Stacking the Shelves #218

Posted May 3, 2020 by Carole in Stacking the Shelves / 24 Comments

I am really excited to participate in Stacking the Shelves, a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality.

My Life
Another week is in the books.  They all look pretty similar these days, don’t they?  I  worked some, cooked a few meals, walked the dogs, and read a few books.  It is definitely starting to feel like May and we have already had a few days with temperatures in the 80s.  My daughter had her last week of regular classes this week and moves into finals next week.

I did spend some time blogging and decided to change the look of the blog.  I would love to have a more professional looking blog and a few graphics specific to my blog but I can’t justify spending the money on it when I have family responsibilities that money should go to.  It is kind of fun (and sometimes frustrating) to figure out what needs to be done to make certain changes.  Please be patient with me since I will probably be making more adjustments for the next little bit.

What I’m Reading
This week I finished my re-read of Scent of Darkness by Christina Dodd and then moved on to The Other People by C.J. Tudor.  For audiobooks, I finished Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey and Sisters in Love by Melissa Foster.

Right now, I’m reading House on Fire by Joseph Finder and listening to Cold Burn of Magic by Jennifer Estep.

Books Added 

A Blight of Blackwings by Kevin Hearne (Penguin Random House Reader Rewards)
The Summer Deal by Jill Shalvis (Goodreads Win)
April Owlcrate Box

It is so nice to have books and bookish goodies show up at the house these days.  I received A Blight of Blackwings from Penguin Random House Reader Rewards.  Have you joined Penguin Random House Reader Rewards yet?  It is a neat program that gives you points for every book, ebook, or audiobook published by Penguin Random House that you can trade-in for books their store.  I also received a copy of The Summer Deal which I won in a Goodreads giveaway.  It has been ages since I won anything on Goodreads and I am thrilled to get a book that I really want to read.  I am not going to give any spoilers about my Owlcrate box but I thought it was a great box.

What books do you add to your shelves this week? 
Let me know in the comments and be sure to leave a link to your own STS post!

24 responses to “Stacking the Shelves #218

  1. I think your blog looks great! It's also about the posts and what you put in them, right? 🙂

    I Love OWLCrates! Can't wait to order one, one day .. Maybe my next birthday I'll treat myself 🙂

  2. Good luck with the site update. Seems like a lot of people are doing that during quarantine. I like the way mine looks. I just want more headers for features. My daughter does a nice job, but it's hard to get her to just sit down and do it. Like with my pants. I used to nag her for a month+, and then when she finally hemmed them, she was done in like 10 mins. Anyhow, I am starting The Summer Deal today. Shalvis never disappoints. Here's hoping it's a hit for us both

  3. I was just noticing all the newness here! I've been debating about changing mine as well, but same as you, I can't justify the cost. Though I really haven't looked into it either because a part of me still enjoys my blog look!

    I'm 30 points away from getting a reward on Penguin Rewards myself. Though it seems I haven't bought any of their books in awhile! I'm always double checking the books I buy on their site to see it was a division of Random House. Sadly, I might be at 30 points for awhile. Lol.

    Hope you enjoy all the new reads and goodies!

    Here's my StS

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower 🙂

    • You can earn points on Penguin Random House Reader Rewards for purchases made anywhere, Jessica! I turn in receipts from local bookstores, Audible, Amazon, and even Book of the Month all the time. You can turn in any receipt and you even get credit for books that were on sale at the time of purchase.

  4. I like the light look of your blog. I am always changing up my looks, usually by messing with the colors, headers, and themes. I even lighten the backgrounds, too.

    Enjoy! You have some tempting books on your shelves.

  5. I've been enjoying the changes this week. I like how organized it looks and easy to read. Nice book haul. I hope to get the Shalvis one on audio. I tend not to get the crates or boxes because I'm not collecting physical books much at all. It's going to be near 90 today but then around 68 all week which is great. I should do some more yard work while it's cooler.

    Take care, be kind and sensible!

    Anne – Books of My Heart Here is my Sunday Post   

  6. I thought about changing my blog a while back but I don't want to mess it up and I don't know what I would do to it anyway. I haven't changed much about it since I made it 14 years ago.

  7. I like your new commenting space, it looks nice! It's tough trying to change things up with the blog, right? We tried moving from Blogger to WordPress a few years back and it was such a nightmare we gave up. I'd like to be able to have some way people can see my replies back to their comments and reduce the amount of spam I get with comments, but I'm not motivated enough right now to research it, lol! Scent of Darkness has me curious, especially if it was re-read for you.

  8. I think the blog looks great! Nice job. And it is starting to warm up here too- definitely starting to feel like May.

    The Other People is one I want to read.

    Have a great week Carole!

  9. The blog looks great! I want to add Booker's Picture to my header someday once I figure it out. Glad you are staying safe!

  10. I really love the look of the new site and take your time with the design, you will get there as things slowly get back to normal.

    I hope you enjoyed Scent of Darkness….such a good one.

  11. I hope your daughter's finals go well next week. I am counting down the days until the end of our school year. Haha. Probably just as much as my child. Your new books all sound good! I hope you enjoy them. Have a great week, Carole.

  12. We started having warmer weather here too, so I've already ordered an inflatable pool for the kids. That should kill some time during the day! My son's classes won't end until the middle of June, so we're still slogging through those online classes and Google Meets. It's so exhausting. Especially when we're also trying to keep the twins from running around naked in the background! I've heard great things about the new Jill Shalvis book, so I hope you like it!

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear?? ?

  13. Good luck with the blog changes; they can be hard to do on your own. At least they are for me. The days do all feel the same, it's challenging. You got some good looking books, enjoy!

  14. I like the look of the new blog! Some of the "professional" ones drive me crazy because they have ad bars at the bottom that get in the way or popups that are hard to make go away or an overuse of graphics. I like the clean look you have. The days are definitely starting to blend. I have to constantly check my phone to keep track of the date! Have a great week!

  15. I think your blog looks lovely and you don't need to spend a fortune you can't afford on graphics if you're not ready for it! I didn't spend a cent on my blog designs and I think I am fairly satisfied with it…

  16. The only thing that has changed recently is that I have less anxiety since I found out how low the virus cases are in my town. Only twenty deaths outside of care homes in a population of about 80000. I'm still taking precautions but the fear has went down a bit. Personally I prefer to spend on books, DVDs and fun stuff so I'll continue on with blogger!

  17. I like the new look of your blog, it's nice to see all your posts on the home page. It's always time consuming to change things and to work html… so far what you've done looks great.

    Enjoy all your new reads and stay healthy.