This week I am reviewing The One Kingdom: Book One of the Swans’ War by Sean Russell which is not the next book I listed in my last review of On the Beach.It has been a year since my last review and I wanted to review it while it was fresh in my mind. I found The One Kingdom while I was packing up to move and it called out to me so I knew I had to read it immediately. Do books call out to you like that too? When I was much younger I used to go to the library and run my fingers along the books until one called out to me and then read that one and most of the time the book hit the spot I needed to itch immediately.

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I do not remember when I bought this book but it looks like it came out in 2001 and is now out of print. I am finding that a lot of books I bought around this time are now out of print or hard to find so I will link the Kindle version which is available with this link: The One Kingdom. You can probably find it and the other two books in the trilogy at the library or a used book store. I am not going to give these away since it looks like they may be hard to find elsewhere.

This book is a fantasy book set in another realm where there was a past war that current groups of people are still grappling with. Intrigue, succession, plotting and even cold blooded murder are afoot in this book as we follow three friends from a small hard to reach village as they travel down the river which twists and turns and takes them down paths both known and unknown. On their way they meet a mysterious stranger who changes their lives forever.

I will not say much more about the plot except that it is exceptionally well written and I loved reading it another time through. I had completely forgotten about these books as they were in boxes from my big move over a decade ago but I am definitely going to finish the series now that I have started it. They are so well written and the plot is unique from other fantasy books with a similar premise. I highly recommend them! If you want to know more about the author, Sean Russell I did find a link to their website that outlines some of their other works listed below.

Sean Russell Website

A little late, but our next book will be: Bringing up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman

Resources:

The One Kingdom by Sean Russell

Book Review: On the Beach by Nevil Shute

Rereading Books Before I Give Them Away Part 1

When I created my post about rereading books kept in storage for too many years I wasn’t sure whether I would actually have time to read the books on my list. My post “Rereading Books Before I Give Them Away Part 1” was an attempt to get started with a small pile of books from the many boxes in storage since our move eight years ago. I reluctantly started “Pearl Cove” by Elizabeth Lowell and it was hard for me to get back into reading it but once I got going I remembered how much I love this book.

This site participates in affiliate links and receives a small fee for affiliate recommendations at no cost to you. As always we only recommend products we have tried ourselves. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

“Pearl Cove” is a typical action adventure romance novel set in the Pacific surrounding a murder at a pearl farm. This is the third book in the series and I have no idea where I bought it or why I haven’t read the first two books but I will definitely look at my library to see if they have the first two. I may even purchase them from a second hand store if I like them, but I am not sure yet. I am supposed to be narrowing down my collection right?

The book is set in both Australia and Seattle focusing on the pearl trade and the murder of the creator of a rumored rare black rainbow pearl that is highly coveted. I will whole heartedly admit that I knew nothing of pearls before reading these books, or that Seattle had a pearl district. I have not yet done any research into the pearl trade in Seattle but I will tell you that this book gave me more respect for the humble pearl as a piece of jewelry. There are enough facts about pearl growing in this book to keep it interesting and the plot behind the pearls fits really well with the story. It does make me wonder more about the pearl trade in general and if more modern technologies have made pearl seeding easier.  A quick google search did reveal that black rainbow pearls are a real thing and that they are beautiful. The would fit in very well with our Midnight Rainbow aesthetic over at Oscoey Shop.

As far as the plot of the book goes, it fits in with a fairly standard romance novel, but I feel like I am missing quite a bit of back story by not reading the first two books. I am going to read the first two books before I comment on any of the continuity between them but from what I understand, the main characters Archer Donovan and Hannah McGarry in this book have previously met in another book. Hannah was married to Archer’s deceased half-brother which provides some conflict in their relationship. Their relationship in this book is strained and then magically better after a misunderstanding is cleared up which I feel is pretty typical of romance novels.

Overall I liked both Archer and Hannah but I felt like their characters could have had more depth. I am not sure though if that was because I didn’t read the first two books or if it was to keep the book at a shorter length. There was some macho man behavior going on with Archer but honestly this time around it didn’t bother me nearly as much as when I was reading Ecotopia. With romance novels I come to expect that sort of writing much more than with a more serious piece like Ecotopia.

I am not sure if I would recommend these books or not. I know that is kind of a cop out but I really feel like I should read the first two before passing any judgement so this review will be pretty short. I did not realize this was a romance novel when I added it to my list. My memories were more of the action/adventure parts of the book, of which there is plenty, but be fair warned this is technically a romance novel. I would definitely recommend starting with the first book in the series, “Amber Beach“, if you want a more complete read but as it is, “Pearl Cove” does stand alone as a great read!

Stay tuned for our next book review from our list, An Inconvenient Woman by Dominick Dunne.

Links:

Pearl Cove by Elizabeth Lowell

An Inconvenient Woman by Dominick Dunne

Rereading Books Before I Give Them Away Part 1

Book Review: Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach

We continued to work on our grocery budget for August 2022 with a goal of $600. I wasn’t sure if we could make it this month but we came closer than last month at $709.79. We definitely ate better this month and a large chunk of our spending towards the end of the month was on fresh fruits and veggies. We also looked at the sale ads for the last week of September and found quite a few items that were on super sale that we bought while the price was good and that put us over budget. For August we also had over $100 worth of groceries we bought the last couple of days of July due to sales that I counted towards our August budget so that contributed to our overage as well. Overall I am pretty happy with our progress. We came closer and since we didn’t utilize the free school lunches at all this month $700 seems reasonable for our family of four with one adult child out of the house.

This site participates in affiliate links and receives a small fee for affiliate recommendations at no cost to you. As always we only recommend products we have tried ourselves. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

As you can see, we had one big Costco run mid-month and several smaller trips throughout the month. This seemed to work for us and we may try it again for September but we are out of a lot of things, including items needed for school lunches starting the second week of September so I am not sure if the timing will work out. We are continuing to be mindful of our spending and I am going to set our grocery budget at $600 again for September 2022.

We started out our August grocery spending in July with a quick trip to Target. I needed to go for a couple of key items and get gas which is right next to the Target we go to and I always try and group my trips together to save on gas and time. We buy most of our gas at Costco and I do not enjoy sitting in the line for the pump so if I am in the area during the week I will get gas then instead of on the weekend.

For our second grocery haul of August we went to Costco for a couple of fresh items and to take advantage of the last day of the sale. We bought a bunch of pork shoulder to grind into sausage, some milk and other staple items.

For our third grocery store trip in August we went to Grocery Outlet for some great deals. Grocery Outlet is one of my favorite places to hunt for bargains like the $0.50 cinnamon rolls we found this trip.

After our Grocery Outlet trip we didn’t go to the store until the 11th for a major Costco haul. We bought a lot of basics, fresh produce and some meat to last us. This was the last of the popsicle type ice cream we are buying this year. We typically don’t eat ice cream or popsicles after Labor Day unless one of us is sick. I usually use the ZOKU (linked here) to make popsicles with whatever juice or Gatorade we have lying around when we are sick or buy a pack of Outshine bars.

After our Costco run I did not film any of our small grocery hauls this month. I injured my ankle and was on strict orders from the doctor to stay off it completely for at least a week so my husband did all of the small grocery shopping trips. I ended up needing closer to two and it is better now but I still am not back up to full speed. My goal for September is to keep up on the small hauls with the channel, even if I film short snippets and compile them at the end of the week.

We did end up digging up potatoes from the garden multiple times over the past few weeks and they were delicious! I have been trying to stay ahead of the squirrels digging them up but we have gotten a few pounds worth so far which is fabulous. I am totally digging them up earlier than they should be but I love small potatoes best. I did plant a few more that I found in my pantry so maybe we will have another set in late September if the weather holds, or later if not. I am always up for experimenting with potatoes in the garden. They are my favorite vegetable to harvest since it is always a surprise!

Overall we did pretty well at keeping our groceries to a minimum. I am not sure how September will go. My goal is to eat through what we have. As I mentioned in my Fridge and Freezer Recap from this Monday the 29th, I am waffling between doing a pantry cleanout and a freezer cleanout. What do you think we should focus on? Let me know in the comments below and until next month, happy shopping!

Links:

Reusable Grocery Bags – Seriously these are the best. I wash them all the time and they have lasted several years.

ZOKU Instant Popsicle Maker

July 2022 Final Grocery Spending