pilates workout each day. Tuesday - Walk with the dog. 37 mins Pilates. Wednesday - 7 mins Pilates legs. 15 mins arms & shoulders. Thursday - 30 mins weight machines. 65 mins elliptical Saturday - 35 mins Barre workout Then I did absolutely nothing on Sunday and Monday. I'll get back to it today. I usually listen to a book while I'm walking, jogging, whatever. This week I finished "If You Can't Stand the Heat" by Lawrence Block and started Night Shift by Charlaine Harris. I registered for a 5K on the 21st. It's part trail, part road at the park where we usually go fishing....
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The Janus Affair by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

by Carol7 Comments
First off, The Janus Affair overall was better than the first in the series for me. I liked the suffragette connection and I thought the gadgets and machines were cooler this time around. It's a funner book. Braun and Books are a great team. I enjoy their interactions. They are both witty and have wonderful comebacks and one-liners. They make me smile. There's some sexual tension, but the romance touches don't overpower the story. However, the introduction of Eliza's old flame leads to one of my quibbles. While his presence pushed Books to look a little more at his feelings for Eliza, I could have done without him. I almost quit partway through. There were two male secondary characters, one being Eliza's old friend and the other a fellow Ministry worker, who I just didn't enjoy. They were jerks, and not integral enough to the story to make up for the amount of time spent on them. I really just strongly disliked...
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Bout of Books 16

by Carol1 Comment
I've never joined in on a Bout of Books Read-a-thon before, but I'm really in the mood for a read-a-thon and low-pressure is always good. Here's the info: The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 16 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team Sounds like fun, doesn't it?...
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“B” Is for Bad Girls by Rebecca Cantrell and Sean Black

by Carol1 Comment
"B" Is for Bad Girls is #2 in the series, but can definitely be read as a stand-alone. It's short, funny and has a good mystery. Sofia is a great lead character. She's new to the detective business, although she played one on tv— literally, she quit acting to become a detective. The paparazzi is still happy to get pictures of her in awkward situations though, like peeing in public or coming out of a rehab facility for example. Part of what makes it fun is that her semi-celebrity status in Malibu lets us meet other celebrities, like the bad girls at the rehab center where she is undercover. Well, not really undercover, since she's still being herself, just pretending to be a drug addict, which she is not. It's neat to have the entertainment industry in the background of the series. Sofia is a riot she has a great sense of humor about herself and about life. Her friends and...
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