It's Monday! What Are You Reading #1

I've had a rather busy weekend. Spent Saturday and early Sunday celebrating a childhood friend's bachelorette party. Luckily, she decided to keep it pretty low-key with a Chicago White Sox game, backyard barbecue, drinks in the neighborhood, and finally, a Sunday brunch. Cheap, chill, and fun.

One of my best buddies since 2nd grade

I keeps it classy

The weather was surprisingly beautiful all weekend. Definitely patio weather. I proceeded to eat and drink myself stupid all weekend. MIMOSAS ALL DAY, SON.

Gorgeous party favor

Backyard barbecue. Summertime in Chicago is glorious

Butterscotch Bonanza Bars, recipe coming soon

Chicken & Biscuits with a cherry lemonade

Brunch ended early enough for me to hop the train home, drop off my stuff, and head off to an author event at my neighborhood mystery and history bookstore, Centuries & Sleuths. Julia Buckley's new cozy mystery, A Dark and Stormy Murder, just dropped and she was doing a talk and signing. There was a great turnout, and she read a very short excerpt from the novel, introducing us to the fictional town of Blue Lake, Indiana, where the  novel takes place.  Expect a review by the end of the month (so much to read!)

No, I didn't win :(

She provided 3 different kinds of delicious cupcakes decorated with cute cut-outs of her new novel. I might have sampled all 3 flavors >_>

She was absolutely lovely. 

Now that the weekend's over, I'm participating in the meme, It's Monday! What Are You Reading? where I'll be sharing what I have been/are/will be reading over the next week.

Hosted @ The Book Date

What I Read Last Week:

                          

                                            

The Black Stiletto was great fun, I wrote a review of it here. The Silver Needle Murder and Oolong Dead are both part of the A Tea Shop Mystery series, a world and cast that I greatly love, but these books can be a little hit or miss. Wasn't enamored with Oolong Murder; I felt there were too many unnecessary plot threads and an unsatisfactory wrap-up.

What I Am Currently Reading:

               

I'm part of a mystery discussion group that meets once a month, and we'll be meeting on Saturday to discuss Bruno, Chief of Police. I'm continuing with the next installment in A Tea Shop Mysteries with The Teaberry Strangler; here's hoping it's better than the last one. Finally, I'll be reading and reviewing Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna as part of the Save Our Cozies Readathon on Saturday, July 16th.

What's Up Next:

Just bought a stack of books today. Perhaps one of these? Or something from my ever-growing TBR list? Who knows...