Stacking the Shelves (502)

Posted on June 25, 2022June 20, 2022 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

This is being done ahead, because as you are reading this, I’m at the American Library Association Annual Conference, live and in person for the first time since COVID happened.

This particular stack is filled with a lot of familiar faces with new books. I’ve even already read a couple! Notably both Deploying Dragons (the followup to the fun Domesticating Dragons) Silver Queendom, and The Protector. I’m really looking forward to Ship Wrecked, the third book in Olivia Dade’s series after the utterly splendiferous Spoiler Alert and All the Feels. And a new Wayward Children book. This list is just full of win!

On a more somber note, I want to thank everyone who sent condolences last week on the loss of poor Freddie. I appreciated each and every message, and all of you as well.

minuscule mansion of myra malone by audrey burges

house of binding thorns by aliette de bodard

lost in the moment and found by seanan mcguire

house of shattered wings by aliette de bodard

crazy to leave you by marilyn simon rothstein

house of sundering flames by aliette de bodard

For Review:
Crazy to Leave You by Marilyn Simon Rothstein
Deploying Dragons (Build-A-Dragon #2) by Dan Koboldt
Ex Appeal (Ponto Beach Reunion #2) by Cathy Yardley
External Forces (Marrowbone Spells #2) by Shannon Fay
House of Hunger (Bethel #2) by Alexis Henderson
Into the Broken Lands by Tanya Huff
The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin
A Little Too Familiar by Lish McBride
Lost in the Moment and Found (Wayward Children #8) by Seanan McGuire
Marmee by Sarah Miller
The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges
Partners in Crime by Alisha Rai
The Protector (Norcross Security #9) by Anna Hackett
Ship Wrecked (Spoiler Alert #3) by Olivia Dade
Silver Queendom by Dan Koboldt
Suburban Hell by Maureen Kilmer
Terminal Peace (Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse #3) by Jim C. Hines
Under a Veiled Moon (Inspector Corravan #2) by Karen Odden

Purchased from Amazon/Audible:
The House of Binding Thorns (Dominion of the Fallen #2) by Aliette de Bodard
The House of Shattered Wings (Dominion of the Fallen #1) by Aliette de Bodard
The House of Sundering Flames (Dominion of the Fallen #3) by Aliette de Bodard
The Jasmine Throne (Burning Kingdoms #1) by Tasha Suri (audio)
Wool (Silo #1) by Hugh Howey (audio)

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 6-19-22

Posted on June 19, 2022June 20, 2022 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

Today is Father’s Day in the U.S. and a host of other countries. This year, Father’s Day falls on Juneteenth, which will be observed tomorrow – probably today too. Galen will have one of his guest posts tomorrow for the holiday.

I also have the sad duty to report that Freddie lost his battle with whatever the hell was wrong with him on Wednesday. He started having seizures and just couldn’t stop. He went to the Rainbow Bridge where Mellie is probably taking up his “cat lessons” again. There were a few things he never quite got but she was elderly and he was rambunctious and some of her training didn’t take. Now she has the opportunity to impart all the lessons he couldn’t quite sit still for.

This is one of the first pictures we ever took of Freddie, and it’s the one from which we derived his name. He tended to hang out in the bookshelves when he was feeling insecure, and with his coloring he very much resembled “Frederick the Literate” from the print by Americana artist Charles Wysocki.

We open our doors and our hearts to the little furry monsters, we take care of them for as long as they let us, and we love them forever. Rest in Catnip and Mousies, sweet boy.

Coming This Week:

Juneteenth 2022 (Guest Post by Galen!)
Summer 2022 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree (review)
A Quick Trip to Moab by Kevin T. Jones (review)
Last Call at the Nightingale by Katharine Schellman (audiobook review)

Stacking the Shelves (501)

Posted on June 18, 2022June 16, 2022 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.” That’s just as true about staying in the emotional place where we are as it is about a physical location. I’ve always used reading as an escape, whether from the everyday, or into a time and/or place that no longer exists or that I am unlikely to live to see. All of that is to say why I pick up so many books and why they are such a comfort to me, even though I may not get to a particular book soon or even at all. All of which goes a bit towards explaining why my stacks are so tall and these posts can seem rather long.

I also read to put a bit of time and emotional distance between me and something that is just too hard to bear. Freddie went to the Rainbow Bridge on Wednesday after a month of increasingly puzzling visits to the vet and more than a few days where he seemed to be getting back to his old self. We’re both devastated and George keeps going to all of Freddie’s spots to see if he can find his buddy. He’s confused and heartbroken and frankly, so are we.

So I’ll be losing myself in a good book or two, or five, until the pain isn’t quite so sharp. With one or more cats in my lap at all times.

mother daughter traitor spy by susan elia macneal

witch and the tsar by olesya salnikova gilmore

Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love by

sometimes people die by simon stephenson

because i could not stop for death by amanda flower

your mind is a terrible thing by hailey piper

For Review:
Aphrodite and the Duke by J.J. McAvoy
Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King
Because I Could Not Stop for Death (Emily Dickinson Mystery #1) by Amanda Flower
Book of Knives by Lise Haines
A Broken Blade (Halfling Saga #1) by Melissa Blair
How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie
Ithaca by Claire North
Landslide (Mason Hackett #1) by Adam Sikes
Ledge (Glacian Trilogy #1) by Stacey McEwan
Love & Saffron by Kim Fay (Grade A REVIEW!!!)
The Measure by Nikki Erlick
Mother Daughter Traitor Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal
Ocean’s Echo (Winter’s Orbit #2) by Everina Maxwell
A Quick Trip to Moab by Kevin T. Jones
A Restless Truth (Last Binding #2) by Freya Marske
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
Sometimes People Die by Simon Stephenson
The Stars Undying by Emery Robin
Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison
Swashbucklers by Dan Hanks
A Truth to Lie for (Elena Standish #4) by Anne Perry
The Ways We Hide by Kristina McMorris
The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
Wrath by Sharon Moalem, Daniel Kraus
Your Mind Is a Terrible Thing by Hailey Piper

Purchased from Amazon/Audible:
Black Box (Miranda Chase Origin Stories #4) by M.L. Buchman
Honor Flight (Miranda Chase Origin Stories #1) by M.L. Buchman
Island Christmas (Miranda Chase Origin Stories #2) by M.L. Buchman
A Very Jeremy Christmas (Miranda Chase Origin Stories #3) 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 6-12-22

Posted on June 12, 2022June 11, 2022 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Freddie is still hanging in there. And here’s a picture of him hanging out under the bed with his buddy Lucifer.

What’s strange about this picture is that Lucifer looks bigger than Freddie. He’s actually not, not even with the weight Freddie has lost. But Lucifer has a big head and at the moment a whole lot more presence. As I’m typing this Lucifer is presently jogging my elbow for more scritches!

Yesterday was the OMG 500th Stacking the Shelves post here at Reading Reality, which is still kind of hard to believe. I’ve been posting STS for ten years, and Reading Reality has been going for 11 years. That’s a long, long time in internet years!

This is one of those weeks where I’m not entirely sure the planned schedule is going to be the actual schedule except for the first entry and the bloghop on Thursday. Not that I don’t want to read ALL THE BOOKS – but I have a deadline I’m currently behind on that is resulting in a bit of a scramble! One of Murphy’s Laws is that “Due Dates are (ALWAYS) Closer Than They Appear!”

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Berry Good Giveaway Hop (ENDS WEDNESDAY!)