Weekend Coffee Share, January Exiting

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. It is not quite 40 degrees yet here, with last night in the 30s and a wind chill in the 20s. We’ve had unusually cold weather here in Northeast Florida lately. Since I had hot coffee yesterday, I’m drinking green tea with ginger today.

If you follow my blog, you know that I don’t drink coffee everyday, and I’m a believer in health benefits of green tea. Today’s tea is Tazo green tea and does have a caffeine content, something I prefer in the morning. 🙂 What is your morning drink of choice?

With this recent cold weather, I’ve felt like being in semi-hibernation mode. Rarely is it this cold for so long in my area. My sinuses have been a pain, but I never have a fever. Being an allergy sufferer, I chalk it up to that and just add Mucinex to my routine.

My dog Bixby is in need of a haircut or trim, but I’m letting him keep his fluff through this cold weather. He is a cutie and a great companion during the cold spells. I just have to let him out to the backyard and try to walk him at least once a day.

Every morning with my dog is a little bit like Christmas. Once he’s ready to get up, I’ll say “Wanna go outside?” He responds by jumping off the bed and trotting to the back door. I let him out with the door slightly closed with a sliver of air; once done, he comes barreling through and trots back in. He always seems to leave the door open. He’s so fun to watch! He’s overdue for a dog park visit….as soon as it warms up again, hopefully in February!

January is over soon, and I’m fine with that. February is short, and then March brings Spring Break for me and milder weather at some point. Work keeps me really busy, as always, so it’ll pass quickly, I’m sure.

In January, I read two books: one was The Curse of Lochness, obviously about the Loch Ness monster, imbued with all sorts of local lore and myth. Quite interesting, but chilling. I found the book through an Amazon search of books about Bigfoot, which cross-referenced with other books of folklore and monsters, a subject of interest. The other was a novella introduction to a series called The One Chosen: the Diadodz Short Story, which I’d found in a Christmas online event for the Rave Reviews Book Club, of which I am a member.

I’ve also been re-reading Wuthering Heights since December. It’s a classic that always stuck with me for the characterization of Heathcliff and Catherine. There is so much exposition, that I cannot read too much of it at once, so it’ll take a while, but I’ll continue. In the meantime, I’ve started an espionage story that hopefully is fast-paced. I’ll tell you more later!

My Netflix habit is quite active, what with the semi-hibernation mode I seem to be in. My son and I enjoy watching Blacklist; James Spader is a dynamic actor! Mom and I like to watch Grey’s Anatomy, and Seinfield is a lifelong love of mine that will keep perpetuating itself! I am almost done with the whole series that I started shortly after it became available on Netflix.

That’s my life for now. I hope you all are well, and please keep warm! I’m pleased to see we do have some sunshine today, at least. We haven’t had much of that for about a week. Good day!

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Books You May Not Know of, but Ought to Try! A Magical Setting in Ga.

 

My next installment of “Books You May Not Know of….but Ought to Try” is Auraria by Tim Westover.

Blurb:

Water spirits, moon maidens, haunted pianos, headless revenants, and an invincible terrapin that lives under the mountains. None of these distract James Holtzclaw from his employer’s mission: to turn the fading gold-rush town of Auraria, GA, into a first-class resort and drown its fortunes below a man-made lake. But when Auraria’s peculiar people and problematic ghosts collide with his own rival ambitions, Holtzclaw must decide what he will save and what will be washed away. Taking its inspiration from a real Georgia ghost town, Auraria is steeped in the folklore of the Southern Appalachians, where the tensions of natural, supernatural and artificial are still alive.

To be honest, I don’t think this is a self-published novel.  It is very well-done, but I would not have heard of the author if it weren’t for Kindle’s book recommendations.  I truly am thankful for that program, as I love to read wide.  Looking further, I see that it is doing well on the charts, and it has 186 reviews averaging four stars.

This book took me outside of myself.  It is at once historical and fantastical.  You can imagine the main character in this situation 100 years ago, faced with the decision of turning a charming Southern town on its head or leaving them to live in their own idyllic ways.  Only, add magical singing beings, sheepfruit, (what IS that anyway?  I’d like to see it), and ghosts, and you have a joyride of a story based on a true Georgia ghost town.  Don’t expect to understand it all right away.  The author has created an alternate world in this town.  Personally, I’d love to visit!  Read this book for a quick, imaginative get away.