It's Colorful

Walkin' and Readin' Wednesday!

A few four-footed furries, caught on my neighborhood walk:

👣 👣 👣 

Recently listened to audiobooks that I highly recommend:

Villians Series, by V. E. Schwab

Narrated by Jeremy Arthur

Book #1: Vicious

Book #2: Vengeful

Book #3: Victorious

My two cents: A modern-day tale of college friends who help each other obtain superpowers, called EO's or ExtraOrdinaries, yet end up opposing each other when left to their own devices. Just whom is on the wrong side?

Scream With Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism, by Eleanor Johnson

Narrated by Andi Arndt and the author

My two cents: Non-fiction history of women's roles in horror films from 1968 to 1980 at the start of the women's liberation movement, and how Hollywood's misogynistic directors began to shift in step with the more open-minded social and political views and laws.  Some of the real horror happened off camera.

Films explored:

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

The Exorcist (1973)

The Stepford Wives (1975)

The Omen (1976)

Alien (1978)

The Shining (1980)

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell

 Narrated by the author

My two cents: Non-fiction audiobook on why our interactions with people we don't know can go wrong.

📚 📚 📚 

Collections

It's Walkin' and Readin' Wednesday!

A rag-tag collection of items today:

New stray in the yard, taken as Henry and I watched through the window.

Smith Street Black and White kitty.

Woodpecker feather, found on sidewalk.

See the kitty next to the mailbox?

Hickory Tussock Moth Catepillar.

👣 👣 👣 

Recent audiobook listens that I recommend:

Threshing Day by Rebecca Yarros

The Empyrean Series Book #3.5

Narrated by large cast

Fourth Wing Book #1

Iron Flame Book #2

Onyx Storm Book #3

Goodreads blurb: "Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders."

My two cents: Action-packed, magic, dragons, venin (really bad guys), scribes, royalty, war, love, and a cat named Broccoli.  It's so action packed, and both the dramatized (multi-cast) and duet style of narration are terrific.  Hold onto your seat!

Check the trigger warnings.

Reliquary by Hannah Whitten

Narrated by Lauren Fortgang

Audible blurb: "A young woman is lured to her late fiancé's remote island estate—only to uncover eerie family secrets, a haunting past, and a monstrous hunger stirring beneath the sea in this deliciously atmospheric horror debut from New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten."

My two cents: Whoa, did NOT see that coming!

Can't say much more, so I don't spoil this wild private island horror story.

The Nightmare's Kiss Book #1 by Skyla Gray

Monster Research Facility Series

Narrated by Rachel Lebland

The Revenant's Heart Book #2

The Imaginary Friend's Obsession #3

The Harbinger's Redemption #4 (haven't listened to it yet)

Goodreads blurb for each book:

"How can a living nightmare bring such sweet dreams?

Can a dead heart learn to beat again?

Could her imaginary friend be a real threat?

Will their love save the world, or end it?"

My two cents: Sure, romance, but we've got sirens, Frankenstein's monsters, ghosts, shadows, nightmares come true...oh, it's just a load of fun, but not for the creatures imprisoned at the government facility. 

📚 📚 📚 

Keeping Entertained

 It's Walkin' and Readin' Wednesday!

Zoomac, again!

New window kitty.

Mocha

Recommended audiobooks:

The Poison Daughter by Sheila Masterson

Narrated by Laura Horowitz and Anthony Palmini

Audiobook published August 18, 2026

Libby app blurb: "The breakout standalone dark enemies to lovers romantasy about a woman whose lips are deadly poison...until she meets the one man who can survive her kiss."

My two cents: An excellent romp, with magic and angst, nasty parents, and each side of the conflict is sure the others are bad, bad people.  Vampires too!  Adult.

Place of Temptation by Bilinda P. Sheehan

All books narrated by Polly Lee

DI Haskell and Quinn Series:

#1 A Wicked Mercy (2019) 

#2 Death in Pieces (2020) 

#3 Splinter the Bone (2020) 

#4 Hunting the Silence (2021) 

#5 Hidden in Blood (2022) 

#6 Place of Temptation (2022) 

#7 Lake of Tears (2023) not yet available

#8 No Safe Place (2025) not yet available

#9 Dark is the Mind (2026) no yet available

#10 Lost and Found (2026) not yet available

Goodreads blurb: "Crime novels set in North Yorkshire, England feature D.I. Drew Haskell teaming up with criminal profiler Harriet Quinn."

My two cents: Drew and Harriet have a past, making them adversaries in private, but a good team when solving murders.  Their connection evolves with each book.  I found this series years ago, but only the first three books were available at my library, until recently when more have come online.  Waiting impatiently!  Oh yeah, beware: gruesome.

Born to Be Hanged: The Epic Story of the Gentlemen Pirates Who Raided the South Seas, Rescued a Princess, and Stole a Fortune by Keith Thomson

Narrated by Feodor Chin

Audiobook published May 10, 2022

Libby blurb: "Discover the thrilling account of the roguish acts of the first pirates to raid the Pacific in a crusade that ended in a sensational trial back in England."

My two cents: Non-fiction - Sailing any ocean back in 1680 was dangerous, let alone doing it as pirates!  A must-read if you are into the history of seafarers, plus the Admiralty's amazing laissez-faire attitude years later is remarkable.  We've got Captain Henry Morgan, treks into Panama with fighting against the indigenous folk, The Spanish, and even The English.  A princess is saved!

Looking and Listening

Walkin' and Readin' Wednesday!

As seen in my neighborhood:

Sweet void kitty, and I've forgotten her name.

Leopard slug, found on sidewalk, about 3 inches long.

Shy kitty.

Another shy kitty.

Zoomac is the opposite of shy!

🐾 😽 🐾

Recently listened to audiobooks that I recommend:

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison

Narrated by Imogen Church

Published: June 23, 2020

Goodreads Blurb: "This is not the story you think it is. These are not the characters you think they are. This is not the audiobook you are expecting."

Wikipedia Blurb: "A fantasy novel...set in an alternate 19th century London, with supernatural creatures such as angels, and is based on the Sherlock Holmes stories."

My two cents: OH YEAH!  The Angel of Crows as Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Doyle as John Watson...except they aren't.  Great fun; loved this.  The Hound of the Baskervilles is forever changed in my mind now.

The Frozen People, Ali Dawson Series Book #1 by Elly Griffiths

Narrated by Julie Maisey

Published: July 8, 2025

Goodreads Blurb: "Ali Dawson and her cold case team investigate crimes so old, they're frozen—or so their inside joke goes. Ali’s work seems like a safe desk job, but what her friends—and even her beloved son—don’t know is that her team can travel back in time to look for evidence."

My two cents: This author really makes characters come alive, like she's living inside their heads!  Book #1 ended on a cliffhanger, and the wait for Book #2 The Killing Time is still months away, and I have no patience.

The Poisoner Series by I.V. Ophelia

Book #1: The Poisoner, 2024

Book #2: The Arachnid, 2026

Book #3: The Cannibal, 2026

Narrated by: Matt Sykes, Sebastian Brown, and Stephanie Willis

Amazon Blurb: "This gothic paranormal romance series unfolds in Victorian-era London and 1890s Buffalo, where humans encounter vampiric beings called Vipera. Alina Lis, a botanist and poisoner who targets unsavory men in her own sense of justice, encounters Silas Forbes, a Vipera resistant to her deadly poisons. Their attraction develops amid escalating tensions between human and Vipera worlds."

My two cents: The blurb doesn't do this series justice.  Alina may get knocked down, but she doesn't only get mad; she gets even.  She makes her opponents believe that she's playing their game, while finding ways to save herself and her loved ones.  Adult stuff, plus, you know...vampires. 

📚 🧛‍♀️ 📚

I Am Entertained

It's Walkin' and Readin' Wednesday!

As seen on a recent neighborhood walk:

Mocha

Porch Twins

Thought there was only one cat when I'd stopped.

Driveway kitten

Window Tuxie

😻 😻 😻

Recommended audiobooks:

A Witch in Time by Constance Sayers

Narrated by Courtney Patterson, Claire Christie, Brittany Wilkerson, and Stephanie Willis

Published: February 11, 2020

Goodreads blurb: "A young witch is cursed to relive a doomed love affair through many lifetimes, as both troubled muse and frustrated artist."

My two cents: Maybe a tiny bit long, but wow, the ending!

The Washington Poe Series by M. W. Craven

1 The Puppet Show (2018)

2 Black Summer (2019)

3 The Curator (2020)

4 Dead Ground (2021)

5 The Botanist (2022)

Cut Short - 7 short stories (2023)

6 The Mercy Chair (2024)

7 The Final Vow (2025)

8 The Killer's Mark (2026)

All narrated by John Banks

M. W. Craven blurb: "Meet Detective Sergeant Washington Poe. Dark, cynical, ruthless; he lives a monastic existence in a shepherd’s croft on the most desolate moorland in Cumbria. Even his secrets have secrets. He has a past he keeps there and another past he doesn’t yet know about . . ."

My two cents:  Terrific police procedurals, even if Poe and his team rarely follow instructions.

A bit gruesome, with sharp and witty dialogue, and a male author who can write convincing female characters.

Chasing Evil: Shocking Crimes, Supernatural Forces, and an FBI Agent’s Search for Hope and Justice by Robert Hilland and John Edward

Narrated by Robert Hilland and John Edward

Published: September 2, 2025

Goodreads blurb: "How a skeptical FBI agent reached out to a famous psychic for help on a baffling case—and the twenty-five-year crime-solving journey that followed."

My two cents: Not for the faint of heart, as some bad people are caught and properly sentenced.  Not all cases were neatly sewn up, and the struggle to find evidence was the true story here.  Fascinating, but there isn't a snowball's chance of me ever becoming a cop.

📚 📚 📚

Looking Around

🤳🏻 Walkin' and Readin' Wednesday.

In the neighborhood:

Gray cat on Smith Street.

Birds enjoying a meal.

President Truman watching me from a TARDIS-shaped Little Free Library.

My Sly, waits for me to give him some love.

📚 Recommended audiobooks:

It Could Have Been Her, by Lisa Jewell

Narrated by ensemble cast

Released June 23, 2026

Goodreads blurb: "Lisa Jewell brings the suspense to this shocking new thriller about a lost dog, a missing woman, and a house of long buried secrets."

My thoughts: A very twisty mystery, as an amateur sleuth revises a scary event in her life.

Gave it four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read the trigger warnings!

The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden

Narrated by Fiona Hardingham

Released June 2, 2026

Goodreads blurb: "In a desperate gamble to save her throne, a young monarch conceals a secret marriage in the shadows of an enchanted forest—and unknowingly alters the fate of her world."

My thoughts: A romantic tale for Anne of Brittany, January 1477 - January 1514 (aged 36), who was betrothed multiple times, and married to two Kings of France, having eleven pregnancies but only two surviving children, the author decided that Anne needed a true love, with unicorns!

Gave it four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Trade of Blood, Ana and Din Mysteries #3 by Robert Jackson Bennett

Narrated by Andrew Fallaize

Released August 4, 2026

Amazon blurb: "The heir to one of the Empire’s most powerful families sits in jail, accused of murder. His hands are covered in the victim’s blood, and he can neither deny his guilt nor explain his actions.

But if the great detective Ana Dolabra cannot save him from the noose, the farming canton of Sapirdad will explode into war, threatening to plunge the whole Empire into starvation and chaos.

As Ana investigates—her assistant Dinios Kol, as ever, acting as her eyes and ears—she fears her task is even more daunting than it seemed. For this murder is just the latest in a deeper, subtler web of death, woven by a mastermind with an ancient weapon at his disposal."

My thoughts: This is a terrific sci-fi detective tale, and it's the third one in the series.

Such a fascinating series; I've given each book 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book #1: The Tainted Cup

Book #2: A Drop of Corruption

📚📚📚

Give Me Shade

Am thankful for the freedom to walk my neighborhood early as the sun comes up, and again when it sets.

We are experiencing warm temps, not boiling like elsewhere in the world, so am thankful for that too.

However, there are no clouds, and the sun is intense, so I hide from the heat and sun by being outside when it's most pleasant.

Am inside snuggling with cats, listening to audiobooks with earbuds, and drinking tea for the rest of the day.

😹

A few new-to-me kitties seen:

This cat wasn't bothered by me at all.

The cat under the car was friendly, then ran off to hide.

No worries, little one, you do what you need to do.

This tuxedo was in our backyard, and Da Boyz downstairs and Henry upstairs were in a tizzy.

Have not seen this cat before, and this image to taken AFTER I'd told it to move along.

He'd turned and left, then came back again once I was inside!

Cheeky.

Let's Hop!