Gus' Gazette Tag: Hobbies and Crafts

 

Hey there onPeakers! I’m back with another summer reading list for the ultimate poolside companion! Below are some of my favorites. Grab your favorite drink, some big sunnies, a comfy chair, sit back, relax and enjoy these amazing stories! (All reviews provided by Amazon.)

– Robin Jones

 

1. The Guncle , Steven Rowley

Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how adorable, Patrick is, honestly, overwhelmed.

So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick’s brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of “Guncle Rules” ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled acting career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old. Quickly realizing that parenting–even if temporary–isn’t solved with treats and jokes, Patrick’s eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being larger than life means you’re unfailingly human.

With the humor and heart we’ve come to expect from bestselling author Steven Rowley, The Guncle is a moving tribute to the power of love, patience, and family in even the most trying of times.

 

2. Broken Country, Clare Leslie Hall

“The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.”

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.

 

3. Murder by Cheesecake – A Golden Girls Cozy Mystery, Rachel Ekstrom Courage

When Dorothy’s obnoxious date is found dead in a hotel freezer, it not only ruins a gorgeous cheesecake but threatens the elaborate St. Olaf–themed wedding Rose is hosting.

 As the Girls all pitch in, Rose is thrilled that the tea-and-fish-themed kickoff event is perfect, not a herring out of place. That is until Dorothy’s date is found dead—face-planted in an otherwise scrumptious-looking cheesecake. With every guest a suspect (especially Dorothy) and a marriage on the line, the four besties must ID the real killer, get the should-be-happy couple down the aisle, and make sure nobody from St. Olaf gets lost in the wilds of Miami. It’s up to the Golden Girls to sleuth out a way for friendship and love to win the day!

 

4. Beach Read, Emily Henry

A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a Happily Ever After, he kills off his entire cast.

They’re polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke and bogged down with writer’s block.

Then one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

by Robin Jones

Happy Fall onPeakers! I hope you all had the most amazing summer. I don’t know about you guys but as soon as September 1st hits, I am all apple spice and everything nice. I have a time-honored tradition of getting new fuzzy socks, airing out my grandmillenial sweaters and turtlenecks (think Diane Keaton in Something’s Gotta Give) and stalking bookstagram for my new fall reads.

Today, I am going to share with you some gems that gets everyone in the spirit of fall. So, if you love a good murder mystery check out this bookworm’s fall favorites this year. Here’s to more pumpkin patches, fall leaves and a good whodunnit.

Listen For the Lie (Amy Tintera) 4.1 Stars*
Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all and, if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. But after Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer.

It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life. But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast Listen for the Lie and its too-good looking host, Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one who did it.

The truth is out there, if we just listen.

The Familiar (Leigh Bardugo) 3.82 Stars*
In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family’s social position.

Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition’s wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.

How to Solve Your Own Murder (Kristin Perrin) 3.8 Stars*
It’s 1965 and teenage Frances Adams is at an English country fair with her two best friends. But Frances’s life takes a hairpin turn when a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. Frances spends a lifetime trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet, compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise. For decades, no one takes Frances seriously. Until that is, nearly sixty years later, when Frances is found murdered.

In the present day, Annie Adams has been summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is already dead. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder.

Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer? As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to the danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her great aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.

The Unmaking of June Farrow (Adrienne Young) 4.1 Stars*
It’s been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere—the signs of what June always knew was coming. But June is determined to end the curse once and for all, even if she must sacrifice finding love and having a family of her own.

After her grandmother’s death, June discovers a series of cryptic clues regarding her mother’s decades-old disappearance, except they only lead to more questions. But could the door she once assumed was a hallucination be the answer she’s been searching for? The next time it appears, June realizes she can touch it and walk past the threshold. And when she does, she embarks on a journey that will not only change both the past and the future, but also uncover the lingering mysteries of her small town and entangle her heart in an epic star-crossed love.

A Murder is Announced (Agatha Christie) 4 Stars *
“A Murder is Announced” is a staple of crime fiction and often considered as the best Miss Marple novel. The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn, including Jane Marple who is staying nearby, are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which reads: ‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m.’ Is this a childish practical joke? Or a hoax intended to scare poor Letitia Blacklock? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd gathers at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out…

Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village (Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper) 4 Stars*
A weekend roaming narrow old lanes, touring the faded glories of a country manor, and quaffing pints in the pub. How charming. That is, unless you have the misfortune of finding yourself in an English Murder Village, where danger lurks around each picturesque cobblestone corner and every sip of tea may be your last. If you insist on your travels, do yourself a favor and bring a copy of this little book. It may just keep you alive.

Brought to life with dozens of Gorey-esque drawings by illustrator Jay Cooper and peppered with allusions to classic crime series and unmistakably British murder lore, Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village gives you the tools you need to avoid the same fate, should you find yourself in a suspiciously cozy English village (or simply dream of going). Good luck, and whatever you do, avoid the vicar.

*Star ratings and book descriptions can be found on www.goodreads.com*

Let’s Get Steppin’

The onPeak Steps Challenge was started by Sarah Moore in the spring of 2023. She reached out to her fellow onPeakers via onPeak Pick-Me-Up in mid-March asking if anyone wanted to do a walking challenge. She found a free app to track called Stridekick, started the first challenge in April, and has been managing the group ever since.

The challenge has evolved from an individual race to a team-based competition. As of the end of 2023, there are 3 teams, with about 7 or 8 people in each – all moving to get the most steps by the end of the month.

One Step at a Time

• 2023 – 28,162,733 combined steps (April – November – Based on 23 participants.)
• 2024 – Q1: TBD

For anyone who wants to join a future Steps Challenge, reach out to Sarah Moore via email ([email protected]) or over Teams and she’ll get you added.

by Robin Jones

Georgie, All Along – Kate Clayborn

Georgie Mulcahy’s life is a hot mess in a dumpster fire. Recently having been laid off from her Hollywood assistant job, she returns home to her small town in Virginia, to reevaluate her life.

Georgie is spacey and unfocused according to her high school teachers. Her parents are slight hippies, who prescribe to RV trips and burning man, and her best friend was always the more focused of the two, who’s recently married with a baby on the way.

Georgie needs to figure out what she wants and who she is; and what better way to do that than with an old journal her and her best friend wrote before starting high school?! This Fic, as they call it, is filled with all the things they wanted to do now that they were in high school.

I’m sure it will all go according to plan, right?

Follow this delightful and refreshing novel about having to go back in order to move forward. Get to know this small-town cast of characters, as Georgie makes a bucket list to discover what matters to her the most. Of course, throw in a rescue dog named Hank, an old school crush, family drama, and the hot, grumpy bad boy of yesteryear and you’ve got yourself a good old fashioned romantic dramedy.

 

The Maid -Nita Prose 

Molly, the protagonist, shows how we should all see the world, encompassing her direct and simplistic life lessons. There are so many avenues to explore with this book; philosophy, autism and the wide range of the spectrum, friendships, dealing with pain and loss and a good old fashioned murder mystery.

Molly Gray is a maid at a very posh hotel. She has a puritan work ethic and works very hard to give all guests the five-star service they deserve. Molly, however, is different. She has difficulties understanding the intentions and meanings of others and does not socialize in a way deemed “normal”. Molly navigates life through the simple teachings of her grandmother, who helps supply Molly with small truths to get on in the world.

When Molly’s grandmother dies, Molly is left to interpret others by herself, so when a murder happens in the hotel and Molly is the prime suspect, she has to rely on those life lessons supplied by her grandmother, accept the help of those who genuinely want to help, all the while unintentionally providing wisdom and friendship to those around her.

I laughed out loud, got a lot emotional, was the worst detective, took Molly’s life lessons and added them to my own, and got sad when it was over. If you read one book this summer, introduce yourself to Molly Gray.

 

Hello Beautiful – Ann Napolitano

I’m not even sure I have words to express what this book has done. I wish I could give it five more stars. I went through every emotion I could think of. From anger to sadness to hurt to happiness and to grief. Along the way, I had to grapple with my own unconscious biases and my own fear about my own family.

There is a bit of every character I see in myself. Even the ones I dislike the most. As a writer, my biggest goal is to have every reader feel each of my characters in their bones and long after they’ve finished the book. Napolitano does this in spades. She writes every character with such dimension and depth. She’s able to tackle so many moving parts and subjects, woven throughout the history of each character.

Love, loss, depression, death, grief, redemption, anger, resentment, and the biggest of all; forgiveness. What a beautiful and intricately detailed story of family.

If I absolutely had to give a “complaint”, I would have loved to read a little more backstory from some of the supporting characters. I understand the arch of the family drama, but it was so well done I just wanted more.

Cheers to Napolitano for creating such an amazing world. She is a true writer, using such glorious detail, almost written like prose to tell this story. It has solidified its place as one of my all-time favorites. What craftsmanship.

Born and raised in Chicago, it’s a beautiful representation of one of our most beloved neighborhoods. Thank you Ann, thank you.

 

Murder Your Employer – Rupert Holmes 

Yes, you read the author’s name correctly. It’s THAT Rupert Holmes. The Piña Colada song mastermind, Rupert Holmes.

“If you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain..” Try getting that out of your head now. You’re welcome.

Despite the title, this book isn’t about how to murder your employer, we love onPeak! This story, however, does involve a school for murder. At McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, you can study the only courses offered; the art of homicide and the only requirement for graduation is successfully completing a murder.

In this witty, whodunnit, step by step guide to Murder, the entrance to being accepted to the school is give an ethical reason why you want someone “sleeping with the fishes.” You must show just causes why snuffing someone out greatly impacts the masses for the better. No, offing your neighbor because their dog pooped in your yard, is not just cause.

For those who love a good murder mystery, quick wit, odd ball characters, and all kinds of twists and turns, Holmes delivers in this amazing book. Grab a copy and learn a thing or two.

 

Adelaide – Genevieve Wheeler 

 

This book masterfully deals with unrequited love and the emotional abuse we subject ourselves to with our partners and ourselves.

Adelaide is young and in love with Rory, who gives her just enough to keep her curiosity afloat. Through this love, she accepts him and whatever he is willing to give.

Genevieve Wheeler gives a wonderful and darkly beautiful insight on what dealing with love not returned looks like and how that can enhance and create mental instability in us.

How do you hold on to a one-sided love? What breaks within us, to believe that one sided love is acceptable? How do we move on and overcome feelings we thought were so strong they might suffocate us?

The beauty of this book is that by the end, you see that Adelaide had to fight for herself. She had to work through her own mental illness, to find her way.

Love and unrequited love are hard on anyone, regardless of mental stability. Love is beautiful and fun and all consuming. It can also be devastating and gut wrenching and soul altering.

Hats off to Genevieve Wheeler for telling a story with honesty, truth, rawness, and hope.

 

by Tandrika Haynes

The summer is the best time to discover new reads.  Whether you’re on the beach or relaxing at home you can always dive into a good book.  Looking for alternative ways to read books? Here are some great apps and resources to help you with reading more books.

Libby 

This reading app gives you access to your local library right from your phone! It allows you to borrow eBooks, magazines, and even audiobooks from your local library for free!  All you need is a library card.  You can download this app to almost any mobile device.

Audible

Want to read more but don’t have time to sit and turn pages?  Audible is the leading provider of audible entertainment.  You can listen to books narrated by your favorite authors.  For a monthly fee you can listen to any book available in the library.

Goodreads

Join a community of fellow book lovers and find the books that you’ll love! This app free reads as well as options for purchase.   Just select which genres or titles you’re interested in, and it will recommend the best titles based on your preferences.  You can also connect with other book lovers for insightful recommendations.

by Robin Jones

Hey onPeakers! Hope you all had an amazing holiday!

Now that the hustle of the holiday season is over, we are all, I suspect, looking forward to sunshine, warm weather, BBQ’s and summer Fridays! For those of you who, like me, are also planters, we are coming up on this season of beautiful garden and urban planting. For the season planter and the novice, I’ve included a few tips and tricks I’ve picked up over the years, growing my indoor and outdoor plant babies! I hope this all helps you guys get your #plantlife on!

When to plant in Chicago: 

Some of you may not know this, but the US is divided up into zones. The zones measure the hardiness of plants in that specific area. Chicago is zone 6a/6b. Simply, this is used to determine what plants are best to grow in this region ( https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/

When starting my seeds for plants (flowers), my mom always used Mother’s Day as the starting point. Some wait for Memorial Day.  If going by Temperature, If I consistently see 50 degrees or more for a solid week, I will start to get my planters out.

Perennials vs Annuals:  

Perennials: Grow every spring. My favorite perennials to plant, that also do well in our zone are, Monkshood, Campanula Samantha. The coneflower, Turkish delights, Purple Swirls and lavender. Of course, there are many others as well!

Annuals: Live only for the season.  Annuals that are beautiful in Chicago are sunflowers (my absolute favorite!), snapdragons, petunias, impatiens, geraniums, and Angelonias (these last well into September for me!)

Where to buy your new plants: 

I’m always in full support of visiting your local greenhouse, but I also am conscientious of my wallet and when planning my urban oasis. I buy locally and from places like Home Depot, Lowes, and Menards. When it comes to chains, my favorite is Home Depot, as their plant gardens are extensive with great selections on all kinds of plants whether indoor or outdoor. They also have great soil and tools at great prices.

Helpful tricks: 

• Make sure to read the labels on all plants regarding sunlight and how much they need.
• Use pots with drain holes as not to create root rot (too much water)
• Coffee grounds are great to mix in with your soil (you can visit your local Starbucks and ask for their coffee grounds).
• If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me a chat/email and Happy Planting team!!