But Wait: More Books

So to close this accidental reading marathon, here is the list of the rest of the books I've read in 2015. I say accidental because it was not something I had set out to do as a New Year's resolution or anything of the sort. As I enjoy reading I just decided to keep track of the reading list.  So here is Part Three of the (mostly) murder mysteries I read this year.

Dead Before Morning by Geraldine Evans
Shaded Light by J.A. Menzies
The Housewife Assasin's Handbook
Cats, Cars, and Crooks by R.H Carter
Murder in the Library by Steve Demaree
Murder in the Winter by Steve Demaree

Hazardous Duty by Christy Barrit
The Good Soldier by L. T. Ryan
Silent Scream by Angela Marsons
A Cutthroat Business by Jenna Bennett
The Deal by Tony Drury
A Long Time Dead by Andrew Barrett

Ethan Justice Simon Jenner
Death Pays a Visit by Elizabeth Sarah Craig
Mr Swirlee by Mike Faricy
Louisiana Hotshot by Julie Smith
Ratchatcher by Tim Stevens
Weddings can be Murder by Christie Craig

Strictly Murder by Lynda Wilcox
The Final Arrangement by Annie Adams
Murder a the Threatre Royal by Albert Clack
A Reason to Kill by Michael Kerr
A Charming Crime by Tonya Kappers
Breaking Kate by D. Kelly

Mermaids of Bodega By Mary Birk
The First Cut by Mary Birk
Less Than a Treason by Mary Birk
Brass in Pocket by Stephen Puleston
Death of an Ordinary Guy by Jo A. Heisland
Lost Cause by J. L. Simpson

Lost & Found by J. L. Simpson
Raining Men and Corpses by Anne R Tan
Reckless by Susan Keirman-Lewis

And to close, I now ask you: 

what was the best/more enjoyable book for you this year?

Here are  part one and  "part two of the book's I've read in 2015.

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At last

At last I was able to figure out how to fix the photo problem I've had.
Since the problem started, I had shared a couple of entries from the blog in the past few months. However, before sharing them I'd would go to the entry and re-upload the photos. This was my work around. 
Tonight I was doing the exact same thing again when I noticed it gave me an option to choose photos from a Picasa album (which I did not know that I had). When I found the album, I noticed that it was "locked".  Yes, it was set to private. Then I logged in to the Picasa account (again I had no Idea I had the pictures there), I reset the settings and VIOLA, problem solved. 

I'm a happy camper!

Blogger help please!

Blogger help please! 
I somehow changed the settings on the photos in Google Plus without realizing that it would affect the pictures in my blog. Pictures are not showing now. This was a few weeks ago. Now I cannot remember where the settings are to change it back to public. Any suggestions?
I'm now the proud owner of a pictureless blog. 

Any suggestions are appreciated. 


As a test I'm uploading a new picture. Let's see what happens. 

Straight Up

Language never ceases to amaze me.  And I love to learn new phrases and idioms.  I heard this today at work:

A: What time is it?

B: Eleven straight up.

A: OK, thanks bud.

I'm sitting at my workstation looking for my cell phone to check the time and wondering if I've ever heard this expression before. So it's eleven o'clock... Well a new phrase for me. 
I don't think I had ever paid attention to the time being expressed this way. I can assure you that on the many books I used to learn/teach English (as a second/foreign language), this was never taught as an option for telling time.  I right away wrote it on a post-it so I would remember it.



I got home and told my husband that I had heard a new phrase. Of course he knew it, but he knows I get excited to discover and learn new idiomatic expressions. So if the minute hand on a clock is "straight up" at twelve, instead of saying it is (number) o'clock, you could say it is (number) straight up.  Now I just need to find a good situation to use it and put it in practice.

 

More Books

So it is the eve of April 23rd, St. George Day.  Today is World Book Day in many parts of the world.
The date was originally chosen in Spain to remember Miguel de Cervantes --of Don Quixote fame-- who died on this date. The UNESCO chose this date because it is also the anniversary of the death of Shakespeare, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and many other notable writers and authors.

So here is part two of the books I've read in 2015.

Lady Justice and the Vet by  Robert Thornhill
A Dead Red Alibi by R. P. Dahlke
Rope Enough by Oliver Tidy
Scavenger Hunt by Larry Buckingham

The Thirteenth Room by Adam Croft
Cold lake by Jeff Carson
A Long Time Dead by Andrew Barrett
Dying to Read by Lorena McCourtney


 I came across this photo posted in a photographer's blog. I invite you to read his post on on San Jorge, (it's in Spanish).

 

Click here for part one of the books that I've read in 2015.

Books

So I found out a little while ago that today is World Book Day. It showed up as a trending topic on my Facebook page. I, of course, Googled it as I had not heard about it. It turns up that in the U.K. it is celebrated on the first Thursday in March, today March 5th. Other countries have Book Day on April 23rd. This date is no accident, this is the date of the death of Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare and many other famous writers.

In Spain it is common to give books as presents to friends on this day. In some regions the tradition is to give a book and a rose to a loved one as it coincides with the festivities of St. George.

So to celebrate I'm listing the books I've read so far in 2015.

Murder in Adland by Buck Beckham.
Armed & Outrageous by Madison Johns.
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

Loose Screw by Rae Davies.

Cut Loose by Rae Davies.
Dead Wrong by Leighann Dobbs.
Tristan Finch by Jacqueline Spencer & M. H. Sargent.
Seven Days from Sunday by M.H. Sargent.

With the exception of All the Light We Cannot See, all are murder mysteries, just in case you are wondering.  I read a little each day after I've eaten lunch and before clocking back in at work, and also most nights before I go to sleep. 

There you have it, my little contribution to #WorldBookDay.  

Click here for part two of the book's I've read in 2015.

Feliz Día de Reyes/The End of the Twelve Days of Christmas Part 2

    

When I was a kid you would go see the Wise Men at the main square or park in town.  You'd take a picture with all three and it was your chance to let them know what you wanted as a present (similar to taking the kids to see Santa in the U.S.). Another opportunity to see them is to attend a Calbagata de Reyes or Cavalcade of the Magi parade (not all towns have it, in some cities in Spain it is a very elaborate one).

 As you may know I've been away from my homeland for a few years.  I keep connected  with friends and family via email and social media.  It was  on Facebook that I've noticed that some traditions have changed or evolved.   Here are a couple of  the trends regarding how people celebrate the Epiphany in Mexico that I've discovered. 

         

 It is very common that kids send their letters to the Wise Men by "air mail".  A kid ties his letter with a string and attaches it to a balloon, then releasing the balloon and sees it fly away.  Many schools do it as an activity to get all the kids from the school involved. Some families do it on their own or with their neighbors. 


Another way to let the Wise Men know what toys you would like to receive is quite interesting to me.  Some parents let their kids tie their letter to a small sky lantern (globos de cantolla) and  then releasing them. In some towns a community event is organized so that many lanterns are released at the same time and all illuminate the night sky.

     

Sometimes this is done on the night of January 5th or the weekend previous to the arrival of the Wise Men on January 6th. So the  big question now is:  

what did the Wise Men bring you?

P.S.
Make sure to read Part 1 here.