Always Have a Book

So much for sleeping in, Saturday. It's always my goal to stay in bed a little later on Saturday mornings than I have to get up during the week to go to the day job. Sometimes I don't always achieve that goal. This morning, for instance. I woke up somewhere in the vicinity of 5:30 a.m. and could not for the life of me get my brain to shut off. I have quite the extensive to-do list today, and of course the minute I woke up I started thinking about everything I want/need to do and ... well, here we are. I decided to make good use of the time between the-sun-hasn't-come-up-yet and gotta-leave-for-the-office by putting to paper (er, screen) the things that have been on my mind - and the nightstand.

Books! Back at the beginning of February I finally returned (after four years missing) to my favorite little mystery fan conference, Murder in the Magic City in Birmingham, Alabama. I dragged a friend and fellow book lover with me and we had the best time for an oh-dark-thirty-departure and home-before-midnight kind of day. Originally my sweet Sister from Another Mister was slated as one of the two Guests of Honor, but lo and behold the poor thing fell ill with the flu that was knocking people down left, right and center in Middle Tennessee and had to bow out. It was tons of fun, anyway. I was able to reconnect with some old friends I hadn't seen in some time and meet a few new ones. I also came home with a nice stack of (you guessed it) books. Actual, real, honest to goodness bound paper books. Like, seven or eight of them. To quote J.T., "Blissssss."

I've been reading a lot of ebooks lately, more for the fact that it's easier to carry around my Kindle or open the app on my smartphone than it is to haul a book with me everywhere I go. Plus you don't run quite the same risk of dripping ketchup on your smartphone. But I still keep a stack on the nightstand for those moments at home when I can actually sit down in the quiet and read. The first nugget of entertainment from my Birmingham pile was a lovely cozy mystery, the first in a new series by Laura Bradford called the Emergency Dessert Squad Mysteries, Éclair and Present Danger. Super cute with a twist. Love the cat. Cozy fans, you have a new favorite. From me it gets a solid "I really liked it a lot"; if there were a grade between B+ and A-, that's what I'd give it.

Getting after it. I'm seeing the telltale signs of morning outside my window by now, which is almost 7:00 CDT. Since I did the grocery list already I guess that means a quick breakfast and off for a few hours' worth of catch-up (not to be dripped on my smartphone) at the day job. When I can sit down and put it together I'll post a list of the ebooks I've read thus far for my 2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge. I might surprise myself, even. In the meantime, read a book. It's good for you.