We’re moving. Again. Our landlord has decided to sell the house we’re living in, so we have to move. It’s been three years, and that makes this the longest we’ve lived in a dwelling since we moved in together back in 2001. We move a lot. But we weren’t quite ready to do so right this minute. But we are anyway. So we’re spending this weekend looking at houses to rent. Not that there aren’t things about this house we’d be happy to change, but moving is no longer a thrill.

We’ve moved so many times that our older cat, Mellie, recognizes the boxes. In her life we’ve moved ten times not including this one. Even though cats supposedly don’t have enough long-term memory to retain this kind of thing, ten times in 17 years is enough to make an impression even on a cat’s brain. Freddie will be over the moon for a couple of days. All those boxes to climb! His own personal cat tree forest everywhere in the house. Then strangers will come and he will hide under the bed until the bed is taken away.

I may not be looking forward to this, but I still have plenty of wonderful books to tide me over the most stressful days!

Current Giveaways:

$100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card from Harlequin and Susan Mallery
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Stuck in a Good Book Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the $10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop is Brandy S,
The winner of Defending Hearts by Rebecca Crowley is Megan
The winner of Sugar Pine Trail by RaeAnne Thayne is Brandi D.

Blog Recap:

B Review: Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence
A- Review: Embrace the Romance: Pets in Space 2
A Review: Provenance by Ann Leckie
B Review: Second Chance Girl by Susan Mallery + Giveaway
A Review: A Snow Country Christmas by Linda Lael Miller
Stacking the Shelves (255)
Stuck in a Good Book Giveaway Hop

Coming Next Week:

Completely by Ruthie Knox (review)
The Ninja’s Illusion by Gigi Pandian (blog tour review)
The Sweet Life by Sharon Struth (blog tour review)
Hell Squad: Ash by Anna Hackett (review)
Virtue by Victoria Vane (review)

Last weekend was the calm before the storm. This weekend, it’s the calm after the storm! In between, there was a storm. We were lucky. We didn’t lose power and we didn’t have any trees fall on the house. So it’s all good.

But the storm did change what I planned to read. I ended up grabbing some comfort reads, because I couldn’t settle down to much of anything else. I’m past the halfway point in my Phryne Fisher series read, and still enjoying them very much. But speaking of Phryne, I got to the books from the TV series, which I absolutely adored. There are plans in the works for a Phryne Fisher movie on the big screen, with the same cast as the TV show. They have a Kickstarter, and so far it’s going great guns. But it can always use a bit more support. The difficulty seems to be, as always, proving to the “powers that be” that there is tremendous interest in any kind of movie with a female lead. I’m willing to help send that message, and I’ve kicked into the kickstarter. If you love Phryne (and Jack!) too, and want to add your bit, here’s the link to the Kickstarter.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of The Long Way Home is Holly W.
The winner of the $10 Book in the September Book of Choice Giveaway Hop is Megan S.

Blog Recap:

A- Review: The Prisoner in His Palace by Will Bardenwerper
A- Review: Fatal Charm by Blair McDowell
B+ Review: Secrets in Death by J.D. Robb
B Review: Away with the Fairies by Kerry Greenwood
Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop
Stacking the Shelves (253)

Coming Next Week:

Casualty of War by Charles Todd (review)
Tramps and Thieves by Rhys Ford (review)
Sugar Pine Trail by RaeAnne Thayne (blog tour review)
Defending Hearts by Rebecca Crowley (blog tour review)
Fool Me Once by Catherine Bybee (review)

The track of Hurricane Irma is scheduled to reach Atlanta Monday night as a Tropical Storm. Which still means winds up to 72 mph. Which is OMG, but not as OMG as what hit Florida or the Caribbean. It helps to be inland. Pretty damn far inland. The expectation for this area is lots of rain, lots of wind, trees down and power outages. Nothing that can’t be survived, but needless to say a fun time will not be had by much of anyone when it hits.

We went out yesterday to buy the ingredients for “milk sandwiches” at the grocery store. Not that there really are such things as “milk sandwiches” but the way that people run out to buy milk and bread just before a major storm event, makes it seem possible. Peanut butter sandwiches, or something similar, are much more likely. And more useful, as peanut butter doesn’t spoil in a power outage. I suppose it could eventually, but it never lasts that long in this house!

Stay safe everyone. This looks like one for the history books.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the September Book of Choice Giveaway Hop
$25 Amazon Gift Card from Harlequin and Maisey Yates
The Long Way Home by Kevin Bannister

Winner Announcements:

The winner of Thief’s Mark by Carla Neggers is Laura T.
The winner of The Talented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard is Nadine
The winner of The Summer That Made Us by Robyn Carr is Kathy D.

Blog Recap:

Labor Day 2017
B+ Review: Wild Ride Cowboy by Maisey Yates + Giveaway
A- Review: Unmapped by Anna Hackett
B Review: The Long Way Home by Kevin Bannister + Giveaway
B+ Review: Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Stacking the Shelves (252)

Coming Next Week:

The Prisoner in His Palace by Will Bardenwerper
Fatal Charm by Blair McDowell
The Ruin of Angels by Max Gladstone
Virtue by Victoria Vane
Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop

Interesting and short week coming up. I have several books in series to review this week, and they are all in series that I’ve really, really enjoyed. So a week of good reading, starting with a day off thanks to the Labor Day holiday.

While I’m always happy for a three-day weekend, Labor Day seems a bit anti-climactic these days. It used to be the unofficial start of fall, and school started this week. Now it starts in August, and that just seems WRONG. Of course, that was before they started air conditioning the schools, which may have had something, or a lot, to do with it!

Current Giveaways:

The Talented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard
The Summer That Made Us by Robyn Carr
Thief’s Mark by Carla Neggers
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the September Book of Choice Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winners of the book prize packs in the Clear Your Shelf Giveaway Hop are Polly and Courtney

Blog Recap:

B Review: The Talented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard + Giveaway
A Review: The Shift of the Tide by Jeffe Kennedy
A- Review: The Summer that Made Us by Robyn Carr + Giveaway
B+ Review: Thief’s Mark by Carla Neggers + Giveaway
September Book of Choice Giveaway Hop
Stacking the Shelves (251)

Coming Next Week:

Wild Ride Cowboy by Maisey Yates (blog tour review)
Unmapped by Anna Hackett (review)
The Long Way Home by Kevin Bannister (blog tour review)
The Ruin of Angels by Max Gladstone (review)

OK, how many people dropped everything to view the eclipse on Monday?

We drove to Anderson, SC, which was just within the totality. Of course the totality chose to hide itself behind a cloud, but we did have a great view of the moon covering the sun both before and after. As crazy as the whole scenario was, it was terrific to be part of the shared experience of viewing the eclipse. The shared experience of driving back to Atlanta in bumper-to-bumper traffic, not so much. I was very fortunate that Galen was willing to drive, and I was able to spend a good part of the insanity reading Glass Houses by Louise Penny. I adore Inspector Gamache, and can’t wait until next year’s visit to Three Pines.

Current Giveaways:

Book Prize Pack in the Clear Your Shelf Giveaway Hop (ENDS Wednesday!)
3 copies of Highland Dragon Warrior by Isabel Cooper
$100 Amazon or B&N Gift Card from Harlequin and Susan Mallery

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the $10 Gift Card in the Oh the Places You’ll Go Giveaway Hop is Julie L.

Blog Recap:

B Review: Highland Dragon Warrior by Isabel Cooper + Giveaway
B Review: A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas
A Review: Forty Autumns by Nina Willner
A- Review: You Say It First by Susan Mallery + Giveaway
A Review: Glass Houses by Louise Penny
Stacking the Shelves (250)

Coming Next Week:

The Talented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard (blog tour review)
The Shift of the Tide by Jeffe Kennedy (review)
The Summer That Made Us by Robyn Carr (blog tour review)
Thief’s Mark by Carla Neggers (blog tour review)
September Book of Choice Giveaway Hop

It turned out I was reading ahead a bit this week. Susan Wiggs’ book isn’t out for a couple of weeks, Cat Shining Bright isn’t out until next week, and when the Sherlock Holmes book I originally planned to read didn’t quite work, I picked up A Conspiracy in Belgravia, which also isn’t out for a couple of weeks. Then I saw the announcement that there was a new Penric novella and I dropped everything.

There’s always a bright, shiny new book to dive into, isn’t there?

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Oh, the Places You’ll Go Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of Another Man’s Ground by Claire Booth is Dianna G.
The winner of A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang is Marjorie R.

Blog Recap:

B Review: Map of the Heart by Susan Wiggs
B Review: Untraveled by Anna Hackett
Oh, the Places You’ll Go Giveaway Hop
A- Review: Penric’s Fox by Lois McMaster Bujold
B Review: Cat Shining Bright by Shirley Rousseau Murphy
Stacking the Shelves (248)

Coming Next Week:

Down Home Cowboy by Maisey Yates (blog tour review)
Clear Your Shelf Giveaway Hop
The Great Quake by Henry Fountain (review)
Halls of Law by V.M. Escalada (review)
The Daughters of Ireland by Santa Montefiore (blog tour review)