It’s time for another Mini-Bloggiesta. A simple blog fix, and an opportunity to connect with other bloggers.
Here is my to-do list, which may expand as I go.
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Join the party!
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The party is over! Check out the Finish Line Link-Up to see how others fared in this great celebratory event.
Here are my completed tasks…as you can tell, I finished everything but the Twitter chat…I lost track of time and missed it…sigh.
Overall, I had a lot of fun.
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❏ do two mini challenges – Blogroll Overhaul at Bay State Reader’s Advisory; and Creating Post Templates, from Trish, at Love, Laughter, & a Touch of Insanity.
❏ change or fix one thing on your sidebar – Removed three things from sidebar
❏ add a page (about me, contact, policy, etc)- Added About Me page and Some Favorite Blogs.
❏ change one thing on your layout and/or look – Changed header & background images
❏ comment on other Bloggiesta participants’ blogs
❏ participate in at least one Twitter chat
Changed theme, header, & background at Serendipity blog. New screenshots below
Changed header & background at Curl up and Read blog (screenshot)
Changed theme, header, & background at Potpourri (screenshot)
Changed header & background at An Interior Journey-(screenshot)
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Welcome to our Fall Mini-Bloggiesta.
It’s happening from September 17-20. Click the link that will take you over to the Sign-Up Linky (above).
And here is the Starting Gate Post.
I have SEVEN blogs now, down from the eleven I had the last time I celebrated this event.
Here is a rudimentary to-do list:
❏ do two mini challenges – Blogroll Overhaul at Bay State Reader’s Advisory; and Creating Post Templates, from Trish, at Love, Laughter, & a Touch of Insanity.
❏ change or fix one thing on your sidebar – Removed three things from sidebar
❏ add a page (about me, contact, policy, etc)- Added About Me page and Some Favorite Blogs.
❏ change one thing on your layout and/or look – Changed header & background images
❏ comment on other Bloggiesta participants’ blogs
❏ participate in at least one Twitter chat
Changed theme, header, & background at Serendipity blog. New screenshots below
Changed header & background at Curl up and Read blog (screenshot)
Changed theme, header, & background at Potpourri (screenshot)
Changed header & background at An Interior Journey-(screenshot)
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As you can see, I added a few more blogs to work on. I started early, knowing that I would be expanding my list. I will be over to visit your blogs…hope you will stop by here.
See you at the party!
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It’s over! And what a great event it was. I hope you will stop by and share your links so I can see what you’ve accomplished.
Here’s what I did:
For a little history about Rainy Days and Mondays, I started this site on Blogger in August 2009: for the full story, read my About page...and in December 2014, moved it to Word Press. I didn’t import all the posts…just the past year. And naturally, my old followers disappeared when I deleted the old site. Anyone who once followed that blog, as well as new visitors: I would love for you to follow this one. Enough about that.
I have now completed my tasks.
Here is a screenshot of what my blog looked like before the “makeover.” As you can see, new blog header…and what you can’t see, you can check out below on my list: new pages, cleaned-up sidebar, etc.
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❏
do two mini challenges1)Master List of Book Blogging Memes; and How to Create an Index Page.
❏change or fix one thing on your sidebarremoved some widgets; rearranged the widgets; and shortened my Gravatar Profile.
❏add a page (about me, contact, policy, etc)added two pages under My Bookish World: Favorite Bookish Posts; My Creations.
❏change one thing on your layout and/or lookNew blog header and background
❏comment on other Bloggiesta partipants blogsHave visited 20 blogs & commented; will continue throughout the weekend.
❏participate in at least one Twitter chat Done!
❏ clean up labels/tags -Done!
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I am looking forward to the next event! Let’s tip our glasses….
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Good morning! Today’s post will link up to Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post, and Book Journey, for Weekly Updates.
**Mailbox Monday is now hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.
Grab some coffee (or a pot of tea!), and let’s talk about our weeks.
It has been a great week, and today I’ve been working on this blog for Bloggiesta. Click the link to check out my progress.
At lunch, I took a break and headed over to Mimi’s, where I read and enjoyed a salad…and a martini.
My reading this week veered off course, and I found myself grabbing books from Sparky that I hadn’t planned to read…it all started when I began reading the book You and couldn’t engage with it. I think it was my mood….there were things happening that were distressful, so I chose some books that pulled me in immediately and didn’t freak me out. I plan to return to that book at a later time.
So here’s what happened:
LAST WEEK ON THE BLOGS:
Musing & Chasing Away the Blues: Books I Can’t Wait to Get!
Chasing Away the Blues with Intros/Teasers – “All Day and a Night”
Hump Day Potpourri: Waiting for “In the Unlikely Event”
My Bookish (and Not So Bookish) Thoughts: Cleaning, Purging, Memories
Creative Friday: Book Beginnings/Friday 56 – “After Birth”
Let’s Share Some Serendipitous Moments: Captured!
Review: The Look of Love (e-book), by Sarah Jio
Review: Tempting Fate (e-book), by Jane Green
Review: The Perfect Mother (e-book), by Nina Darnton
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INCOMING BOOKS: (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon)
My mailbox was empty this week! But I downloaded one book onto Sparky.
The Girl on the Train (e-book), by Paula Hawkins
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?
Compulsively readable, The Girl on the Train is an emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller and an electrifying debut.
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I can’t wait to read this one!
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WHAT’S UP NEXT? — (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon)
Currently Reading: Call Me Zelda, by Erika Robuck
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The Murderer’s Daughters (e-book), by Randy Susan Meyers
Still Life (e-book), by Louise Penny
Catch Me, by Lisa Gardner
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That’s it…unless I read them all and need to grab more. If that happens, I have plenty more in my queue on Sparky. What did your week look like?
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With my salad earlier, I had this lovely martini: a pomegranate martini.
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Here we are again, rambling on about our thoughts, our feelings, and our perspectives. Join our host at Bookishly Boisterous, to see what others are chatting about.
Yikes! I inadvertently tapped on something here and my writing went askew. I finally found what I did wrong…instead of the link, I hit the alignment feature….
I realize that I need to be fully awake to write a post. LOL
Christine showed a photo of her yard with 70 degree temperature…I live in the Central Valley, and yesterday, it could have been spring…almost.
I need to clean off my patio! The leaves, which the gardeners so thoughtlessly blow onto my patio, are in piles. As if blowing them there is satisfying the job they are supposed to do! I have mentioned this to them, several times, but they pretend not to understand me. LOL
I have been staying inside most of the week, reading and blogging, and frustrated because I got a notice that one of my blogs, Potpourri, had been suspended! Of course I sent them an email, letting them know that this must be an error…while thinking: how could this have happened?
The next day, I got a message that the site was ” flagged by our automated anti-spam controls. We have reviewed your site and have removed the suspension notice.”
Just like that! Oh, and they apologized. But meanwhile, I went through a sleepless night, thinking about what I might have done, and if they could do it once, they could do it again!
That’s how my mind works.
But then, after the suspension was lifted, I reminded myself, in my more rational state, that I have eleven blogs, and this is the first time in seven years of blogging that anything like this has happened to me.
And then I felt calmer…but still a little paranoid. LOL
Meanwhile, I’ve been messaging on Phoebe, my new iPhone, and receiving pictures from my son and daughter-in-law who have moved to Crescent City. This one is Pebble Beach at sunset.
I think I need to have a little coastal getaway!
But not this weekend, as it’s Bloggiesta time, and I’ll be working on this blog. Check out my to-do list!
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I continued my purging this week by clearing out all the old DVDs for little kids that none of my grandchildren watch anymore. They are tucked into a box in the garage, while I decide what to do with them. Goodwill?
Meanwhile, my office space is a lot less cluttered. I also boxed up the stuffed toys. While doing so, I saw the stuffed and well-worn “duckie” that Noah clutched to him during his early years. Even when he was on Santa’s lap! (below).
He mentioned it once recently, wondering what had happened to it (he’s twelve now), but because he didn’t seem sad, I kept quiet. I think his mother buried it on my shelves!
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Okay…on the bookish front, I am so excited that I finally downloaded my copy of The Girl on the Train. I have been drooling over this one for months!
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?
Compulsively readable, The Girl on the Train is an emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller and an electrifying debut.
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What did your bookish/not so bookish week look like?
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Good morning! Today’s post will link up to Sunday Salon, The Sunday Post, and Book Journey, for Weekly Updates.
**Mailbox Monday is now hosted at the home site: Mailbox Monday.
Grab some coffee (or a pot of tea!), and let’s talk about our weeks.
It’s been a great week…I’ve been doing a lot of “playing” with my new iPhone, which I’ve named Phoebe, and a little bit of blogging and reading.
LAST WEEK ON THE BLOGS:
Musing & Chasing Away the Blues
Monday Potpourri: Obsessing about “Phoebe”
Taking Risks: Intros/Teasers – “Call Me Zelda”
Chase Away Your Blues with “The Day We Met”
A Phone Call Changes Everything: An Excerpt from “Interior Designs”
“In Search of Euphoria”: A Short Story by Laurel-Rain Snow
My Bookish (and Not So Bookish) Thoughts: Embracing Change?
Friday Sparks: Book Beginnings/Friday 56: “Copper Beach”
Creative Saturday: Post-Holiday Moments
Winter Mini-Bloggiesta: Sign-up Post
Bookish Saturday: Bloggiesta, Etc.
Review: I Love You More (e-book), by Jennifer Murphy
Review: A Small Indiscretion, by Jan Ellison (Vine Review)
Review: Betrayed (e-book), by Lisa Scottoline
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INCOMING BOOKS: (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon)
I received three review books in the mailbox! Two from Vine and one from an author. I downloaded two books.
After Birth, by Elisa Albert (Vine)
A year has passed since Ari gave birth to Walker, though it went so badly awry she has trouble calling it “birth” and still she can’t locate herself in her altered universe. Amid the strange, disjointed rhythms of her days and nights and another impending winter in upstate New York, Ari is a tree without roots, struggling to keep her branches aloft.
When Mina, a one-time cult musician — older, self-contained, alone, and nine-months pregnant —moves to town, Ari sees the possibility of a new friend, despite her unfortunate habit of generally mistrusting women. Soon they become comrades-in-arms, and the previously hostile terrain seems almost navigable.
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All Day and a Night, by Alafair Burke (Vine)
When psychotherapist Helen Brunswick is murdered in her Park Slope office, the entire city suspects her estranged husband—until the District Attorney’s office receives an anonymous letter. The letter’s author knows a chilling detail that police have kept secret: the victim’s bones were broken after she was killed. Her injuries were eerily similar to the signature used twenty years earlier by Anthony Amaro, a serial killer serving a life sentence for his crimes. Now, Amaro is asking to be released from prison, arguing that he was wrongly convicted, and that the true killer is still on the loose.
NYPD Detectives Ellie Hatcher and JJ Rogan are tapped as the “fresh look” team to reassess the original investigation that led to Amaro’s conviction. The case pits them against both their fellow officers and a hard-charging celebrity defense lawyer with a young associate named Carrie Blank, whose older sister was one of Amaro’s victims.
As the NYPD and Amaro’s lawyers search for certainty among conflicting evidence, their investigations take them back to Carrie’s hometown, where secrets buried long ago lead to a brutal attack—one that makes it terrifyingly clear that someone has gotten too close to the truth.
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Three Days to Forever, (A Mac Faraday Mystery), by Lauren Carr (Author Request)
In this latest Mac Faraday Mystery from best-selling mystery author Lauren Carr, readers will embark on a rollercoaster adventure with old friends (including the Lovers in Crime team of Prosecutor Joshua Thornton and Homicide Detective Cameron Gates), but also meet new ones as Mac Faraday’s daughter Jessica Faraday and Joshua Thornton’s son Murphy Thornton join the team in the race to get the love birds to the altar!
With three days left to the year, Deep Creek Lake is hopping with holiday vacationers and wedding guests pouring into the Spencer Inn for Mac Faraday and Archie Monday’s huge wedding ceremony which is being touted as the social event of the year.
But droopy flowers and guests who failed to RSVP are the least of Mac’s and Archie’s problems when a professional hit squad hits Spencer Manor to send the groom, Joshua Thornton, Archie’s mother, and Gnarly running for their lives.
With time running out to the big day, Mac Faraday and Spencer’s small police force have to sort through the clues to figure out not only who has been targeted for assassination, but also who is determined to stop everything … FOREVER!
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Downloads:
Trust No One (e-book), by Jayne Ann Krentz
It’s no coincidence when Grace Elland finds a vodka bottle next to the lifeless body of her boss, motivational speaker Sprague Witherspoon. The bottle is a terrifying—and deliberate—reminder of the horrors of her past.
Grace retreats to her hometown to regroup and tries to put everything she’s learned about positive thinking into practice—a process that is seriously challenged on the world’s worst blind date.
Awkward doesn’t begin to describe her evening with venture-capitalist Julius Arkwright. She has nothing in common with a man who lives to make money, but the intense former Marine does have some skills that Grace can use—and he’s the perfect man to help her when it becomes clear she is being stalked.
As Witherspoon’s financial empire continues to crumble around them, taking a deadly toll, Julius will help Grace step into her past to uncover a devious plan to destroy not only Grace, but everyone around her…
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In the Blood (e-book), by Lisa Unger
Liar, liar, pants on fire . . . College senior Lana Granger has told so many lies about her past that the truth seems like a distant, cloudy nightmare. But she meets her match when she begins babysitting for a volatile, manipulative eleven-year-old boy. Soon after Lana takes the job, her close friend Beck mysteriously disappears. Lana instantly begins fabricating stories – to friends, to police, to herself. Why doesn’t her account jibe with those of eye-witnesses? Lana will do anything to bury the truth about that night … and about her life. But someone else knows her secrets. And he’s dying to tell.
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WHAT’S UP NEXT? (Titles/Covers Linked to Amazon)
Currently Reading: The Look of Love (e-book), by Sarah Jio
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You (e-book), by Caroline Kepnes
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Call Me Zelda, by Erika Robuck
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That was my week…and a glimpse of next week. What did yours look like?
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Don’t forget to mark your calendars for Mini-Bloggiesta next weekend!
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Welcome to the Winter Mini-Bloggiesta. Here is my sign-up post, with a to-do list that may change and grow….I like starting out with a small list and achievable goals.
For a little history about Rainy Days and Mondays, I started this site on Blogger in August 2009: for the full story, read my About page...and in December 2014, moved it to Word Press. I didn’t import all the posts…just the past year. And naturally, my old followers disappeared when I deleted the old site. Anyone who once followed that blog, as well as new visitors: I would love for you to follow this one. Enough about that.
Today I am almost finished with my list. I may add some more before the weekend ends, but I have enjoyed finishing off the major goals.
And here is a screenshot of what my blog looked like before the “makeover.” As you can see, new blog header…and what you can’t see, you can check out below on my list: new pages, cleaned-up sidebar, etc.
***
❏
do two mini challenges1)Master List of Book Blogging Memes; and How to Create an Index Page.
❏change or fix one thing on your sidebarremoved some widgets; rearranged the widgets; and shortened my Gravatar Profile.
❏add a page (about me, contact, policy, etc)added two pages under My Bookish World: Favorite Bookish Posts; My Creations.
❏change one thing on your layout and/or lookNew blog header and background
❏comment on other Bloggiesta partipants blogsHave visited 20 blogs & commented; will continue throughout the weekend.
❏participate in at least one Twitter chat Done!
❏ clean up labels/tags -Done!
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Let’s party!
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