On My Table and In My Cup June 10th -17th

I can not believe that it is Saturday already, honestly this is a stupid statement, I know what day it is, I just feel like the week between these posts speeds by and yet Monday-Thursday feel like they take an eternity, but here we are. I am off to a special needs baseball tournament shortly, an event I have come to love and look forward too more and more with each passing year.  I have made some incredible friends on the field, parents who like me have a different path to follow then our typical peers. I don't know what I would do without the support of our Canucks Autism Network community or our Challenger Baseball Families either. They have helped to shape a better then normal childhood for my boys and our community. This week I did a few trips to the local charity/thrift stores and even one slightly further trip to Value Village, where I picked up this lovely book I had been eyeing on line. It is called Tea Culture and I am very much looking forward to soaking in all it has to offer me with in these beautiful pages, more on this $5.99 deal in a later post.

I was thrilled with the buy 4 get one free deal at another thrift store I went to. I was thrilled to find Well Read then Dead by Terrie Farley Moran, I lent my copy out and can not remember who I lent it to. I also got a few I had been wanting to read and one I had never heard of. Not bad finds at all.

I am reading I think my 92 book of the year right now, and Witch Way To Mintwood was a really great suggestion by my friend Lisa and on Wednesday I really needed a paranormal cozy read the way my mother needed Calgon to take her away in the 70's. This was a great book and I am very much wanting to read the series. If you like me love Witch Cozy Mysteries do pick this one up.

For me Leave it to Cleaver by Victoria Hamilton was a first in series for me, this is I think book 5 and a lovely bitter sweet cozy.  I picked up two more in the series this week for my TBR pile and am looking forward to give them a go.

I am very excited that my friends Mary and Lisa K are going to help me promote summer reading with our Three Amigos Summer Reading Club. We hope you will join us on Mondays all throughout the summer and see our  33 picks! 11 weeks, 33 books, endless possibilities for your TBR pile and arm chair adventures. We hope you find your perfect summer read with us!

Sunday my family and I took a walk for the  JDRF with a fundraising walk around Vancouver's Stanley Park, even though I am on Crutches I did walk the entire thing, which is likely why I am back on crutches, but it was worth it. I also brought the book I was reading, A Ghostly Light by Juliet Blackwell. This book is SO GOOD, if you love lighthouses, like I do, great characters and settings as well as a good ghost mystery this is a book for you! Loved it, you should order it!

Long In The Sleuth by Carol Novis was a refreshing and entertaining cozy where I learn a lot about Jewish culture and had a fantastic time with some funny characters and surprising twists!

 This week also marks the second anniversary of the passing of a very special young lady. An extraordinary set of circumstances lead me to come to know and champion a young lady facing insurmountable odds. In memory of that precious child and her courageous fight with cancer, I set my table. In support of her mother, family, friends and survivors, I lifted my cup in remembrance. If you feel moved, have the ability to donate too or help families like my friend Ahmie I encourage you to do so. Special prayers to the families just like hers who fight just as hard along side them. #noonefightsalone #teawithahmie #noonegrivesalone .

I thank you so much for taking the time to join me here today. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com  

Carol Novis' Long In The Sleuth, A Tension on a Pension Mystery.

Late last night I finished reading Long in the Sleuth by Carol Novis. This is the first book in what I hope will be a long running series! A tension on a Pension Mystery,  I love the way that rolls off the tongue!  I very much enjoyed this story. The characters are impossible not to love.  Carol does a wonderful job of not only writing believable characters, but capturing the spirit of  a true cozy mystery. Main character Ellie is north of the 30 something characters in most cozies but with all the gumption and panache of someone half her age. This book is funny and endearing. I learned a lot from the author about Jewish culture, history and food! Oh the food, you won't be able to read this book without longing for someone to eat! I am thrilled that the recipes are in the back!  Ellie is very relatable and her unlikely friend and helpers in the story make you feel like you are part of the team. I hope you will consider picking up a copy of  Long in The Sleuth, you won't be disappointed.

First in the "Tension on a Pension" cozy mystery series  "The cast of Jewish senior sleuths made me laugh out loud." Anne Kleinberg, best-selling author of "Menopause in Manhattan" "A brilliant setting for a wickedly funny book." Linda Matchan, journalist, "The Boston Globe" "This book kept me absorbed and entertained all the way through. The denouement really was a surprise." Judy Weidman, librarian "Long in the Sleuth" combines humor, romance and suspense with a unique angle--a quirky team of seniors trying to adjust to life in a retirement home, while people are dropping dead all around them.  Who killed Sam Levin with a poisoned knish? Could it be Ellie, who baked it? The yentas at the Menorah Retirement Home think that it just might be. Ellie Shapiro is a reluctant resident of the Minnie and Isaac Memorial Menorah Retirement home. Then Sam, a popular fellow resident, drops dead after eating a knish that Ellie's baked. Other murders follow. With her fellow sleuths and Sam's hapless teen-age grandson Noah, plus a dog, Ellie sets out to find the killer.  But will the disapproval of Ellie's hunky crush, Hal, stop the motley detection team before the killer gets her?  Over the course of the book, Ellie gains confidence, a friend, a new career and maybe even the guy, as the action takes her from the Menorah kitchens to an out-of-control fight at a mahjong game and a revelatory visit to gambling casino, culminating in a confrontation with a crazed murderer.  Ellie's recipes included. If you loved Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, the Golden Girls and Harry Kemelman's Rabbi Small, you won't want to miss "Long in the Sleuth."

To order your own copy of  Long in the Sleuth by Carol Novis from Amazon.com please click here.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of  tea and a cozy mystery review. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table and In My Cup June 3rd-10th

Saturday morning and I am reading my way through Carol Novis' Long In The Sleuth. Love this book so far can not wait to share with you more in my review.  I have had another crazy week, not just the normal crazy but the crazy where you have 4 firemen trying to get a 2 year old out of the bathroom because the door strike jammed when she slammed it, when the puppy stole her monkey.... Man my life is truly funny sometimes in hindsight that is.  I am now walking without crutches and while my ankle is very sore and swollen by the end of the day it is now mostly managed.

I have started something new and I have now got a Youtube Channel I hope that you will subscribe to! I have two videos currently posted and am working on some channel art hoping to have you stop over and subscribe! I hope this becomes a fun and easy way to share my love of books I have read and books I am reading with you in a short and personal way.

 I also got quite a bit of reading done this week and was thrilled to share quite a few reviews this week. Murder at the Lighthouse by Frances Evesham was a delightful British Cozy mystery read this week and should still be a free book at time of publishing, you may want to pick this one up too!

While still on crutches I managed to hobble over to a little French Cafe near by and enjoy a Rosemary Savory Scone,  some Marco Polo Tea and read a few chapters of Kylie Logan's French Fried before the school called and I had to pick up my son who had a fever.  Good news is I had just taken my last bite and my last sip of this very delicious tea and was fortified for the afternoon that followed.

Such a divine treat to get an advanced reading copy of Lorna Barrett's A Just Clause. when I read the last line I was so thrilled and sad at the same time knowing I would have to wait just that much longer to read the next one. Advanced reading copies can be a double edged sword!

Such a treat this one is out next Tuesday and should be on your TBR pile for sure!

Monday morning our visitors from Japan went back home. It was an adventure having 5 boys in the house this weekend and fun playing tourist in our own town. I can not wait to do this again next year. I hope that we have made long lasting friendships and that we can build on it for many years to come. The school gave us a beautiful box containing some sugar cookies perfect reminder of the sweet boys we got to spend the weekend with and it pairs beautifully with my tea. Special thanks to Jack and Janie my dear friends for the beautiful "Welcome to the Ankle Club" flowers they gave me after my accident with my ankle. Mine is not broken but Janie's is, for all the pain in endured she suffered 100% worse, we are forever Left Ankle Twins!

I can not thank you enough for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery week in review. I hope you like some of the new changes I have made with the addition of the  Youtube Channel and the Fancy Friday Finds. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com