The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 2-18-18

Posted on February 18, 2018February 17, 2018 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

We’re home after 10 days away at back-to-back conferences. It is SO GOOD to be home. Especially now that the cats have forgiven us, and seem to have meowed all the things they needed to tell us. THAT took a while. Obviously they had a lot to say, and just couldn’t wait to say it. We missed them, so it’s good to know that they missed us, too.

One of the most important things that I was at ALA Midwinter to accomplish was to participate in my final round of voting and wordsmithing as part of the ALA Notable Books Council. For the past four years, I have been part of this excellent group that picks the 25 (or so) best literary fiction, non-fiction and poetry for adults. This year’s list was awesome. If you’re looking for great books to read and recommend, you can’t go wrong with one of our lists.

But Notables is a lot of work (we get over 1,000 books each year to at least look at) so the rules are that we can only serve four years in a row. This was my fourth and final year for this go around. I can come back later, and I might. But in the meantime, this coming year I’ll be part of the Carnegie Medal Committee, which picks one best book in fiction, and one in nonfiction, each year, for adults. (Sometimes there’s overlap with Notables, and sometimes there isn’t). It’s a new group and a new process, but still passionate about books and reading. I’m looking forward to it!

Coming Next Week:

A Plunder of Souls by D.B. Jackson (review)
The Upside by Abdel Sellou (blog tour review)
The Lost Castle by Kristy Cambron (blog tour review)
Shelter My Heart by L.G. O’Connor (review)
Deborah Calling by Avraham Azrieli (blog tour review)

Stacking the Shelves (274)

Posted on February 10, 2018February 6, 2018 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

I’m writing this far, far ahead of when it is being posted. Because when it’s posted, I’ll be in the middle of my second all-day meeting at the ALA Midwinter Conference. In Denver. In the winter. Probably freezing. Hoping I brought warm enough clothes. After all, we live in Atlanta now, I’m not supposed to need lots of sweaters and heavy coats. Until ALA Midwinter. Next January we’re in Seattle. It won’t exactly be warm, but it won’t exactly be cold, either. Something to look forward to. After that, it gets pretty grim for a couple of years.

But I didn’t have much to list by starting early. And I’m hoping not to pick up a metric butt-load of print ARCS at the conference.

So I ended up buying a couple of books that I’ve had my eye on, just to have something to put in the list. And frankly, Dark in Death looks like perfect airplane reading – if I can keep from opening it right now!

For Review:
The Kill Wire (Jamie Sinclair #5) by Nichole Christoff

Purchased from Amazon:
Dark in Death (In Death #46) by J.D. Robb
Imprinted (Magic Ex Libris #4.5) by Jim C. Hines

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 1-17-16

Posted on January 17, 2016January 15, 2016 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Giveaways> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

We came back from the ALA Midwinter Conference in chilly, windy Boston late Wednesday night. And we’re still a bit tired and frazzled. I love conferences, but they are exhausting. And I was not looking forward to the cold winter weather in Boston. Next year, the winter conference will be here in Atlanta, so it won’t be such a slog to get there, and the weather obviously won’t be any worse than I would have had to put up with anyway.

Oh, and the communal coat racks ate Galen’s coat at an event Sunday night, just as the weather turned really cold. Murphy definitely was an optimist!

But part of my business at the conference was to be on the ALA Notable Books Council and select what we thought were the 26 best books of 2015. That’s 12 Fiction, 12 Nonfiction and 2 Poetry, just in case you’re wondering where that number comes from. For the curious, the list of this year’s selections is here.

We were gone almost a week. LaZorra has turned herself into “cat glue”, pasting herself to my husband’s side at every conceivable opportunity. It’s adorable. And just ever so slightly intrusive. Wait, I think I just said she’s a cat.

And now back to our regularly scheduled blogging:

Current Giveaways:

$10 Book or $10 Gift Card in the Jeepers! It’s January Giveaway Hop (ends tomorrow!)
$10 Book or $10 Gift Card in the Dreaming of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of Wolf Haven by Lindsay McKenna is Tabathia B.
The winner of a $10 Book or $10 Gift Card in the Hello My Name Is…Giveaway Hop is Danielle.