Today is definitely an occasion for one of those “how it started, how it’s going” pictures of George. We adopted him last April as a rescue when he was approximately 6 weeks old, so this week we celebrated his nominal first birthday. He’s gone from a slightly scared little orange fuzzball to a very big – and also slightly hammy – boy!

But speaking of how things start and how things go, I think the coming week schedule will hold up, not that I’ve had much luck with that the past few weeks. We’ll see.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Lady Luck Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Let’s Get Lucky Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Wish Big Giveaway Hop is Amber T.

Blog Recap:

Lady Luck Giveaway Hop
Let’s Get Lucky Giveaway Hop
C+ Review: To Catch a Dream by Audrey Carlan
A- Review: Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard
A Review: Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Stacking the Shelves (434)

Coming This Week:

The Girl in the Painting by Tea Cooper (blog tour review)
Meant to Be by Jude Deveraux (blog tour review)
Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert (review)
The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers (review)
Shift Work by TA Moore (blog tour review)

In honor of yesterday’s rather long Stacking the Shelves post, here’s a picture of long George stretching very long. He’s become a very big boy!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Wish Big Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of The Rakehell of Roth is Tammy V.
The winner of the Heart to Heart Giveaway Hop is Monica M.

Blog Recap:

A- Review: The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Wish Big Giveaway Hop
A- Review: Best Laid Plans by Roan Parrish
B Review: Soul of Eon by Anna Hackett
A++ Review: Behind the Throne by K.B. Wagers
Stacking the Shelves (432)

Coming This Week:

Level Up by Cathy Yardley (blog tour review)
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner (blog tour review)
Her Dark Lies by J.T. Ellison (spotlight + excerpt)
Matagorda Breeze by Lyla Hopper (review)
The Conductors by Nicole Glover (review)

First and foremost, here is this week’s cat picture. It rather looks like George is powering up his bite to sink his teeth into Freddie. That’s not quite what happened. This was actually a mutual grooming session that turned into a kitty rumble ON MY LAP! And, although it is not obvious in this picture, George is now bigger than Freddie. It seemed to happen overnight, like one night there was a growth spurt and BOOM – very big kitty. His tail is so long it needs at least two zip codes. Seriously, it’s still in the room for almost a minute after he’s left.

Speaking of things with more power, this has been an excellent week. After last weekend’s incredibly long Zoom meeting, it was great to just get back to reading, and I finished all sorts of interesting and lovely books, which you’ll see in the weeks to come!

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the MLK Giveaway Hop is Mahak G.

Blog Recap:

Spotlight + Excerpt: The Vineyard at Painted Moon by Susan Mallery
A- Review: Storm of Eon by Anna Hackett
A Review: Raider by M.L. Buchman
B Review: The Girl from the Channel Islands by jenny Lecoat
A- Review: The Golden Gryphon and the Bear Prince by Jeffe Kennedy
Stacking the Shelves (429)

Coming This Week:

Heart 2 Heart Giveaway Hop
The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson (review)
A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel
Ladies of the House by Lauren Edmondson (review)
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (review)

It was definitely a grade B sort of week. No real highs, no serious lows. Just some decent reads – along with an audiobook I totally bailed on. C’est la vie. Hopefully this week will be better. The audiobook I started is certainly a vast improvement – which gives me hope!

The picture below proves that cats rule the universe. Lucifer decided to take over Galen’s monitors and his Zoom meeting. Isn’t he gorgeous? I have a multi-day Zoom meeting starting on Friday and I’m hoping that he’ll come invade my meeting too!

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the New Year, New You Giveaway Hop is Wendy H.

Blog Recap:

B+ Review: You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria
B Review: Find Me in Havana by Serena Burdick
B+ Review: The Secrets of Colchester Hall by Sophie Barnes + Giveaway
B Review: Breathe the Sky by Michelle Hazen
B Review: The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
Stacking the Shelves (427)

Coming This Week:

MLK Giveaway Hop
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor (review)
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (review)
Conjure Women by Afia Atakora (review)
When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole (review)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

And now that I’ve gotten that out of my system – at least for the moment – I have a pair of cat pictures for you. This is George, in the spirit of “How it started and how it’s going”

He started out small, but the way he’s going he’s getting bigger every day!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the New Year, New You Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Dashing Giveaway Hop is Cali

Blog Recap:

A+ Review: Colonyside by Michael Mammay
B Review: The Dark Archive by Genevieve Cogman
A+ Review: The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Best Books of 2020
New Year New You Giveaway Hop
Stacking the Shelves (425)

Coming This Week:

Most Anticipated Books of 2021
All the Colors of Night by Jayne Ann Krentz (review)
Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T.A. Willberg (blog tour review)
Domesticating Dragons by Dan Koboldt (review)
Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon (review)

Last week it seemed appropriate to read a week of romances, with their requisite happy endings, as a run up to Xmas Day on Friday. This week it seems even more apropos to have a week of speculative fiction leading up to New Years’ Day, because we all have plenty of speculation about what next year will bring, and a hell of a lot of hope, but, well, we’ll see. So this week’s books will be looking at the future, the science of parallel worlds, and the sheer exuberant fun of a worlds’ spanning library.

We’ll see what next year brings, next year, starting with next week. OMG 2021 starts next week! The kitties are ready! They’re planning to nap through EVERYTHING!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Dashing Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Winter is Coming Giveaway Hop is Jan D.

Blog Recap:

B+ Review: A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon
B+ Review: The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa
A Review: Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade
A- Review: Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
Xmas 2020
Stacking the Shelves (424)

Coming This Week:

Colonyside by Michael Mammay (review)
The Dark Archive by Genevieve Cogman (review)
The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky (review)
Best Books of 2020!
New Year New You Giveaway Hop

This is Xmas week. Which is making me feel like this should be a week for books with happy endings. Even if this holiday isn’t quite as upbeat as other years, it still feels like better things are on the horizon. Next week I’ll be back to my usual mix of aliens, evil, evil aliens, monsters, murders and historical drama – not necessarily all in one week. But this week feels like there should be some happy books at the tippy top of my towering TBR pile. Of course, I could change my mind in the middle!

But speaking of happy things, here’s a picture of an adorable cuddle puddle of Freddie and George. Either they are both trying to fit into a cat bed that is frankly too small now for either of them singly, or George just wants to be as close as possible to his “big brother” – at least until the inevitable rumble breaks out.

Happy Holidays!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Winter is Coming Giveaway Hop (ENDS TOMORROW!!!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Dashing Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Holly Jolly Giveaway Hop is Jeanna

Blog Recap:

B Review: Cash in Hand by TA Moore + Excerpt
A- Review: A Hanging at Dawn by Charles Todd
Dashing Giveaway Hop
B Review: The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi
A- Review: Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Stacking the Shelves (423)

Coming This Week:

A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon (review)
The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa (review)
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade (review)
Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert (review)

To tie this Sunday Post with a lovely ribbon, here’s a picture of my handsome house panther watching the leaves fall. He’s just such a beautiful boy, and so very sweet. He’s the first cat who has passed through our lives since Galen and I moved in together who considers me “his” person. (Galen is definitely the “cat whisperer” in our house. They nearly all love him best!) Lucifer’s affection is absolutely lovely if occasionally quite literally a bit crushing. He likes to sleep on my chest or in my face with his whiskers shoved up my nose. It tickles.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Holly Jolly Giveaway Hop (ENDS TUESDAY!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Winter is Coming Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the $20 Gift Certificate from Rhys Ford and Bound is Linda R.

Blog Recap:

A Review: When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo
B- Review: In League with Sherlock Holmes edited by Leslie S. Klinger and Laurie R. King
B Review: An Unexpected Temptation by Sophia Barnes + Giveaway
A+ Review: Fortune Favors the Dead by Stephen Spotswood
A- Review: The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
Stacking the Shelves (422)

Coming This Week:

Cash in Hand by TA Moore (blog tour review)
A Hanging at Dawn by Charles Todd (review)
Dashing Giveaway Hop
The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi (review)
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (review)

Today’s picture, perfect for a lazy Sunday morning, are the cuddle boys, Freddie and George. Aren’t they adorable?

It feels like it’s been quite the week here at Chez Reading Reality, I’m just not quite sure why. Some weeks just seem longer than others – especially without a holiday in the middle! It’s always hard to get back on track after, but fun during – even a relatively quite holiday like this one. But there are always good books to read. This week I had one that I loved and hated and loved by turns, one that was good, and one that was great but much too short. Considering the length of the first book, this week was kind of the long and the short of it!

And it’s time to say goodbye to the Black Friday Giveaway Hop for another year. Thanks a bunch to everyone who participated!

Current Giveaways:

$20 Gift Card from Rhys Ford and Bound
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Holly Jolly Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Winter is Coming Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Black Friday Giveaway Hop is Patricia C.
The winner of the In Everything Give Thanks Giveaway Hop is Robin A.
The winner of the Super Stocking Stuffer Giveaway Hop is Edye
The winner of the Holiday HOHOHO Giveaway Hop is Elaine R.

Blog Recap:

B- Review: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
Holly Jolly Giveaway Hop
B+ Review: Mission: Her Justice by Anna Hackett
Winter is Coming Giveaway Hop
A- Review: Bound by Rhys Ford + Guest post + Giveaway
Stacking the Shelves (421)

Coming This Week:

In League with Sherlock Holmes edited by Leslie S. Klinger and Laurie R. King (review)
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo (review)
Fortune Favors the Dead by Stephen Spotswood (review)
An Unexpected Temptation by Sophie Barnes (blog tour review)
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (review)

March is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb. 2020, being the thoroughgoing bastard of a year that it is, just comes in and takes all the lions. RIP Sir Sean Connery.

Speaking of 2020, if you are a U.S. citizen and have not already voted, make a plan to vote on Tuesday. Your vote matters. If it didn’t, they wouldn’t be trying so hard to take it away from you.

Because of, well, everything, concentration is even more difficult than usual this week. Hence tomorrow’s book.

Winner Announcements:

The winner of The Light at Wyndcliff is Anne
The winner of the Thanks a Latte Giveaway Hop is Sara

Blog Recap:

A Review: The Secret Women by Sheila Williams
A++ Review: The Memory of Souls by Jenn Lyons
B+ Review: Masquerade in Lodi by Lois McMaster Bujold
B Review: The Art of Deception by Leonard Goldberg
A+ Review: Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
Stacking the Shelves (416)

Coming This Week:

Hope Rides Again by Andrew Shaffer (review)
Sherlock Holmes and the Ripper of Whitechapel by M.K. Wiseman (blog tour review)
Museum of Forgotten Memories by Anstey Harris (review)
The Patriots by Winston Groom (blog tour review)
Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi (review)