Category: Winner announcement

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 9-28-25

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

Our cats watch us all the time. At least all the time they’re awake. When they’re sleeping we can do whatever we want as long as we don’t disturb them – although they can disturb us whenever they please. Because they’re cats.

Today I have another picture of the ‘The Boys’ to show you. It’s a typical pose for them no matter how much danger it poses to us. George and Tuna are occupying a single stair, together, all stretched out so we can’t get past them unless they let us. Which, to be fair, the usually do. EVENTUALLY. It’s a terrific observation spot because they can see directly into my office, and Galen can’t get past them to the front door without them noticing. Apparently, they trust him in his office by himself but not me.

That they can also watch over the front door, AND see through the glass beside the door so they can see anyone coming from the outside makes this spot perfect from their point of view. They can keep half an eye, each on everything and STILL catnap. Would could be better?

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Falling into Leaves Giveaway Hop (ENDS TUESDAY!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Fall Football & Halloween Giveaway Event!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Fall 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Summer 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop is Heather

Blog Recap:

Fall 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
A+ #AudioBookReview: Spider to the Fly by J.H. Markert
A- #BookReview: The Summer War by Naomi Novik
B #BookReview: A Fellowship of Games and Fables by J. Penner
Grade A #BookReview: Murder at Somerset House by Andrea Penrose
Stacking the Shelves (672)

Coming This Week:

What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher (#AudioBookReview)
Mockingbird Court by Juneau Black (#BookReview)
Scaredy Cat Giveaway Hop
Air Force One by M.L. Buchman (#BookReview)
The Door on the Sea by Caskey Russell (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 9-21-25

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

Tomorrow is the first OFFICIAL day of Fall in the Northern Hemisphere – which means that the holidays can’t be far behind! (I’ve already started reading Halloween books with The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy and that was a marvelous story to kick off the season!)

The coming of Fall means that today is also a good day to post a picture of our spookiest cat, Hecate. Clearly, Hecate has resting disgruntled face. Or resting grumpy face. I’m not sure there’s a difference between the two, but they absolutely ARE her default attitude. Or cattitude. Definitely tortitude.

There are more spooky books to come, including this week’s likely standout, Spider to the Fly. I finished it yesterday and I’m still feeling the creepy vibes. I hope it looks as interesting to you as it turned out to be for me. (I’m saying this and horror isn’t usually my jam but this absolutely was.) But I am planning to finish out the week with a few cozier books and/or stories where I know there will be a happy ending because I did need a cocoa and lie down after finishing.

I’m hoping to kick this whole Fall thing off to a good start with a mix of creepy, followed by cozy, and then topped off with a comforting – albeit cathartic – murder mystery. We’ll see how it goes!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop (ENDS TONIGHT!!!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Falling into Leaves Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Fall Football & Halloween Giveaway Event!

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Glam & Glits (Glitz) Giveaway Hop is Cheryl W.

Blog Recap:

A- #BookReview: Extremity by Nicholas Binge
Falling into Leaves Giveaway Hop
B- #BookReview: Love at First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi
A- #BookReview: A Murderous Business by Cathy Pegau
A+ #BookReview: The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish
Stacking the Shelves (671)

Coming This Week:

Fall 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
Spider to the Fly by J.H. Markert (#AudioBookReview)
The Summer War by Naomi Novik (#BookReview)
A Fellowship of Games and Fables by J. Penner (#BookReview)
Murder at Somerset House by Andrea Penrose (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 9-7-25

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

This picture is Luna’s ultimate disappointed, dejected and totally disgruntled face. This seems to be her new pose when she’s unhappy and has a human to blame it on!

Luna was making that face at me because Galen was away on a business trip and I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to be doing – for HER. I was supposed to be consoling her in my lap because she was reduced to a single human servitor, while said servitor, meaning moi, was playing a video game and not fulfilling her needs – as best as one poor servitor is able to, that is.

I was in a similar, let’s call it less than thrilled, position when the end of this week’s schedule fell apart because the host of the scheduled end-of-the-week giveaway is ALSO having a terrible, no good, very bad week so I had to scramble a bit. It happens to us all, as does life in general. I hope that his situation has been resolved, and the giveaway starts tomorrow here at Reading Reality although it opened on Saturday elsewhere.

Which led to the thing that is really messing me up this weekend. Rafflecopter is going out of business on October 1. I’m going to miss that service, it did what I needed – even though it’s spam protection wasn’t all that robust – but it had the features I wanted at the right price – FREE! Which probably goes a long way to explain why the model stopped being sustainable. When I started prepping this post I needed to pick a winner for the Late Summer Giveaway Event and it looked like they’d gone out of business early. It turned out to be a technical issue that could be, and was, fixed overnight, but the whole thing made me nervous about the conclusion of the Summer Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop which still has two weeks left to run. As does the season itself, at least officially. Unofficially, it’s already Fall and we have the weather to prove it!

We’ll certainly see how that goes!

Howsomever, it has been a terrific reading week. I picked some terrific books to tide me over until Galen got home. I definitely needed fortification to help me get through ALL of my cat serving responsibilities!

Current Giveaways:

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

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Late Summer Giveaway Event is Viki S.

Blog Recap:

Glam and Glits Giveaway Hop
A- #AudioBookReview: Ushers by Joe Hill
A- #BookReview: A Tangle of Time by Josiah Bancroft
Grade A #BookReview: The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez
A+ #BookReview: Audition for the Fox by Martin Cahill
Stacking the Shelves (669)

Coming This Week:

Fall Football & Halloween Giveaway Event!
Sunward by William Alexander (#BookReview)
The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi (#BookReview)
The Baby Dragon Bakery by A.T. Qureshi (#BookReview)
Hemlock and Silver by T. Kingfisher (#AudioBookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 8-24-25

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

Cat pictures first. Cat pictures always, but this Sunday, definitely cat pictures first!

The picture on the left is our Tuna and Luna. That Tuna is in the feline superior position in this photo is a bit out of the ordinary, as he generally just isn’t – in any way whatsoever. The picture on the right is our friend in Anchorage’s Spike – who looks like Luna and Tuna’s brother from another mother. He isn’t, as far as we know or is likely. Howsomever, he certainly adopted us as though we belonged to him, to the point of herding all three of of ‘his’ humans back into the same room whenever one of us would be so foolish as to leave our assigned places under his watchful eye.

We are back from our trip to Anchorage and Seattle. We had a fantastic time, visiting dear friends and familiar places, and, of course, attending WorldCon in Seattle. Next year will be in Los Angeles, and it’s now official that 2027’s WorldCon will be held in Montreal. So that’s more fantastic trips on the somewhat distant horizon.

We did attend lots of interesting panels, see old friends and make new ones, and, of course and always, pick up oodles of book recommendations. The cats back home missed us terribly and have been pretty much glued to our sides since we returned.

You’d think I’d read a lot on a trip like this – and I kind of do – but not necessarily anything I need to concentrate on until the plane home. So I’m scrambling a bit to catch up. This coming week’s schedule may turn out to be vastly different from what’s planned, as no plan survives contact, etc., etc., etc. and my current enemy is trying to figure out which time zone I’m in.

C’est la vie. The trip was WELL WORTH the current bit of disruption. And the cats are happy. Except Spike, as he seems to need more people to herd!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Late Summer, Dog Days & Back to School Giveaway Event!

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Apple a Day Giveaway Hop (from last week) is Rita

Blog Recap:

A+ #BookReview: Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
C- #BookReview: The Late-Night Witches by Auralee Wallace
B #BookReview: Making History by K.J. Parker
A- #BookReview: Before and After by Anna Hackett
A- #BookReview: Lethal Pursuit by Will Thomas
Stacking the Shelves (667)

Coming This Week:

Framed in Death by J.D. Robb (#BookReview)
Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill (#BookReview)
We’ll Prescribe You Another Cat by Syou Ishida translated by E. Madison Shimoda (#BookReview)
All the Ash We Leave Behind by C. Robert Cargill (#BookReview)
The Two Lies of Faven Sythe by Megan E. O’Keefe (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 8-17-25

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

This would be the seriously speculative Sunday Post. We’re at Worldcon in Seattle right now, and this post has been prepared WAY ahead. Which explains the ‘TBD’ for the Apple A Day Giveaway Hop, because I doubt I’ll get to it before post time.

Howsomever, pretty much everything about giveaways is TBD right now, as the service many sites use to host giveaways, Rafflecopter, is going out of business on October 1, 2025. Mr. Reading Reality is already searching for alternatives.

Three of this past week’s reviews were majorly influenced by this weekend’s Worldcon, as Martha Wells, Murderbot‘s creator, is the Guest of Honor, Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole is up for Best Short Story, and, while this particular book of Adrian Tchaikovsky is not eligible for the current Hugos, two of his novels, Alien Clay and Service Model, are contenders for Best Novel, and his Tyrant Philosophers series is a contender for Best Series.  I say “is” but by the time you read this the awards will have been revealed and I’m looking forward to being there.

This post’s cat picture is of two beings who would not be looking forward to us being away if they knew it was about to happen. But I would not be at all surprised to learn that this picture is true to life, as these two grumpy boys are probably grumping together this weekend, doing their best to support each other in their mutual grumpiness!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Late Summer, Dog Days & Back to School Giveaway Event!

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Apple A Day Giveaway Hop is TBD

Blog Recap:

Grade A #BookReview: Wrath of the Dragons by Olivia Rose Darling
B- #BookReview: The Memory Hunters by Mia Tsai
Grade A #AudioBookReview: Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole by Isabel J Kim
A- #BookReview: The Murderbot Diaries: Obsolescence, Compulsory, Home, Rapport by Martha Wells
B+ #BookReview: The Hungry Gods by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Stacking the Shelves (666)

Coming This Week:

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz (#BookReview)
The Late-Night Witches by Auralee Wallace (#BookReview)
Making History by K.J. Parker (#BookReview)
Before and After by Anna Hackett (#BookReview)
Lethal Pursuit by Will Thomas (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 8-3-25

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

There were some hard choices in this Sunday Post – but at least it wasn’t a “blah” reading week!

I was a bit spoiled for choice for this week’s ‘Book of the Week’ because there were THREE A- reads. I gave The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth the nod because the early scenes at Dishoom brought back so many happy – and tasty – memories. And it was a pretty big book for a one-sitting read and that says a LOT.

Since there is no new giveaway coming this coming week, I also needed to choose which book to feature – and again, I’m spoiled for choice between a tour book, an audiobook I’ve been tearing through, and a book I just finished and liked a whole lot more than I thought I would. It turned out to be ‘eeny, meany, miney, moe’ time again.

Third hard choice – well not so much hard as a bit of work – was choosing a winner for the Sip Sip Hooray Hop. Not because I personally have to pick – thank you Rafflecopter! – but because there were nearly 60,000 entries for the giveaway and I KNOW that most of them are spam. Weeding the real entries from the spam isn’t difficult, but it can be very time consuming and it always leaves me wondering why even bots bother.

Speaking of people making difficult choices, this week’s cat picture is of Hecate, who seems to have decide to imitate Cthulhu in her own small and very sparkly way. She’s adorable, if slightly confused, and utterly hilarious. Which is even funnier because she doesn’t like being laughed at. But then, who does?

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Apple A Day Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Late Summer, Dog Days & Back to School Giveaway Event!

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Sip Sip Hooray Giveaway Hop is Will G.

Blog Recap:

A- #BookReview: The Adventure of the Demonic Ox by Lois McMaster Bujold
B+ #AudioBookReview: Five Views of the Planet Tartarus by Rachael K. Jones
A- #BookReview: The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth by Barbara O’Neal
A- #BookReview: The Shakespeare Secret by D.J. Nix
Apple A Day Giveaway Hop
Stacking the Shelves (664)

Coming This Week:

Which Witch? by Simon R. Green (#BookReview)
Head Cases by John McMahon (#BookReview)
Six Weeks by the Sea by Paula Byrne (#BookReview)
We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read by Caroline M. Yoachim (#AudioBookReview)(#HugoReview)
Pearl City by Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle (#AudioBookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 7-20-25

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

This past week was a lovely reading week. This coming week is just weird because I’m listening to the audio of Ink Ribbon Red and it’s driving me bonkers. I haven’t hate read – in this case hate-listened – to a book so hard since The Atlas Six, but I hate all the characters in this one, so if all of them end up being murdered I won’t even be sorry. I just NEED to know.

Today’s cat picture is of “the boys”, George and Tuna, staring through the door between the living room and the catio. In this hot weather, they are not on the outside looking in, they’re on the inside looking out, deciding that it’s too hot out there for feline people in fur coats. And they’re right!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Sip Sip Hooray Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Late Summer, Dog Days & Back to School Giveaway Event!

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop is Cindy

Blog Recap:

A+ #BookReview: The Memory of the Ogisi by Moses Ose Utomi
A- #BookReview: Volatile Memory by Seth Haddon
Sip Sip Hooray Giveaway Hop
B #BookReview: Stitched to Skin Like Family Is by Nghi Vo
A- #AudioBookReview: A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith
Stacking the Shelves (662)

 

Coming This Week:

The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-yeon, translated by Janet Hong (#BookReview)
Three Faces of a Beheading by Arkady Martine (#BookReview #HugoReview)
Ink Ribbon Red by Alex Pavesi (#AudioBookReview)
Something Whiskered by Miranda James (#BookReview)
The Book of Lost Hours by Hayley Gelfuso (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 7-13-25

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

The dog days of summer are upon us, and it’s hotter than blue blazes (why only blue?) pretty much everywhere. We’re at the point in the season where it’s muggy enough that the air has to wring itself out every afternoon and we get a bit of a shower, then it stops and it’s just hot and muggy again. How are things at your end of the swamp?

This week’s reads started out with a bang, and ended with a giveaway – which also counts as a bang – but middled in more-or-less OK. This coming week definitely has promise as I’ve already read the first two and enjoyed them, and I’m in the middle of A Case of Mice and Murder and so far loving the mystery – even if I did have to increase the speed of the narration just a touch.

This weekend’s cat picture is of George at his annoying and demonic best. Those eyes of his are a startling green in that orange face, but I had to take more than half a dozen pictures to capture them even partway open just once. He was teasing me, the little brat, but we love them no matter their behavior – even if on occasion we wonder “why was that again?”

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop (ENDS TUESDAY!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Late Summer, Dog Days & Back to School Giveaway Event!

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Graduations, Etc., Early Summer Giveaway Event is April

Blog Recap:

A- #AudioBookReview: The Dallergut Dream-Making District by Miye Lee translated by Sandy Joosun Lee
B #BookReview: The World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant by Liza Tully
C #AudioBookReview: Marginalia by Mary Robinette Kowal
B #BookReview: If Wishes Were Retail by Auston Habershaw
Late Summer, Dog Days & Back to School Giveaway Event!
Stacking the Shelves (661)

Coming This Week:

The Memory of the Ogisi by Moses Ose Utomi (#BookReview)
Volatile Memory by Seth Haddon (#BookReview)
Sip Sip Hooray Giveaway Hop
Stitched to Skin Like Family Is by Nghi Vo (#BookReview #Hugo Review)
A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith (#AudioBookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 7-6-25

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

Luna is exhausted in this picture. That’s because she’s recovering from her enthusiasm about our return home from Philly. It takes a lot out of a kitty to hold her humans down so she can inspect them properly after they’ve been away for a few days! Not that both of us weren’t willing to drop as well – we just needed to be where she could see us and lay on top of us as the mood struck her.

Once we managed to coax her out from  under the couch, that is.

We were at this year’s American Library Association Annual Conference and a good time was definitely had by all. For Galen, the conference itself was all work, while I mostly spent time with friends. We also did a bit of family visiting in the area and came back tired but happy and glad to be home.

We missed the cats, and we’re both grateful that this bunch doesn’t act standoffish when we come home. They forgive very easily because they miss us too. Whoever said cats were aloof clearly didn’t have one of their own because they are so not.

As much fun as the trip was, it’s great to be back home with the ‘children’ and get back to regular routines and just everything that means home – even if the world at large seems to be more fraught by the day.

I hope that your Fourth of July weekend has been a good one!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Graduations, Stanley Cup, Father’s Day & Early Summer Giveaway Event! (ENDS WEDNESDAY!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Dad-O-Mite Giveaway Hop is Ann

Blog Recap:

Grade A #BookReview: Heir of Light by Michelle Sagara
Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop
A++ #BookReview: Six Wild Crowns by Holly Race
#BookReview: The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses by Malka Older
#GuestPost: Independence Day
Stacking the Shelves (660)

Coming This Week:

The Dallergut Dream-Making District by Miye Lee, translated by Sandy Joosun Lee (#AudioBookReview)
The World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant by Liza Tully (#BlogTour #BookReview)
Marginalia by Mary Robinette Kowal (#AudioBookReview #HugoReview)
Late Summer, Dog Days & Back to School Giveaway Event!
If Wishes Were Retail by Auston Habershaw (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 6-22-25

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

Today’s picture is of George, who kind of looks like he’s in pieces – or that the cat got broken and then put back together a bit wrong. Still adorable, of course! But he’s all leg and it shows!

Which is more than a bit how I felt this week. I had a massive bail and flail and nothing was working for me. Which explains the spotlight post on Thursday. It may have just been the wrong book at the wrong time, but I couldn’t even, the audiobook I was listening to wasn’t working any better, so I scrapped everything and went for some comfort reads. This week is already looking a whole lot better!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Dad-O-Mite Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Graduations, Stanley Cup, Father’s Day & Early Summer Giveaway Event!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Spring 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop is Rochelle

Blog Recap:

Dad-O-Mite Giveaway Hop
B #BookReview: Death on the Caldera by Emily Paxman
B #AudioBookReview: Loneliness Universe by Eugenia Triantafyllou
#Spotlight + #Excerpt: Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds by Allison Brennan
Summer 2025 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
Stacking the Shelves (658)

Coming This Week:

First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison (#AudioBookReview)
The Misplaced Physician by Jeri Westerson (#BookReview)
A Shipwreck in Fiji by Nilima Rao (#AudioBookReview)
Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie (#BookReview #HugoReview)
Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi (#BookReview)