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

Posted on May 26, 2024May 26, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

This post is the result of a bit of serendipitous procrastination. Or that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I couldn’t quite decide EXACTLY what I’d be reading this week, particular as last week was a bit on the ‘meh’ side. I’m in the middle of three books, two of which I had bailed on at previous points in time, and it just wasn’t looking like a schedule that had the proverbial hope in hell of happening – even with Galen handling the Memorial Day Holiday post on Monday – for which I’m always both grateful and eager to see what he comes up with because they’re always interesting – especially when it takes me a minute or two to figure out how his starting point relates to the particular holiday.

I’ll certainly have things to say about the rest of the week’s books, as those two books I previously flailed and bailed on, while they did get better this time around, didn’t so much redeem the parts that made me bail as they merely got past them. You’ll see.

Speaking of, well, talking about various and sundry issues, this week’s cat picture is of the ‘young guns’ in this clowder, (left to right) George, Tuna and Luna. We think they’re out on the catio complaining about the neighbor cat that has been coming around and tearing at the screens in an attempt to get in on their very good thing. They don’t seem all that fussed about it – at least so far – but we’ve laid in a supply of screen repair patches, just in case!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Moms Rock Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

B- #BookReview: A Mischief of Rats by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett
B- #BookReview: Dear Edna Sloane by Amy Shearn
B #BookReview: The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
B #BookReview: Lost Ark Dreaming by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
A- #BookReview: How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub by P. Djèlí Clark
Stacking the Shelves (602)

Coming This Week:

Memorial Day 2024 (Guest Post by Galen)
The Bodies in the Library by Marty Wingate (#AudioBookReview)
To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang (#AudioBookReview)
One Man’s Treasure by Sarah Pinsker (#BookReview)
Fatal Enquiry by Will Thomas (#BookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (602)

Posted on May 25, 2024May 24, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

I picked up the Colleen Gleason series because I got reminded that Colleen Gleason is a pseudonym for Colleen Cambridge – or the other way around. So far I’ve adored her Julia Child mysteries, the series that started with Mastering the Art of French Murder, so the idea of the same marvelous voice – the author’s not Child’s – in a paranormal series tickled by reading funny bone. Or I certainly hope it will.

The pretty books this time around are The Forbidden Book, which thankfully isn’t, The Republic of Salt, and Songs for the Brokenhearted. There are several graphic novels this time around, but their covers are more interesting than they are pretty.

lolita at leonards of great neck by shira dicker

my youth and early deaths by allen stein

stakes cakes and mandrakes by colleen gleason

tomes scones and crones by colleen gleason

never again will i visit auschwitz by ari richter

hexes exes and codexes by colleen gleason

purses curses and hearses by colleen gleason

cartoonists against racism by rachel medoff and craig yoe

songs for the brokenhearted by ayelet tsabari

For Review:
Cartoonists Against Racism by Rachel Medoff and Craig Yoe
The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb
The Light of Learning by Glenn Dynner
Lolita at Leonard’s of Great Neck and Other Stories from the Before Times by Shira Dicker
My Youth and Early Deaths by Allen Stein
Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz by Ari Richter
No Road Leading Back by Chris Heath
Once There Was Warsaw by Ber Kutsher, translated by Gerald Marcus
Postwar Stories by Rachel Gordan
The Republic of Salt (Mirror Realm Cycle #2) by Ariel Kaplan
Rimonim by Aurora Levins Morales
Songs for the Brokenhearted by Ayelet Tsabari
The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan

Purchased from Amazon/Audible/Etc.:
Hexes, Exes and Codexes (Three Tomes Bookshop #4) by Colleen Gleason
Purses, Curses & Hearses (Three Tomes Bookshop #2) by Colleen Gleason
Stakes, Cakes and Mandrakes (Three Tomes Bookshop #3) by Colleen Gleason
Tomes, Scones & Crones (Three Tomes Bookshop #1) by Colleen Gleason

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 5-19-24

Posted on May 19, 2024May 18, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

I’m in kind of a murder-y mood this week, so a couple of mysteries are definitely on my reading horizon. I have to confess that it might not be the two actually slotted into the schedule – but if it’s not them it will be something similar.

Although, speaking of wanting to murder something – I wish I could figure out what purpose it serves for bogus email addresses to enter one of the giveaways. I do check to make sure that the random entry rafflecopter settles itself on is legit – which takes forever when there are 13,000+ (not a typo, THIRTEEN THOUSAND) entries to let it shuffle through until it hits a real, honest-to-goodness entry by someone who actually did comment. By the end, I was yawning as much as Tuna in this picture below, although Tuna is absolutely, totally, definitely much cuter when he does. As I snapped the picture, he was yawning and stretching SO HARD that he eventually rolled himself off the step. Fortunately for him, he was on the bottom step and just landed on his feet. As they do.

Coming This Week:

A Mischief of Rats by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett (#BookReview)
Dear Edna Sloane by Amy Shearn (#BookReview)
The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood (#BookReview)
Lost Ark Dreaming by Suyi Davies Okungbowa (#BookReview)
I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle (#BookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (601)

Posted on May 18, 2024May 17, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

I think it’s pretty clear why those Conrad the Cat Detective mysteries by LT Shearer are in the stack. How could I resist? The covers aren’t particularly pretty, but I never can resist a good mystery that features felines, whether in starring or supporting roles. We’ll just have to see if this one lives up to the original The Cat Who series by Lilian Jackson Braun.

The prettiest cover here might be The Phoenix Keeper, although there are several possible contenders, depending on beauty being in the eye of the beholder and all that. The Stolen Queen would also be a strong possibility, both as pretty and as interesting. It has just a touch of Elizabeth Peters/Amelia Peabody to it, so I’m very curious as I’m still looking for something to scratch that reading itch!

cat who cracked a cold case by lt shearer

ghosts of a holy war by yardena schwartz

fangs so bright and deadly by piper j drake

cat who solved three murders by lt shearer

vampire of kings street by asha greyling

For Review:
Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Breath of Oblivion (Astra Black #2) by Maurice Broaddus
The Cat Who Caught a Killer (Conrad the Cat Detective #1) by L.T. Shearer
The Cat Who Cracked a Cold Case (Conrad the Cat Detective #3) by L.T. Shearer
The Cat Who Solved Three Murders (Conrad the Cat Detective #2) by L.T. Shearer
Fangs So Bright & Deadly (Mythwoven #2) by Piper J. Drake
Ghosts of a Holy War by Yardena Schwartz
The Little Liar by Mitch Albom
The Lotus Empire (Burning Kingdoms #3) by Tasha Suri
The Moonstone Covenant by Jill Hammer
The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl
The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. MacLean
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
The Vampire of Kings Street by Asha Greyling

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 5-12-24

Posted on May 12, 2024May 11, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Today is Mother’s Day in the United States and Canada, as well as a host of other countries. So Happy Mother’s Day if this is a day that you celebrate.

I may not have human children – and that ship has definitely sailed and is long over the horizon – I do have fur children. Here’s a picture of Luna being the prettiest Luna who ever Luna’ed.

Seriously, could anyone resist that face? Ever?

Moving on from really, really pretty to pretty damn good, this past week was a pretty damn good reading week. For ratings, for this reader and reviewer, the high bar for a book to get over is the leap from A- to Grade A. Lots of books make that A- for me because they are really, really good and I had a really, really good time reading them. For something to get the whole A, it needs to be near perfect, and neither life nor reading life manage that nearly as often. C’est la vie all the way around.

(In Our Stars wasn’t close to perfect, but that’s not why it got shifted to this coming week. It got shifted because it’s publication date isn’t until May 21, so now the review is only one week ahead instead of two. And I’m kind of glad I moved it so as not to break up this lovely week of A- and A books!)

Happy Mother’s Day!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Come What May Giveaway Hop (ENDS WEDNESDAY!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

Grade A #AudioBookReview: Funny Story by Emily Henry
A- #BookReview: The Summer Swap by Sarah Morgan
A- #BookReview: Black Shield Maiden by Willow Smith and Jess Hendel
A- #BookReview: The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo
A- #BookReview: L. Ron Hubbard Presents: Writers of the Future, Volume 40 edited by Jody Lynn Nye
Stacking the Shelves (600)

Coming This Week:

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler (#BookReview)
Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner (#BlogTour #AudioBookReview)
In Our Stars by Jack Campbell (#BookReview)
Moms Rock Giveaway Hop
The Best Life Book Club by Sheila Roberts (#BookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (600)

Posted on May 11, 2024May 10, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

This is the official 600th Stacking the Shelves post at Reading Reality. It hasn’t always been called “Stacking the Shelves” and I haven’t always been the host but here we are lo these many, Many, (MANY) moons later with STS #600. I had to check, and my very first STS was posted almost 12 years ago to the day, on May 5, 2012. OMG how time flies.

This stack is noticeably shorter than the past several stacks – thank goodness! Most of my committee books have been requested and processed – if not actually read – which means that the stacks should be a bit more manageable for the rest of the year.

In this particular stack, I think the prettiest cover may be a three-way tie between The Teller of Small Fortunes, The Naturalist’s Daughter and Murder in Highbury, although Books Like Sapphires is a MUCH prettier book as a whole.

The books I’m most looking forward to are How to Wear Everything – because I really need to know before our vacation later this summer – and Eight Very Bad Nights. The two I’m most curious about are In the Blink of an Eye, because it sounds a bit like several SF mysteries and I’ve loved all of those so far, and Queen Macbeth because I’m wondering how much it’s like – and how much it’s different – from Ava Reid’s Lady Macbeth, which I’ve already finished and found quite compelling.

We’ll certainly see in the months ahead!

For Review:
Books Like Sapphires by Ann Brener
Burn Book by Kara Swisher
Eight Very Bad Nights edited by Tod Goldberg
How to Wear Everything by Kay Barron
In the Blink of an Eye (Kat and Lock #1) by Jo Callaghan
Lilith by Eric Rickstad
Murder in Highbury (Emma Knightley #1) by Vanessa Kelly
The Naturalist’s Daughter by Tea Cooper
Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid
The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong

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 5-5-24

Posted on May 5, 2024May 5, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

Yesterday was Star Wars Day (May the Fourth be with You!) Today is Cinco de Mayo. Next Sunday is Mothers’ Day. And it’s SPRING! Really, truly spring, whatever that might mean where you specifically are. Here it also means that summer is literally just around the corner and will be springing out any day now.

Today’s picture may look a bit more like Fall – but we won’t be thinking about THAT season for a while around here. Nevertheless, there’s Hecate, definitely looking her witchy best with all of her Halloween-colored fur on display. She’s also been BEING a witch, but that’s something else altogether!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Come What May Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Rain Drops on Roses Giveaway Hop is Viki S.

Blog Recap:

Grade A #BookReview: Lost Birds by Anne Hillerman
A- #BookReview: People in Glass Houses by Jayne Castle
Come What May Giveaway Hop
B+ #BookReview: Knightqueen by Anna Hackett
B #BookReview: My Dearest Mackenzie by Rachel Blaufeld
Stacking the Shelves (599)

Coming This Week:

Funny Story by Emily Henry (#AudioBookReview)
The Summer Swap by Sarah Morgan (#BlogTour #BookReview)
Black Shield Maiden by Willow Smith and Jess Hende (#BookReview)
The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo (#BookReview)
In Our Stars by Jack Campbell (#BookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (599)

Posted on May 4, 2024May 3, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

I’m getting “interesting” vibes from this stack of covers a whole lot more than I am “pretty”. Your mileage almost certainly will vary. In fact, I’m really curious to see which covers you think are the prettiest in this bunch.

The book I’m most looking forward to is Candle & Crow – although I’ve heard that this is going to be the last book in the series so I’m sad about that and hope I’m wrong. The two books I’m most curious about are The Incorruptibles and The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum because they’re both about gangsters.

And May the Fourth Be With You.

eight nights to win her heart by miri white

piano player of budapest by roxanne de bastion

how the west became antisemitic by ivan g marcus

coca cola black panthers and panthom jets by oz frankel

long island compromise by taffy brodesser akner

For Review:
Ahoti by Miriam Feinberg Vamosh, translated by Eva Marie Everson
Amerikaland by Danny Goodman
Candle & Crow (Ink & Sigil #3) by Kevin Hearne
Coca-Cola, Black Panthers, and Phantom Jets by Oz Frankel
The Comics of Asaf Hanuka by Matt Reingold
A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft
Displaced Persons by Joan Leegant
Eight Nights to Win Her Heart by Miri White
The Examiner by Janice Hallett
Feh by Shalon Auslander
The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar
The Great When (Long London #1) by Alan Moore
How the West Became Antisemitic by Ivan G. Marcus
The Incorruptibles by Dan Slater
Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Nearly Departed by Gila Pfeffer
The Piano Player of Budapest by Roxanne de Bastion
The Place of All Possibility by Adina Allen
The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum by Margalit Fox
Unsettled by Oren Kroll-Zeldin

Purchased from Amazon/Audible/Etc.:
The Lift (Future Night Stalkers Sci-Fi Romance Collection) by M.L. Buchman

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 4-28-24

Posted on April 28, 2024April 26, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

There are two cats in this picture. Luna is obvious. Luna is seldom anything BUT obvious. However, do you see that shine among the black of the chair cushions? That’s a cat, specifically that’s a Lucifer cat. I have to be very careful about sitting in my own office chair as it is frequently occupied by a stealth Lucifer. A Lucifer who usually refuses to move his fuzzy butt so that I can have my chair back.

Because this was a week where I visited Overcommitment City, and was NEVER in the village of Running-on-Time. I spent a lot of the week in “kitten jail” with my door closed and barred by an unopened box of cat litter that has been sacrificed to this cause. (My office door pushes inward and doesn’t latch. All the cats are more than heavy enough to push it open one way or another – although Lucifer would rather sit outside the door and pout where I can see him through the glass than impinge upon his dignity that way.) Of course the minute I opened that door – the hordes rushed in. If you’re wondering whether only two cats constitutes a horde, the answer is yes, they can. And they are.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Rain Drops on Roses Giveaway Hop (ENDS TUESDAY!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Spring 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

B+ #AudioBookReview: Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz
B #BookReview: Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law by Lavie Tidhar
A- #BookReview: Chaotic Aperitifs by Tao Wong
B #AudioBookReview: Lovers at the Museum by Isabel Allende
A+ #BookReview: A Murder Most French by Colleen Cambridge
Stacking the Shelves (598)

Coming This Week:

Lost Birds by Anne Hillerman (#BookReview)
People in Glass Houses by Jayne Castle (#BookReview)
Come What May Giveaway Hop
Knightqueen by Anna Hackett (#BookReview)
My Dearest Mackenzie by Rachel Blaufeld (#BlogTour #BookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (598)

Posted on April 27, 2024April 26, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

Yet another eclectic group of books. As always, this is a combination of books for my current committee, books I’ll be reviewing for Library Journal, and books I just plain want to read.

Speaking of which, the book that I’m anticipating the most out of this batch, the one I’ve been salivating over for months, ever since I read the first book in its series, The Kamogawa Food Detectives, is The Restaurant of Lost Recipes. I loved the first book, and I expect to love the second as well. IMHO the prettiest cover is The City in Glass by Nghi Vo, but that’s an accolade that has plenty of contenders this week. The two books I’m most curious about this go around are The Lantern of Lost Memories and We’ll Prescribe You a Cat – and not just because both books have cats on their covers!