Hello from chilly north Florida. This morning was 31 F when I got up so glad I brought the plants inside and covered the others. The prediction this week are lows of 17 and low 20's so we canceled the camping trip.
Anyway, let's see what was naughty and nice this month.
Naughty 🔥
Spam / I checked the Spam folder and was suprised and sad to see many comments were sent from people I engage with all the time! Yet unwelcome spammy comments were published....So it's time to suspend automatic comment publishing again.
Not sure why Blogspot decided my friends were sent to Spam. Ugh. I hate that. Sorry guys, I was not ignoring you and plan to check that folder often hereafter.
Nice 📚
Books / I finished The Ferryman by Justin Cronin and it was ....interesting. Think of the movies The Island with a bit of Inception and a dash of Passengers. It's post apocalyptic and dystopian, very engaging in most parts. I will say I prefered Cronin's trilogy The Passage. The Ferryman has a publication date of May 2, 2023 and I was given an advanced readers copy from Netgalley. Review on Goodreads HERE.
Around the house.... 🦌
Out the back window we saw a mama deer and her fawn visiting.
Sharing with Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon
Wow. After reading your comment about all the non-spam comments you didn't know about, I checked my spam folder. Yep, there were dozens! Some going back to 2011! I went ahead and approved them, which will be weird for those who commented to see that I finally published them after all this time. Guess I'll have to start checking that folder on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I'm not sure I'll invest the time to read The Ferryman if it's not as good, or better, than The Passage series. Oh, well. It's not like I don't have enough to read already!
Stay warm and Merry Christmas!
Les, I was astounded by how many comments went to Spam and how many years they went back. I didn't approve them as some are years old but I certainly will be looking at that folder every day from now on!
DeleteI wasn't tempted to abandon The Ferryman and I honestly did like the main narrator Proctor Bennett. You will feel for him for sure.
I probably should have just ignored the old ones. I wonder if they were a glitch with Blogger and had actually been published way back when. I'm almost certain I looked at that spam folder long after 2011!
DeleteI'll give The Ferryman a try on audio. I really like Scott Brick's narration of audiobooks.
Les, let me know what you think. The main character is introduced early then it switches to him much older. Cronin has an incredible way of drawing you into this world he created.
DeleteNow I have to check my spam folder :(
ReplyDeleteI wish you and your family and of course Loki a very Blessed Christmas and New Year!
Thank you, Vicki. I wish you and yours a safe and happy Christmas as well!!
DeleteForgot to say I love Sparky! And I had no comments go to spam , thankfully!
ReplyDeleteI will tell Sparky :-)
DeleteI have the same problem with comments lately. It was better I thought but in the last week or so I've noticed long time commenters going to spam again. So ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteSparky looks awesome.
Hope you have a wonderful and merry Christmas!!
Greg, we just have to remember to check on spam regularly. I felt bad about some folks thinking I ingored them. Sparky says hello :-)
DeleteHi Sparky!
DeleteMerry Christmas to you!!!!
Blogger drives me crazy sometimes with the random stuff it does! It's going to be cold here this weekend and I'm not excited about it. I got my shopping done today and am not leaving the house for at least a week.
ReplyDeleteI'm not joining any reading challenges this year other than the Goodreads challenge. I am putting together some lists of books I want to read but I'm going to keep it relaxed. I over planned this year and started feeling some pressure to get everything read which is silly!
Katherine, today is very cold here as well. Our son has minus 40 for the wind chill but he made it to work! I think I will join yu in only keeping up with Goodreads this year. I enjoy the book challenges but I can still visit the monthly roundup pages to see new book titles.
DeleteI hope you and your lizard all have a great Christmas!
ReplyDeletebest... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thank you, Mae. Currently Sparky is comatose but I imagine we will see him about soon!
DeleteI am getting a lot of comments sent to spam as well, including some of my own. I know it's a problem a lot of us are having. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteCindy, I wish I had been aware of that spam situation earlier! Have a wonderful Christmas.
DeleteYour naughty and nice comments are clever! Wish I'd thought of something like that. I haven't noticed any spam, but I use WIX so it's a different set up. I have Ferryman too but haven't read anything else by Cronin, so don't have anything to compare it to. Wonder if I'll feel differently than you? Hope you have the merriest of holidays!
ReplyDeleteTerrie @ Bookshelf Journeys
https://www.bookshelfjourneys.com/post/sunday-post-30
Terrie, thanks so much. You know, I think a few years back I tried to set up a blog on Wix but never followed through. I like your blog layout.
DeleteFerryman wasn't a book I ever thought about putting down, I was just saying i prefered Cronin's previous books.
I started using Disqus because of problems with comments. Then I started having horrible comments appear in Disqus and I had to approve each comment for a while. Now I have marked people whose comments are automatically approved...so far it's working.
ReplyDeleteIt has been sooo cold here along the Gulf Coast of Texas. Our only option is turning off our water when it's below freezing, and that can be difficult when you have a bunch of people staying at your house. lol
Deb, I would love that feature to make auto approvals. Is that onyl on Disqus?
DeleteI imagine that would be a nightmare to have people over and no water availble. We are still without water and have reported it to the utilities. Ugh.
It's been cold in my part of Florida this weekend too. I've been getting many spam messages from frequent commentors, and some go back as far as 2010. I don't know what's going on. I hope it straightens out. Merry Christmas! Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteYvonne, I have started checking my spam folder daily now. It's another step but at least I won't be ignoring anyone. Hope you get warm weather soon!
DeleteMerry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteI’m sorry you had to cancel your camping trip, I hope you can reschedule soon.
Wishing you a wonderful week!
Thanks, Shelleyrae. It was too cold to be outside that much. We have currently lost water at home - yikes!
DeleteBlogger is being a real PITA these days. I am also getting stuff in spam that doesn't belong. And I am having to comment as Anonymous or else flip to an incognito screen as Blogger doesn't recognize me anymore!!
ReplyDeleteIt has been very cold here too but we have no snow.
Comment 2 - well, it's a good thing I copied my above comment because it wouldn't let me comment without going incognito!
Jackie, I agree about the blogger features these days. It's frustrating.
DeleteThat's a bummer about the canceled camping trip.
ReplyDeleteHow fun to watch Sparky in the old stump!
Hope you had a Merry Christmas!
Thanks, Jinjer. I didn't mind being home though as I have an oven and more options for cooking. I love watching Sparky!
DeleteBeautiful deer! I'm not a big reptile fan but if they don't freak you out, it's cool that Sparky is used to your presence.
ReplyDeleteI've had two people tell me they can't even find my comment box in WordPress so I sympathize with your problem. Every time I look, my comment box is there and seems to be working so I'm just leaving things alone until I get some more concrete feedback. I'll try to ask in my next post.
I read The Passage and keep intending to read the next book in the trilogy but at this point, I would have to re-read the first one. It's such a chunkster, I don't know if I'll ever do that.
I'm sorry you had to cancel your camping trip!
Enjoy your week!
Jen, we get small lizards (not like Sparky's variety) in the house sometimes. Once it gets warm they come in somehow and it's hard to catch them to toss them out. Once I came away with only a tail as it ran free!
DeleteSome WP blogs have me looking for the comment box too but I can find it on yours :-) Agreed that Cronin writes big fat books. Ferryman was certainly long.
That lizard is so cute! How fun you have a friendly lizard visitor. Awww. Beautiful fawn as well. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year as well this weekend. I've wanted to read The passage trilogy but haven't gotten to it. Sounds like The Ferryman will be interesting too.
ReplyDeleteHeather, thanks so much. It was an interesting chritsmas, we had water go out. Otherwise it was great and I love seeing the wildlife roaming about here.
Delete