I hate chronic pain.  It is unrelenting.  Unimaginable unless you’ve experienced it.  It steals time, memories and moments that will never be around again.  It steals life in an increasingly rise in pain levels that simply never stops.

I’d lived with chronic pain for 25 years until I had a full knee replacement.  Then a blissful two years of being normal again.  Now due to a back injury and the need for a second knee replacement I’m revisiting that state once again.

The past three weeks have been hell on earth.  Unfocused.  Unproductive.  Cocooned in sleep and pain meds, existence only.  Once I could escape through a good book, distract myself for a while.  Not so this time around.  And that, perhaps most of all these things, makes me so angry.  To be denied my one guaranteed escape is heartbreaking.

You’d think that all those old coping methods would return quickly to my defense.  Bu no, they’re in hiding somewhere in my memories that want to be forgotten.  So I’m re-learning new coping exercises.  Today is the first day that I fell somewhat human.  Somewhat.

I’ve a lot of work to catch up on.  I’m not going to beat myself up about that.  It happened, I didn’t plan it but it did.  Now all I can do is get to work and back on track.

Scheduled posts only help until they run out.  And unfortunately I’ve reached that point of “do ahead” reviews.  Fortunately for me, I’m a note taker so I’ll be fine to get caught up fast between the notes on books read but no review written up yet, and a marathon of reading ahead of me.

So with apologies to authors and publishing houses for delays – I’m off to get back to doing what I love, read and talk about books.  And learn the lesson on getting some scheduled posts ready again for the next crisis… which I’m sure is just around the corner, unfortunately.

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality.  If you’d like to take part simply click on those links above or the graphic to discover what this fun meme is all about.

Books Added to My Shelves This Week

August 12th through 18th

I decided to splurge a bit this past week and treat myself to some titles I’ve been wanting.  And there were several titles offered by various authors at a dollar or no cost on Amazon as well so… my TBR just got a huge influx of material.  Not complaining, just have to find the time to get started on my newest additions – and maybe catch up on some that have been in my ever growing tower of TBR books.

So, here we go:

The Last Gamble by Anabelle Bryant  (I love her Regency Romances)

Pride Mates by Jennifer Ashley  (I’m addicted to Shifters and decided to go back to the beginning of her Unbound series)

Dark Carousel by Christine Feehan  (Really need to get caught up on the Dark (Carpathians) series)

Shadow Reaper by Christine Feehan – (Loved the first book in this new series)

The Awakening by Christine Feehan (Again, went back to the very beginning of the Leopard People series)

Dying Breath by Heather Graham  (Got to get caught up on Krewe of Hunters series)

The Private Eye by Jayne Ann Krentz  (because… Jayne Ann Krentz, needs no further explanation)

The Obsession by Nora Roberts  (again, because Nora Roberts, enough said)

ALSO

No One But You by Brenda Novak  (newest addition to Silver Springs series at a great price)

The Wedding Season by Samantha Chase  (another great deal)

The Teacher’s Billionaire & The Playboy Billionaire by Christina Tetreault  (again, great deals)

And that wrapped up my spending spree for this week.  I got some books that I’ve been wanting but kept putting off until “later” but we all know that later never comes unless it’s right in front of us.   It’s also rather daunting to be beginning some series that are very long, but I tend to need to go back to the beginning so it might take me a while to get caught up, but the journey will be worth it in the end.

So it was an expensive spending week, but I don’t regret any of my purchases.  Not even going to mention NetGalley this week.    Bottom line is I had fun and will have a blast on my reading binge… one happy reader right now.  🙂

I don’t know how it’s been for you — but I am mighty glad to be turning the page on July 2017.

This has been a month full of chaos, and very little getting done when it’s supposed to be done.  Ever have one of those months?

Between people (including me) getting sick, power outages from storms, my computer finally giving up the ghost on the motherboard… and just dying on the spot – well, let’s simply say I’m glad to move on into August.  I’m not going to be foolish enough to say it couldn’t be worse than last month… but I certainly hope it’s better.

At least I did finally get my reviews written up.  Without the computer so often this month I had to do some marathon review writings from notes… not my preferred way to do things.  It’s been, well, crazy.  And I sincerely hope it’s gonna be smooth sailing for awhile, I could ruse the break.

Hope last month was good for you – and that August 2017 is going to be even better.  Now, to get to work.  🙂

I just got a very pleasant surprise, in the absolute last place I would have looked for it.

I was flipping through the final Kindle pages of the story I just finished and something caught my eye.

-KEEPER BOOKSHELF … right after a few lines from a review I’d done for a story by this particular author.  That’s me!  Stunned, is probably what I felt at that moment.

Oh, sure, it’s not that big of a deal  (yeah, right)  to see your comments were picked out by the author as worth while to put among the blurbs about their books.  Oh, who am I kidding – it’s a huge deal to me.

And there are probably more out there that I”m not aware of – since I don’t go back and scout out the books I’ve read and reviewed.  That would be… silly.  *grin*

So right here and now, I’d like to say publicly to any and all authors that have put a line or two of my reviews next to their books:

Thank you!  It matters more than you know to my own heart.

Can’t help myself – she’s just so cute.  🙂

Couldn’t help myself… she’s so cute!  Harley Quinn and her special bunny friend.  Harley is now about 8 months old and is a Sheltie.  Awww… my Harley girl.  🙂

I do not normally put a lot of my personal life on this blog – it’s all about the books.  But right now I need to make an exception to that rule.

You see my son, who is 36, has Spinal Muscular Atrophy – if you’ve ever watched the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon in the past, SMA is one of those diseases..

On December 23, 2016 (hours ago) the FDA approved Spinraza as a treatment drug for patients of all ages who suffer with Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  What that means to us out here in the world is a drug that will be taken every day for the rest of the patient’s life… that has the ability to reverse the affects of Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  It’s a treatment.  Is it a cure?  Depends on your interpretation of that word… to me the answer is YES.

For millions of people around the world – today is a very, very good day.

I’ve never sobbed such happy tears in my life as I am right now, even as I’m writing this.

Here is a link to the breaking news announcement that explains just why we’re so excited about this… FDA Approves Spinraza for SMA

I do not have adequate words to express my emotions right now.  Unbelievable joy and thankfulness is as close as I can get.

…and… that’s a wrap.

The last of the reviews I’d committed to for 2016 from NetGalley has been published, and now I can sit back for the first time in months knowing that I’m done and on time.  I still have a few review requests to put the finishing touches on but I think I can safely say that I accomplished what I intended to.

I love NetGalley.  I enjoy having the chance to read authors that I don’t know yet.  But I’ve also learned that it’s so very easy to bite off more than I should.  I’m going to be rethinking how I utilize NetGalley in 2017.  I know I do not want the forced massive readings I felt I had to do in order to accomplish this wrap up of commitments ever again.  I run Keeper Bookshelf – and my other genre specific book review blogs – because I love to read, to discover new authors and make some new friends along the way.  I don’t want to lose that, and I was in serious danger of closing down the blogs.  This is a hobby, an enjoyment and when that changes I need to rethink what I’m doing.

I’m going to take some time to enjoy “this most wonderful time of year”, do some reading (for pure enjoyment), post a few reviews, work on my holiday blog and wrap up on the other bogs for 2016.  Keeper Bookshelf and Shifter Haven will always be my babies, my review blog babies, but I may do some streamlining and revising on the others.  And to be honest, not feeling that I simply have to get reviews up because I made a commitment will give me the breathing room I need to make those other decisions.  In any event I’m going to keep a much tighter rein on my NetGalley requests in 2017 – I can always add more if time permits, it’s not possible to give them back when I’ve got too much on the plate.  And this year has proven to me that indeed “Life Happens” and it doesn’t care one little bit about what other plans you’ve made, ya know?

So – I’m proud of getting the NetGalley books read and reviewed.  It was an adventure, that’s for sure.  I’ll be around, maybe just a little less in these last days of 2016.  It’s been one helluva year.  *smile*

I should apologize.  But I’m not sure that I honestly need to – more like, I hope you won’t leave my feed when you see too many notices coming in from @keeperbookshelf over the next few days.

As the end of the year approaches I, like many people, am trying to get caught up on 2016.

There have been times this year when I’ve been away from the computer when I finished a book.  Usually I head straight to write up the review and either post or schedule it for later.  But there are times when I cannot do that, it’s then that I’ll take notes or write up a review on paper to post when I can get to the computer again.

It’s those reviews that I need to get published, so you’ll see an increase of postings across my blogs for the next few days.  It won’t last long, but it does need to get done.

So (sad puppy eyes)… please don’t leave.  But I do need to keep to my commitments.

Thanks… ((HUGS))

There are moments that stay in one’s memories.  A kitten fetching a pom-pom tiny “ball” and bringing it back to me over and over again for me to toss one more time.  The indignant glare when a water dish was dry.  The contented purr when I found just the right spot under his chin.  The constant head butting to insure that I was paying attention.  The heavy weight of a sleeping cat on my lap.

Sunday, my sweet boy left this earth for, hopefully, fields of catnip and constant sunshine.  He was over two decades old, he had lost the spring in his pounce, he was deaf, it obviously hurt to walk around and he couldn’t see us very well anymore.  But he was still our Charlie.  Defender of a young boy, comforter to that boy’s mom.

It’s too quiet here now.  We’re missing a heartbeat.  I don’t think I’m going to get much done today.  I keep staring off into space, and wiping away tears.

If you’ve ever loved a pet then you know how I’m feeling today.  My heart is broken.

Vacations are a wonderful invention, but like all good things they eventually come to a close.

Now it’s back to the books – the reviewing of novels – for me.

I had my fun, an amazing trip, a visit to the Las Vegas edition of the Titanic Exhibit – which was simply stunning and moving beyond words… but I did spend some time on the Kindle, so it’s back to the non-vacation fun stuff for me.

…and I have to admit, it’s going to be a really good feeling to sleep in my own bed tonight *grin*