Playing for Keeps - Stacking the Shelves 6.13.2026

 

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! And audiobooks, because audiobooks count too! 

The Stacking the Shelves meme was originally hosted at Team Tynga’s Reviews but since 2021 has been hosted by Reading Reality.  

If you could see my TBR, you'd want to put me in the Penalty Box for even thinking about adding to my shelves, but when it comes to hockey romance, I'm Playing for Keeps! 

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First Line Friday - June 12, 2026

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line and then head over to her blog to include your link if you'd like. 

            "Good news - you're not having a heart attack."

One summer can change everything.

Brooklyn-based Hannah is a bestselling author struggling to write her second book after personal losses. Her older sister, Sara, still lives in Chatham, Cape Cod, where they grew up, and is married with four children. Once a dedicated librarian, Sara dreams of reviving her love affair with literature, but instead, she is stuck with too many family responsibilities and a fizzling marriage.

When Hannah gets the chance to retreat to her aunt’s oceanfront house in Chatham for the summer, it seems like just the thing to get her creative juices flowing. And she’ll be able to spend more time with Sara, who is eager to find her way back into the workforce, to do something rewarding and book-related. The pair will spend the summer making friends, rekindling romance— especially Spencer, an old acquaintance from high school-turned very hot grump— and opening themselves up to the magic of books and the beach.

Perfect for fans of Mary Kay Andrews, Susan Mallery and Brenda Novak, The Seaside Sisters will delight and charm you as easily as an ocean breeze.

(This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.)

The Books We Set Aside: Why I’m Finally Ready to Finish Flight & Glory

Every reader has that one series they hold onto, the one they know they'll love so much they don't want to finish it, the one that comes to mind when they see or hear an author's name. 

—or, in my case, the one that hit just a little too close to home to finish when it was first released.

I’m finally diving back into Rebecca Yarros’ Flight & Glory series. As you may know, I’ve read (and loved) books 1 through 4 (5 stars all around)  in this series.   When book 5 The Reality of Everything, was released, my son had already committed to the Marine Corps and we were waiting for his ship date, and I needed my reading time to be a total escape. Now that he’s finished his service, I’m finally ready to pick that last book up and have it downloaded on my Kindle, waiting for me..

Luckily, there were other books by Rebecca that I read during my hiatus from Flight & Glory so I didn't need to take a complete break from her writing. Her Renegades series, featuring Wilder, Nova and Rebel was the perfect series to enjoy, and as much as I loved Paxton Wilder, Landon (Nova) Rhodes' story was my favorite!  Earlier this month, I dove back into the Yarros stratosphere with In the Likely Event, which has proved to me again that her contemporary romances always earn 4 to 5 stars from me because of the way that she manages to balance high-stakes emotion with that perfect touch of romantic tension. She just knows how to pull you in and keep you there until the very last page. Of course, I can’t talk about her books without mentioning my absolute favorite, The Last Letter—that story absolutely gutted me. 

If you are into Fantasy, be sure to check out her Empyrean series, book 4 is expected to be out in September, so it's a great time to get started with Fourth Wing. Personally, I'll be sticking to the contemporary side of the Yarros universe for now, but I know many of you are already obsessed with that series!

Have you ever had to put a book aside because it was too close to your own life, only to pick it back up years later? Let me know in the comments—I’d love to hear your stories.

(This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.)

WOW: Coming Soon

Keep your eyes on the blog next Wednesday, June 17th! I’m launching a brand-new weekly book cover meme called WOW: What's on Wednesday? 

It’s going to be a quick, fun, and visual way to share our favorite covers. Mark your calendars—our very first weekly object drops next week!

#6Degrees of Separation for June 2026

The idea is simple - Each month Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best picks out a book for the starting point and then form a chain of 6 more books to see where you end up.  

The rules:  - you can choose to connect your books using any theme, genre, author, plot point, etc that speaks to you.    Than head on over to Books Are My Favourite and Best and drop your link in her comments.  Invite your own readers to join in on the fun and paste their links here and on Kate's post.  If you decide to share your post on Twitter, using the #6Degrees hash tag. 

For June 2026, Kate has chosen The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig as our first book. 

Starting Point: The Post-Office Girl by Stefan Zweig 

A dead-end job, an aunt's intervention, and European travels.

Book 1: 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson. 

A series of  envelopes from her late aunt sends a girl on a quest across Europe.

Book 2: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. 

Hadley is on her way to Europe when a missed plane puts her on a later flight where she meets and gets to know Oliver during their 7 hour flight.

Book 3: In the Likely Event by Rebecca Yarros.   Meeting as strangers on an airplane, Izzy and Nate forge an immediate bond just minutes before their flight descends and  crashes into a Missouri river (which they survive). 

Book 4:  Puck Me Secretly by Odette Stone.   Max and Rory are strangers on a harrowing flight to Vancouver that descends and results in an emergency landing. 

Book 5:  Offside by Juliana Stone. Billie-Jo returns to her small hometown, starts playing hockey in the men's pickup league, alongside the man who broke her heart years ago. 

Book 6: Exclusively Yours by Shannon Stacey.  Keri returns to her small hometown and meets up with the boy whose heart she broke years ago. 

That was a crazy ride to go through my list of books I've ever read to create this list.  With the exception of In the Likely Event, all of the books were ones I read five or more years ago and yet they have stayed with me.  

I challenge you to put together your own #6Degrees list and share it with me in the comments! 

(This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.)

Stress Relief for Book Lovers

 Are you feeling anxious about the week ahead?  Here's a fun, little, bookish tool that you can use as a soothing distraction.   When your mind is racing, give it a shake to knock all of the books around and then calmly organize the books one by one back on the shelf.   It's the perfect stress-relieving desk accessory for students, teachers or  anyone who just could use a quiet mental break.  

Mini Bookcase - anxiety relief

(This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.)

A Little Spark by Chris Parsons

We received an email earlier this week, asking if we'd be interested in receiving a shipment of books from a publisher to share with the children in the community!!  We're still working out the logistics including the arrival date, but I was so excited to be able to say yes to this opportunity.

The book?  A Little Spark by Chris Parsons  (Illustrated by Mike Motz)

When the survival of their hometown is threatened, two unlikely comrades join forces on a quest to defeat a dangerous enemy and bring back the only one who can save them all.

Beyond the frozen mountains there lies an oasis from the frigid cold and the howling winds. A place the animals call Lake Zuron. What a wonderful place, happy creatures of all kinds, living in harmony and warmth thanks to their very own fire-breathing dragon named Daniel.

But one day everything changed when the unthinkable happened. The Dragon fire goes out and immediately the air begins to chill. Things were not looking good but just when all hope was lost, an unlikely hero steps up. Join Spark the mouse on an adventure of a lifetime as he and his friends do their part to save their town from an icy demise.

With the magical power of Daniel, the Dragon there could be hope. But first they must face and defeat a dangerous enemy, the vile beasts who own these mountains where nobody passes through.

Along this journey maybe you will discover that it’s that little Spark in each of us that really matters, and that a little Spark could save them from the coming cold. The story reminds us that we all need something in life every day to ignite our passion and spirit – to help the world be a “warmer” place and to look for ways to “Be That Spark.”

The story itself is good on it's own, but throughout the pages, you'll find QR codes that you can scan and be taken to a Youtube channel to hear songs related to the characters of the story. How cute is that?

Want to check out the book, grab a digital Kindle copy, or gift one to a friend? Find it on Amazon here!

🎧 Prefer to listen to the fully produced musical audiobook? You can actually stream it for free right now by signing up for a Free Audible Trial: Listen Free on Audible here!

Be sure to check it out!!

(This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.)