The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 3-10-24

Posted on March 10, 2024March 9, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

First, the BIG NEWS! The week of April 1-5, Reading Reality will be celebrating its “LUCKY” 13th Blogo-Birthday. If you’re new to these pages, you might be wondering what a “Blogo-Birthday” could be. It’s simple, really. Reading Reality dropped its very first post on April 4, 2011 – thirteen years ago. My own birthday is April 5, making the portmanteau word “Blogo-Birthday” as its both the Thirteenth Blogoversary AND my birthday.

It’s a celebration all week long, and I’ll be giving things away (books and/or gift cards to places that sell books – or both) every day that week. Please come and celebrate with me!

In other news, news that’s kind of big. Or at least Tuna is kind of big. The Big Tuna finally figured out that YES! he can fit through the cat flap to the catio. So he’s on the left in this pic, while George is sitting very handsomely on the right. They’ve also become buddies all of a sudden, which is wonderful – although it is a bit startling when the two of them come hurtling through a room in full chase mode as they are 14 pounds of cat EACH!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Lady Luck Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Winter 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

A- #BookReview: Murder at the Merton Library by Andrea Penrose
B #BookReview: That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human by Kimberly Lemming
A+ #BookReview: The Truth of the Aleke by Moses Ose Utomi
B #BookReview: The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
A- #BookReview: The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
Stacking the Shelves (591)

Coming This Week:

The Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis (#BookReview)
These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein (Joint #BookReview with Amy Daltry)
A Midnight Puzzle by Gigi Pandian (#AudioBookReview)
Fury Brothers: Burn by Anna Hackett (#BookReview)
The Graveyard of the Hesperides by Lindsey Davis (#BookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (591)

Posted on March 9, 2024March 9, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

A bigger stack this week than the last several. That’s how it goes!

The prettiest cover feels like a tie between The Scent of Hours and Truly Madly Magically. I think they are both pretty just not in the same way – which makes it more difficult to judge. The book that’s making my curiosity bump itch is Lost to Eternity – because it’s a followup to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (AKA “the one with the whales”) and I LOVED that movie.The book I’m looking most forward to is Passions in Death by J.D. Robb. I always look forward to the next In Death book because I need to find out how all my peeps are doing!

secret that is not a secret by jay michaelson

For Review:
Burn (Fury Brothers #3) by Anna Hackett
Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner
The Forbidden Daughter by Zipora Klein Jakob
Gaytheist by Lonnie Mann and Ryan Gatts
The Holocaust by Dan Stone
Jack Ruby by Danny Fingeroth
Lost to Eternity (Star Trek: The Original Series) by Greg Cox
The Lost Van Gogh by Jonathan Santlofer
Passions in Death (In Death #59) by J.D. Robb
The Scent of Hours by Barbara O’Neal
The Secret That Is Not a Secret by Jay Michaelson
Truly Madly Magically (Witchlore #3) by Hazel Beck
You’ll Never Find Me (Angelhart Investigations #1) by Allison Brennan

Purchased from Amazon/Audible/Etc.:
Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page

Please link your STS post in the linky below:

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 3-3-24

Posted on March 3, 2024March 2, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

I was in a murder-y mood again this week, so I pulled a couple of mysteries out of the virtually towering TBR pile to read until it passes. Also, the next book in the Wrexford & Sloane series, Murder at King’s Crossing, just popped up on Edelweiss and in yesterday’s Stacking the Shelves post, so it seemed like that might be a hint to catch up with the previous book in the series.

I couldn’t resist this shot of Luna artfully posing in the center of the gaming pillow. Lucifer likes to sit ON the pillow while the pillow is sitting around someone’s lap, but Luna has clearly found a much more artistic use for the thing. (BTW, if you are a gamer the pillow is surprisingly helpful. It gives you something to balance your arms and hands on while you’re playing and keeps you from leaning forward too far and messing up your back. A cat sitting on the pillow right in front of you makes it even more difficult to lean over too far – and the cat gets extra pets into the bargain!)

Coming This Week:

Murder at the Merton Library by Andrea Penrose (#BookReview)
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human by Kimberly Lemming (#BookReview)
The Graveyard of the Hesperides by Lindsey Davis (#BookReview)
The Truth of the Aleke by Moses Ose Utomi (#BookReview)
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed (#BookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (590)

Posted on March 2, 2024February 29, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

A bit of a short stack this week, not helped by cutting things off a day early to get stuff done AND the books that don’t have cover art yet.

between dragons and their wrath by devin madson

murder at kings crossing by andrea penrose

For Review:
Asunder by Kerstin Hall
Between Dragons and Their Wrath (Shattered Kingdom #1) by Devin Madson
A Jewel in the Crown (Secret Churchill Files #1) by David Lewis
The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
Murder at King’s Crossing (Wrexford & Sloane #8) by Andrea Penrose

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page

Please link your STS post in the linky below:

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 2-25-24

Posted on February 25, 2024February 24, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Today’s picture may be George at the vet, but George isn’t the cat who actually went to the vet this weekend. That would be Mr. Lucifer, who gets a shot every month to help him with his arthritis – along with a claw trim because he’s not doing that job nearly well enough himself in his senior years. And he’s a sweet old man and doesn’t protest at all when the vet does it – although he probably would mightily if we did.

George was actually FINE during this visit – he just believes that he’s been betrayed because he got taken in and wasn’t happy about it. Neither was the vet because George is so salty and spicy at the vet’s that they need to drug him to do the exam. George is just a LOT and has a lot of sharp and pointy bits to protest with when he wants to. Lucifer, at this point in his life, just can’t be bothered.

Speaking of things that should be bothered with this week, the Love is in the Air Giveaway Hop ends TOMORROW! and the Wish Big Giveaway Hop ends on Thursday – just in time for the Lady Luck Giveaway Hop to begin on Friday.

Believe it or not – and I’m having a bit of trouble believing it myself – Friday is the first day of MARCH. It feels like this year is already flying by. Also flying by, the number of years that Reading Reality has been part of my life – and hopefully yours as well. Reading Reality’s Lucky 13th Blogo-Birthday Celebration Week begins one month from Friday, on April 1, 2024. Time really does fly when you’re having fun!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Love is in the Air Giveaway Hop (ENDS TOMORROW!!!!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Wish Big Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Winter 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

Presidents’ Day 2024 (Guest Post by Galen)
B #BookReview: Village in the Dark by Iris Yamashita
A- #BookReview: The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
Grade A #BookReview: The Lantern’s Dance by Laurie R. King
B #AudioBookReview: Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux
Stacking the Shelves (589)

Coming This Week:

Always Remember by Mary Balogh (#BookReview)
Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge (#Blogtour #BookReview)
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett (#BookReview)
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum (#BookReview)
Lady Luck Giveaway Hop

Stacking the Shelves (589)

Posted on February 24, 2024February 23, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

An interesting batch of covers that should be twice as big, but half the books I picked up this week don’t have cover art yet! So what you see is not exactly what I got.

This is another eclectic batch of covers as well, particularly House of Open Wounds with its extremely busy cover. Then again, based on the first entry in its series, City of Last Chances, I suspect that cover is a case of ‘truth in advertising’ and that it will be an extremely busy book as well! Although at the time I reviewed City of Last Chances for Library Journal it read as if it was a standalone. Before I read the second book, I’m planning to go back and listen to the audio to try and figure out what clues I missed.

she who knows firespitter by nnedi okorafor

house of open wounds by adrian tchaikovsky

ghosts of honolulu by mark harmon and leon carroll

For Review:
A Body at the Dance Hall (London Ladies’ Murder Club #3) by Marty Wingate
Death on the Tiber (Flavia Albia #12) by Lindsey Davis
Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
Januaries by Olivie Blake
She Who Knows: Firespitter by Nnedi Okorafor

Purchased from Amazon/Audible/Etc.:
The Book of Phoenix (Who Fears Death #0) by Nnedi Okorafor (ebook and audio)
House of Open Wounds (Tyrant Philosophers #2) by Adrian Tchaikovsky (ebook and audio)

Borrowed from the Library:
Ghosts of Honolulu by Mark Harmon and Leon Carroll

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page

Please link your STS post in the linky below:

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 2-18-24

Posted on February 18, 2024February 17, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

This week has definitely better. I finally stopped feeling like all I was full of was snot sometime late last Sunday. Clearly, it’s better to be full of piss and vinegar than snot, because you get more done that way. But c’est la vie, it is what it is, etc., etc., etc. The hurrieder I go, the behindeder I get. I’m working on it.

This past week’s books were all just really, really good. I can’t wait to see what this coming week’s books bring, particularly as I’ve been chomping at the virtual bit to dig into The Lantern’s Dance. I remember listening to the first book in the series, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, OMG THIRTY YEARS AGO, and thinking that the concept really shouldn’t work, but damned if it didn’t anyway. And it still does. Does it ever!

Last week’s picture was of Tuna’s sister, Luna, in more-or-less the same upside-down-kitty-face position. (They are biological and not merely adopted siblings from the same litter. You can kind of see the resemblance around the eyes and face although there’s certainly a lot more of Tuna to love.) When Tuna actually posed for me a few days ago, I couldn’t resist snapping him in the same position before he woke up enough to figure out what I was doing. Doesn’t he look winsome as well as handsome?

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Love is in the Air Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Wish Big Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Winter 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Heart 2 Heart Giveaway Hop is Angela

Blog Recap:

A+ #BookReview: The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older
Grade A #BookReview: The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow
A- #BookReview: At First Spite by Olivia Dade
A- #AudioBookReview: What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher
Wish Big Giveaway Hop
Stacking the Shelves (588)

Coming This Week:

Presidents’ Day 2024 (#GuestPost by Galen)
Village in the Dark by Iris Yamashita (#BlogTour #BookReview)
The Lantern’s Dance by Laurie R. King (#BookReview)
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai (#BookReview)
Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux (#BlogTour #AudioBookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (588)

Posted on February 17, 2024February 16, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

This week’s covers fall into two categories. Either they’re really pretty or they’re just pretty weird, and not much in the middle. As much as I can’t resist a library, I think the prettiest covers are Daughter of the Merciful Deep and The God and the Gumiho, although I could certainly understand if someone liked Lady Eve’s Last Con better than either. As far as weird goes, well, I was already headed down an internet rabbit hole when I spotted Centaur and Sensibility and decided “what the heck” because seriously, WTF?

After having said all of that the book in this stack I’ve been most looking forward to is the next Gamache book by Louise Penny, The Grey Wolf. Nineteen books in and that series is STILL awesome.

daughter of the merciful deep by leslye penelope

annual migration of clouds by premee mohamed audio

For Review:
Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi
Daughter of the Merciful Deep by Leslye Penelope
The God and the Gumiho (Fate’s Thread #1) by Sophie Kim
The Grey Wolf (Chief Inspector Gamache #19) by Louise Penny
Lady Eve’s Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow
The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan

Purchased from Amazon/Audible/Etc.:
The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed (ebook and audio)
Centaur and Sensibility (Regency Bestiary for Fine Ladies and Gentlemen #1) by Quenby Olson
Manticore Park (Regency Bestiary for Fine Ladies and Gentlemen #2) by Quenby Olson

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page

Please link your STS post in the linky below:

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 2-11-24

Posted on February 11, 2024February 10, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

I’m at the stage of this cold where I think I’m going to feel better in the morning. And I kinda do, but not nearly enough. So it’s another drippy day here at Chez Reading Reality – and I’m NOT referring to the weather.

It doesn’t help at all that when either of the humans in the house sneeze, ALL the cats jump and run away. If one happens to be the trampoline upon which said jump takes place, the whole operation is less than fun for everyone.

Although, speaking of fun, that’s a picture of a lazy Luna lounging on the gaming chair. It’s a VERY comfy chair. Someone should be getting the benefit of it!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Heart 2 Heart Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Love is in the Air Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Winter 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

B- #BookReview: The Holy Terrors by Simon R. Green
B #BookReview: A Murder of Crows by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett
A+ #BookReview: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
B+ #BookReview: A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen
Love is in the Air Giveaway Hop
Stacking the Shelves (587)

Coming This Week:

The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older #BookReview
The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow #BookReview
At First Spite by Olivia Dade #BookReview
What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher #AudioBookReview
Wish Big Giveaway Hop

Stacking the Shelves (587)

Posted on February 10, 2024February 9, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

How is it that something that is so ubiquitous it is literally called ‘the common cold’ manages to make a person feel so uncommonly miserable with so little warning? You’d think I’d get plenty of reading done while I’m sniffling and coughing, but looking down to read just makes everything worse. I think it’s finally on its way out, but it feels like it’s taking twice as long to leave as it did to arrive.

Yuck. And I repeat. YUCK.

Something definitely not yucky that I participate in every year is serving on one of the American Library Association’s adult book awards committees. This year it’s the Sophie Brody Medal Committee, which administers “an award to the U.S. author of the most distinguished contribution to Jewish literature (fiction and/or non-fiction) for adults published in the United States” published during the year. In this particular case, published during the year 2024.

Being on one of the ALA book award committees, whichever committee it happens to be in a given year, does influence which books I pick up from NetGalley and Edelweiss, and boxes of books show up at my front door on a regular basis. So the titles that may be under consideration will appear in my stacks, but won’t be noted as such, and this is the last time I’ll mention the committee until the winner(s) are officially announced in January 2025. Which seems like a lifetime from now and already too damn close, both at the same time.