The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 4-20-25

Today is Easter Sunday, so Happy Easter to all who celebrate. If you’re still chasing Easter Eggs, then a Hoppy Easter to you as well.

Reading-wise, this was certainly a good week, with A++ rated A Drop of Corruption edging out the merely A+ rated Who Will Remember for book of the week. The one and only negative thing about either book is that there is not any currently available word on the next book in either series. Inquiring minds desperately need to know!

I think I’m sure about what’s coming this week, even though that statement feels a bit like, “I think I can, I think I can.” I’ve faffed around with two of the slots, and re-faffed, and fluffed a bit, and I think this is it. The order is absolutely subject to change, however.

Turning to other orders, or at least to someone looking like they are giving orders, today’s cat picture had to be split in two to fit, but I promise that this began its life as one single picture. We call this one, “Three cats working, one cat supervising.” Somebody found a bug. Everyone had to watch the bug and stare at the bug and poke at the poor, frightened, tiny little bug. Except Hecate. Her job is not to catch the bug. Her job is clearly to supervise the other cats because they might be doing it wrong.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Rain Drops on Roses Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Spring, March Madness, Earth Month and Mother’s Day Giveaway Event!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Honey Bunny Giveaway Hop is Elizabeth

Blog Recap:

A++ #BookReview: A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
B #BookReview: Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman
Rain Drops on Roses Giveaway Hop
B #BookReview: A Fellowship of Bakers and Magic by J. Penner
A+ #BookReview: Who Will Remember by C.S. Harris
Stacking the Shelves (649)

Coming This Week:

Shadow of the Solstice by Anne Hillerman (#BookReview)
Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd (#BookReview)
A Gentleman’s Murder by Christopher Huang (#BookReview)
Single Player by Tara Tai (#BookReview)
Down in the Sea of Angels by Khan Wong (#AudioBookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 4-13-25

Spring has certainly sprung on the holiday front, as Passover began yesterday at sunset and ends at sunset next sunday, April 20, which is also Easter Sunday. Mother’s Day can’t be far behind!

One thing that is behind is this year’s Blogo-Birthday Celebration Week. All the winners of all the giveaways have been notified. Thanks again to each and every one of you for participating in the Celebration! I hope to see you all again next year. Bring your friends to the party!

As a side note, I’ve discovered something interesting about the way that Rafflecopter works. If I merely ask for participants in the giveaway to comment on the post, somehow I get literally TENS OF THOUSANDS of entries – most of which are not legit. If I ask for participants to answer a question, I don’t get as many actual comments. But I also get a considerably more reasonable number of participants and they’re all REAL. C’est la vie.

Today’s cat picture is Hecate, being just a bit contemplative. This is a particularly good picture of her little face and does an excellent job of showing off her pretty golden eyes. She’s also just a bit on the defensive, as she’s stolen my chair!

 

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Honey Bunny Giveaway Hop (ENDS TUESDAY!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Spring, March Madness, Earth Month and Mother’s Day Giveaway Event!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Sunday Post Blogo-Birthday Giveaway is Cali
The winners of the Big Blogo-Birthday Giveaway are Jan and Debbie
The winner of a book by Tanya Huff is Heather
The winner of a book in the Sherlock Holmes Adventure Series by Bonnie MacBird is Chris
The winner of any book from my Best Books List or Your Wishlist is Diane
The winner of the STS Blogo-Birthday Giveaway is Barbara

Blog Recap:

C #AudioBookReview: The Sirens by Emilia Hart
B #BookReview: Hunter Squad: North by Anna Hackett
A- #BookReview: One Level Down by Mary G. Thompson
A- #AudioBookReview: Trap Line by Timothy Zahn
B+ #BookReview: Last Chance to Save the World by Beth Revis
Stacking the Shelves (648)

Coming This Week:

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett (#BookReview)
Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman (#BookReview)
Rain Drops on Roses Giveaway Hop
A Fellowship of Bakers and Magic by J. Penner (#BookReview)
Who Will Remember by C.S. Harris (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 4-6-25

Today marks the ending of this year’s Blogo-Birthday Celebration Week here at Reading Reality. The giveaways are all still in progress until the end of the week, so there’s plenty of time to get in on any that you’ve missed. Please do! I’d love for all of you to celebrate with me.

Today is also the opening day for National Library Week. At a time when the freedom to read and libraries and library funding are under threat from all sides, it’s more important than ever to show your support and demonstrate why so many people are still drawn to their libraries, this year and every year. And that’s the theme of this year’s National Library Week, “Drawn to the Library” I was so drawn to my local libraries  that I made a career out of it. If you have similar fond memories, and especially if you are drawn to your local libraries now because your kids need them or simply because local libraries are economic engines for their neighborhoods wherever they exist, libraries need your support so they can continue to do what they do best – support their communities with books and programs and help for those who need it!

And no Sunday Post at Reading Reality would be complete without a cat picture. This week’s picture is of Luna, clearly doing the yoga ‘child pose’  as she’s such a good example of stretching before and after exercise. Or naps – something she’s also very good at!

 

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Sunday Post Blogo-Birthday Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card AND $25 B&N GC in the Big Blogo-Birthday Giveaway
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Honey Bunny Giveaway Hop
Any Book by Tanya Huff
Any Book in the Sherlock Holmes Adventure Series by Bonnie MacBird
Any book from my Best Books or Your Wishlist in the Blogo-Birthday Early Birthday Celebration and Giveaway!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the STS Blogo-Birthday Giveaway
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Spring, March Madness, Earth Month and Mother’s Day Giveaway Event!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

Fourteenth Annual Blogo-Birthday Celebration Week and Giveaway!
Honey Bunny Giveaway Hop
A+ #BookReview: Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff + Giveaway!
A- #BookReview: The Three Locks by Bonnie MacBird + Giveaway!
Blogo-Birthday Early Birthday Celebration and Giveaway!
Stacking the Shelves (647) + Giveaway

Coming This Week:

The Sirens by Emilia Hart (#AudioBookReview)
The Museum Detective by Maha Khan Phillips (#BookReview)
Hunter Squad: North by Anna Hackett (#BookReview)
One Level Down by Mary G. Thompson (#BookReview)
Last Chance to Save the World by Beth Revis (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 3-30-25 + Giveaway!

Today marks the start of Reading Reality’s FOURTEENTH! Annual Blogo-Birthday Celebration Week. Which means that today starts an entire week of giveaways. YAY! I’ll get more into the whole Hobbit Birthday thing of this week’s celebration in tomorrow’s post, which will include one of the big giveaways, but today is just a bit of a kickoff to start the festivities. Please come back every day this week to get in on ALL the prizes!

In the meantime, this week just finished was still a regular week of blogging and reading and reviewing – and it was a good one. First, I get to give one more shoutout to the marvelous historical mystery, The Railway Conspiracy by John Shen Yen Nee and SJ Rozan. It just so happens that this was the title I highlighted for this week in last Sunday’s Post, and now it’s the Book of the Week because it got this week’s highest rating. It was an absolutely excellent read/listen and I can’t recommend this one highly enough – although I do certainly keep trying!

It’s not a Sunday Post without a cat picture so here’s today’s poster cat. Hecate is dozing in the sun on one of her favorite perches, making the world go away as only a napping kitty can.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Spring, March Madness, Earth Month and Mother’s Day Giveaway Event!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

B #BookReview: The Cat Who Saved the Library by Sosuke Natsukawa, translated by Louise Heal Kawai
B #BookReview: Luminous by Silvia Park
Grade A #AudioBookReview: The Railway Conspiracy by John Shen Yen Nee and SJ Rozan
B #BookReview: The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen
A- #BookReview: Where the Axe is Buried by Ray Nayler
Stacking the Shelves (646)

Coming This Week:

Blogo-Birthday Celebration Week Begins! + Giveaway!
Honey Bunny Giveaway Hop
Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff (#BookReview + Giveaway)
The Three Locks by Bonnie MacBird (#BookReview + Giveaway)
Blogo-Birthday Celebration + Giveaway!

 

~~~~~~ GIVEAWAY ~~~~~~

Welcome to the very first giveaway of this year’s Blogo-Birthday Celebration! As I write this on Friday, the weather this weekend in the ATL is expected to be a glorious spring day on Saturday and a nasty thunderstorm on Sunday. Which sounds like a perfect spring weekend to me – a day to go out in the sun AND a day to stay in and read. Spring might not even have sprung yet where you are, but it will eventually, so what’s your favorite thing to do on a beautiful spring day? Answer in the rafflecopter for your chance at one of Reading Reality’s usual prizes, the winner’s choice of a $10 Amazon Gift Card or $10 in Books.

And don’t forgot to come back tomorrow for another giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 3-23-25

I started out this week thinking that the reading would go according to plan. (It happens. It doesn’t happen as often as I would like, but it does happen.) Howsomever, I neglected to take into account that Galen would be away on a work trip for a couple of nights, which shouldn’t be that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, because that is also a thing that happens.  But it’s been a while.

The house feels empty with one of its humans away. The cats are all a bit disgruntled, to the point where they all stare at me as if to ask what I did wrong to mess up THEIR routine. Things just aren’t quite right in their world – or mine. I do read – well, I always read, but when I’m by myself I tend to look for comfort reads and have a really difficult time getting myself stuck into something new, which set the end of this week’s readings into a bit of a tailspin.

And also led to this picture of Tuna, snuggling against my legs, trying to sleep away the upset amongst the tallest, cushiest pile of binkies he can find!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Spring, March Madness, Earth Month and Mother’s Day Giveaway Event!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Winter 2024-2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop is Steph

Blog Recap:

Grade A #AudioBookReview: The Knight and the Butcherbird by Alix E. Harrow
A- #BookReview: The Library Game by Gigi Pandian
B #BookReview: When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
Spring 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
A+ #BookReview: Twice as Dead by Harry Turtledove
Stacking the Shelves (645)

Coming This Week:

The Cat Who Saved the Library by Sōsuke Natsukawa, translated by Louise Heal Kawai (#BookReview)
Luminous by Silvia Park (#BlogTour #BookReview)
Space Brooms! by A.G. Rodriguez
The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen
The Railway Conspiracy by John Shen Yen Nee and SJ Rozan (#AudioBookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 3-16-25

Whew! We have new giveaways again! It’s just the way the calendar fell out, but it was still a bit weird not to change the “Current Giveaways” tab for nearly two months. Hopefully, that won’t happen again for a few years.

Wednesday, March 12 was a day to celebrate here at Chez Reading Reality, as it was our BIG 20th wedding anniversary. My mom said it wouldn’t last – no joke. While I probably enjoyed proving my mom wrong a bit more than I should have, this is one of those times when I am really, truly happy that her crystal ball was WAY out of focus.

Speaking of things and creatures that view the world just a bit off-kilter, this week’s cat picture is of Tuna looking extra, extra large, which he most definitely is. He always looks like he’s either not exactly the sharpest cat in the clowder or viewing the world with more than a bit of confusion because his eyes are set just a bit too closely together. He’s adorably cute, and he works it well, he just doesn’t look all bright. In this particular pic, he looks either manic or demonic, I’m not quite sure which. Or Galen woke him up from a nap to take the picture, and poor Tuna’s brain cells haven’t all caught back up with him yet. If they ever do!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Winter 2024-2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop (ENDS WEDNESDAY!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Spring, March Madness, Earth Month and Mother’s Day Giveaway Event!

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the January Wellness Giveaway Hop is Nina L.

Blog Recap:

B+ #BookReview: Chaos by Constance Fay
A+ #BookReview: The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison
A- #BookReview: Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite
Spring, March Madness, Earth Month & Mother’s Day Giveaway Event!
A- #AudioBookReview: Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn
Stacking the Shelves (644)

Coming This Week:

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen (#BookReview)
The Library Game by Gigi Pandian (#BookReview)
The Knight and the Butcherbird by Alix E. Harrow (#AudioBookReview)
Spring 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
Twice as Dead by Harry Turtledove (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 3-9-25

When it comes to giveaways, it’s been a bit of a long, cold, lonely winter here at Chez Reading Reality, hasn’t it? But things are finally getting back to normal on the giveaway front, as the January/Winter giveaway hops are coming to an end and the Spring hops are springing back into the calendar. YAY!

(Howsomever, please be advised that the links to the new giveaways on the sidebar will not be “live” until the dates those hops actually begin, which is 3/13 for the Spring, March Madness, etc., event and 3/20 for the Spring 2025 Seasons of Books.)

Speaking of spring, the cold from hell finally sprung its way outtahere, and I can’t say that I miss it AT ALL. The cats are also finding me much better company during the night as I’ve stopped waking up to cough on an irregular and annoying basis. They do love me, but they love sleeping through the night more. Come to think of it, I feel the same way about them!

Turning to one of my favorite topics, cats, and cats taking over the whole, entire bed, this week’s cat picture is of Miss Luna showing off the way her colors change on her underside. On top, she’s gray and white, mostly gray with white feets. She’s also mostly solid gray and not very tabby except at the extremities. This picture shows that she’s more tabby than she usually looks, and has a lot more cream/beige than generally appears.

No matter what colors she’s displaying in any particular moment, she is always a very pretty kitty!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the January Wellness, Super Bowl & Valentine’s Day Giveaway Event!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Books in the Winter 2024-2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

B #BookReview: Idolfire by Grace Curtis
A- #BookReview: An Excellent Thing in a Woman by Allison Montclair
C #BookReview: The Blanket Cats by Kiyoshi Shigematsu, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
Grade A #AudioBookReview: Tea You at the Altar by Rebecca Thorne
A- #BookReview: Hunter Squad: Jameson by Anna Hackett
Stacking the Shelves (643)

Coming This Week:

Chaos by Constance Fay (#BookReview)
The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison (#BookReview)
Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite (#BookReview)
Spring, March Madness, Earth Month & Mother’s Day Giveaway Event!
Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn (#AudioBookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 3-2-25

This was an excellent reading week. Having TWO A+ books certainly helped! If you haven’t had a chance to get into Kingfisher, I can’t recommend her work highly enough. She’s just plain awesome, and she’s fun! And Molly O’Neill’s Greenteeth was just lovely and magical and lyrical and OMG it’s her debut. So if you’re looking for excellent reads, there are two right there! The Girl from Greenwich Street was marvelously compelling – which is hard to do when it’s easy to look up how the story ends. Even the two that weren’t quite up to the others were still fun for this reader because they were part of series(es) that I’m faithfully following.

It’s fortunate for me that the books were good, because that cold is STILL lingering and I haven’t stopped coughing even yet. On that front it’s been a DAMN long week but the books have certainly helped. The cats are starting to give me the evil eye because I’m incapable of sitting still and being QUIET for them to take care of me.

Today’s cat picture is of a combo we haven’t seen a lot of since Tuna and George started buddying up. That’s Tuna in the top ‘bunk’, but it’s Luna in the bottom bunk. The top is usually for checking out the ‘kitty television’ in the backyard but this time it seems as if the humans were more interesting than whatever was going on outside!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the January Wellness, Super Bowl & Valentine’s Day Giveaway Event!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Books in the Winter 2024-2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

A+ #BookReview: Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
A+ #BookReview: Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill
B #BookReview: Stone Certainty by Simon R. Green
B #BookReview: A Scandalous Affair by Leonard Goldberg
A- #BookReview: The Girl from Greenwich Street by Lauren Willig
Stacking the Shelves (642)

Coming This Week:

An Excellent Thing in a Woman by Allison Montclair (#BookReview)
Idolfire by Grace Curtis (#BookReview)
The Blanket Cats by Kiyoshi Shigematsu, translated by Jesse Kirkwood (#BookReview)
Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn (#BookReview)
Hunter Squad: Jameson by Anna Hackett (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 2-23-25

This has been a week. Well, it’s been one of THOSE weeks. I’ve had a terrible cold, which I’ve been trying NOT to give to Galen. There’s no reason for both of us to be sick. I’ve had a chance to read a couple of longer books, as reading is one of the few activities that works for me (so does, oddly, playing video games). I can prop the iPad up high enough that I don’t have to look down to read, which works because looking down makes my nose run and then the whole thing turns into a mess. The cats are loving my extra warms, but I make too much noise coughing and sneezing to let them rest on me for too long. No one is happy, but everyone is trying.

However, this week’s picture is of someone who is, well, trying, for other meanings of that word. Here’s Hecate, explaining in one simple picture why we can’t have nice things. She’s trying to tear down the bathroom door – and based on the deep gouges on either side – she’s succeeding.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the January Wellness, Super Bowl & Valentine’s Day Giveaway Event!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Books in the Winter 2024-2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

#GuestPost: Presidents’ Day 2025
A- #AudioBookReview: Thaumaturgic Tapas by Tao Wong
A- #AudioBookReview: The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
B #BookReview: One Message Remains by Premee Mohamed
B #BookReview: The Desert Talon by Karin Lowachee
Stacking the Shelves (641)

Coming This Week:

Swordheart by T. Kingfisher (#BookReview)
A Scandalous Affair by Leonard Goldberg (#BookReview)
Stone Certainty by Simon R. Green (#BookReview)
Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill (#BookReview)
The Girl from Greenwich Street by Lauren Willig (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 2-16-25

The kittibois have continued to reign in cuteness for another week. This picture is utterly adorable, even though it’s a back view. You can just see the love in that snuggle. (Reminder: objects in photo are proportioned different than they appear. George is actually bigger than Tuna, but all George’s size is in his length, and all of Tuna’s is in his width.)

This week’s books were all good or better. Returning to issues of relative size, especially in comparison to earlier in the year, this week’s Stacking the Shelves is positively ginormous. Check it out and see for yourself!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the January Wellness, Super Bowl & Valentine’s Day Giveaway Event!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Books in the Winter 2024-2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

A- #BookReview: The Serpent Under by Bonnie MacBird
A- #BookReview: The Fourth Consort by Edward Ashton
Grade A #BookReview: Picks and Shovels by Cory Doctorow
B #AudioBookReview: Do Me a Favor by Cathy Yardley
B #AudioBookReview: I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming + #Excerpt
Stacking the Shelves (640)

Coming This Week:

Presidents’ Day 2025 (#GuestPost by Galen)
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar (#AudioBookReview)
The Desert Talon by Karin Lowachee (#BookReview)
One Message Remains by Premee Mohamed (#BookReview)
Thaumaturgic Tapas by Tao Wong (#AudioBookReview)