Mailbox Monday - Jul 3

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.

Hello from the Outer Banks. We left a day early so we missed all the check in traffic. The kids are big into traditions, so we often visit the same places year after year. This is from the top of Jockey's Ridge Crossing, a shopping center across from the sand dunes and Jockey's Ridge State Park. They have a tower where they fly a flag or windsock every day. We visit every year and get fudge at The Fudgery. This is the first time we climbed the tower, though.

The dog traveled with us into Manteo on Sunday and walked the waterfront. We also stopped in Downtown Books and bought a Harry Potter puzzle and a book set on Cape Hatteras. 

Today we might go into Duck and walk the boardwalk. There's a new restaurant we would like to try as well. 

Here's the book I picked up today to add to my Outer Banks collection....

In 1886, a young woman becomes the sole survivor of a disastrous shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina's treacherous Outer Banks. She is rescued by the brave surfmen of the Life Saving Service at Little Kinnakeet Station and is suddenly forced to make her own way in the world... One hundred thirty years later, a young widow moves to the Outer Banks of North Carolina seeking a peaceful place to build a new life and somehow come to terms with her own tragic loss... The lives of these two vulnerable yet remarkable women unexpectedly intertwine in what becomes a moving, must-read story of peril, friendship, newfound strength and love.

Not sure if there will be anything in my mailbox when we return, but I brought a bunch of books down here to hopefully catch up on my overdue reviews.

Have a blessed week!

Mailbox Monday - November 9

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.

Well, the leaves are off the trees and I am getting the yard ready for its annual sleep. Thankfully, it hasn't been too cold yet. Last week we hit 70 a couple of days.

I've been catching up on reviews lately. In addition to the ones posted on this blog last week, I posted:

Redemption by Becky Johnson
The Christmas Cradle by Charlotte Hubbard
Diego's Dragon: Dragons of the Dark Rift, Book Two

As for new arrivals, this book showed up last week:

Snakes, Alligators, and Broken Hearts recounts the author's adventures and experiences growing up as the son of a biologist during the 1960s and 70s. With humor and compassion, the author describes the innocence of his early childhood, the heartbreak of his parents' divorce, and his rocky journey through adolescenceall against the backdrop of animals, travel, and his poignant relationship with his father. Along the way, readers will discover the experiences that shaped his interests and, eventually, molded him into the author of more than seventy books for young people.

I also picked up this audiobook from the library:

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in the epic tale of Harry Potter, Harry and Lord Voldemort each prepare for their ultimate encounter.

Voldemort takes control of the Ministry of Magic, installs Severus Snape as headmaster at Hogwarts, and sends his Death Eaters across the country to wreak havoc and find Harry. Meanwhile, Harry, Ron, and Hermione embark on a desperate quest the length and breadth of Britain, trying to locate and destroy Voldemort’s four remaining Horcruxes, the magical objects in which he has hidden parts of his broken soul. They visit the Burrow, Grimmauld Place, the Ministry, Godric’s Hollow, Malfoy Manor, Diagon Alley...

But every time they solve one mystery, three more evolve—and not just about Voldemort, but about Dumbledore, and Harry’s own past, and three mysterious objects called the Deathly Hallows. The Hallows are literally things out of a children’s tale, which, if real, promise to make their possessor the “Master of Death;” and they ensnare Harry with their tantalizing claim of invulnerability.

It is only after a nigh-unbearable loss that he is brought back to his true purpose, and the trio returns to Hogwarts for the final breathtaking battle between the forces of good and evil. They fight the Death Eaters alongside members of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore’s Army, the Weasley clan, and the full array of Hogwarts teachers and students.

Yet everything turns upon the moment the entire series has been building up to, the same meeting with which our story began: the moment when Harry and Voldemort face each other at last.

What appeared in your mailbox this week?

TV Show Review: Downton Abbey, Season 1

Gee, it's eight days into March and I am posting my first TV show review. I promise it isn't because I'm lazy. The deadlines are looming and the personal life is crazier than normal right now. My first review isn't even of a movie, though the family did see Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, and I hope they will share their thoughts on it with me--at least more than saying it was fabulous.

I rarely hook onto the popular shows or see an overhyped movie. I haven't read a Harry Potter or Twilight book. I haven't seen more than 10 minutes out of any of the movies. I guess I'm not much of a follower.

One evening, however, I was looking for something to watch on Netflix, and Downton Abbey came up as a recommendation. I had heard how wonderful this show is, so I decided to try it out.

Downton Abbey revolves around the lives of the Crawley family and their servants. In the first episode, Robert Crawley, Lord of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), receives word the heir to the estate is considered lost after the sinking of the Titanic. A distant cousin, Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), a self-made man, is next in line. Though not ready to live the Crawley ways, Matthew and his mother move onto the estate.

Downstairs in the servants' quarters, ambitious and angry Thomas (Rob James-Collier) and the conniving, malicious lady's maid, O'Brien (Siobhan Finneran), are kept in tow by the housekeeper, Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan), and the butler, Mr. Carson (Jim Carter). With the return of John Bates (Brendan Coyle), an ex-solider who served with Lord Grantham in the Boer War, the many other servants, and a mix of meddling relatives, living at Downton Abbey is never boring.

I have to admit, it took me to two episodes to be fully captivated by Downton Abbey, but now I can't wait for Season 3. The storytelling from creator Julian Fellowes is phenomenal. While the setting is stunning, it's truly the lives of these well-portrayed characters that captures you. Lord Gratham is compassionate and has a strong sense of right and wrong. His wife, Cora, an American heiress, isn't thrilled about watching the family fortune being tossed away; especially since a lot of the money was hers. Their three daughters have such different personalities, there is bound to be some rivalry. Lady Edith resents all the attention paid to her older sister, Lady Mary. It causes her to do some truly awful things. Mary, not to be bested, makes sure payback is on the menu. Lady Sybil, the youngest daughter, is the rebel. She's fiercely political, and hates injustice of any kind. She yearns for a life outside of Downton Abbey.

What I truly enjoy the most about Downton Abbey, is that although a lot of nasty stuff takes place on the estate, the viewer doesn't get an eyeful or earful of vulgarity or obscenity. Yes, there are bedroom scenes, but they are handled modestly. There's a certain elegance to the show despite the evil elements that go on upstairs and in the servants' quarters. I also like that the servants' lives are as much a focus of the show as the lives of the Crawleys.

You can order Season 1 of Downton Abbey at Amazon or directly from PBS. Amazon also offers it as an instant video.