Sun and Moon

 A new Walkin' and Readin' Wednesday.

King Sly, soaking in the sun!

Window kitty.

Crescent Moon.

👣 👣 👣 

Audiobooks that I recommend:

Moonbound, by Robin Sloan

Narrated by Gabra Zackman

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore Series:

Book #.5: Ajax Penumbra

Book #1: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

Book #2: Moonbound

My two-cents: What happens when San Francisco, California, time-travel, hidden knowledge, and stories that just cannot be ignored get shaken, not stirred, then along comes a writer who will tell the tale?  Consider reading the books in order, for the timeline flow.  Oh yeah, there are dragons.

Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong

Narrated by Helen Laser, Sean Patrick Hopkins, and Shane Ghostkeeper

My two cents: Whoa, a dark and stormy night, in the woods, where the GPS doesn't work.  She sees a woman in the road, but no, that's a fallen log she hit.  Then a pick-up crashes, and there are two stunned people who need help.  Except the woods are creepy, yet there's a building 'way back...will it provide help?  Yeah, this was a ton of fun, and perfect horror for this time of year.

Let the Dead Sleep by Michael Wood

Narrated by Gemma Whelan

My two cents: Crime reporter Holly's sister was murdered 25 years earlier, and she was trying to forget that past, until her mother asks her to find the killer as her dying wish.  Great suspense, and a terrific whodunnit, as Holly fights her fears and the police, while the murderer gets close...very, very close.

📚 📚 📚 

Nose Prints

 Walkin' and Readin' Wednesday!

Two 'hood doggos, sharing one window.

The Clinton River, from The Crocker Bridge in downtown Mount Clemens, Michigan, about 1/2 mile from Eastside Cats.

Unknown neighborhood kitty, who was friendly.

Neighbor's window cat; still don't know his name.

Ruby, my neighbor who always greets me, with her wee tailio wagging a mile a minute.

Yes, she has ears.

❤️ 👀 😻

Recently completed audiobooks that I recommend:

The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul by Eleanor Herman
Narrated by Susie Berneis

Published: June 12, 2018

Goodreads Blurb: "In The Royal Art of Poison, Eleanor Herman combines her unique access to royal archives with cutting-edge forensic discoveries to tell the true story of Europe’s glittering palaces: one of medical bafflement, poisonous cosmetics, ever-present excrement, festering natural illness, and, sometimes, murder."

My Two Cents: Not as many forensically proven murders as one would think, but the whole world was poisonous back in the day.  Not for the faint of heart, and an interesting look into historic society that makes one wonder if it isn't just safer to be poor and unknown.  Famous folks mentioned: Napoleon Bonaparte, Danish mathematician Tycho Brahe, Baroque painter Caravaggio, and many more.

The Bravest Hour: Verity Kent Mysteries #9 by Anna Lee Huber

Narrated by Heather Wilds

#1: This Side of Murder (2017)

#2: Treacherous Is the Night (2018)

#3: Penny for Your Secrets (2019)

#4: A Pretty Deceit (2020)

#5: Murder Most Fair (2021)

#6:  A Certain Darkness (2022)

#7: The Cold Light of Day (2024)

#8: A Moment's Shadow (2025)

#9: The Bravest Hour (2026)

Goodreads Blurb: November 1920. Dublin, Ireland. British Intelligence Agent Verity Kent's efforts to foil a contemptible plot by the traitorous Lord Ardmore and save countless lives—as well as the British government’s reputation—has exposed her to detrimental scrutiny, bringing her contact with the Irish rebels to light. Crushingly, she finds herself incarcerated in Dublin Castle, the “Dread Bastille,” where she must withstand interrogation from her own countrymen.

My Two Cents: Am not a fan of this narrator, but the stories are so good!  Began reading this series in 2023, and this ninth book in the series feels like a finale, as Verity and husband Sidney have been in the game for a long time. However, the author may be unable to retire them.  The surprise of all surprises occurs early in Book #1, which hooked me like a largemouth bass.

The four audiobook Emaneska series, by Ben Galley

#1: The Written, 2010

#2: Pale Kings, 2012

#3: Dead Stars - Part One, 2013

#4: Dead Stars - Part Two, 2013

Narrated by Steven Cree

Goodreads Blurb: "Game Of Throne meets Die Hard in this explosive epic fantasy, packed with tattooed mages wielding unbridled spells, meddling gods, dragon-riders, and twisted Norse mythology."

My Two Cents: Ben Galley can write women, men, dragons, leviathans, gods, demigods, queens, and these stories (and the following three book The Scalussen Chronicles) keep the reader on the edge of their seat, and wondering what the heck is going to happen next!  This is war, played dirty and gritty, and every character is treacherous. 

📚 📚 📚

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!

Rolling

 A quick video of some of the neighborhood cats and stuff that I noticed on my walks.

We have some talented sidewalk chalk artists!

The purple plants covered in bees is Giant Purple Hyssop.

The cat shown after the black cat is King Sly; he's very thin, but his meowmy tells me he's eating, jumping up on the bed, and continues to patrol his territory.

That's a full moon image, and a view out the back at the wildfire smoke we had for awhile.

I left out all of the bunny rabbit pics, and I've not collected any coins found on the sidewalk, since the handful of pennies from a month ago.

👀 👀 👀 

Toad Ya

 Walkin' and Readin' Wednesday!

Eastern Cottontail

Kid's Toy in a sidewalk hole.

New to me ginger kitty!

Haven't seen this grey kitty before either.

Fowler's Toad

Have been out in the neighborhood early in the day, and then later in the evening, and I see new critters often.

***

Recent audiobooks:

American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic

Author: Joseph J. Ellis 

Narrator: John H. Mayer

Published October 30, 2007

Non-fiction work covering 1775 to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, detailing the political and ethical struggles of creating a government unlike any other.  

Who were making decisions: white males, often wealthy ones.

Who was left out: Women, slavery, indigenous peoples.

This book holds up a magnifying glass to the intent behind each person, and whether they stood by their own values as turmoil burgeoned.

Jaga and the Devil Trilogy

Devil's Deal, Book #1 published June 21, 2024

Devil's Doom, Book #2, published March 20, 2025

Devil's Dance, Book #3, published December 21, 2025

Author: Layla Fae

Narrators: Helena Walters and Troy Duran

Synopsis found online: "A completed Slavic-inspired dark fantasy romance trilogy, that follows a fierce mortal woman who defies a possessive devil, leading to a toxic, high-stakes enemies-to-lovers dynamic."

There are trigger warnings, and this series is Adult, with a capital A.

An Artful Dodge

Author:  Karen Odden

Narrator: Anna Burnett

Published June 2, 2026

Goodreads blurb: "Victorian London comes to vivid life in this riveting heist novel about an all-female thieving gang, and one young woman’s heroic plan to escape a life of crime."

Clever, with engaging characters, good mystery, and love the narrator's accents.

📚📚📚

Howdy, Sheriff!

OOPS!  I hit the 'publish now' button instead of 'publish tomorrow!'

It's Walkin' and Readin' Wednesday!

As seen while on 'the hoof' in my neighborhood:

This licky kitty has a caretaker.

This kitty also has a caretaker.

Image nabbed from the Macomb County Sheriff's Department website

The other day, I was stopped by two different Sheriff's Department squad cars, as the officers were looking for anyone who could identify a youngster found running in the middle of the street nearby.

I did not recognize the photo, continued on my walk as I witnessed the squad cars driving all over the place, stopping other neighbors.

A few hours later, on our community Facebook feed, a report advised that the parents were located, and everyone is safe.

It's just not every day that I get to chat with two handsomes in uniform while strolling in the 'hood! 😻

Seriously, am simply glad all is well.

***

Three recently listened to audiobooks that I recommend, and I'm on a British mystery kick:

The Keeper, by Tana French

Book #3 in the Cal Hooper trilogy

Narrated by Roger Clark

"Retired detective Cal Hooper moves to a remote village in rural Ireland. His plans are to fix up the dilapidated cottage he's bought, to walk the mountains, to put his old police instincts to bed forever." - Goodreads

Love listening to the Irish narration, and the mysteries are intricate, the characters feel real, and I'll miss them now that the series is over.  Book #3 The Keeper starts with a young woman's body found in a stream, and Lena (Cal's fiancee) was the last person to see her alive.

How to Get Away with Murder, by Rebecca Philipson

Narrated by Michael Geary and Tamsin Kennard

Standalone Novel

"This fresh debut thriller finds a Scotland Yard detective trying to find the author of a self-help book that promises quite literally to teach readers how to get away with murder, which seems to have inspired London's newest murderer." - Goodreads

The Burial Place by Stig Abell

Book #3 in the ongoing Jake Jackson Series

Narrated by Oliver Hembrough

"For years, Jake Jackson has been a high-flying detective in London. But then one day he receives a letter from his reclusive uncle – he has left Jake his property in the middle of the countryside. For Jake, it is the perfect opportunity for a fresh start for a quiet life in Caelum Parvum." - Goodreads

Book #3 The Burial Place begins with the nearby archaeology dig finding bodies; fresh ones.

~~~

Henry Update:

The H Man doesn't like open windows, and he also doesn't like the window air-conditioner noise, nor the fans blowing either.  Poor baby.  Then the thunderbooms come along, and he's happy to live on the floor of the linen closet.  Smart cat!

No noticeable changes since we've added the new antibiotic, reduced the steroids from two pills a day to one-and-1/2 pills, and the doubling of his fiber powder.

❤️❤️❤️

~~~

Let's Hop!

As Seen On Foot

It's Walkin' and Readin' Wednesday!

First, a few neighborhood cats:

And why not a few recent photos of Da Boyz:

Chili Bruce

Manny

They look like they are a street gang! 😹

📚 And my most recent completed books/audiobooks:

Need a Little Time by Adam Eccles

Sometimes, the strangest things can happen, right on your doorstep.

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

Evie Porter has everything a nice Southern girl could want: a doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence, a tight group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.

The Rembrandt Heist by Anthony Amore

A true crime tale of unbelievable friendship, loyalty, criminal genius, and a staggeringly audacious plot to steal one of the world’s most valuable paintings—and return it.

Thank you all for the POTP that you are sending to Henry!!!!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

As of Tuesday evening: nibbles of food eaten.

Am heading in with churus next.

I believe the resumption of the appetite stimulant is key.

He's neatly sequestered, so no more hiding under dressers, bathtubs, etc.

Henry is stubborn, and so am I!

Let's Hop!