Conversations With Kav – Blog update and a bit of bookish whimsy

Can you believe we are already halfway through August? Fall will be here in just a few weeks and since the weather has mercifully cooled down (for now) I find myself hit by the strong urge to deep clean and organize. Anyone else get hit by the seasonal housekeeping bug? 🙂

Good news – since I just moved, everything is already organized to the nth degree and my wee little abode is easy to keep tidy so my cleaning frenzy lasted all of an hour. 🙂 But then I thought this is a good time for some blog housekeeping too, especially since we have some new followers. So, just a few reminders and possible changes:

Claiming Your Book Win

If you haven’t left your email address in your comment it is up to you to contact me with your information. If you have left an email and you haven’t heard from me by mid-week after the winner announcements are posted, please do contact me. Sometimes my email goes to spam, or I’ve typed it wrong or I’ve completely forgotten to send the notifications. That happened a lot this summer because of the move, but I’m getting back on track now. Hopefully. You have one month from the date of the winner announcements to claim your win.

How do I select the winners?

It’s truly as random as I can make it. I enter everyone’s name in a random wheel of names spinner wheel, then I shuffle the board before spinning to get the winner. It looks like this:

You can enter as many giveaways a week as you want. I make a separate wheel for each book. And yes, it’s possible to win a book two weeks in a row if that’s the way the wheel rolls.

Check Giveaway Details

Yes, offers change with every title. Editions can even vary depending on where you live. Details are noted in red under the ‘Giveaway Opportunity’ heading and divided by US, Canada and International. The same book might not be available in all editions depending on location. For instance I can only do audible giveaways for Canada. It’s all rather complicated but I’ve tried to simplify things as much as possible.

Re: Giveaways

Not every review I feature will include a giveaway. Check for the addition of ‘+giveaway’ after the book title (which is also the blog title.) So, a giveaway day will look like this: Jane Eyre + Giveaway. You’ll also see the the Giveaway Opportunity section in blue (and red) with all the details.

Due to rising prices and gas surcharges there might be a reduction in print giveaways and international shipping might have to drop to surface mail. Things are constantly changing so I’m playing it by ear but I do know the post office has a fluctuating gas price added to their shipping fee. It all depends on weight and distance etc.

I’ll still be reviewing five books a week and will continue to host as many giveaways as I can.

And now for a bit of bookish whimsy

As you know I am quite enamoured with my new neighbourhood. Tons of walking options in a historical part of town and I do love old houses! Anyway, I happened to be trying out a new walking path while listening to “The Lost Story of Via Belle” by Melanie Dobson and I turned a corner and came upon this:

Eeeepppp!!! That’s the house from the book! Honestly, if you’ve read the book, doesn’t that look like Olivia’s house? Complete with turret room?! What a fantastic bookish wonder! To come across that house as I was listening to that particular book!

Well, that sparked my imagination and I started make book/house connections or making up story starters to fit some of the beautiful architecture I come across every day on my walks. And I thought I’d share some of them here, (yes, I know that’s weird, but, really, are you in any way surprised?)

A modern house that backs onto an inlet. So many possibilities but I’ll go with a romantic suspense. The heroine is house sitting for her boss. It’s a hot summer night and she’s lounging on the deck with all the lights off enjoying the hint of a breeze when suddenly, she spies a dark figure in the park on the other side of the water…dragging something….and then, splash, a body shaped object starts to sink under the water. She gasps and straightens up to get a better look which sets off the motion detector lights and attracts the attention of the dark figure standing at the edge of the water….Bwahahahaha!

Rom/Com / Mystery. The heroine inherits a fixer upper that might just be haunted.

Historical: tenement housing for Irish Immigrants. Forbidden love between our Catholic heroine and her Protestant hero.

Contemporary Romance: Enemies to More – They are both pitching ideas to the city to repurpose a historical landmark church. She wants to create a community arts centre. He wants to convert it into luxury loft apartments.

This gorgeous apartment building is on my walk to the grocery store. Reminds me of the ‘Magic in the Building’ multi-authored series and Eryn Scott’s ‘Murder at the Morrisey Mystery’ series

Okay, true confession time: do any of you make up stories about the houses that strike your fancy on your walks (or drives?) Or see a house that exactly matches a fictional one you’re read about? Or is that just me?

32 thoughts on “Conversations With Kav – Blog update and a bit of bookish whimsy”

  1. I’ve been hit by the seasonal cleaning bug too. But unlike you I have lots to do. I’ve lived in this house 38 years and raised 3 kids here. Every Spring and Fall I try to go through and eliminate at least 100 things we no longer need or use. (If I have to do it, I might as well make a game of it.) I accomplished that goal between the kitchen and laundry room this time around. Last Spring I did my bedroom and closet. I had to do it on a day I’m honest enough to admit I’m never going to get in that outfit again, ha.

    Yes to imagining houses and towns for the books I’m reading. I think we did this last year when I imagined my perfect store, a bookstore with a cottage in back. I have a small town 30 minutes from me that has the perfect main street decor/antique business I’ve reimagined as mine more than once. The whole town is so cute an entire series could be set there. I especially reimagine characters, sometimes people I see on the street, and sometimes people I see online. Some covers don’t show faces and that works fine for me, I have a vivid imagination.

    I’ve enjoyed the walking tour with you through your new neighborhood. There’s a lot of variety there and I’ve always loved old houses. I love hearing how you’ve reimagined each one and the stories that happen there. Maybe this is something all readers do, making their fictional worlds real.

    I’ve noticed the price of books has really gone up, so I totally understand your having to limit mailings and giveaways. I am always looking for the best deal on my books, but I just can’t see myself paying the $17-$19 current prices for a book I’ll read in 2 days. I’ve always loved reading my favorite authors during release week, but I’m starting to prepare myself to wait a few months for price reductions if necessary. Oh inflation, what are you doing to us!

    Have a great Sunday Kav and Best Readers 🙂

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    1. Wow, 100 things sounds like a lot but it adds up fast. I thought I’d downsized enough when I packed up my kitchen stuff but I still discovered multiple measuring cup sets and way too many mixing bowls for a galley kitchen to house! I’m really loving the breezy openness of my new space though. Even though it’s smaller, it feels more spacious and I know everything is going to used and/or loved. And I’ve even found more space to squirrel away books so I’m on the hunt. 🙂

      I remember you talking about those small towns you love. I’ve paired houses to book characters ever since I read Anne of Green Gables. I’m always on the hunt for an ‘Annie-girl’ house.

      I knew I was moving into a historical neighbourhood but I didn’t realize the depth. Mansions just a few streets away from more middle class areas interspersed with grand old homes converted into apartments. The area was settled in 1832 and developed into a ‘suburb’ in 1870. All the bigwigs moved in – lumber barons and bankers and politicians, with tenement row houses for the workers nearby. Love the variety in the houses. I live in a ‘modern’ high-rise — 26 years old and eleven stories sitting up the hill and right on the fringe of all that poshness. Must have been quite the uproar when they built my building.

      The high price of ebooks has me puzzled. I can see why print books are rising with the rising price of gas and all, but ebook prices matching print prices? I keep hearing readers venting about that online and no one seems to be willing to buy the overpriced books so how is that helping the publishers? Oddly enough, my audio book prices are going down and not just during mega sales. 🙂 At least as an Audible member, a lot of books that used to be $24+ are now $15 – $16. Plus, I can get them even cheaper when I purchase audible credits. So strange.

      Happy Reading, Tracey!

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      1. When we got married 52 yrs ago, eek, we live downtown in a historic district. The house we lived in was an old 1880 mansion that had been convert to 8 apartments. We were up on the third floor which was 5 full flights of stairs. Even being a healthy 18 yr old, taking the laundry and grocerries up and down those stairs was brutal. We only made it 8 months, haha, and in the spring we moved to a first floor apartment in another area.

        Re ebook prices, a few publishers are staying reasonable. Thomas Nelson has been keeping a lot of their ebooks at 7.99, Denise Hunter, Courtney Walsh and Pepper Basham are some we read. Even Colleen Coble’s March 2027 book is only 9.99. Kregel seems to be holding the line too, with an 18.99 paperback like The Last Noel going for 11.99. That’s really all I think it should be and as high as I like to go, 12.99 absolute max!

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      2. Ooophhh — good thing you moved before the babies came. Can you imagine hauling a stroller up all those stairs? I’ve noticed the discrepancy between different publishers ebook pricing which I also find odd. I mean, since they know most of their readers are going to hold out until the prices go down, doesn’t that mean the Kregel, Thomas Nelson etc will just get the lion’s share of the sales for that length of time? I’m not a marketing expert but it doesn’t make sense to me!

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  2. It’s way too hot & humid here to do much outside so I’ve been cleaning out my way too small linen closet. It had gotten to the point where everything was just getting stuffed in there where there’s room. Why are the most cool, softest sheets always threadbare? Which means new sheets & a more stuffed linen closet! And I still prefer my old sheets. lol But out they went, also had small boxes in there & pillows I don’t need, etc. Everything is so organized now, I keep looking at it. lol Hubby can actually find the matching washclothes to go with the towels that had gotten buried. It gives you a sense of satisfaction to clean out stuff you haven’t used for yrs & kept saying “I might need this someday” & someday never comes!

    I’m so jazzed by your house & apartment pics! Love the one with the turret! We have many landmarks & older homes, but they are located in downtown Columbia so I seldom see them. It’s a very historical Civil War town & way too far to walk from where I live in the country. I live in a subdivision of around 68 homes that are very similar in looks, but also different in some ways as well. We are the only home out of 2 to have a garage, some have your typical southern wrap around porches (ours doesn’t—boo), but only 1 has the personality to tie in with a creepy suspense. It looks haunted all yr round & they still decorate for Halloween! I mean WHY??

    Agree with you & Tracey on the price of books! I put my kindle rewards points to good use, but they take awhile to save. 300 points saved equals $3 off. And even with a discount like that some are still too high so I save them for a new book I really want. I wait for prices to come down but sometimes it takes them quite awhile, if ever. Right now Thomas Nelson has some of the best prices. You can purchase Denise Hunter’s new books for $7.99 as well as others below $10.

    Have a blessed Sunday, Kav!

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    1. Ohhhh, there is something so satisfying about cleaning out a linen closet! Having neatly folded sheets all stacked up in a pristine pile! Sometimes I’m tempted to leave the closet doors wide open so I can gaze at the organized beauty like it’s a priceless painting. Bwahahaha!

      When I was a kid I looonnnngggegd for a turret room! There are a variety of turreted houses round and about here so it must have been the architectural gem of the decade or something. But that house in the picture is beautiful and it overlooks the parkway and the canal. Ha, your haunted house people probably eagerly wait for Halloween so they can showcase their creepy house’s perfection. I’m excited to see what Halloween will be like around here. Some of the streets are so hilly that there are flights of steep stairs leading up to the front doors. I wouldn’t have wanted to be a paperboy back in the day!

      Can you build up your Kindle points so you have $12 to spend instead of $3? Or does it only let you use $3 per purchase? It would be cool I you could save. up and buy a book with all points instead of just discounted.

      Happy Reading, Diane!

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      1. Exactly! Especially since the sheets are new & crispy, if not as cool as I’d like them! I DO keep looking at them as though they are priceless paintings. Sheets (like books) can be expensive. lol Do y’all give out candy on Halloween like they do here? If so am wondering how the kids make it up to the door to trick or trick. hmm…

        The very 1st time I used my kindle points (when the program was fairly new), I saved $6! Amazon wised up very quickly & now they have a box for you to check for only $3 off per ebook. That’s ok, though. You’re still getting $6 off (if you have enough pts saved) on two ebooks, so no complaints here! 🙂

        Happy Reading back to you, Kav!

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      2. Re trick or treating — yes that’s what I’m wondering too. Do they just skip the houses with the steep steps or do the homeowners bring a bucket of candy down to street level and hand it out there? I’ll find out in October! And what do they do in the winter/ Shovelling all those stairs would be awful! I’ll have to take some pics and show them on the blog. Beautiful houses though. I know one street has a back laneway for the garages which climbs up to house level (if that makes sense) so they probably never use their front steps. There are a number of intriguing little lanes higgledy piggledy around the area. Apparently they were put it for stables back in the day but now the stables have turned into garages. Thanks for answering my question about the kindle points. $3 off a book is still a good deal but at the high prices of ebooks it would be even better if you could double up your rewards.

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  3. First off, in our throw away society, isn’t it grand to see an older home taken care of to show off its beauty for years to come?

    Call me strange, but I do see houses or places and wonder what’s going on there or that it would make the perfect home for some mystery or a story I’ve just read.

    I laughing tell Hubby that if I need incentive to declutter and toss that I only have to watch a show or two of Hoarders. 🙂 While some spring clean, I tend to do a more thorough cleaning in late fall/winter. Probably because the weather is too gloomy to do much else.

    Down right jealous in reading your words “weather has mercifully cooled down”. Well, I guess we did cool down in that we went down from 107 on Friday to 104 yesterday. And yes, that’s actual temperatures not heat index. I am so ready for fall. Which if one looked outside at all the leaves that have fallen as the trees in our extreme drought conditions trying to conserve water as well as the walnuts that have fallen, way too early, one may think it’s fall until you step outside. Enjoy the cool days for us Kav. As for me, I think I’ve go find a Christmas story or one with lots of snow and coat wearing weather.

    Have a sensational Sunday and a blessed upcoming week. May it bring you many new reads.

    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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    1. Yes — it’s heartening to see people fixing up these old beauties instead of tearing them down and building new. Mind you, there are some new builds in amongst the older houses. I always find it jarring. Some have kept the same kind or architecture so their houses blend in with the neighbourhood but a few are just glass walled cubes that look quite stark in their setting.

      Sorry not sorry about my cooler weather. 🙂 I actually slept with a light blanket last night and even contemplated closing the windows, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do that yet. I have this funny quirk where I keep my windows open as summer transitions into fall even when it gets quite nippy. I think it’s because I’ve been traumatized by the heat and humidity which makes no sense but you’ll find me in September wearing two sweaters inside and my windows wide open.

      Happy Reading, Kay!

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  4. They are a few homes in a old neighborhood just a few blocks from where I live. They were Built in the 1890’s to 1930’s. I wonder what was in the rooms and how many lived in the homes. One was bought by the Catholic church as a retirement home for nuns. Makes me wonder how plain the rooms are compared to how fancy they were back when the family who sold it owned it. I’d say the neighborhood there has about 2 dozen homes still standing and in great condition. There is also a retreat on my walking route that was converted into condo’s but the outside still looks like it did in the early 1900’s for the wealthy as a getaway.

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    1. I love the sound of your neighbourhood. And repurposing the old homes while keeping the character is wonderful. We have a couple of converted condo buildings which have kept the integrity of the outer looks of the building. One of them was a convalescent hospital which covers two blocks. It’s stunning, I can only imagine how gorgeous the apartments are inside. Happy Reading, Kim!

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  5. Wow! This is so much fun, and you have some very gorgeous/distinctive architecture about you. I’m usually much more likely to be on the lookout for nice reading places as I walk. I get very dreamy about weeping trees in people’s yards haha. With that said, I do go out with my dog regularly, and I’m going to have to try this game of bookish settings in my neighborhood.

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    1. Ohhh, do I ever having nice reading spaces!!!! So many cozy nooks. One of my favourites is across the water from the house in the second picture. It’s a park including a dog park. I have a regular bench and the dogs come and see me before they head off to play plus there’s ducks in the pond and it’s shaded. A lovely place to read a book and enjoy nature and puppy shenanigans! Oh and there’s a huge weeping willow that bends out over the water. I’ve always loved weeping willows. Happy Reading, Stephanie!

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  6. Such beautiful houses and buildings in your area. I can’t say I’ve ever come up with a story whimsy from a house, but I bet I will now! Lol. I’m a little wishful of your cooler temperatures. In FL, it is still hot as can be.

    Jolene

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    1. I could not live in Florida! Couldn’t even visit there! I am so not a fan of the heat and humidity! I’m trying to feel guilty about my cooler temperatures on behalf of all of you still living with the heat, but I can’t quite manage it. 🙂 Happy Reading, Jolene!

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  7. Kav, I want to read the rest of the story. Get your author pen going!! What beautiful walks you have! I’d pick one, and then you’d pop in another!! Love your fixer-upper ~ how welcoming it is. Love, Love, Love. Thank you for sharing your days with us. Kathleen ~ Lane Hill House

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    1. Bwahahahaha! I have a beautiful walk whichever way I go. Through the neighbourhood, by the lake, around the canal. or down to the shops which include bookstores. Oh, and I have stationary store which will be my downfall. So many gorgeous things I’ve never even dreamed of! Happy Reading, Kathleen!

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  8. Kav, Your new neighborhood is enchanting! Thank you for taking us on a “walking tour”. Your heart must be all twitterpated! This past Wednesday, I had the privilege to tour a local castle with friends. It was so much fun. There is even a moat guarded by a pair of ducks.

    I also like my area neat and tidy!

    Have a blessed week!

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  11. I was already sucked in on the romantic suspense house! What happens next?! Lol! 😂  I don’t know that I make up stories about houses, maybe if they’re really old. That being said, I remember driving by a wooden tree swing one time and my mind made up a whole story about how it was probably where a man said goodbye to his sweetheart right before he went away to war, how she would go there and write him letters while he was deployed, and where he eventually proposed to her when he got home. All that from looking at an old plank of wood tied to a tree. 🙄😂

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    1. 🙂 Of course there has to be a valiant hero, right? I love your tree swing story — so romantic! I guess we can’t help some of the book magic rubbing off on us with all the reading we do. It must be terribly boring not to be a reader or, gasp, only a non-fiction reader! Happy Reading, Bridget!

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    1. 🙂 I am enjoying the variety in my walking options, that’s for sure. It’s a really hilly area and the hills were killing me in the beginning but I’m handling them like a pro now…mostly. Happy Reading, Cindy!

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  14. Thank you for giving us the nuts & bolts of how the giveaways work! I think I’m newer here than most?

    I don’t make up stories about houses but I remember a classmate had a slumber party in an old plantation home where I think her father was the caretaker. It had not been renovated yet, so it was it needed a lot of work. Think creaky floors and all kinds of noises very old houses make. We scared each other half to death and slept not a wink! It was a lot of fun. I need to go back and take a tour in its renovated state.

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    1. Happy to share the wonder of the random wheel of names. 🙂 Ohhhh, love that slumber party story. Would make the perfect setting for a Trixie Belden (or Nancy Drew) mystery! Happy Reading, Perrianne!

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