Reading Reality, LLC

06/02/2026

Berry May Giveaway Hop

Today is the first day of June, so it's summer. Even if it isn't technically summer, it's summer.

But "technicalities" turned out to be a bit more apropos to this hop than I expected. Because Wikipedia informs me that not everything we think of as a "berry" is a berry, and that there are plenty of things we don't think of as berries that technically are berries, and that the culinary sense of what a berry is does not match the botanical definition of what constitutes an actual "berry".

I'm confused, but blackberries are still my favorite breakfast fruit, whether they are technically berries or not.

And that's the the question in the giveaway widget for this hop is all about over at Reading Reality at https://wp.me/p3gHJx-gkn or just follow the link in the bio.

What's your favorite berry flavor - whether said berry is technically a berry under whichever definition works for you. For me its definitely blackberries. What about you?

06/01/2026

Berry Good Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Berry Good Giveaway Hop, hosted by Mama the Fox and Mom Does Reviews! It's SUMMER, isn't it? I mean really, even if it TECHNICALLY isn't, it IS. Post-Memorial Day (even if that felt early this year) means SUMMER. I decided to get more information about berries, so I went to Wikipedia....

06/01/2026

The Sunday Post/Virtual Nightstand for May 31, 2026

Summer may not OFFICIALLY begin until for three more weeks, but unofficially, it's here! It's also sopping wet in the ATL, it's been raining cats and dogs for DAYS and there are poodles in the road. Puddles at least.

Princess Luna is safe and dry at home, not quite awake enough to pose for her close-up in this picture, but leaving me completely incapussitated while she naps in my lap.

But I've had some great and/or interesting books to read this week - or both - so I'm happy to let her hold me down. AGAIN.

Here are the rest of this week's highlights:
Featured Giveaway: Spring 2026 Seasons of Books Giveaway Hop
Book of the Week: Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne Palmer
Feature for the Coming Week: Berry Good Giveaway Hop

05/31/2026

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 5-31-26

Today is the last day of May. That Memorial Day occurred this past Monday and not tomorrow feels a bit off. Nevertheless, it is what it is. (Next year, Memorial Day WILL be May 31, which somehow feels normal. Don't get me wrong, I love 3-day weekends as much as the next person, but the [...]

05/31/2026

Stacking the Shelves for May 30, 2026

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual.



This meme is hosted every Saturday by yours truly, - The covers shown here are merely a TEASER! Link to full post in bio to see the pretty covers of ALL the books in this week's stack!

05/30/2026

Stacking the Shelves (707)

Is it just me, or does it feel vaguely wrong that it's STILL May but Memorial Day is already behind us? Something about this weekend still being May but Monday is NOT Memorial Day is just not right. Speaking of not right things, it feels like we've definitely entered the "cute" cover era. The "prett...

05/30/2026

The Ivory City by Emily Bain Murphy

Just like Chicago's 'White City' in 1893, St. Louise hosted its 1904 in its 'Ivory City'. The best stories take place at crossroads, whether actual crossroads or merely personal ones, and this one is both. Grace Covington is at the crossroads between girlhood and adulthood AND between clinging to the her cousins and the high society they belong to vs making a future for herself where she can belong. Her last hurrah happens in the opening weeks of the , where the world creates a temporary but real crossroads that represents what the West and the US want to say about themselves - and tries to hide the grit that makes it happen.

Grace's plans are upended when her cousin is arrested for a murder he didn't commit, and the money and power behind the fair threaten her to prevent her investigation. As she chases after the truth, the truth of her own future comes barreling towards her and its a race to see whether she rises or her cousin falls from a hangman's noose.

The story is captivating, Grace's perspective is insightful, the setting is wondrous even in its darkest places. A terrific read for historical fiction and mystery fans!

05/29/2026

A- : The Ivory City by Emily Bain Murphy

My Review: Grace Covington has grown up pinned to the fringes of the high society that should have been hers by birth - or would have been if her mother hadn’t chosen to marry for love instead of wealth and status. The only thing that has kept her on that fringe has been the love [...]

05/28/2026

Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne Palmer

This was WOW! From the opening page to the final turn, this blew me away completely. I've been all SQUEE for months about this one.

It's a road story. It's dystopian, postapocalyptic, and surprisingly hopeful. Like its somewhere on the way between our now and the distant post-postapocalyptic aftermath of . It's about what happens after the end of the world when someone wants to make sure that the ending was thorough enough, and someone comes out of their safe hiding place to make sure they fail, and all the people caught in the middle just trying to make it through another day.

And it's the story about a robot and his dog, who is a very good boi, determined to save the world so they all can live in it. In spite of having been programmed to do the exact opposite.

05/28/2026

A++ : Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne Palmer .bsky.social .bsky.social

My Review: This one just blew me away. To the point where I had to let it settle for a day before writing this review, so that I could be coherent enough to say something more than just SQUEE! (Fair warning, I’m still going to squee because this was so awesome. Initially, I picked this [...]