Tag: George T. Cat

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 10-13-24

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

There are plenty of bookish/bloggy things to make a note of this Sunday, starting with Rough Pages by Lev A.C. Rosen, which was utterly awesome, as has been the whole Evander Mills series, and I can’t say enough wonderful things about the narrator, Vikas Adam. I’m going to be SO disappointed if the series doesn’t continue and if Adam doesn’t continue narrating it.

I don’t have a lot of A+ reviews. I do have a lot of B and higher, because if a book isn’t at least that good I’ll probably DNF and just move on. Life is too short to read books that aren’t working. But A+ are rare – as they should be – because a book has to be just about perfect – or at least perfect for me. This was a VERY good reading week!

One note about bloggy stuff, because I got an email about just this kind of thing earlier this month – and it’ll probably happen again. Most giveaway hops start on a specific day and if that’s not a good day for the site the site can’t participate. Which is completely understandable from all sorts of perspectives. Howsomever, because the Versatileer-sponsored giveaway hops, like the Fall 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop and the Late Fall Amazon/PayPal Giveaway Event! are open for six weeks or more, the organizer has a five-day window for sites to post. That specifically means that I’m grateful to be able to participate in the Late Fall Event because I can post on October 17 instead of the official start date October 16, which is the day I’m participating in the Silly Pumpkins Giveaway Hop. And that’s not silly at all. But George – see picture below – certainly is!

Here’s George, looking like he’s having a literal meltdown. Or that he’s melting down into the couch. Or both. Last weekend Galen was out of town as part of a several day trip to see his sister and attend a work conference. The cats ALL made me very aware that I am the inferior cat servant and that they missed him every bit as much as I did! George and Tuna often act like bookends on this couch, one cat on each end, and this end is George’s usual spot. But he’s usually up at the top there, checking out his domain. In this shot it looks like he’s melting down into the thing – possibly as prep for pulling it all over his head!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Early Fall Giveaway Event (ENDS TUESDAY!!!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Scaredy Cat Giveaway Hop (ENDS TUESDAY!!!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Fall 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

A- #BookReview: The Village Library Demon Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner
A+ #AudioBookReview: Rough Pages by Lev A.C. Rosen
B #BookReview: Shoestring Theory by Mariana Costa
A- #BookReview: In the Shadow of the Ship by Aliette de Bodard
B #BookReview: What We Sacrifice for Magic by Andrea Jo DeWerd
Stacking the Shelves (622)

Coming This Week:

The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski (#BookReview)
Fangs So Bright and Deadly by Piper J. Drake (#BookReview)
Silly Pumpkins Giveaway Hop
Late Fall Amazon/PayPal Giveaway Event!
The Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin (#BookReview #BlogTour)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 9-22-24

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

Today is the first day of 2024’s Banned Books Week! So celebrate your freedom to read by reading a banned book to see what the challenge really is all about. Learn what is actually IN the book in question to see for yourself why is made so many people so very uncomfortable – which is what banning is REALLY all about. I could say more, but anything I might come up with has been said better elsewhere, to take just one example, Stephen King’s essay from 1992 titled “The Book-Banners: Adventure in Censorship is Stranger Than Fiction”.

I’m going to change back to our usual run of cat and bookish news, inspired by this picture of George saying, “Make it stop, make it stop right MEOW!”

The schedule for this week is more or less solid, although the order may change as I’ve already finished Graveyard Shift – which was terrific in audio. The recap of last week includes a book (The Daughters’ War) that is certainly going to be on my “Best of the Year” list for this year as well as my Hugo nominations next year. Which I can’t believe I’m already thinking about, but now that it’s really, truly fall, even if the temperature is supposed to hit 90° today, the end of the year feels like it’s coming on fast.

Speaking of fall starting and summer ending, the Summer 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop ended at midnight. I may, or may not, be awake and functional at that point. If I’m not awake – which I was not – the winner announcement read TBD but it has now been filled in with the name of the actual winner!

Current Giveaways:

Falling Into Leaves Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Early Fall Giveaway Event

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Summer 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop is Michael

Blog Recap:

Falling into Leaves Giveaway Hop
A++ #AudioBookReview The Daughters’ War by Christopher Buehlman
#BookReview: The Sullivan’s Island Supper Club by Susan M. Boyer
A- #BookReview: Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker
A- #BookReview: The Banned Books Club by Brenda Novak
Stacking the Shelves (619)

Coming This Week:

Fall 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
Murder at King’s Crossing by Andrea Penrose (#BookReview)
Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid (#BookReview)
The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi (#BookReview)
Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio (#AudioBookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 9-8-24

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

Today would have been my mother’s 96th birthday. Today is also Star Trek Day. I have feelings about both of those things, some of which are even sorta/kinda tied up in each other, albeit indirectly. I watched the final season (and admittedly the worst of the three) of Star Trek: The Original Series, as it was broadcast, with my dad. My mom did not understand what either of us saw in the thing, nor why my fascination with it continued even after the show was cancelled. And, for that matter, still does.

That initial fascination led to a life-long love of science fiction, just as my even earlier initial reading of The Hobbit began a fantasy reading habit that is also still with me.

In dubious honor of that earlier triumvirate, I present to you a ‘Three Cat Night’, with George, Tuna and Luna standing – or should that be lying – in for Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Not that there are any resemblances whatsoever.

Current Giveaways:

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

Blog Recap:

Labor Day 2024 (Guest Post by Galen)
Early Fall Amazon/Paypal Giveaway Event!
B- #BookReview: Passions in Death by J.D. Robb
B #BookReview: Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud
B+ #BookReview: Follow the Stars Home by Diane C. McPhail
Stacking the Shelves (617)

Coming This Week:

This World is Not Yours by Kemi Ashing-Giwa (#BookReview)
Fury Brothers: Take by Anna Hackett (#BookReview)
A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft (#BookReview)
We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida, translated by E. Madison Shimoda (#BookReview)
Chasing New Suns by Lance Robinson (#BookReview)

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

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

We’re still back, and it seems like our body clocks are finally catching up with our actual location. Waking up at 6 in the morning without an alarm clock really, really weirds me out. Galen’s mileage varies considerably on that, but I’ve been a night owl all my life and having that temporarily reset itself discombobulated me completely for most of the week!

(Yes, I can read in the early morning but it STILL felt WRONG on so many levels!)

This week’s projected schedule looks fairly solid – although the precise order is subject to change. I’ve already finished Junkyard Roadhouse and (SPOILER!) it’s every bit as good as the rest of the series.

Today’s cat picture is from one of our first night’s back. Unlike the one I posted last Sunday, where Luna is clearly ignoring me, this one shows several members of the clowder at least curious about sniffing Galen’s fingers to figure out where he’s been and perhaps if he’s brought them anything with which to beg their forgiveness.

SPOILER ALERT! – they forgave us anyway, and pretty quickly too!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 in Books in the Old School Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Late Summer Giveaway Event
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the SUMMER 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

B #AudioBookReview: The Hermit Next Door by Kevin Hearne
A- #BookReview: The Naturalist’s Daughter by Tea Cooper
B+ #BookReview: Memories of the Lost by Barbara O’Neal
A- #BookReview: Hell Bay by Will Thomas
B #BookReview: The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
Stacking the Shelves (615)

Coming This Week:

The Kill List by Nadine Matheson (#BookReview)
The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard (#BlogTour #BookReview)
Saving Susy Sweetchild by Barbara Hambly (#BookReview)
Junkyard Roadhouse by Faith Hunter (#AudioBookReview)
Out of the Drowning Deep by A.C. Wise (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 8-4-24

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

We’re still away on vacay, as might be deduced from George’s and Hecate’s suspicious little faces as they hide under the dining room table.

You might not be able to see Hecate unless you know to look for her. That dark tortie coat of hers hides VERY WELL in the shadows.

So the cats are not having a great week, and we miss them as much as they miss us.

This week’s reads were a combination of very good and very interesting – although not necessarily in the same books. And next week looks to be more of the same in that regard.

We’ll certainly see, won’t we?

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Apple a Day Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Late Summer Giveaway Event
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the SUMMER 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Sip Sip Hooray Giveaway Hop is Angela

Blog Recap:

A- #BookReview: Sentinel Security: Stone by Anna Hackett
#BookReview: The Nightingale’s Castle by Sonia Velton
A- #BookReview: Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard
Apple A Day Giveaway Hop
A+ #BookReview: The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark
Stacking the Shelves (612)

Coming This Week:

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher (#BookReview)
Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid (#BookReview)
Where Is Anybody? by Simon R. Green (#BookReview)
A Vengeful King Rises by Sophie Barnes (#BlogTour #BookReview)
Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 7-28-24

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

George probably has exactly the expression below on his face as you are reading this. We’re away on vacation for a bit, and I’m sure George and company are NOT HAPPY about their people being away. Not that George doesn’t look like this at least for a bit every day, as he likes to camp out on the stairs and mourn that his people aren’t paying attention to him on a regular basis. We know they’re getting well taken care of by our regular cat sitters – as we get daily pictures of them all! Which we coo over because we miss them as much as they miss us.

So don’t worry about George, Hecate, Luna and Tuna too much, they’re fine if likely a bit disgruntled. And don’t worry about getting your daily post from yours truly! There are plenty of reviews and other posts queued up for your reading pleasure while we’re away. Just wait and see!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Sip Sip Hooray Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Late Summer Giveaway Event
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the SUMMER 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Christmas in July Giveaway Hop is Anne

Blog Recap:

B #BookReview: Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop by Emmeline Duncan
A- #BookReview: Summers End by Juneau Black
B #BookReview: Lost to Eternity by Greg Cox
A- #AudioBookReview: More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, translated by Eric Ozawa
B #BookReview: In the Shadow of the Fall by Tobi Ogundiran
Stacking the Shelves (611)

Coming This Week:

Sentinel Security: Stone by Anna Hackett (#BookReview)
Memories of the Lost by Barbara O’Neal (#BlogTour #BookReview)
Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard (#BookReview)
Apple A Day Giveaway Hop
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 7-14-24

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

The belly is not a trap. I say again, the belly – at least the Tuna belly – is not a trap. The George belly, however, most definitely IS a trap. In fact, the whole entirety of the George is a trap as George easily gets over-excited and turns pointy-side out in all directions at the drop of a hat. A hat which George would probably eat if it were a real hat instead of a metaphorical topper.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Sparkle Time Giveaway Hop (ENDS TOMORROW!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Early Summer Giveaway Event (ENDS TOMORROW TOOOOOO!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Christmas in July Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the SUMMER 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

A- #BookReview: The Mummy of Mayfair by Jeri Westerson
Grade A #BookReview: Penric and the Bandit by Lois McMaster Bujold
A- #BookReview: This Great Hemisphere by Mateo Askaripour
B #BookReview: Daughters of Olympus by Hannah M. Lynn
A+ #BookReview: The Price of Redemption by Shawn Carpenter
Stacking the Shelves (609)

Coming This Week:

Earthlight by J. Michael Straczynski (#AudioBookReview)
Sip Sip Hooray Giveaway Hop
Late Summer Event Amazon/PayPal Giveaway!
Murder at the White Palace by Allison Montclair (#BookReview)
Yoke of Stars by R.B. Lemberg (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 6-16-24

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

Today is Father’s Day, at least in the United States and a whole lot of other countries. So Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!

Galen is a Cat Dad, so this picture of two of the boys investigating something – possibly the location of his Father’s Day present, although that’s a bit of a scary thought. George and Tuna are always adorable, no matter what they are doing!

This week’s reviews weren’t quite as collectively awesome as last week, but there were still plenty of excellent reads. I’m just still bummed that Ghostdrift is the last book in the Finder Chronicles, and this coming week’s The Comfort of Ghosts is the last book in the Maisie Dobbs series. I know that all good things must come to an end – but I don’t have to actually LIKE that fact.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Early Summer Giveaway Event

Blog Recap:

A- #BookReview: The Runes of Engagement by Tobias S. Buckell and Dave Klecha
B+ #BookReview: We Speak Through the Mountain by Premee Mohamed
B- #BookReview: The Mausoleum’s Children by Aliette de Bodard
A- #BookReview: The Hero She Craves by Anna Hackett
A+ #AudioBookReview: Ghostdrift by Suzanne Palmer
Stacking the Shelves (605)

Coming This Week:

The Year Without Sunshine by Naomi Kritzer (#BookReview #HugoReview)
The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear (#BookReview)
Juneteenth (Guest Post by Galen)
Summer 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
A Ruse of Shadows by Sherry Thomas (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 6-1-24

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

The attached picture isn’t exactly “Lazy Lions Lounging in the Local Library”, but it’s close. It’s clearly lazy kitties lounging on a willing human – and not that Chez Reading Reality doesn’t resemble a library!

Luna looks huge in this picture, but she’s actually the smallest of the three. Not that ANY of these three are actually small.

This past week, reading wise, turned out to be mostly interesting in all the ways that make “interesting” a euphemism. It ended up being a number of books that didn’t work as well as I’d hoped, and then one I turned to as a saving grace because this week required that something really good get read no matter how deep I had to dive into the virtually towering TBR pile!

I have much higher hopes for this coming week, if only because I’ve already finished most of the books!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Moms Rock Giveaway Hop is Steph

Blog Recap:

Memorial Day 2024 (Guest Post by Galen)
B #AudioBookReview: The Bodies in the Library by Marty Wingate
B- #BookReview: One Man’s Treasure by Sarah Pinsker
D #AudioBookReview: To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang
A+ #BookReview: Fatal Enquiry by Will Thomas
Stacking the Shelves (603)

Coming This Week:

Early Summer Giveaway Event
On the Fox Roads by Nghi Vo (#BookReview)
The Fireborne Blade by Charlotte Bond (#BookReview)
Fiasco by Constance Fay (#BookReview)
Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 5-26-24

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

This post is the result of a bit of serendipitous procrastination. Or that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I couldn’t quite decide EXACTLY what I’d be reading this week, particular as last week was a bit on the ‘meh’ side. I’m in the middle of three books, two of which I had bailed on at previous points in time, and it just wasn’t looking like a schedule that had the proverbial hope in hell of happening – even with Galen handling the Memorial Day Holiday post on Monday – for which I’m always both grateful and eager to see what he comes up with because they’re always interesting – especially when it takes me a minute or two to figure out how his starting point relates to the particular holiday.

I’ll certainly have things to say about the rest of the week’s books, as those two books I previously flailed and bailed on, while they did get better this time around, didn’t so much redeem the parts that made me bail as they merely got past them. You’ll see.

Speaking of, well, talking about various and sundry issues, this week’s cat picture is of the ‘young guns’ in this clowder, (left to right)  George, Tuna and Luna. We think they’re out on the catio complaining about the neighbor cat that has been coming around and tearing at the screens in an attempt to get in on their very good thing. They don’t seem all that fussed about it – at least so far – but we’ve laid in a supply of screen repair patches, just in case!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Moms Rock Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

B- #BookReview: A Mischief of Rats by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett
B- #BookReview: Dear Edna Sloane by Amy Shearn
B #BookReview: The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
B #BookReview: Lost Ark Dreaming by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
A- #BookReview: How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub by P. Djèlí Clark
Stacking the Shelves (602)

Coming This Week:

Memorial Day 2024 (Guest Post by Galen)
The Bodies in the Library by Marty Wingate (#AudioBookReview)
To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang (#AudioBookReview)
One Man’s Treasure by Sarah Pinsker (#BookReview)
Fatal Enquiry by Will Thomas (#BookReview)