New Year New You Giveaway Hop

Posted on January 1, 2024December 31, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blog Hops> Giveaways> New Year New You Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the New Year, New You Giveaway Hop, hosted by Mama the Fox!

2023 kind of just zipped by, didn’t it? Some years seem interminable – I’m trying so damn hard not to think of 2020 because YEESH that was a year I hope we never revisit – while others, like this year just passed – seemingly pass in the blink of an eye.

It’s been a good year here at Chez Reading Reality. There have been good books (as evidenced by last week’s Best Books list). Everyone is well and as happy as we all can be. Even George and Lucifer who had their regular vet checks over the weekend. (They even seem to have forgiven us for the whole capture and car trip thing.)

Looking ahead to this year, April 4, 2024 will be the OMG THIRTEENTH Anniversary of Reading Reality’s first post back in 2011. So, in the hopes that 13 will be lucky instead of unlucky, I’ll be trying something new – or new for Reading Reality, at least – starting with this very post.

I’ve had an Instagram account for a while, but haven’t gotten into it. I’m still more about the words than I am about the pictures. But in the wake of this year’s inanity and insanity at the service formerly known as Twitter, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see X go to a pay for play option. Not that there aren’t plenty of other reasons to get the hell out of that particular Dodge already.

So Instagram, or rather, Bookstagram, is my plan B for Reading Reality’s outreach. We’ll see how it’s all turned out, this time next year.

Happy New Year!

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For more fabulous celebratory prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on this hop!

MamatheFox and all participating blogs are not held responsible for sponsors who fail to fulfill their prize obligations.

Winter 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Posted on December 21, 2023March 14, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Winter 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop, hosted by It Starts At Midnight and Versatileer!

Once upon a time, this was the Month of Books Giveaway Hop, now it’s the Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop, with the hops starting on the days the seasons change. Today is the first official day of Winter no matter whether or not it’s cold and/or snowy where you are. I’m in Atlanta so the leaves that are going to fall finally have, which gives the cats a much better view of the wildlife that comes up into our backyard from the creek.

But the question this season is the same question it’s always been for one of these particular hops. What book or books are you most looking forward to this season?

I’m never looking forward to just one thing when it comes to books. Here are a few that are at the top of my list for this winter of 2023/2024:

The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older
The Lantern’s Dance by Laurie R. King
The Missing Witness by Allison Brennan
The Night Island by Jayne Ann Krentz
Random in Death by J.D. Robb

What about you? What books are you most looking forward to this fall? Answer in the rafflecopter for your choice of either a $10 Amazon Gift Card or $10 in books so you can get one or two of the books on your list!

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For more wonderful winter prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on this hop!

Let It Snow Giveaway Hop

Posted on December 7, 2023December 6, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Let It Snow Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Let It Snow Giveaway Hop, hosted by The Mommy Island & The Kids Did It!

Here we are at the second giveaway hop for the month and we already have another earworm! (There’s one more hop coming this month and I’m VERY happy to say that it won’t be poking me in the ear or brain afterwards, as two songs stuck in my head are definitely enough!)

The song this time around, the holiday favorite “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” was so irresistible that it was recorded by not just one but two members of the Rat Pack back in the day – Frank Sinatra in 1950 and Dean Martin in 1959, as well as Jessica Simpson in 2004, the cast of Glee in 2011 and Michael Bublé in 2021. The song has clearly been around and gotten around.

Which isn’t really a surprise because it’s a light and bubbly little song and has the virtue of being utterly non-denominational while still managing to be totally associated with Christmas at the same time. Which makes a great deal of sense, as it was written in July in 1945 during a heat wave, in an attempt by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne to imagine being somewhere considerably cooler than they actually were.

It’s what humans do, after all, wish that it were warm when we’re cold, wish that it was cool when we’re warm. It’s kind of why we ended up in Atlanta. We’re just far enough north to experience all four seasons, but the winters usually JUST get cold enough to remind us why we’re happy not to get the full experience of the season that we did in Anchorage and Chicago.

And everyone is usually pretty happy to see the rare snowfall here, because it stays just long enough to look pretty – and then it’s gone!

What about you? Are you happy to “let it snow”? Or would you rather “let it go” and be someplace sunny?

Tell us how you feel for a chance at our usual holiday prize – and all year ’round – the winner’s choice of a $10 Amazon Gift Card or $10 in books.

Happy Holidays!

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Let yourself have a chance for more wintry prizes by heading over to the other stops on this hop!

Holly Jolly Giveaway Hop

Posted on December 1, 2023November 29, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Holly Jolly Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Holly Jolly Giveaway Hop, hosted by Mama the Fox!

The theme of this hop always gives me an EPIC earworm of Burl Ives singing that holiday favorite, “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas”. You probably remember it too, if not that original version, than one of the many covers, including Alan Jackson, Jerrod Niemann, Lady Antebellum and the second most popular version after the original, the one by Michael Bublé.

I wouldn’t say that “Holly Jolly Christmas” is my favorite holiday song – I’m not sure I even have a favorite. What about you? What’s your favorite holiday song? Answer in the rafflecopter – even if your personal fave is “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” – for a chance at Reading Reality’s usual prize, the winner’s choice of a $10 Amazon Gift Card (possibly to get more holiday music!) or up to $10 in books.

Happy Holidays!

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For more jolly prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on this hop!

MamatheFox and all participating blogs are not held responsible for sponsors who fail to fulfill their prize obligations.

In All Things Give Thanks Giveaway Hop

Posted on November 16, 2023November 15, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blog Hops> Giveaways> In All Things Give Thanks Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the In All Things Give Thanks Giveaway Hop, hosted by Mama the Fox!

Hopefully, we all have things to be thankful for this holiday season! In our house, we’re thankful that everybody’s healthy, we have all the things we need and just enough of the things we want to make life run more-or-less smoothly. Or at least as smoothly as five cats in the house allow it to be.

Looking back at my post this time two years ago for this same hop I was looking forward to our then upcoming bathroom remodel. Last year I was lamenting the sudden discombobulation of one minor bit of said remodel. This year I’m just thankful that things are one an even keel and all is well at Chez Reading Reality this holiday season.

I am also thankful for each and every one of you who drop in on Reading Reality from time to time, and especially those who follow and comment. Thank you everyone!

What about you? Is there anything special in progress or coming up that you are particularly thankful for? Answer in the rafflecopter for a chance at the usual Reading Reality prize, the winner’s choice of a $10 Amazon Gift Card or $10 in books.

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For more festive seasonal prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on this hop!

MamatheFox and all participating blogs are not held responsible for sponsors who fail to fulfill their prize obligations.

Super Stocking Stuffer Giveaway Hop

Posted on November 9, 2023November 8, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Super Stocking Stuffer Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Super Stocking Stuffer Giveaway Hop, hosted by The Mommy Island & The Kids Did It!

Does it feel early to you? I mean, the whole idea of holiday stockings, stuffed or otherwise? I know it’s time to be thinking about what to stuff in said stockings, but it still feels early to me. Or perhaps it’s just that this year feels like it’s gone by very, very fast.

Thanksgiving will be over by the time this hop ends, and the Xmas Carol onslaught will be in full swing – if it isn’t already. THAT already feels way too early, and like it’s going to go on way too long. But it’s already started just the same. Along with signs advertising for Xmas Tree Lighting Installation. (I wonder if those services offer a discount for folks who need their Halloween decorations taken down and their Xmas Lights put up at the same time?)

But this hop is about the stockings, and the stuffing thereof. What would you like to see in yours this holiday season?

Answer in the rafflecopter for your chance at the usual Reading Reality prize, the winner’s choice of a $10 Amazon Gift Card or $10 in books.

Seasons Greetings and Happy Holidays!

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For more prizes to stuff in your stocking, be sure to enter the other stops on this hop!

Thanks a Latte Giveaway Hop

Posted on November 1, 2023October 30, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Thanks a Latte Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Thanks a Latte Giveaway Hop, hosted by Mama the Fox!

The names of a lot of giveaway hops are pretty cute, but this one is an especially important pun on no matter how you flavor it!

There’s the easy and obvious first interpretation – without which a lot of us, including moi, don’t have enough spoons to figure out the second meaning. That would be the thanks for the latte, or any form of caffeine that gets us through the day. My personal latte of choice is Chai Latte, yours may be something more coffee flavored.

But the more important message of this hop is that it provides an opportunity for me to thank you, my readers, not just a latte but absolutely a whole LOT for visiting Reading Reality and following along on my reading journey.

Thank you so very much for being here, reading my reviews, commenting when the mood strikes you, and for loving the Sunday cat pictures.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled giveaway. Answer the question in the rafflecopter about your favorite flavor of latte for a chance at the usual Reading Reality prize, the winner’s choice of a $10 Amazon Gift Card or up to $10 in books!

And THANKS!

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For more terrific prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on this hop!

MamatheFox and all participating blogs are not held responsible for sponsors who fail to fulfill their prize obligations.

Silly Pumpkins Giveaway Hop

Posted on October 16, 2023October 15, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Silly Pumpkins Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Silly Pumpkins Giveaway Hop, hosted by Mama the Fox!

Notice that the pumpkin in the hop image isn’t a silly pumpkin at all? That’s because silly is in the eye of the beholder. Which leaves it to me to show you one very silly pumpkin:

I think he’s silly because he has FEETS. He’s adorable, but pumpkins can’t walk. Still, FEETS. (On a cat, they are feets and not feet, at least according to The Highly Scientific Anatomy of a Cat – and I’m sticking to that interpretation!

Admittedly, your own personal image of a silly pumpkin might be a bit more like this:

What a great big toothless smile that pumpkin has on its face! So cute!

Whatever lurks in your imagination under the phrase ‘silly pumpkin’, the giveaway for this hop is not imaginary at all. Answer the question in the rafflecopter for your chance at one of Reading Reality’s usual prizes, the winner’s choice of either a $10 Amazon Gift Card or $10 in Books. It might be enough for a couple of pumpkins to carve – or even a book about pumpkin carving!

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For more spooky and/or silly prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on this hop!

MamatheFox and all participating blogs are not held responsible for sponsors who fail to fulfill their prize obligations.

Howl-O-Ween Giveaway Hop

Posted on October 5, 2023October 4, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Howloween Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Howl-o-ween Giveaway Hop, hosted by The Mommy Island & The Kids Did It!

It’s that time of year, again. Fall is most definitely fell, and spooky season is on its way! The new neighbors front yard is already fully tricked out as a haunted graveyard!

There have been a whole bunch of September 30 vs. October 1 memes out there. Most of the ones I’ve seen feature the witches from Hocus Pocus, which I’ve never seen. (That’s probably some sort of sacrilege, I KNOW!) But since I have not seen that movie, here’s a similar themed meme that I most definitely have seen, and still love:

I love how the difference is in their attitudes instead of their costumes or appearance. They’re just so BORED with us all until Halloween season, and then WOW!

Although I remember the original Addams Family TV series, and it was a whole lot of fun, Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston as Gomez and Morticia in the 1990s movies (how time flies!) are still my favorites. What about you? What’s your favorite creepy, spooky or Halloween-themed book, TV series or movie? Answer in the rafflecopter for your chance at our usual giveaway prize, the winner’s choice of a $10 Amazon Gift Card or $10 in books.

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For more creepy and spooky prizes, be sure to visit the other stops on this hop!

Fall Seasons of Books 2023 Giveaway Hop

Posted on September 25, 2023September 24, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Fall Seasons of Books 2023 Giveaway Hop, hosted by It Starts At Midnight and Versatileer!

Once upon a time, this was the Month of Books Giveaway Hop, now it’s the Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop, with the hops starting on the days the seasons change. Today is actually the THIRD day of Fall no matter what it looks like where you are. I’m in Atlanta so the leaves have started falling and the cats are FASCINATED!

But the question this season is the same question it’s always been for one of these particular hops. What book or books are you most looking forward to this season?

I’m never looking forward to just one thing when it comes to books. Here are a few that are at the top of my list for this fall of 2023: