Tag: virtual nightstand

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

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | 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!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Come What May Giveaway Hop (ENDS TOMORROW!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Life’s a Beach Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

A- Review: Seven Girls Gone by Allison Brennan
A+ Review: When Maidens Mourn by C.S. Harris
B Review: The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead
C Review: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
A- Review: Tamam Shud by Kerry Greenwood
Stacking the Shelves (548)

Coming This Week:

Big Trouble on Sullivan’s Island by Susan M. Boyer (audio review)
Moms Rock Giveaway Hop
The Wager by David Grann (audio review)
The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff (review)
Daughters of Muscadine by Monic Ductan (review)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 5-7-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | 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)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 4-30-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | 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)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 4-23-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | 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)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 4-16-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | 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)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 4-9-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Blogo-Birthday> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Today is Easter Sunday. It’s also just about the middle of Passover AND the middle of Ramadan.

Today also marks the end of my TWELFTH Annual Blogo-Birthday Celebration Week – although the giveaways will continue to be open this week so please take this opportunity to get in on a lot of fabulous celebratory prizes!

And neither this week nor any other week here at Chez Reading Reality would be complete without a cat picture. Or, in this case, a picture of two cats. As most people who are owned by cats will tell you, it is IMPOSSIBLE to do ANYTHING alone when you have cats. Or cats have you, as the case may be. Here are Luna and Tuna making sure that their human doesn’t fall in or otherwise disappear while on the “throne”.

Current Giveaways:

Any book by Barbara Hambly
Blogoversary $25 Gift Card Giveaway
Favorite books of 2023 (so far) $25 in Books Giveaway
The Cleaving by Juliet E. McKenna
$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

Blog Recap:

A Review: One Extra Corpse by Barbara Hambly + Giveaway
TWELFTH Annual Blogo-Birthday Celebration and Giveaway!
Blogo-Birthday Birthday Book Celebration and Giveaway!
Dancing in the Rain Giveaway Hop
Just Because Giveaway Hop
A+ Review: The Cleaving by Juliet E. McKenna + Giveaway
Stacking the Shelves (543)

Coming This Week:

The Stars Undying by Emery Robin (audio review)
The Way Home by Peter S. Beagle (review)
Midnight, Water City by Chris McKinney (review)
The Winter Knight by Jes Battis (review)
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh (review)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 4-2-23

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

Come one, come all and WELCOME to Reading Reality’s annual Blogo-Birthday Celebration Week. This week, on Tuesday in fact, Reading Reality will celebrate its TWELFTH Blogoversary. As Wednesday, April 5 is my own birthday, I like to celebrate this doubly happy occasion with giveaways all week long. So be sure to come back each an every day to see what’s on tap.

The party is starting tomorrow, but in the meantime here’s a picture of Tuna, already all tuckered out from the preparations.

We’ll let him recover for a bit, so the party can get started bright and early in the morning!

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Chasing Rainbows Giveaway Hop is Viki 

Blog Recap:

B+ Review: And Put Away Childish Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky
B Review: Her Lost Words by Stephanie Marie Thornton
C+ Review: Sea Change by Gina Chung
A Review: The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis
B Review: White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link
Stacking the Shelves (542)

Coming This Week:

One Extra Corpse by Barbara Hambly (review + giveaway)
Blogo-Birthday Celebration (feature + giveaway)
Favorites of the Year (So Far) Birthday Giveaway (feature + giveaway)
Dancing in the Rain Giveaway Hop
Just Because Giveaway Hop
The Cleaving by Juliet E. McKenna (blog tour review + giveaway)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 3-26-23

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

Luna was sitting on the hearth, looking all bright-eyed and bushy-faced so Galen decided to snap a picture. Tuna just had to find out what was going on, so instead of Luna looking pretty, she’s looking rather confused as she gets photobombed by her brother!

I switched around this past week’s schedule a bit. I had been intending to read One Extra Corpse by Barbara Hambly, and I’m still very much looking forward to it. But my TWELFTH Annual Blogo-Birthday Celebration is just a week away. I give stuff away every day during the Celebration, so I always look for books or authors I really, really, really want to share with people to review that week. I’ve been reading and loving Barbara Hambly’s work since The Time of the Dark back in the longer ago than either she or I probably want to admit. Which made her latest book a perfect book to include during the celebration! So expect One Extra Corpse in just one week from tomorrow!

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Chasing Rainbows Giveaway Hop

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Winter 2022-2023 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop is Carl
The winner of the Leaping Leprechauns Giveaway Hop is Soozle
The winner of the For the Love of Reading Giveaway Hop is Heather

Blog Recap:

A+ Review: The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi
A+ Review: The New Guys by Meredith Bagby
B- Review: The Raven Thief by Gigi Pandian
A- Review: A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
B Review: The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear
Stacking the Shelves (541)

Coming This Week:

And Put Away Childish Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky (review)
Her Lost Words by Stephanie Marie Thornton (blog tour review)
Sea Change by Gina Chung (review)
White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link (review)
The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis (review)

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 3-19-23

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

The following picture is both adorable and apropos today. This is a rare shot of Hecate and Luna sharing the same space, and it’s perfect for today because we’ll be on our way home from a visit with one of my oldest and dearest friends, someone I’ve known since kindergarten but have not shared the same space with in almost 20 years. We’ve always kept in touch but haven’t been in the same geographic area in literally aeons. I don’t even care if the weather is good while we’re there – although I certainly hope it is. The opportunity to just sit and talk together is, as they say, priceless.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Winter 2022-23 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop (ENDS TONIGHT!!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Leaping Leprechauns Giveaway Hop (ENDS TOMORROW!!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the For the Love of Reading Giveaway Hop (ENDS THURSDAY!)

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the Lady Luck Giveaway Hop is Debbi

Blog Recap:

C Review: The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake
A+ Review: The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
B Review: Illuminations by T. Kingfisher
Chasing Rainbows Giveaway Hop
A- Review: Knightmaster by Anna Hackett
Stacking the Shelves (540)

Coming This Week:

The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi
The New Guys by Meredith Bagby
The Raven Thief by Gigi Pandian
The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear
One Extra Corpse by Barbara Hambly

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 3-12-23

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

I’ve got to admit that I’m not totally sure about this week’s schedule – or at least the middle of it. I’ve finished The Atlas Paradox – and do I ever have OPINIONS – as well as Knightmaster – about which I have much better opinions. And of course the Chasing Rainbows Giveaway Hop will happen as scheduled. The other two books are both books I want to feature – but my round ‘tuit is a bit frayed around the edges this week.

But speaking of things that are just a bit unsure, there’s Tuna. Not in this picture of “big Tuna energy” from Galen’s desk, in which Tuna looks dignified, large and in charge – only one of which is EVER true. Tuna managed to do something this week that I unfortunately don’t have a picture of but have to share anyway. You know how cats occasionally get claw-stuck? They grab at something – like my office chair’s upholstery – and can’t get one claw retracted with the rest and get stuck? Tuna managed to claw-stick his own front paws together when he grabbed at a toy that slipped out of his grasp. Leaving him stuck. To himself. It was not pretty, it was not dignified, but it was very Tuna. I’d say he was still embarrassed but he’s also not the sharpest knife in the drawer, so not.

Current Giveaways:

$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Lady Luck Giveaway Hop (ENDS WEDNESDAY!)
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the For the Love of Reading Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Leaping Leprechauns Giveaway Hop
$10 Gift Card or $10 Book in the Winter 2022-23 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop

Blog Recap:

A Review: Dead Country by Max Gladstone
A- Review: The Sister Effect by Susan Mallery
B+ Review: The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill
A+ Review: Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace
B+ Review: A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas
Stacking the Shelves (539)

Coming This Week:

The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake (audiobook review)
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older (review)
Illuminations by T. Kingfisher (review)
Chasing Rainbows Giveaway Hop
Knightmaster by Anna Hackett (review)