The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 2-9-25

This was certainly an excellent reading week, with A+ books to kick off and close out the week. I adored The Silverblood Promise, and it’s the first thing that gave me real readalike feels for In the Shadow of Lightning. Now I’m stuck waiting for book two in BOTH series. That’s ARRGGGHHHH but it’s a good ARRGGGHHHH. Symbiote just plain gave me the chills, not just for the setting but for the whole entire story. I think I’m glad the author left the door open for a second book, because I want to read what happens next while at the same time I don’t want to know what happens next because I expect it to make the Alien movies look like the proverbial ‘Sunday School picnic’ in comparison.

I needed a cuddle after Symbiote – and you might too so consider that a warning – so this week’s (not just) cats picture is of ALL my boys cuddled close, with a blissful Tuna head-washing a rather sleepy George in the shelter of Galen’s slippered feet.

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

Blog Recap:

A+ #AudioBookReview: The Silverblood Promise by James Logan
B #BookReview: The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi, translated by Cat Anderson
Grade A #BookReview: Dead in the Frame by Stephen Spotswood
B #BookReview: At the Fount of Creation by Tobi Ogundiran
A+ #BookReview: Symbiote by Michael Nayak
Stacking the Shelves (639)

Coming This Week:

The Serpent Under by Bonnie MacBird (#BookReview)
The Fourth Consort by Edward Ashton (#BookReview)
Picks and Shovels by Cory Doctorow (#BookReview)
Do Me A Favor by Cathy Yardley (#AudioBookReview)
I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming (#BlogTour #BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 1-26-25

This week was weird. We got iced in for Tuesday and Wednesday, trapped by “bridge may freeze before roadway” on all sides. Atlanta kind of shut down Tuesday afternoon and stayed that way until Thursday morning. It didn’t snow, much, but it stayed below freezing, and what we got melted just enough to create black ice conditions. Those are fun. NOT. And it made for a strange week.

Things being what they were/are, and not just about the weather, I realized I needed some comfort reads – and probably will for quite some time. But I’ve been looking for some new comfort reads and that search hasn’t gone so well either. It might be me. It’s probably me. But it tasks me quite a bit because I’m really looking for stories to take me far, far away for a bit and that’s not going nearly as well as I’d hoped.

I’d say that this picture represents Tuna and George not worrying about much of anything – but strictly speaking that’s not true as they both get very concerned about things, and it was so cold here that none of the cats were using the catio for a couple of days even though they have their own fur coats to keep them warm.

So the above picture shows them cuddling together for warmth or comfort or a bit of both. What makes it so very much them is that they are both vying for the positions of “big spoon, little spoon” but they are each as big as the other and that part isn’t quite working for either of them!

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

Blog Recap:

#GuestPost: Martin Luther King Day 2025: Number 21
A- #BookReview: The Hero She Loves by Anna Hackett
B- #BookReview: The Devil’s Due by Bonnie MacBird
B #BookReview: The Baby Dragon Cafe by A.T. Qureshi
Grade A #BookReview: Remember When by Mary Balogh
Stacking the Shelves (637)

Coming This Week:

A Bird in the Hand by Ann Cleeves (#BookReview)
Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan (#BookReview)
The Conjurer’s Wife by Sarah Penner (#AudioBookReview)
The Orb of Cairado by Katherine Addison (#BookReview)
Bonded in Death by J.D. Robb (#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 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 11-24-24

First things first, this is the first weekend of the 2024 Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon. Have you signed up and started on your holiday reads, yet? I’m one of the Elves this year, and I’m hosting a Holiday Book Bingo Challenge. I also started on my own personal reads for the Readathon with a Christmas romance, but this week I have a couple of Hanukkah romances – and I’m ever so pleased to see more of those available each year. If you’re looking for books and/or audiobooks to peruse for your own participation, the Under the Mistletoe Collection of short stories and audiobooks have each been just the right size for an Xmas reading stocking and they’ve been terrific so far – I’ve finished three and am thinking about a fourth. (They’re a bit like the reading equivalent of potato chips – you can’t read or listen to just one!) They’re free with Amazon Prime, which is an even better excuse to treat yourself to a bit of light and fluffy reading!

Second, it’s the weekend before Thanksgiving. I don’t know about the rest of you, but the holidays totally snuck up on me this year. We’re going to have a pretty low-key Turkey Day – whether we get an actual turkey boob or not. Yes, I said “turkey boob”. There’s just the two of us. Galen doesn’t like the drumsticks. And there’s just the two of us. The amount of leftovers we’d have if we did a whole turkey for just us two humans doesn’t bear thinking about. Also this clowder of cats does not expect to eat ‘people food’ and we have zero desire to encourage such an expectation. So we just get a turkey breast and call that more than enough – which it generally is. Hence, ‘Turkey Boob’ – which we really need to pick up this weekend!

Then again, we might get a little Honey-Baked Ham. Those are yum, too! (And also not for cats.)

But speaking of cats, and also of this time of the year, today’s cat picture is one I’d like to call the ‘Changing of the Guard’. First, it’s utterly adorable that Tuna and George are cuddling now. But in this particular picture it seems as if Tuna has taken on George’s usual slightly suspicious expression so that he can keep watch, suspiciously of everything of course, while his buddy takes a well deserved nap from his general suspiciousness.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book for Participants in the 2024 Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon Holiday Book Bingo Challenge
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Late Fall Giveaway Event!
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Fall 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

A- #BookReview: Feuds edited by Mercedes Lackey
B- #BookReview: Grimm Curiosities by Sharon Lynn Fisher
B #AudioBookReview: All By My Elf by Olivia Dade
Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon 2024 Holiday Book Bingo Challenge
A- #BookReview: The December Market by RaeAnne Thayne
Stacking the Shelves (628)

Coming This Week:

Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot (#2024HOHOHORAT #BookReview)
What Child is This? by Bonnie MacBird (#2024HOHOHORAT #BookReview)
Eight Nights to Win Her Heart by Miri White (#2024HOHOHORAT #BookReview)
Thanksgiving 2024 (#GuestPost by Galen)
Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria (#2024HOHOHORAT #AudioBookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 11-3-24

Did you remember to reset your clocks last night? Or, does everything reset itself in your house?

If you are a U.S. citizen, have you voted yet? If not, do you have plans to vote on Tuesday? The right to vote is precious, and like so many other precious things, either you use it or you lose it – one way or another.

Tomorrow’s review will be The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon. I wanted something just a bit more relevant for just before Election Day than I generally worry about and that book turned out to be a gem as well as fitting for the week, as the thing that many of those unsung heroes fought and in some cases even died for was the right to vote.

The rest of the week is mostly comfort reads, because whatever happens on Tuesday – and after – the world will be different. The question is how much and in what ways.

Which leads me to today’s cat picture and a bit of a story to go with it. This is a portrait of something we refer to in this household as the ‘Butts of Bast’. Our current clowder of cats does not snuggle with each other. We’re still shaking our heads about that, as the previous clowder did, very much and all the time. But that group consisted of a family that had been raised together. LaZorra and Erasmus – the momcat and dadcat – were also siblings from the same litter. They had two daughtercats, Sophie and Mellie, who were also their niececats. (Sort of like an Egyptian pharaoh family, just with cats.) The little girls each had their own respective parentcat. Sophie was daddy’s girl and Mellie was mommy’s girl. I’m referring to their actual feline parents – not the humans. The little girls had very little to do with us by their own choice.

It was only when Mellie was the last survivor, 17 years later, that she started to turn to us AT ALL. At first, she’d sleep on the bed but not touch us. Then she’d let us touch her and pet her – A LITTLE – but only if we approached from her rear so that she could pretend it was the ‘hand of Bast’ – the Egyptian cat goddess – petting her and not those dreadful humans.

This picture is of George and Tuna. They play together now, they chase each other, they shake the house a bit as they’re both rather large. But they don’t cuddle with each other and they don’t cuddle with Luna or Hecate. Tuna doesn’t even cuddle with Luna now, and they are also littermates. They all do cuddle with us, just not each other. In this picture, Tuna and George are clearly touching each other – they were napping butt to butt. BUT, when Galen woke them they both focused on him and refused to acknowledge the other cat touching their butt. Hence, the ‘Butts of Bast’.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Thanks a Latte Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Late Fall Giveaway Event!
$5 Amazon Gift Card + eBook Copy of A Tainted Heart Bleeds by Sophie Barnes
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Fall 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Silly Pumpkins Giveaway Hop is Stacey

Blog Recap:

A- #AudioBookReview: Constituent Service by John Scalzi
A- #BookReview: A Tainted Heart Bleeds by Sophie Barnes + Giveaway
Grade A #BookReview: The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny
B #BookReview: Buried Memories by Simon R. Green
Thanks a Latte Giveaway Hop
Stacking the Shelves (625)

Coming This Week:

The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon (#AudioBookReview)
Election Day 2024 (Guest Post by Galen)
Old Scores by Will Thomas (#BookReview)
The City in Glass by Nghi Vo (#BookReview)
Art in the Blood by Bonnie MacBird (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 10-27-24

This week’s schedule went just a bit awry at the end, because I finished Kevin Hearne’s Candle & Crow AGAIN, (that story is in the review – HINT), this time in audio, and just had to write it up because awesomesauce. Not that the new Gamache book, The Grey Wolf, the book I intended to review on Friday isn’t also terrific, just that I wasn’t quite done with it yet and I had entirely too much to say about Candle & Crow and the whole Ink & Sigil series.

My review of The Grey Wolf will be coming this week, the day before Halloween. Because in it’s own way, it’s MORE than scary enough. You’ll see.

As far as this week’s cat pictures, I sometimes have to remind myself that Luna is NOT a small cat. She is only small in comparison to her brother Tuna, who is HUGE. Last week’s picture was of Tuna, sprawling in the same bed that Luna has primly posed in in this picture. Notice that Tuna filled the whole thing and lopped over the sides. Luna, as I said, is primly POSED. She has space all around herself – the better to look adorable with.

Current Giveaways:

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

Blog Recap:

A- #BookReview: Murder of a Suffragette by Marty Wingate
A- #BookReview: Murder in Highbury by Vanessa Kelly
B #BookReview: The Mountain Crown by Karin Lowachee
B #BookReview: Fury Brothers: Claim by Anna Hackett
Grade A #AudioBookReview: Candle and Crow by Kevin Hearne
Stacking the Shelves (624)

Coming This Week:

Constituent Service by John Scalzi (#AudioBookReview)
A Tainted Heart Bleeds by Sophie (#BookReview #BlogTour)
The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny (#BookReview)
Buried Memories by Simon R. Green (#BookReview)
Thanks a Latte Giveaway Hop

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 10-20-24

This was an excellent week here at Chez Reading Reality. Not only were there TWO giveaways, but also TWO Grade A or BETTER books! (The final book of the week was also good, it just wasn’t quite so much my exact cuppa as the earlier titles.) Next week also looks surprisingly good for a week that starts and ends with MURDER!

Speaking of having a good week, I also have a great picture of Tuna from earlier this week. He’s in a classic kitty pose, the “If I fits, I sits” position. He doesn’t fit, exactly, but that’s because the biggest cat in the house has decided to nest in the smallest cat bed. You can just see how well that’s working out for him!

Current Giveaways:

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

Winner Announcements:

The winner of Reading Reality’s Early Fall Giveaway Hop is Rochelle
The winner of the Scaredy Cat Giveaway Hop is Elizabeth

Blog Recap:

A+ #BookReview: The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski
Grade A #BookReview: Fangs So Bright and Deadly by Piper J. Drake
Silly Pumpkins Giveaway Hop
Late Fall Amazon/PayPal Giveaway Event!
B #BookReview: The Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin
Stacking the Shelves (623)

Coming This Week:

Murder of a Suffragette by Marty Wingate (#BookReview)
Murder in Highbury by Vanessa Kelly (#BookReview #BlogTour)
The Mountain Crown by Karin Lowachee (#BookReview)
Fury Brothers: Claim by Anna Hackett (#BookReview)
The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny (#BookReview)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 10-6-24

First things first – as you can see from the sidebar, I’m not just participating, I’m hosting one of the challenges for this year’s Ho-Ho-Ho Readation (#2024HOHOHORAT), hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. This will be my first time at both, and I’m collecting Holiday/Winter reads to review for the two weeks of the Readathon. There will be prizes available to participants from all of the challenge hosts, so sign up if you love holiday reads.

Today’s picture is of a self-boxing Tuna – although it’s been a day where I feel like I’m the one in the box. Not in a bad way at all, just that my keyboard drawer has been kitty central for most of the day, which is lovely. But it’s difficult to type on the keyboard when I have it shoved out of the cats’ way, which I have to do because they ALL type. Hecate is particularly adept at reducing the screen dimensions to something so tiny it’s invisible to the naked eye. Most of the others merely park their butts on the space bar, but she has a ‘special’ knack.

Which generally causes her humans to say to each other, “We love them. Why was that again?” Sometimes Tuna’s wide-eyed, slightly blank-faced cuteness pays the rent for everyone!

Current Giveaways:

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

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Falling into Leaves Giveaway Hop is Darlene

Blog Recap:

B #BookReview: Murder at King’s Crossing by Andrea Penrose
Scaredy Cat Giveaway Hop
A- #BookReview: The Restaurant of Lost Recipes by Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
B+ #BookReview: One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallery
Grade A #BookReview: Darkside by Michael Mammay
Stacking the Shelves (621)

Coming This Week:

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

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

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)