The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 6-7-26

Posted on June 7, 2026June 6, 2026 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Today’s cat picture is the “after” picture for last Sunday’s cat picture. Last Sunday, Luna got caught napping adorably. This picture was taken just a few moments after, after she woke up enough to pose for the camera. She’s very aware of how cute she is. VERY. (I adore the way her tail is curling up at the tip!)

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Berry Good Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2026 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in The Summer Giveaway Event

Blog Recap:

Berry Good Giveaway Hop
B #AudioBookReview: Six People to Revise You by J.R. Dawson
Grade A #AudioBookReview: The Last Mandarin by Louise Penny and Mellissa Fung
B #BookReview: Cash and Gravity by Perrin Pring
A- #BookReview: Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K. England
Stacking the Shelves (708)

Coming This Week:

Valet by J.P. Lacrampe (#BookReview)
The Three Coffin Problem by Lavie Tidhar (#BookReview)
Heaven’s Graveyard by Grace Curtis (#BookReview)
In My Country by Thomas Ha (#HugoReview)
There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm (#AudioBookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (708)

Posted on June 6, 2026June 5, 2026 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

The two prettiest covers – and I think they are both pretty instead of merely cute, are The Daughter of the Rebellion, A Kiss of Hammer and Flame and What Happens at Nightfall. (I love the dark blues in Nightfall‘s cover).

The creepy cover award in this stack is divided between Bone of My Bone and Come Sing for the Harrowing. They both give me the shivers – and it’s not cold here AT ALL.

The books I’m most curious about. or really, whose titles I’m most weirded out by, Cross My Heart, I Hope You Die, and Cross Your Heart and Hope He Dies. It reads like those two titles are speaking to each other, and I wouldn’t want to be caught in the middle of that conversation because somebody’s clearly going to die. Possibly more than one somebody and maybe even a whole lot of somebodies. But that’s a lot of death being wished for, and someone is bound to catch some karma about it.

The book I’m most curious about is Guilt, and the one I’m most looking forward to in this stack is Massif. I’ve never read anything by the author, but I’ve always meant to and this looks like a golden opportunity!

What about you? What’s got your attention in your stack?

cross my heart i hope you die by mallory arnold

what happens at nightfall by lauren willig

cleo dang would rather be dead by mai nguyen

mothers and other strangers by corey ann haydyu

come sing for the harrowing by dan coxon

phoebe bermans gonna lose it by brooke averick

kiss of hammer and flame by amy de la force

one day you were my husband by rosie walsh

Version 1.0.0

i hope you find what you're looking for by bsrat mezghebe

cross your heart and hope he dies by jenny elder moke

For Review:
Bone of My Bone by Johanna van Veen
By the Bootstraps (Starlight Ridge #1) by Alexa Martin
Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead by Mai Nguyen
Come Sing for the Harrowing by Dan Coxon
Cross My Heart, I Hope You Die by Mallory Arnold
Cross Your Heart and Hope He Dies by Jenny Elder Moke
The Daughter of the Rebellion by Jamie Ogle
Dear Monica Lewinsky by Julia Langbein
Enemies to Lovers by Alisha Rai
Guilt by Keigo Higashino, translated by Giles Murray
Honey in the Wound by Jiyoung Han
I Hope You Find What You’re Looking For by Bsrat Mezghebe
A Kiss of Hammer and Flame (Fated for Hael #1) by Amy de la Force
Like This, But Funnier by Hallie Cantor
Love by the Book by Jessica George
Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth
Massif by Garth Nix
Mothers and Other Strangers by Corey Ann Haydu
Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It by Brooke Averick
The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh
What Happens at Nightfall by Lauren Willig

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page

Please link your STS post in the linky below:

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 5-31-26

Posted on May 31, 2026May 30, 2026 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Today is the last day of May. That Memorial Day occurred this past Monday and not tomorrow feels a bit off. Nevertheless, it is what it is. (Next year, Memorial Day WILL be May 31, which somehow feels normal. Don’t get me wrong, I love 3-day weekends as much as the next person, but the resulting float of the holidays can still feel off.

But June still starts tomorrow, along with Audiobook Month AND Caffeinated Reviewer’s annual JIAM (June is Audiobook Month) Challenge. I am participating, but I’m not sure just how many audiobooks I can manage in just a single month. Over a whole, entire year, quite a few, but in just one month? We’ll see.

Speaking of seeing, the above picture of Luna had to be seen to be believed. She’s just completely abandoned, mostly asleep, and not quite keeping track of all of her limbs. When this was taken, she was just aware enough to notice that she was being photographed, but not quite awake enough to do anything about it. In a week or two I’ll post the follow up picture, the one where she’s fully awake, looking adorably cute, and obviously posing for the camera. Or for her human daddy. Same difference.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2026 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in The Summer Giveaway Event

Blog Recap:

#GuestPost: Memorial Day 2026: Books at War
Grade A #BookReview: The Monk by Tim Sullivan
B #BookReview: The Girl That My Mother is Leaving Me For by Cameron Reed
A++ #BookReview: Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne Palmer
A- #BookReview: The Ivory City by Emily Bain Murphy
Stacking the Shelves (707)

Coming This Week:

Berry Good Giveaway Hop
When He Calls Your Name by Catherynne M. Valente (#HugoReview)
The Last Mandarin by Louise Penny and Mellissa Fung (#AudioBookReview)
Cash and Gravity by Perrin Pring (#BookReview)
Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K. England (#BookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (707)

Posted on May 30, 2026May 29, 2026 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

Is it just me, or does it feel vaguely wrong that it’s STILL May but Memorial Day is already behind us? Something about this weekend still being May but Monday is NOT Memorial Day is just not right.

Speaking of not right things, it feels like we’ve definitely entered the “cute” cover era. The “pretty” cover era feels like it’s over. Of course, that could just be because I don’t read a lot of literary fiction which tends more in that direction. Although the cover of The Eagle in the Mountain is gorgeous in its own way. That’s a style we saw a lot of when we lived in Alaska and I do kind of miss seeing it everywhere.

Find Me Where It Ends has the distinction of being the cutest horror or horror-adjacent cover I’ve ever seen. Whether the book lives up to it is yet to be determined.

The book with the best title – or at least the title that most grabbed my attention – is World’s Okayest Oracle (Reluctantly) Seeks Demon. There’s something about that parenthetical (Reluctantly) that makes me smile every time I see it.

What about you? What’s tweaking your curiosity in your stack this week?

worlds okayest oracle reluctantly seeks demon by olivia dade

ms mebel goes back to the chopping block

enchanting the fae queen by stephanie burgis

one week to win the chocolate maker by timothy janovsky

audrey lane stirs the pot by alexis hall

five weeks in the country by francine prose

For Review:
Audrey Lane Stirs the Pot (Winner Bakes All #3) by Alexis Hall
Bad Company by Sara Paretsky
The Butler (Butler #1) by Clare Mackintosh
A Courtship in Quarantine (International Love and Misadventure) by Jem Spears
The Eagle in the Mountain (Raven and Eagle #2) by Caskey Russell
Enchanting the Fae Queen (Queens of Villainy #2) by Stephanie Burgis
Find Me Where It Ends by Cassandra Khaw
Five Weeks in the Country by Francine Prose
Good Joy, Bad Joy by Mikki Brammer
The Great Wherever by Shannon Sanders
Homebound by Portia Elan
The Lovers (Towerfall #2) by Kristin Cast
A Most Worthy Husband (Lucky Ladies of London #3) by Faye Delacour
Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Odessa by Gabrielle Sher
One Week to Win the Chocolate Maker by Timothy Janovsky
Roses & Stone (Silver & Blood #2) by Jessie Mihalik
The Scarlet Ball by Nghi Vo
Served Him Right by Lisa Unger
Silver & Blood (Silver & Blood #1) by Jessie Mihalik
World’s Okayest Oracle (Reluctantly) Seeks Demon by Olivia Dade

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page

Please link your STS post in the linky below:

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

Posted on May 24, 2026May 23, 2026 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

First, you have no idea how many books I bailed on this week. Both in text and in audio. I’m not sure whether it was me or them, but I was throwing stuff to the side left, right and center. In the car. (It’s very awkward while driving!)

I’m not at all sure about this coming week’s schedule, either. Even with Galen doing his usual holiday guest essay on Monday. I’m definitely starting my annual Hugo Award nomination readings this week. Both because I need at least one short thing AND because the votes are due August 8 and there are a lot of novelettes and short stories to go through first. So it’s time to start on THAT before they turn into a 12-review pileup at the end. No one wants that. Not even me.

Today’s featured feline is Hecate, because she’s perfectly posed for what looks like it will be a cool, drippy 3 day weekend around here. We bought those shelves for her. The others too, but especially her. They’re her favorite place to hang out because she can watch us and if she wants to watch the ‘kitty television’ outside, all she has to do is roll (carefully) over. But she’s looking inside watching us because its so wet out there’s not much to see outside. And we’re feeling the same!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2026 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in The Summer Giveaway Event

Blog Recap:

A- #AudioBookReview: A Deadly Episode by Anthony Horowitz
Summer Giveaway Event!
B #BookReview: It’s Hard to Be an Animal by Robert Isaacs
Grade A #BookReview: In a Dangerous Orbit by Anna Hackett
Grade A #BookReview: The Summer Share by Jenn McKinlay
Stacking the Shelves (706)

Coming This Week:

Memorial Day 2026 (#GuestPost by Galen)
The Monk by Tim Sullivan (#BookReview)
The Re-Do List by Denise Williams (#BookReview)
Kaiju Agonistes by Scott Lynch (#HugoReview)
The Ivory City by Emily Bain Murphy (#BookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (706)

Posted on May 23, 2026May 22, 2026 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

These aren’t pretty. Seriously, they just aren’t. It’s been weird for a while. Like “pretty” book covers have gone out of style. There’s cute, there’s interesting, there’s intriguing, there’s scary, there’s outright gory, there’s occasionally downright boring, but not “pretty”. I think I’m weirded out.

The cute ones are (unsurprisingly) the romance covers, It Seemed Like a Good Idea and The Lust Crusade. This Story Might Save Your Life has an interesting cover. Grief Eater and Needlemouth certainly have scary and gory covered (in blood). The intriguing covers – at least for this reader – are A Trade of Blood and Wickhills. (I KNOW both books are fascinating because I’ve already finished them for Library Journal reviews.

I’ll leave boring in the eye of the beholder. But pretty seems to have left the building – or at least the last few weeks’ stacks.

What about you? Anything in YOUR stack you can’t wait to dive into this 3-day weekend?

it seemed like a good idea by lauren blakely

this story might save your life by tiffany crum

curse of hester gardens by tamika thompson

trade of blood by robert jackson bennett

temptation of charlotte north by camilla bruce

For Review:
The Curse of Hester Gardens by Tamika Thompson
Deep Black (Arcana Imperii #2) by Miles Cameron
Earth 7 by Deb Olin Unferth
The Encore by Juliet Izon
The Final Target by Nora Roberts
Grief Eater by Emma Osborne
The House That Eats the Dead by Max Doty
Innocence Road by Laura Griffin
It Seemed Like a Good Idea (Darling Springs #1) by Lauren Blakely
More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen
Needlemouth by K-Ming Chang
Nothing Tastes as Good by Luke Dumas
A Perfect Hand by Ayelet Waldman
Portrait of a Witch Undone by K.S. Shay
Sweetbitter Song by Rosie Hewlett
The Temptation of Charlotte North by Camilla Bruce
A Trade of Blood (Shadow of the Leviathan #3) by Robert Jackson Bennett
Until Death by Mary Berman
Whalesong (Arcana Imperii #3) by Miles Cameron
Wickhills by Premee Mohamed
The Write Off by Kara McDowell

Borrowed from the Library:
The Lust Crusade by Jo Segura
This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page

Please link your STS post in the linky below:

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 5-17-26

Posted on May 17, 2026May 17, 2026 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

This coming week’s schedule feels like it’s almost but not quite final. The Summer Giveaway Event might start tomorrow and might start Tuesday – it depends on when I receive the materials – and the graphic. I’m hoping for tomorrow – which turned out to be later than I hoped for so I’ll post the giveaway on TUESDAY. I’m also torn between three books where I have two slots. So it’s most likely two out of the following three: It’s Hard to Be an Animal, That’s What Friends Are For, and The Pillagers’ Guide to Arctic Pianos. I’m very curious about what the heck is going on with those Arctic Pianos, so if that one doesn’t turn up this week it’ll be next week. Inquiring minds kind of DEMAND to know at this point.

Today’s cat picture is George, looking a bit concerned. Mostly, he’s concerned that he doesn’t look innocent enough in regards to whatever mess SOMEONE made that we just discovered. And he’s concerned that we’ll take away his temporary nest – which he’s right to be worried about because we will! (Eventually, we will. We don’t mind indulging him for a bit – at least not until we start tripping over the box as it gets scooted around!)

Stacking the Shelves (705)

Posted on May 16, 2026May 15, 2026 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

This looks like another one of those stacks where there’s a whole HELL (literally) of a lot more pretty creepy than there is purely pretty. Although The Fox Hunt and Year of the Mer manage to be both at the same time. Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep and especially Wife Shaped Bodies are just plain creepy.

The one TRULY pretty cover, IMHO, is Sing the Night, although I love the beautiful blue of The Sixth Nik. And I’m finding the cover of The Republic of Memory to be pretty darn interesting and I hope the book will be the same when I get to it.

The two I’m most looking forward to catching the ’round tuit’ for are Someone Your Own Age and The Tailor – for entirely different reasons.

What are you looking forward to – or shuddering at – in YOUR stack this week?

dead but dreaming of electric sheep by paul tremblay

murder most delicious by danielle postel vinay

For Review:
The Angel at the Gates by Karen Lord
The Children by Melissa Albert
Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay
The Fox Hunt by Caitlin Breeze
I Am Agatha by Nancy Foley
The Intrigue by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
It Should Have Been You by Andrea Mara
The Left and the Lucky by Willy Vlautin
Marion by Leah Rowan
Murder Most Delicious by Danielle Postel-Vinay
Not With a Bang by Temi Oh
Puck by Samantha Allen
The Republic of Memory (Song of the Safina #1) by Mahmud El Sayed
Sing the Night (Opera Magique #1) by Megan Jauregui Eccles
The Sixth Nik by Daniel Kraus
Someone Your Own Age by Alex Neve
Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim
The Tailor (DS George Cross #8) by Tim Sullivan
The Traveler by Joseph Eckert
Wife Shaped Bodies by Laura Cranehill
Year of the Mer by L.D. Lewis

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page

Please link your STS post in the linky below:

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 5-10-26

Posted on May 10, 2026May 9, 2026 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Today is Mother’s Day in the US and a lot of other countries. So, if you’re in one of those countries – Happy Mother’s Day. (This applies whether your children are human or furred or feathered or fanged or whatever. PetMoms count!) If your own Mom is in one of the countries celebrating today, please wish her a Happy Mother’s Day from everyone here at Chez Reading Reality.

This week has been a LOT around here, and most of it unplanned. The simple, bookish part of that unplanning was that the book I intended to close out the week with won’t be published until the end of the month. So my review of Ode to the Half-Broken is postponed for a bit. Howsomever, the book is absolutely awesome, so if you liked Automatic Noodle or A Psalm for the Wild-Built, you’ll want to read it. I promise.

We also suffered from a whole lot of computer shenanigans that are still being cleaned up. Nothing went as planned around here!

But speaking of shenanigans, this week’s cat picture has a guest. There’s a neighborhood cat, the big tuxedo in the doorframe, who keeps coming around and driving our cats crazy. ‘Tux’ has a collar, and has clearly never missed a meal in his life, so he has people. Which doesn’t mean that he either a) doesn’t enjoy trolling our cats and b) wouldn’t mind coming in with them when it’s storming as bad as it has a few nights this week.

For anyone seeing this picture and thinking that Tux out there is not our cat, YET, do not release that thought out into the universe. We all beg you. The Cat Distribution System™ is ALWAYS on the lookout for stray thoughts just like that one, but as the picture clearly shows, George would not be amused!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Come What May Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in The Spring Giveaway Event!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2026 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

B- #BookReview: For Better or Murder by Simon R. Green
A- #BookReview: The Vampyre Client by Jeri Westerson
A-#BookReview: L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Volume 42 edited by Jody Lynn Nye
Grade A #BookReview: Platform Decay by Martha Wells
A+ #BookReview: Palaces of the Crow by Ray Nayler
Stacking the Shelves (704)

Coming This Week:

Radiant Star by Ann Leckie (#BookReview)
Villain by Natalie Zina Walschots (#BookReview)
And Side by Side They Wander by Molly Tanzer (#BookReview)
Out of Her League by Ava Rani (#AudioBookReview)
Never and Always by Anna Hackett (#BookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (704)

Posted on May 9, 2026May 8, 2026 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

I keep missing the pretty in these stacks. Have book covers just gotten less pretty, or have I just been making less pretty choices? It’s a puzzlement.

The one pretty – or at least almost pretty – cover is Entwined. There’s something about the cover of Broken Truths that I find esthetically pleasing – and intriguing – but I wouldn’t call it pretty. I just like the art deco style of the thing.

The books I’m looking the most forward to reading are Murder at the Spirit Lounge and The Silver Hand. They’re both second books in series where I really loved the first book, so I have high hopes for them. OTOH the book I’m the most curious about is Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel. The “new Poirot” series has been a mixed bag so I’m really curious to see how the “new Marple” series turns out.

I’m in the middle of Out of Her League right now, and so far it’s been terrific. If it sticks the dismount it will be one of next week’s favorites. I can tell.

What about you? What can you tell us about what’s in YOUR stack this week?