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
She is adorable! Sounds like next week is going to be a good week on the blog.
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