The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 5-14-23

Posted on May 14, 2023May 14, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!

Today’s cat picture is a blast from the past. LaZorra was the one and only momcat we’ve ever had. Galen adopted her and her brother Erasmus as kittens. LaZorra had one litter of kittens herself before they were fixed, and we kept momcat, dadcat and both daughtercats for their entire lives. Erasmus, named after two famous philosophers, was the most poorly named cat in history. He was possibly the dumbest cat to ever draw breath. Extremely sweet, but no brains at all. His sister LaZorra, who clearly grabbed all the brain cells in the womb, was every bit as smart as he was not. As his polar opposite in everything, she was also the most aptly named cat ever. LaZorra roughly translates as ‘fox bitch’. And she was. To her last day she was never sure precisely what purpose I could possibly serve in Galen’s life – and she was not at all shy about letting me know!

Stacking the Shelves (548)

Posted on May 13, 2023May 12, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

Some of these covers are pretty, and some of these books are interesting, as usual. There are a couple that meet in the middle as being ‘pretty damn interesting’, at least for me.

The two prettiest covers are All the Hidden Paths and Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands. They are also more than a bit alike. Generation Ship and System Collapse are damn interesting and much anticipated, although their covers aren’t all that. And then there’s John Scalzi’s Starter Villain. I’ve had an ARC of Starter Villain for several weeks, waiting for the cover to be revealed. Now that it has been, I can’t stop laughing every time I see it. To the point where I can’t resist the damn thing at all so it’s what I’ll be reading this weekend, even if it won’t be published for several more months.

How’s your stack looking this week?

emily wildes map of the otherlands by heather fawcett

dead take the a train by cassandra khaw and richard kadrey

fat time and other stories by jeffrey renard allen

For Review:
All the Hidden Paths (Tithenai Chronicles #2) by Foz Meadows
Artificial by Amy Kurzweil
The Dead Take the A Train (Carrion City #1) by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands (Emily Wilde #2) by Heather Fawcett
Fat Time and Other Stories by Jeffrey Renard Allen
Generation Ship by Michael Mammay
The Hurricane Wars (Hurricane Wars #1) by Thea Guanzon
Juliette by Camille Jourdy
Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue
Okinawa by Susumu Higa
Starter Villain by John Scalzi
Sunset, Water City (Water City Trilogy #3) by Chris McKinney
System Collapse (Murderbot Diaries #7) by Martha Wells
A True Account by Katherine Howe
Wild Girls by Tiya Miles
The Wingmen by Adam Lazarus

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 5-7-23

Posted on May 7, 2023May 6, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

There will be five reviews this week. I just have utterly no idea what the fifth one will be. At the moment, the contenders for that fifth slot are Treacle Walker by Alan Garner and Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal, with When Maidens Mourn by C.S. Harris as a fallback, but none of them may pan out. Or they all will which will at least result in some decisions for openings in later weeks.

We’ll see.

Speaking of seeing, we finally saw something this weekend that we’ve been waiting FIVE years to see. Luna, Tuna and George finally figured out the cat flap from the living room to the catio. We were beginning to wonder if that would ever happen! Not surprisingly, Luna led the way in this enterprise, as she seems to be the one in charge of both George and her brother. Lucifer was upstairs having his late morning nap and Hecate was off doing catly things elsewhere as she still barely tolerates Luna’s and Tuna’s presence. But we have achieved progress and are looking forward to seeing them sunning themselves in the afternoons from now on!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Come What May Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Life’s a Beach Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

Come What May Giveaway Hop
A- Review: The Bride Wore White by Amanda Quick
A Review: Murder and Mendelssohn by Kerry Greenwood
Life’s a Beach Giveaway Hop
A- Review: For Love of Magic by Simon R. Green
Stacking the Shelves (547)

Coming This Week:

Seven Girls Gone by Allison Brennan (review)
The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead (blog tour review)
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (review)
Tamam Shud by Kerry Greenwood (audio review)

Stacking the Shelves (547)

Posted on May 6, 2023May 5, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

Luna decided that this Stacking the Shelves post needed her touch. So she erased part of it. (Thank goodness for the ‘UNDO’ button!) All the cats have been clingy since Galen returned from his trip, but Luna has been taking that state to new heights this week. Sometimes literally as she’s sitting on the back of my chair as I type this.

I’ve found a new source for audio ARCs, or ALCs as the distributor Libro.fm calls them. As a librarian, I can pick up entirely too many audiobooks in advance of publications. It’s a lovely service – and entirely too tempting!

chain gang all stars by nana kwame adjei brenyah audio

to shape a dragons breath by moniquill blackgoose audio

For Review:
Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
Banyan Moon by Thao Thai (audio)
The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead
The Burning of the World by Scott W. Berg
Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale
Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (audio)
Godkiller by Hannah Kaner
Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go by Cleo Qian
The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong (book AND audio)
The Peach Seed by Anita Gail Jones
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath (Nampeshiweisit #1) by Moniquill Blackgoose (audio)
Witness by Jamel Brinkley
Women of the Post by Joshunda Sanders

Purchased from Amazon/Audible/Etc.:
The Art of Dying (Raven and Fisher #2) by Ambrose Parry
A Corruption of Blood (Raven and Fisher #3) by Ambrose Parry
Tamam Shud (Phryne Fisher) by Kerry Greenwood (audio)
The Way of All Flesh (Raven and Fisher #1) by Ambrose Parry

Borrowed from the Library:
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

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 4-30-23

Posted on April 30, 2023April 28, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

Another Month Ends:

All Targets Met
All Systems Working
All Customers Satisfied
All Staff Eager and Enthusiastic
All Pigs Fed and Ready to Fly

Remember that with enough thrust, pigs CAN fly. So the above is ALL entirely possible. Not terribly likely – at least not all at once – but possible.

I have a poster on my office wall from Graeme Base’s marvelous Animalia. It will not surprise anyone that the poster is “Lazy Lions Lounging in the Local Library”. As a bit of an homage, here’s a “Lazy Luna Lounging in the Lap of Luxury”

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Just Because Giveaway Hop is Heather
The winner of the Dancing in the Rain Giveaway Hop is Angela

Blog Recap:

A- Review: The Way of the Bear by Anne Hillerman
B+ Review: Happy Place by Emily Henry
A- Review: The Comeback Cowboy by Jackie Ashenden, Caitlin Crews, Nicole Helm, Maisey Yates
B Review: The Beach Reads Bookshop by Lee Tobin McClain
A- Review: The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw
Stacking the Shelves (546)

Coming This Week:

Come What May Giveaway Hop
The Bride Wore White by Amanda Quick (blog tour review)
Tsalmoth by Steven Brust (review)
Life’s a Beach Giveaway Hop
For Love of Magic by Simon R. Green (review)

Stacking the Shelves (546)

Posted on April 29, 2023April 28, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

LOTS of pretty covers this week! All in the S’s and all in the blues, Shorefall, The Square of Sevens and Starling House. Although Starling House is also just a bit creepy looking. But probably not as actually creepy as yesterday’s book, The Salt Grows Heavy. Which was excellent but pretty much broke my creep-o-meter for a while.

Audible had a 2-for-1 sale, and those are always my downfall, plus The Fossil Hunter was the Audible Daily Deal one day this week. If you’re not signed up for the Audible Daily Deal daily email, and you’re willing to be tempted by excellent audiobooks going for a song, it’s definitely worth the minute or two it takes every day just to check out what’s on sale that day.

shorefall by robert jackson bennett audio

stranger in the citadel by tobias buckell audio

square of sevens by laura shepherd robinson

postcards from stella maris by susan m boyer

For Review:
Colorful Palate by Raj Tawney
Famous in a Small Town by Viola Shipman
Long Past Dues (Unorthodox Chronicles #2) by James J. Butcher
The Navigating Fox by Christopher Rowe
The Never Wars by David Pedreira
Of Time and Turtles by Sy Montgomery
Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond
A Power Unbound (Last Binding #3) by Freya Marske
The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
A Stranger in the Citadel by Tobias Buckell (book AND audio)
Technically Yours by Denise Williams

Purchased from Amazon/Audible/Etc.:
The Empire’s Ruin (Ashes of the Unhewn Throne #1) by Brian Staveley (audio)
For Love of Magic by Simon R. Green
The Fossil Hunter by Tea Cooper (audio)
Postcards from Stella Maris (Liz Talbot) by Susan M. Boyer
Shorefall (Founders #2) by Robert Jackson Bennett

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 4-23-23

Posted on April 23, 2023April 22, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

This was a Grade A reading week from beginning to end. Which is kind of fitting, as today is the start of National Library Week, celebrating a place and an experience where so many of us began our lifelong love of reading. I certainly did. Libraries, for me also represent both a sweet memory and a lifelong bad habit. Procrastinating work on research papers in high school guaranteed a trip to the big downtown library with my dad. So I got both a whole afternoon of his attention – which was always hard to get – and a couple of hours in the palace of wonder otherwise known as the Cincinnati Public Library’s Main Library. It was a win-win for me at the time – but I have to confess that the procrastination habit has not served me all that well in the long run. But in that short run the whole thing was pretty damn sweet.

And speaking of sweet, here’s a picture of George, sweetly curled up on our new comforter. It really brings out his orangeness, doesn’t it?

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Just Because Giveaway Hop (ENDS TONIGHT!!!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Dancing in the Rain Giveaway Hop (ENDS THURSDAY!)

Blog Recap:

A+ Review: Who Cries for the Lost by C.S. Harris
A Review: Wings Once Cursed and Bound by Piper J. Drake
A Review: Three Debts Paid by Anne Perry
A- Review: Unraveling by Peggy Orenstein
A+ Review: Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by T.L. Huchu
Stacking the Shelves (545)

Coming This Week:

The Way of the Bear by Anne Hillerman (review)
Happy Place by Emily Henry (review)
The Comeback Cowboy by Jackie Ashenden, Caitlin Crews, Nicole Helm, Maisey Yates (blog tour review)
The Beach Reads Bookshop by Lee Tobin McClain (blog tour review)
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (audio review)

Stacking the Shelves (545)

Posted on April 22, 2023April 21, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

This week’s stack got just a bit out of hand (LOL). On that other hand, I did get some really pretty covers in The Blue, Beautiful World and The Curse of Penryth Hall. I’ve finished one book (Excalibur) and am in the middle of the audio of The Salt Grows Heavy which is creepy and poetic at the same time. And Galen’s read The Ship Beneath the Ice because he’s always drawn to stuff about the Shackleton Expedition. So we have pretty, compelling and interesting already checked off of the book bingo boxes for this week’s stack!

only purple house in town by ann aguirre

salt grows heavy by cassandra khaw audio

daughters of latin america by sandra guzman

all the dead shall weep by charlaine harris

you could make this place beautiful by maggie smith

you are here by karin lin greenberg audio

For Review:
All the Dead Shall Weep (Gunnie Rose #5) by Charlaine Harris
And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott
The Blue, Beautiful World by Karen Lord
The Curse of Penryth Hall by Jess Armstrong
Daughters of Latin America edited by Sandra Guzman
Dreambound by Dan Frey
Excalibur (Sentinel Security #5) by Anna Hackett
The General and Julia by Jon Clinch
The Great Escape by Saket Soni
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo
The New Life by Tom Crewe
The Only Purple House in Town (Fix-It Witches #4) by Ann Aguirre
The Piano Tuner by Chiang-sheng Kuo
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (audio)
The Ship Beneath the Ice by Mensun Bound
The Six by Loren Grush
Witch King by Martha Wells (audio)
You Are Here by Karin Lin-Greenberg (audio)
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith

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 4-16-23

Posted on April 16, 2023April 15, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

I ended up throwing last week’s planned schedule into a blender. I was just having a bad case of being unable to settle on a book, not getting anywhere and not getting anything done. So I went looking for short reads and comfort reads to get me over that hump, which is how Who Cries for the Lost ended up kicking off this coming week.

This week’s schedule had Three Debts Paid inserted into it when I learned of the death of its author, Anne Perry, this past week.

Tuna volunteered for this week’s cat picture. The new comforter he’s posed on was a birthday present from one of my oldest and dearest friends, and he just looked so adorable – and adorably confused – laying on it that I couldn’t resist!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Just Because Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Dancing in the Rain Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of ANY book by Barbara Hambly is Anita
The winner of the $25 Amazon Gift Card is Cali
The winner of one of my or the winner’s favorite books so far is Carl
The winner of The Cleaving by Juliet E. McKenna is Nadine

Blog Recap:

A++ Review: The Stars Undying by Emery Robin
A+/D Review: The Way Home by Peter S. Beagle
A Review: Midnight, Water City by Chris McKinney
A- Review: Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee
A- Review: The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown
Stacking the Shelves (544)

Coming This Week:

Who Cries for the Lost by C.S. Harris (review)
Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by T.L. Huchu (audio review)
Wings Once Cursed and Bound by Piper J. Drake (review)
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (review)
Three Debts Paid by Anne Perry (review)

Stacking the Shelves (544)

Posted on April 15, 2023April 14, 2023 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

This week’s stack just didn’t go in much for pretty covers, did it? Although any stack with two Phryne Fisher books in it can’t be all bad on that front. I was having a terrible book bounce problem at the end of this week, so when the later of the two books, Murder in Williamstown, popped up on Edelweiss I found myself thinking about diving back into the series wherever it was I left off. When turned out to be Murder and Mendelssohn, which I turned out not to already have, but which turned out to be one of the longest books in the entire series so I went looking elsewhere to solve my inability to settle into a good book. I have PLENTY to choose from!