Category: The Sunday Post

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 10-1-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Banned Books> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

Today is the start of Banned Books Week, an event which has always called attention to the books that are challenged and banned in school and public libraries across the country. It’s an event that has become increasingly both important and fraught with meaning in this moment, as the number of challenges has increased exponentially in the last few years while the themes of those challenges have emerged as being ever more chilling as, no matter what the challenges may claim, the overall desire that emerges is the need of some to erase the voices of those who are different from themselves, with the goal of not merely erasing those voices, but ultimately, the people behind those voices.

This has all happened before. Banned Books Week does its very best to drag the issue out of the shadows and into the light, so that it doesn’t happen again.

 

I usually read a book from the Banned and Challenged list this week, but I decided to try something different this year. The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church by Rachel L. Swarns is not on the Banned and Challenged list YET because it was just published this summer. However, it is exactly the kind of book that will find itself on the list in years to come, because it challenges the traditional perceptions of people and institutions that are considered to be great which got to where they are by abusing the labor and the very persons of people of color. It reminds me a bit of The 1619 Project, which I absolutely considered for this week but wanted to listen to because I’ve heard great things about the audiobook version. So, I bought it instead and plan to plan a little better next year.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Fall Seasons of Books 2023 Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Holiday Kickoff Giveaway Hop is Cali

Blog Recap:

Fall Seasons of Books 2023 Giveaway Hop
A Review: A Duke’s Introduction to Courtship by Sophie Barnes
B Review: The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub
A Review: Bad Blood by Lauren Dane
A+ Review: Osprey by M.L. Buchman
Stacking the Shelves (568)

Coming This Week:

The Hunter’s Apprentice by Lindsay Schopfer (review)
Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor (audio review)
The Circumference of the World by Lavie Tidhar (review)
Howl-O-Ween Giveaway Hop
The 272 by Rachel L. Swarns (review)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 9-24-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

Today’s picture is Tuna again, this time in the midst of executing a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea. He’s standing on Galen’s desk, using one of his computer monitors for balance, attempting to reach the overhead fan. Which he can, as dangerous an idea as that sounds. Galen snapped the picture and then executed a Tuna extraction because otherwise the literal fallout was going to be epically bad and full of broken glass from the monitor.

Tuna is just big. He can stand on the kitchen table and bat at the light fixture over head – which he does. Unfortunately, especially for a cat, Tuna possesses the family grace, meaning that he is every bit as klutzy as the rest of the family – both human and feline. His pratfalls tend to shake the house. We may not be in an earthquake zone, but we are absolutely in a cat-quake zone.

As far as bookish and bloggy things go, tomorrow’s Fall Seasons of Books Hop technically starts today, but the organizers are very generous about giving people a few days to hop on board. So tomorrow. Giveaway Hops are the BEST way to start a week!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Holiday Kickoff Giveaway Hop (ENDS Thursday!)

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Hello Autumn Giveaway Hop is Piroska
The winner of the Summer Seasons of Books 2023 Giveaway Hop is Suzie

Blog Recap:

B Review: The Quiet Room by Terry Miles
A Review: Starter Villain by John Scalzi
A+ Review: Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo
B+ Review: The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan
A Review: The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
Stacking the Shelves (567)

Coming This Week:

Fall Seasons of Books 2023 Giveaway Hop
A Duke’s Introduction to Courtship by Sophie Barnes (blog tour review)
The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub (blog tour review)
Osprey by M.L. Buchman (review)
Bad Blood by Lauren Dane (review)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 9-17-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

After last Sunday’s picture of poor Tuna standing lonely on the inside of the house while Luna and George tease him from out on the catio, I had to post this picture this weekend to show that Tuna’s life is actually pretty darn good most of the time.

Seriously, is that a face, or is that a face? He’s adorable when he’s being a clown.

Also in reference to last Sunday’s Post, I did manage to actually finish ALL the books I’d planned on reviewing. I think it’s been a while since THAT happened. This week is looking pretty good too, because I’ve already finished the first three books and The Book Club Hotel is for a blog tour so that settles that. I’ve been really looking forward to The Last Devil to Die so I think I’m set but we’ll certainly see in the week ahead!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2023 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Hello Autumn Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Holiday Kickoff Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Glam and Glits Giveaway Hop is Darlene

Blog Recap:

9/11 2023: Remember the Sky (Guest Post by Galen)
B Review: Fury Brothers by Anna Hackett
A+ Review: Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo
B Review: An Unsuitable Heiress by Jane Dunn
A+ Review: Prophet by Sin Blaché and Helen MacDonald
Stacking the Shelves (566)

Coming This Week:

The Quiet Room by Terry Miles (review)
Starter Villain by John Scalzi (audio review)
Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo (audio review)
The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan (blog tour review)
The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman (review)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 9-10-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

I’m sure about every day this week except Wednesday. I’ve already read or listened to all the books, but I didn’t write up Mammoths at the Gates for Reading Reality back when I reviewed it for Library Journal, so I need to do at least a re-skim for this week. It was lovely and adorable and so much fun – like every book in the Singing Hills Cycle so far – but my round tuit just wasn’t fully polished that weekend.

Turning to something  – or someone – else that is rather round, take a look at this recent picture of Luna, Tuna and George. Luna and George are out on the screened-in catio, while Tuna is looking on mournfully from the inside side of the cat door. George and Luna spend a LOT of time out on the catio, especially George, but Tuna doesn’t go out there. We don’t think he actually CAN – or at least that the width of his whiskers is telling him that he won’t fit through the door. Lucifer doesn’t go out because he doesn’t wanna, Hecate doesn’t go out because she’s a grumpy little girl who would much rather be an only child, but it’s pretty clear from Tuna’s face that he wants to REAL BAD but thinks he can’t.

So his sister and her buddy tease him unmercifully about it!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Glam and Glits Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2023 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Hello Autumn Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Holiday Kickoff Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

Labor Day 2023
B Review: Payback in Death by J.D. Robb
Hello Autumn Giveaway Hop
Holiday Kickoff Giveaway Hop
B Review: Forgotten History by Christopher L. Bennett
Stacking the Shelves (565)

Coming This Week:

9/11 (Guest Post by Galen)
Fury by Anna Hackett (review)
Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo (review)
An Unsuitable Heiress by Jane Dunn (blog tour review)
Prophet by Sin Blaché and Helen MacDonald (audiobook review)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 9-3-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

Last week I was not exactly in the village of Running-on-Time when I put the Sunday Post together and I neglected to include a cat picture. Therefore, this week’s picture includes not one but two cats. As an added treat, it’s a picture of the very rare sighting of Hecate and Luna co-existing peaceably and in proximity. They don’t really fight the way the boys do, they just generally refuse to occupy the same space at the same time. The kitty television outside the windows must have been particularly good that day!

This was the first week in quite a while where the books I thought I was going to read were the books I actually read. This coming week is probably the same, if only because there are only three of them. Galen is continuing his series of holiday guest posts tomorrow for Labor Day, and there’s a blog hop on Thursday.

Friday’s book is the second book in the Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations series, after the previously reviewed Watching the Clock. It’s the kind of book I normally pick up at the last minute because I’m desperate – or at least desperately flailing – but this time it’s a deliberate choice because Friday, September 8 is Star Trek Day. I thought about reading more of the Star Trek Autobiographies series (I loved The Autobiography of James T. Kirk, after all) but I’m feeling a bit weirded out by them now because they were all published before Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds happened. Which means those ‘autobiographies’ have been superseded by events that were not yet revealed when they were written. Which led me back to the Department of Temporal Investigations because even though some of those events may have been superseded by later reveals, we wouldn’t know anyway because the whole point of the Department is to smooth over that kind of thing. And the first book was  oodles of fun, so I expect a good reading time no matter what.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Glam and Glits Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2023 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Old School Giveaway Hop is Brigette

Blog Recap:

B+ Review: Big Little Spells by Hazel Beck
A- Review: A Duke’s Guide to Romance by Sophie Barnes
B Review: Devil’s Gun by Cat Rambo
A- Review: The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman
Glam and Glits Giveaway Hop
Stacking the Shelves (564)

Coming This Week:

Labor Day 2023 (Guest Post by Galen!)
Payback in Death by J.D. Robb (review)
Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer (review)
Holiday Kickoff Giveaway Hop
Forgotten History by Christopher L. Bennett (review)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 8-27-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

I did better this week than last week on actually reading the books I intended to read. Howsomever, by the time the end of the week closed in – which is actually on Wednesday for the purpose of reading Friday’s book – when I started Wolfsong I just wasn’t feeling it, even though I really wanted to read it. But it’s 500 pages of slow burn and that just wasn’t the mood I was in AT ALL. So that will come back around at some point later when that’s a bit closer to the mood I’m in at the time.

This week’s schedule may actually hold up – even though the name of Friday’s giveaway hop does me in every single year. I want it to be ‘Glitz’ instead of ‘Glits’. I’m not even sure what a ‘glit’ is! But it’s the Glam and Glits Giveaway Hop and that’s just the way it is.

Also it’ll be the OMG first of September and that’s just the way that is as well. It feels like August has lasted FOREVER, melting us all in the hot summer sun.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Old School Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2023 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Back to School Giveaway Hop is Anne

Blog Recap:

A- Review: The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
A- Review: Cursed at Dawn by Heather Graham
B+ Review: Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz by Garth Nix
A- Review: Murder at Kensington Palace by Andrea Penrose
A+ Review: Contrarian by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Stacking the Shelves (563)

Coming This Week:

Big Little Spells by Hazel Beck (blog tour review)
A Duke’s Guide to Romance by Sophie Barnes (blog tour review)
The Devil’s Gun by Cat Rambo (review)
The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman (review)
Glam and Glits [sic] Giveaway Hop

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 8-20-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

I almost wrapped up this post for the “Coming This Week” bit with “two players to be named later” or just TBD (to be determined) because this has just been one of those months where things fall apart at the end of the week. C’est la vie.

This week specifically went to bits because one of the ‘mystery’ Kindle Achievements was revealed to be ‘Series Summer’ that required reading a book in a popular series. Clearly Amazon’s definition of ‘popular series’ was different from mine, because I hoped that the Sebastian St. Cyr book would cover it – but it didn’t. This week’s Thursday Murder Club book, on the other hand, absolutely did! But the next Wrexford & Sloane book in my catching up read has been calling my name, so I’m just admitting up front that I’ll be reading it this week.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Back to School Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Old School Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2023 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Apple A Day Giveaway Hop is Daniel M.

Blog Recap:

A Review: Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
B Review: Wild Spaces by S.L. Coney
Old School Giveaway Hop
C Review: Kinauvit?: What’s Your Name? by Norma Dunning
A- Review: Where the Dead Lie by C.S. Harris
Stacking the Shelves (562)

Coming This Week:

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman (review)
Cursed at Dawn by Heather Graham (blog tour review)
Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz by Garth Nix (review)
Murder at Kensington Palace by Andrea Penrose (review)
Wolfsong by TJ Klune (review)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 8-13-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

If you take a look at last Sunday’s Sunday Post, you can see that I intended to finish out this week with three thrillers in a row. Which was not terribly good planning on my part, as, while I like the occasional thriller, particularly by authors I’m already familiar with, that’s well, a bit much in one week for me. Some genres I can read all week long, but horror or thrillers, and this would have been both, one at a time is enough. Hence the week ending flail.

This week may be the same, although for different reasons. I’m sure about the first three days, because they’re already done. Thursday and Friday – not so much. We’ll see.

And on a lighter note that began as a heavier note, I call this picture ‘Return of the Monster Vacuum’, in tribute to Purina’s Dear Kitten videos – which have been rebooted – so if you love cats and haven’t seen them, they’re awesome and they’re back. In the Dear Kitten series, an older cat is passing on his words of wisdom to a kitten he’s not too sure is worth the trouble but he thinks so highly of himself (as they do) and enjoys expounding so much that he can’t resist the impulse. In those videos the older cat teaches the kitten about, among many other things, the dreaded ‘MONSTER VACUUM’. This picture was taken during the monthly houseclean, as Lucifer, Hecate and George instinctually ‘treed’ themselves in the cats’ room while the Monster Vacuum did it’s terrible work.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Apple A Day Giveaway Hop (ENDS TUESDAY!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Back to School Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2023 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

B Review: The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon
Back to School Giveaway Hop
A- Review: Blind Fear by Brandon Webb and John David Mann
A- Review: Who Buries the Dead by C.S. Harris
B- Review: Shark Heart by Emily Habeck
Stacking the Shelves (561)

Coming This Week:

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (audio review)
Wild Spaces by S.L. Coney (audio review)
Old School Giveaway Hop
A Right Worthy Woman by Ruth P. Watson (review)
Witness by Jamel Brinkley (review)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 8-6-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

I’ve been having a kind of epic book flail for several weeks now. It’s not that I don’t want to read, or even that I don’t want to read the particular books I thought I was going to read. More that I’m having a hard time getting stuck into each book and then flailing around to find one I can get stuck into. (That Galen has found some really fascinating games to play and I can’t seem to resist watching is NOT HELPING!)

If Jade Shards had been three or four – or possibly more – times as long I’d probably still be there because I get hooked into Janloon every time and DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE. Although that’s not the real problem. Life is just in entirely too much limbo right now and that’s not my best thing.

So here’s what I think I’m doing this week. The only two days I’m certain of are Monday and Tuesday. The rest may still be in the lap of the gods.

Speaking of gods, or rather in this case, goddesses, here’s a picture of Luna in one of her favorite positions, smooshed in next to her favorite human.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Apple A Day Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2023 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

A+ Review: Jade Shards by Fonda Lee
Apple a Day Giveaway Hop
A- Review: A Pirate’s Life for Tea by Rebecca Thorne
B Review: Sherlock Holmes and the Silver Cord by M.K. Wiseman
B+ Review: Secrets in the Dark by Heather Graham
Stacking the Shelves (560)

Coming This Week:

The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon (audio review)
Back to School Giveaway Hop
Blind Fear by Brandon Webb and John David Mann (review)
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle (review)
North of Nowhere by Allison Brennan (review)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 7-30-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

This week has been weird. Last week was weird as well. Next week will probably be weird too. But at least the books have been good! AND an excellent way to get away from the weird into the bargain. And I have two books I’m super excited about, Jade Shards and A Pirate’s Life for Tea. I really, really need the cozy fantasy vibes of A Pirate’s Life for Tea this week, and well, I’m still so much in mourning over the end of Fonda Lee’s fabulous Green Bone Saga that even the slightest sliver of that world makes my whole month. Which really truly needs some making.

It’s also been egg-frying on the sidewalk hot here in Atlanta, although still not as bad as some places. Here’s a picture of Luna and Tuna who look like they’re melting although I promise they are not.

Current Giveaways:

Summer 2023 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Christmas in July Giveaway Hop is Megan

Blog Recap:

A- Review: The Book of Gems by Fran Wilde
A- Review: Murder at Half Moon Gate by Andrea Penrose
A Review: The Lady from Burma by Allison Montclair
B- Review: The Horoscope Writer by Ash Bishop
A- Review: Knighthunter by Anna Hackett
Stacking the Shelves (559)

Coming This Week:

Jade Shards by Fonda Lee (review)
Apple a Day Giveaway Hop
Lord of a Shattered Land by Howard Andrew Jones (review)
A Pirate’s Life for Tea by Rebecca Thorne (review)
Sherlock Holmes and the Silver Cord by M.K. Wiseman (review)