My Favorite Reader... The Mister

 

Happy Valentines Day!  We woke up to storms and a distinctive drip... drip... drip in our master bath.  The Mister, who never met a ladder he wouldn't climb, inspected the suspicious spot.  He thinks it may be a puncture in the sprinkler hose.  But we will leave the leak to the experts for a final diagnosis.

Does anyone have a membership to American Home Shield?  We have been using them for at least 15 years and have only had great experiences.  Whenever we have a leak or problem with an appliance, we contact AHS, and they find a subcontractor who calls us to set up an appointment.  I had AHS on speed dial when we lived in our 100-year-old house in Massachusetts.

Yesterday, I had a delightful catch-up lunch with my old friend, Madonna.  Later, I am off to Dallas to take my pal, Miss Debbie, out for an overdue birthday lunch. 

Today, my Valentine is in the hot seat, answering all my hard-hitting questions.

 

Tell us about yourself, i.e., your home state, family, career, etc.

I am the husband of a supermodel trophy wife and fellow empty-nester.  We are meandering through life in harmony… together in search of blog-worthy adventures.

It's not easy being a blog husband.

Here is a birds-eye view of the expectations of my job.

No bite before it's time!

This means that I am not allowed to touch my food in a restaurant before it is photographed at every angle and photo setting.  It doesn't matter that our meals grow cold.   It is a cardinal sin to disappoint blog readers and Instagram followers.

Lights, Camera, step ladder!

Ninety-nine percent of the time, I am Katie's personal photographer.  Here are a couple of the rules that go along with the job.

Take photos of Katie ONLY in portrait mode and ONLY from specified angles and distances.  NO FULL-BODY SHOTS EVER!

 

I have been known to use a step ladder because her ladyship thinks she looks her best looking up. 

After 33 long years of marriage, I have learned never to ask the following questions.

Where are you going?

Is that new?

How much?

What's your password?

Is that what you're wearing?

What's in the bag?

I don't know; do you think you look fat?

I better start answering Katie's questions before she gets mad and fires me.

When did your love affair with reading begin?

 

I can clearly remember reading The Mystery At Red Top Hill, which was published in 1963, over and over again.  I usually used a flashlight after lights out until I all but memorized the book.  The best mystery is when you already know the ending...

 The book is currently out of print, though I did find a copy on eBay, and by the looks of the condition, my Mom is out to make a few bucks from my old junk!

What are your favorite genres?

 
My favorite genres range from Thrillers and Historical fiction to Memoirs and Cookbooks.  I leave the Romance, Self Help, Real Housewife tell-alls, and training manuals on how to murder your husband to the Boss. 

 
We share our Amazon libraries with each other.  When Katie finishes a book that she loves, she always says the same thing every time: 

You are going to love this book! 

She then asks me every day if I've started yet.

This tedious process can go on for months.

Paper book, e-book, and/or audiobook?

 E-Books and Audio all the way.  I am a big fan of whisper-sync, so I can e-Read at home and listen to the same book in the car.  I have tried to explain the process to Katie; I now understand that this is a fool's mission!

We each own a Kindle Oasis and are impatiently awaiting the newest release later this year.  

 What are the best books that you read in 2022?

 For some unknown reason, Best Reads of 2022 focused on bookstores,s and ar,t forgery.  It just seemed to be a reoccurring theme.  

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 Amazon 

 

Amazon 

 

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This is one of the books that Katie loved and wouldn't give up nagging until I read it.  I really enjoyed the Boston slant.

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Amazon 

 Amazon

My favorite Art Restorer, Gabriel Allon of Daniel Silva's

22-book series

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Another one of Katie's suggestions.

                           

                    

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And my favorite Bookseller, Steve Berry's Cotton Malone 

 

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The Cartographers by Peng Sheperd was a recommendation from Annie in a recent post, which you can find HERE!  Her love of this book was spot on, with twists, turns, and suspense right up to the last page.

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This is a remarkable story of survival during WWII.  The endurance of men and women, the aid of Armenian resistance, and overcoming overwhelming odds.

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The amazing story of the Richie Boys of WWII.  This little-known history of young German Jews who returned to fight the Nazis at enormous personal peril dubbed The US Army's greatest secret weapon!

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This 2023 new release is a true page-turner.  I absolutely could not put it down.  It follows the first installment of the Kate Rees character and hero.

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I guess I was on a WWII  roll!

 

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Hotel Pastis was a particular favorite.  I enjoyed reading about the process of designing and building a hotel.

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I enjoyed hearing Harry's story in his own words.

A lot of the excerpts in the press were taken out of context. 

  

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Over the past forty years, Mark Ellison has worked on some of the most beautiful homes you've ever seen, specializing in the most rarefied, lavish, and challenging projects with the most demanding clients.

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And, of course, I have to include two books that center on the art and passion of cooking, both by Erica Bauermeister

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 The recipes of Aroma, Flavors, Textures, and the lives that are found and saved through common passions.

What book(s) come to mind that you consider overrated/underrated?

 

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This book was underrated.

I hadn't expected that it would be so good.

 

If you don't enjoy a book, do you finish it or not?

 

I usually push on; however, one of the benefits of a Kindle is that there is a percentage completed notification.  I use this data point to weigh if I have given the book a fair chance against the potential drudgery of forcing my way through the balance of the book to declare "a race completed, not necessarily a race won."

Favorite place and time of day to read?

 

Katie and I have a hard stop to our day at 4pm.  We put the demanding tasks of empty nesting and retirement behind us for the day and read for about 2 hours.  In all reality, that time is consumed by:

• 45 minutes of phone calls
• 10 minutes of wine refills
• 30 minutes of gossip and chatting
• 10 minutes of retrieving and unpacking Amazon deliveries
• 15 minutes of online surfing
• 10 minutes of reading
• 27 minutes of letting the dogs in and out

In my spare time, I am teaching Millie how to read.

Your table is set for six.  What five authors (living or not) would you like to invite to lunch?

 

Of course, I would do the cooking.  I would invite Steve Berry, David Baldacci, Peter Mayle, Marie Benedict, and Amor Towles.

I would also invite Katie to be on the clean-up committee.

 What book(s) resonates with you the most?

 

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This novel is truly poetic.  The stories of sacrifice and overcoming personal challenges to serve others is inspiring and heroic.       

What is the funniest book that you have ever read?

  

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I follow this guy on Instagram, and I think he is hysterical.

The saddest?

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Many years ago, I read The Shack by William Paul Young, which I found profoundly depressing and sad until I realized that the story's narrator was God.  This somber novel becomes a mission of inspiration and a journey of faith. 

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This is an epic novel centering on a deaf-mute brought up on a Wisconsin dairy farm.  Truly a story of courage and a saga of dedication and a vow of love and sacrifice.

What are you presently reading, and what's next on your list?  Is there a book you are NOT looking forward to that will be published later this year?

 Don't tell Katie, but I have 90+ unread books on my Kindle.  

Those Daily Deals get me every time.   

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 Amazon

 

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Is there a book you are NOT looking forward to that will be published later this year?

Any novel that has a central theme of a Pandemic! 

As my daughters would say...

Dad, too soon!

 

With today being my first and only post, it is appropriate that it is on Valentine's Day!

To Katie:

 

I wanted to make this Valentines Day special for you, so I showered you with roses and chocolates....see me below, (note.. the bow tie)

Then I thought about lighting up your day

 

But in the end, I decided that the perfect Valentine is 

"my true love for you"

XOXO

     "The Mister" 💕

Awww... thanks, Mister!

Great job, by the way.

linking up with:

Inspire Me Tuesday

The Happy Now Blog 

Lou Lou Girls