The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 9-15-24

Posted on September 15, 2024September 14, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Hecate is often the “odd kitty out” in our cat pictures. She’s never been an only child, but it’s really clear that she’d prefer to be. She certainly is our problem child, as in the last two weeks we’ve discovered that she a)has crystals in her urine, which is a condition that mostly affects male cats. It’s also a condition which necessitates prescription food, so everyone is getting even fancier food now. And b) she has asthma. If it’s seasonal, well, that’s every spring and fall around here. Fortunately, the little witch is very food motivated, so getting her to take her meds with a treat is going well – at least for the moment. She’s a cat, we expect that to change but we’ll take the win while it lasts.

She seldom appears in pictures with the rest of the clowder, so after all of her little issues this month so far – and OMG September is only half over – she deserved a picture of her very own. We even managed to get one where she exhibits a bit of dignity along with her tortitude!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Early Fall Giveaway Event

Blog Recap:

A- #BookReview: This World Is Not Yours by Kemi Ashing-Giwa
B #BookReview: Fury Brothers: Take by Anna Hackett
A- #BookReview: A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft
B #BookReview: We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida, translated by E. Madison Shimoda
Grade A #BookReview: Chasing New Suns by Lance Robinson
Stacking the Shelves (618)

Coming This Week:

Falling Into Leaves Giveaway Hop
The Daughters’ War by Christopher Buehlman (#AudioBookReview)
The Sullivan’s Island Supper Club by Susan M. Boyer (#BookReview)
The Banned Books Club by Brenda Novak (#BlogTour #BookReview)
Blood and Magic by Lauren Dane (#BookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (618)

Posted on September 14, 2024September 13, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

Unlike last week’s stack, this time there are definitely some covers that are outright pretty, The Concealment of Endless Light, The Page Turner, and Rules for Ghosting. The books I’m really curious about are Kills Well With Others and Where the Axe is Buried. Kills Well With Others because it’s the follow-up to the marvelous Killers of a Certain Age, a book which, as much as I really wanted it to be the start of a series, showed no signs of actually being one. But now it is and YAY! I’m curious about Where the Axe is Buried because I’ve enjoyed the author’s first two books, The Mountain in the Sea and The Tusks of Extinction, very much, but neither is like the other so I’m extremely curious to read this one, which does not appear to be like either of his other books.

The book I most want to read in this stack is Murder of a Suffragette. The London Ladies’ Murder Club series, of which this is the fourth after A Body on the Doorstep, A Body at the Séance and A Body at the Dance Hall, has turned out to be quite charming – and I adore the main character. I’ve actually been jonesing for this next book in the series and now it’s HERE!

What about you? What books have you added to your stack this week?

mechanize my hands to war by erin k wagner

concealment of endless night by yehoshua november

kills well with others by deanna raybourn

we are free to change the world by lyndsey stonebridge

murder of a suffragette by marty wingate

library of lost dollhouses by elise hooper

For Review:
The Concealment of Endless Light by Yehoshua November
Kills Well With Others (Killers of a Certain Age #2) by Deanna Raybourn
The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Hooper
Mechanize My Hands to War by Erin K. Wagner
Murder of a Suffragette (London Ladies’ Murder Club #4) by Marty Wingate
The Page Turner by Viola Shipman
Roman Year by André Aciman
Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore
The Way Up is Death by Dan Hanks
We Are Free to Change the World by Lyndsey Stonebridge
When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory
Where the Axe is Buried by Ray Nayler

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 9-8-24

Posted on September 8, 2024September 6, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Today would have been my mother’s 96th birthday. Today is also Star Trek Day. I have feelings about both of those things, some of which are even sorta/kinda tied up in each other, albeit indirectly. I watched the final season (and admittedly the worst of the three) of Star Trek: The Original Series, as it was broadcast, with my dad. My mom did not understand what either of us saw in the thing, nor why my fascination with it continued even after the show was cancelled. And, for that matter, still does.

That initial fascination led to a life-long love of science fiction, just as my even earlier initial reading of The Hobbit began a fantasy reading habit that is also still with me.

In dubious honor of that earlier triumvirate, I present to you a ‘Three Cat Night’, with George, Tuna and Luna standing – or should that be lying – in for Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Not that there are any resemblances whatsoever.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Summer 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Early Fall Giveaway Event

Blog Recap:

Labor Day 2024 (Guest Post by Galen)
Early Fall Amazon/Paypal Giveaway Event!
B- #BookReview: Passions in Death by J.D. Robb
B #BookReview: Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud
B+ #BookReview: Follow the Stars Home by Diane C. McPhail
Stacking the Shelves (617)

Coming This Week:

This World is Not Yours by Kemi Ashing-Giwa (#BookReview)
Fury Brothers: Take by Anna Hackett (#BookReview)
A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft (#BookReview)
We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida, translated by E. Madison Shimoda (#BookReview)
Chasing New Suns by Lance Robinson (#BookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (617)

Posted on September 7, 2024September 5, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

It’s not so much that this stack is shorter as it is that the stack of books for which I have covers is shorter. Some of the stuff that’s not being published until next year has eARCs available but no cover art yet. And so it goes.

I’m not sure that “pretty” is a word I would use for this bunch. Interesting, yes, but pretty, not so much. Although there’s certainly a whole lotta purple going on and that’s not bad.

But anticipation, well, I’ve got a TON of that. The books I’m most curious about at Cat’s People and The Museum Detective. The ones I’m most looking forward to reading are See How They Hide, The Tomb of Dragons and of course Scalzi’s latest, When the Moon Hits Your Eye because seriously WTF?

when the moon hits your eye by john scalzi

For Review:
Cat’s People by Tanya Guerrero
Countess by Suzan Palumbo
A Dragon of Black Glass (Moonfall #3) by James Rollins
Luminous by Silvia Park
The Museum Detective by Maha Khan Phillips
See How They Hide (Quinn & Costa #6) by Allison Brennan
The Tomb of Dragons (Cemeteries of Amalo #3) by Katherine Addison
When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
The Will of the Many (Hierarchy #1) by James Islington

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 9-1-24

Posted on September 1, 2024September 1, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

Today is the first day of September, tomorrow is Labor Day in the U.S., and this feels like the REAL start of the season. Except it doesn’t around here this weekend, as they’re predicting 92°F on Saturday, 90°F on Sunday and 88°F on Monday. Which is too damn hot but climate’s what you expect and weather is what you get and so it goes. (That’s 33°C, 32°C and 31°C for the places we were this time last month!)

I hadn’t realized how symmetrical this week’s reviews are until just now. B books on the outside, Grade A books inside those, and one A- in the middle. Interesting…but also weird.

This picture isn’t exactly symmetrical, but it is certainly adorable. Luna here is squeezed into the middle between Galen and I, looking like the cat who got into the cream or something very much like that. She has the cutest upside-down kitty face, and this time it’s even complete with teefies!

Stacking the Shelves (616)

Posted on August 31, 2024August 30, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

There are a few, let’s call them themes, in this week’s stack. There are two books about books, two books with pretty much the same premise, some really pretty covers with very similar color schemes, more pretty covers, and one book I just can’t wait to read.

In no particular order, the books about books are pretty obvious, The Banned Books Club and The Booklover’s Library. They’re even first alphabetically, although the book covers sort randomly in the display.

The two books with the same premise are I Made It Out of Clay and Magical Meet Cute. I’m really curious to see just how much the resulting stories resemble each other, because the whole thing about “making” a “perfect” man by cooking up a golem is, well, just a bit different.

Days of Wonder, I’d Rather Be Destroyed and Olive Days are both kind of the same orange-yellow shade – as is Magical Meet Cute.

Days of Shattered Faith (LOTS of ‘Days’ in this bunch) and The Sullivan’s Island Supper Club are pretty – in entirely different ways.

Last but not least, the book I’m most looking forward to is A Snake in the Barley. I have adored the Owen Archer series since all the way back in the first book, The Apothecary Rose, which I read THIRTY YEARS AGO, on a trip to its setting of York, which probably explains a bit about why it stuck with me and I’ve stuck with it all these years. That plus the fact that the series is just an awesome work of historical fiction AND mystery.

What books are tickling your various fancies this last day/week of August/end of the whole entire Summer?

sullivans island supper club by susan m boyer

i'd rather be destroyed by zach goldberg

days of shattered faith by adrian tchaikovsky

street corner dreams by florence reiss kraut

For Review:
The Banned Books Club by Brenda Novak
The Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin
Days of Shattered Faith (Tyrant Philosophers #3) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Days of Wonder by Caroline Leavitt
Edenfrost by Amit Tishler, Bruno Frenda, Taylor Esposito
Final Verdict by Tobias Buck
I Made It Out of Clay by Beth Kander
I’d Rather Be Destroyed by Zach Goldberg
Magical Meet Cute by Jean Meltzer
Olive Days by Jessica Elisheva Emerson
One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallery
A Snake in the Barley (Owen Archer #15) by Candace Robb
Street Corner Dreams by Florence Reiss Kraut
The Sullivan’s Island Supper Club (Carolina Tales #3) by Susan M. Boyer
Take (Fury Brothers #4) by Anna Hackett

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 8-25-24

Posted on August 25, 2024August 24, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

We’re still back, and it seems like our body clocks are finally catching up with our actual location. Waking up at 6 in the morning without an alarm clock really, really weirds me out. Galen’s mileage varies considerably on that, but I’ve been a night owl all my life and having that temporarily reset itself discombobulated me completely for most of the week!

(Yes, I can read in the early morning but it STILL felt WRONG on so many levels!)

This week’s projected schedule looks fairly solid – although the precise order is subject to change. I’ve already finished Junkyard Roadhouse and (SPOILER!) it’s every bit as good as the rest of the series.

Today’s cat picture is from one of our first night’s back. Unlike the one I posted last Sunday, where Luna is clearly ignoring me, this one shows several members of the clowder at least curious about sniffing Galen’s fingers to figure out where he’s been and perhaps if he’s brought them anything with which to beg their forgiveness.

SPOILER ALERT! – they forgave us anyway, and pretty quickly too!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 in Books in the Old School Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book PLUS EVENT-WIDE AMAZON/PAYPAL PRIZE in the Late Summer Giveaway Event
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the SUMMER 2024 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

B #AudioBookReview: The Hermit Next Door by Kevin Hearne
A- #BookReview: The Naturalist’s Daughter by Tea Cooper
B+ #BookReview: Memories of the Lost by Barbara O’Neal
A- #BookReview: Hell Bay by Will Thomas
B #BookReview: The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
Stacking the Shelves (615)

Coming This Week:

The Kill List by Nadine Matheson (#BookReview)
The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard (#BlogTour #BookReview)
Saving Susy Sweetchild by Barbara Hambly (#BookReview)
Junkyard Roadhouse by Faith Hunter (#AudioBookReview)
Out of the Drowning Deep by A.C. Wise (#BookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (615)

Posted on August 24, 2024August 23, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

A slightly less ginormous stack this time around – even if it is no less splendiferous in its offerings. There are several really beautiful covers this time around, including Children of Gods and Fighting Men, Glance, and Upon a Starlit Tide. The two books that I’m most curious about are Picks and Shovels and Symbiote. Picks and Shovels because as much as I loved Doctorow’s first Martin Hench book, Red Team Blues, I didn’t expect the thing to stretch to a second book – which it did with The Bezzle. That there’s now a third makes me wonder where this technostalgia trip is going.

I’m curious about Symbiote because of the author’s c.v. which includes stints as a Space Shuttle engineer and in Antarctica.

And the book I’m most looking forward to, in a peculiar way, is Season of Death – no matter how off-putting the title might be. I’m loving the Barker & Llewelyn series, but I just finished book 8 (Hell Bay) and this is book 16. I’m looking forward to seeing how the series goes but I don’t want to get there TOO fast because then I’ll have to wait each year for the next one!

following similar paths by samuel C. Heilman and mucahit Bilici

children of gods and fighting men by shauna lawless

martian contingency by mary robinette kowal

For Review:
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men (Gael Song #1) by Shauna Lawless
Following Similar Paths by Samuel C. Heilman and Mucahit Bilici
Glance by Chanda Feldman
The Library Game (Secret Staircase Mysteries #4) by Gigi Pandian
Marigold Mind Laundry by Jungeun Yun, translated by Shanna Tan
The Martian Contingency (Lady Astronaut #4) by Mary Robinette Kowal
Picks and Shovels (Martin Hench #3) by Cory Doctorow
Season of Death (Barker & Llewelyn #16) by Will Thomas
Symbiote by Michael Nayak
A Tainted Heart Bleeds (House of Croft #2) by Sophie Barnes
Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods

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 8-18-24

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

We’re back, but I’ve got to admit that my brain is still in another time zone – or on another continent. Maybe both.

However, we had an absolutely GRAND time. Except for the cold we both caught – that bit was less than stellar. But still, a good time was had by all. Except the cats. The picture is actually pretty typical of the first few hours we were home. Tuna looks confused and Luna is clearly pretending NOT to see me.

It’s been difficult to get back into the swing of things. Three weeks is the longest we’ve EVER been away, and I’m still a bit disbelieving that I managed to get nearly everything for the blog done ahead of time. But the long period off is making it hard to dive back in. Also still tired. And jet-lagged. Definitely jet-lagged. Not sorry we skipped that part on the way over by cruising instead of flying.

But it’s still great to be home. Home is where the kitties are!

Current Giveaways:

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Apple a Day Giveaway Hop is Polly

Blog Recap:

A- #BookReview: Time’s Agent by Brenda Peynado
#BookReview: She Who Knows: Firespitter by Nnedi Okorafor
Grade A #BookReview: New Adventures in Space Opera edited by Jonathan Strahan
A+ #BookReview: Anatomy of Evil by Will Thomas
Old School Giveaway Hop
Stacking the Shelves (614)

Coming This Week:

The Hermit Next Door by Kevin Hearne (#AudioBookReview)
The Naturalist’s Daughter by Tea Cooper (#BookReview #BlogTour)
Memories of the Lost by Barbara O’Neal (#BookReview #BlogTour)
The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki, translated by Jesse Kirkwood (#BookReview)
Hell Bay by Will Thomas (#BookReview)

Stacking the Shelves (614)

Posted on August 17, 2024August 16, 2024 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Stacking the Shelves

And we’re back! We’re still unpacking, it’s going to take weeks to sort through the books I picked up even though they are all ebooks, we’re still tired and the cats are all clinging tightly – they forgave us almost instantly and haven’t let us out of their sight for an instant ever since.

There are so many books in this stack that there are oodles of contenders on all counts; pretty, and curious and highly anticipated. The one I want to highlight has elements of all of the above, with just a little bit of something extra. I’m referring to The Legacy of Arniston House by T.L. Huchu, not just because I love the Edinburgh Nights series but because I heard him read from the book at Worldcon in Glasgow last weekend and now I can’t wait to sink my own reading teeth into the meat of what sounds like another outstanding installment in the series. The only sad note in my anticipation is that the author indicated that book five will be the final book in the series and I already know that this is one I’m going to miss a lot when it’s done – even if all my questions do finally get answered.

What about you? What new books are stacking your shelves this week?