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 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 2-2-25

Today is Groundhog Day! When did that happen? Not literally, just that it seems like January passed by in the blink of an eye. Maybe half a blink. I’d say something about time flying when you’re having fun, but this month has been a bit more of “Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana,” than it has been fun. Although some of the books have been good and thank goodness for that!

Although, speaking of time flying, I saw when I selected the winner for the Winter Wishes Giveaway Hop that a) I don’t have any more giveaways until early April because both the 1st and the 16th of the months of February and March occur on the weekend AND b) that my FOURTEENTH Annual Blogo-Birthday Celebration is coming up fast! April 4 is just two months away. Time really does also fly when you’re having fun, and I certainly have been having fun with Reading Reality for these past fourteen years!

Howsomever, this week’s cat picture makes it look like Luna isn’t having all that much fun. This is definitely Luna’s serious face. Do you think she knows that she hasn’t been featured since last year? It sure looks like she does and that she is NOT AMUSED by the fact. Not at all.

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

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Winter Wishes Giveaway Hop is Viki S.

Blog Recap:

B #BookReview: A Bird in the Hand by Ann Cleeves
B #AudioBookReview: The Conjurer’s Wife by Sarah Penner
C #BookReview: Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan
A- #BookReview: The Orb of Cairado by Katherine Addison
Grade A #BookReview: Bonded in Death by J.D. Robb
Stacking the Shelves (638)

Coming This Week:

Dead in the Frame by Stephen Spotswood (#BookReview)
The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi, translated by Cat Anderson (#BookReview)
The Silverblood Promise by James Logan (#AudioBookReview)
Symbiote by Michael Nayak (#BookReview)
At the Fount of Creation by Tobi Ogundiran (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 1-19-25

This was an excellent reading week! Well, it was from my end of things. However, the end of the week went whack in an unexpected and unfortunate way. I was expecting Friday’s post to be The Serpent Under  by Bonnie MacBird for a blog tour from Random Things Tours – and clearly it wasn’t. The tour organizer for Random Things Tours is in hospital and may not be well for a while. I wish her all the best and hope for a speedy recovery. In the meantime, I’m holding onto that review (I really liked the book!) until I hear from her.

Second note, on this coming week’s schedule I have The Baby Dragon Cafe, because I honestly can’t resist the thing. That cover is just adorable and I’m expecting the same from the book inside. I debated whether to review it now or later, because it’s being published both, well, now AND later. The ebook is already out – and it’s only $2.99! The paperback, however, won’t be out until July 1. I have no idea what’s up with that but if, after reading my review you can’t resist, you can get it immediately and dive right in. Or perhaps that should be FLY right in. We’ll see.

Because Hecate has been the featured kitty three out of the past four weeks, I decided it was time to let the boys have their place in the spotlight this week. And so we have this gorgeous picture of Tuna and George, not just together but actually touching and not pretending that the other cat isn’t really the other cat. Although they look a bit disgruntled about it in the picture, they’ve actually become buddies over the last couple of months! Even if they don’t look all that happy about it!

 

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Winter Wishes Giveaway Hop
$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

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the New Year, New You Giveaway Hop is Angela C.

Blog Recap:

A- #BookReview: The Way Up is Death by Dan Hanks
Grade A #BookReview: Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire
A+ #BookReview: Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
Winter Wishes Giveaway Hop
January Wellness, Super Bowl & Valentine’s Day Giveaway Event!
Stacking the Shelves (636)

Coming This Week:

Martin Luther King Day 2025: Number 21 (#GuestPost by Galen)
The Hero She Loves by Anna Hackett (#BookReview)
The Devil’s Due by Bonnie MacBird (#BookReview)
The Baby Dragon Cafe by A.T. Qureshi (#BookReview)
Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 1-5-25

I don’t know about you, but I woke up on January 2 and it felt like someone flipped a switch somewhere, because suddenly after the holiday ‘twilight zone’ life snapped right back to normal. OTOH, I stayed up New Year’s Eve playing videogames instead of partying. There’s still a bit of a hangover, but it’s not nearly as debilitating late the next morning!

Howsomever, Hecate is still looking back wondering WTF at 2024 in her little rearview. Or over her cute but not so little kitty butt. I ask you, is that a face or is that a face? (I wonder if in her little brain, she’s looking back at Tuna’s look from last week and commiserating?)

But the show must go on! After all, there are new and more books to read in 2025, which is always a YAY regardless of what else happens. Although speaking of things happening, it looks like Amazon woke up one morning, remembered that they actually OWNED Goodreads, and decided to start playing with things. I know that Amazon sees all and knows all, but if you’ve linked your Amazon account and your Goodreads account they started combining stuff regarding challenges and display of books read that tells a little too much all in ways that may or may not work for you. They certainly didn’t for me and I had to fix a couple of things to make their ‘fixes’ go away. Hopefully that’s not the shape of things to come for the coming year but I’m not holding my breath. Or as I sometimes say, I wouldn’t bet my own money.

Still and all, HAPPY NEW YEAR and welcome to 2025!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Books in the Winter 2024-2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the New Year New You Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Dashing December Giveaway Hop is Lisa B.

Blog Recap:

Grade A #BookReview: Unquiet Spirits by Bonnie MacBird
C #AudioBookReview: Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey
New Year, New You Giveaway Hop
Most Anticipated Books of 2025
A- #BookReview: Shattering Dawn by Jayne Ann Krentz
Stacking the Shelves (634)

Coming This Week:

Holmes is Missing by James Patterson and Brian Sitts (#BookReview)
Rebellious Grace by Jeri Westerson (#BookReview)
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis (#BookReview)
Blood is Blood by Will Thomas (#BookReview)
Free as a Bird by Hailey Edwards (#AudioBookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 12-29-24

The very last Sunday Post of 2024. Wednesday starts a new year, 2025. And OMG what a year it’s been and what a year it’s shaping up to be!

Fittingly, today’s cat picture is of someone peering out from safety, looking a bit scared and very concerned, wondering what this coming year is going to bring. The surprising thing about this picture is that the small, adorable, kittenish face actually hides a whole lotta Tuna behind it. (If you’re wondering, we’ll always know it’s Tuna because of the feets. Luna has little white toe shoes on her front feets and white boots on the back. Tuna has all black feets. It’s Tuna – and he’s clearly terribly worried about something. Just look at how big his eyes are!

But it is time to look ahead, even if those looks contain more than a bit of trepidation. This time last year, I was preparing, also with some trepidation, to start posting on Instagram where I’m @reading_reality. This year, it’s time to switch, at least mostly, from Twitter/X to Bluesky and Threads, and posts have already commenced although that endeavor is likely to be a work in progress as I switch from one set of ‘@’ to another. It helps that Bluesky and Threads will both post automagically – a feature that X, well, x-ed out some time ago.

I’m @readingreality.bsky.social on Bluesky and @reading_reality on Threads. And the widgets in the sidebar will be edited to reflect the additions. I’m honestly not sure what to do about Twitter/X, but then again, that’s true of a LOT of people right now.

I didn’t have many reviews this week, but the two I did have were for books that were among the best of the best this year – so that’s all to the good. I confess that I waited to finalize my Best Books post because I was sure that one or the other of this week’s books – if not both as turned out to be the case! – would make that list. I’ll let you in on which books I’m most looking forward to this year later this week.

In the meantime, I hope your holidays have been and continue to be happy ones! Hopefully we’ll be able to put at least Tuna’s worries to rest in the days ahead.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Books in the Dashing December Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Books in the Winter 2024-2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Holiday Giveaway Hop is Elizabeth H.

Blog Recap:

Winter 2024-2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
A+ #BookReview: Echo by Tracy Clark
Christmas Day 2024: The Cats of Christmas (#GuestPost)
A+ #AudioBookReview: Blood Jade by Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle
Best Books of 2024
Stacking the Shelves (633)

Coming This Week:

Unquiet Spirits by Bonnie MacBird (#BookReview)
Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey (#AudioBookReview)
New Year, New You Giveaway Hop
Most Anticipated Books of 2025
Shattering Dawn by Jayne Ann Krentz (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 12-22-24

It’s only three more sleeps until both Christmas and Hanukkah. Are all of your presents wrapped and ready to go? This morning’s cat picture is of Hecate being oh-SO-helpful last weekend while we were wrapping presents. It took repeated applications of the Monster Vacuum to keep the cats off the dining room table long enough to get the job done. Miss Hecate kept popping back up on the table and/or getting underfoot much too quickly after each application – but it did work (mostly) and isn’t she adorable?

Last week’s readings didn’t quite go according to plan. In my head, I thought that the audiobook of Blood Jade was about 10 hours, and that I’d be ready to switch to the text on Wednesday to finish the book in time for a Friday review. My head was in error on both counts. The story is awesome, the narrator is marvelous – Natalie Naudus is one of my faves, especially for stories like this one – but the audio is more like 15 hours and I wasn’t ready at all to give up the fantastic audio in order to listen to the voice in my head who sounds much more like me than a professional narrator.

Very much OTOH, I expected – and I’ve started the book so I know I’m right at least so far – that Echo would be terrific and compelling. But it’s also set in a typical February in Chicago, and I wasn’t quite prepared to face THAT. (I lived in the Chicago area for more than 20 years and February sucks. It’s too damn cold, it’s still much too dark, and spring feels like it’s eons away even if it’s (probably, hopefully) not. Now I’m into the book and I’m sure I’ll get it done if I haven’t already by the time you read this. (I’m writing on Friday.)

One final note on scheduling. Officially, the Winter 2024-2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop started yesterday, so if you want to get in on it immediately hop on over to Versatileer and check it out. Howsomever, I’ll be posting Reading Reality’s entry in the hop tomorrow, on Monday, December 23.

“Just one more thing,” to quote a classic TV detective of yesteryear. This is the last full week of 2024 – as difficult as THAT might be to believe. This year has gone by SO FAST. Nevertheless, 2024 is on its way out the door, which means that it’s time for Reading Reality’s Best Books of 2024 post, coming this very Friday.

There’s LOTS in store here this holiday week. I hope you’ll take a bit of time to stop by and see what’s up! Happy Holidays!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Holiday Giveaway Event!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Dashing December Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Fall 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop is Nancy

Blog Recap:

Dashing December Giveaway Hop
A- #BookReview: Wedgetail by M.L. Buchman
B #AudioBookReview: Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur
B #BookReview: Miss Amelia’s List by Mercedes Lackey
B #BookReview: Love in Other Worlds edited by Tracy Cooper-Posey
Stacking the Shelves (632)

Coming This Week:

Winter 2024-2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
Echo by Tracy Clark (#BookReview)
Xmas Day (#GuestPost by Galen)
Blood Jade by Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle (#AudioBookReview)
Best Books of 2024 

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 12-8-24

It’s beginning to look a lot like the end of the year is coming on fast. Entirely too fast! Which means both holiday presents to wrap and New Year’s Resolutions to make.

I’m not really talking about actual New Year’s Resolutions – because those seldom work. It’s more about cogitating on what changes need to be made for Reading Reality. Last year it was the decision to start posting on Instagram, something I’d been debating for a couple of years and finally made the plunge because Twitter was getting weird and I felt the need to start posting on a different – and less weird – social media channel.

And Twitter/X got even weirder and more toxic, so I think the Insta decision was a good one. But it’s looking like it’s time to bail on the whole X thing and that’s what I’m looking at now, both at Bluesky and Threads. If you have any thoughts or experience or both on either service, I’d be VERY interested in hearing about it!

With cats in the house, wrapping presents is always a problem. They ALL want to HELP. Which means playing with the wrapping paper. After all, if it interests us, it interests them even more! And we pay SO MUCH attention to THEM when they’re playing with it. Even better – at least from their perspective.

So, we brought the vacuum cleaner into the room with the big table. We’re planning to run the “Monster Vacuum” while we wrap. Based on past performance, we think a five minute blast of Mr. Vacuum will vacate the room for at least an hour!

Because that little story absolutely BEGS for cat tax, here’s a picture of Hecate looking rather dignified. This might become her “official” portrait.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Fall 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Holiday Giveaway Event!

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Holiday Book Bingo Challenge Giveaway in the 2024 Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon is Kai

Blog Recap:

Holiday Amazon/PayPal Giveaway Event!
A- #BookReview: How to Steal a Galaxy by Beth Revis
A- #BookReview: A Snake in the Barley by Candace Robb
C+ #AudioBookReview: Orbital by Samantha Harvey
B #BookReview: The Hero She Deserves by Anna Hackett
Stacking the Shelves (630)

Coming This Week:

Mechanize My Hands to War by Erin K. Wagner (#BookReview)
Bayou Book Thief by Ellen Byron (#BookReview)
Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood (#AudioBookReview)
Dead as a Dodo by Hailey Edwards (#AudioBookReview)
I Made It Out of Clay by Beth Kander (#BlogTour #BookReview)