Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: Stacking the Shelves and Recent Reads
Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every other weekend similar to Stacking the Shelves where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, as well as what I plan to read soon. I also summarize what I’ve finished reading and/or reviewed since the last update, and sometimes I even throw in fun stuff like reading challenge updates, book lists, and other random bookish thoughts.
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RECEIVED FOR REVIEW
Inbox activity remains high as we move into late summer. I’ve started to see a lot of fall releases show up — including many highly anticipated titles — and more and more I’ve found myself relying on Bookshelf Roundup to track whether or not “outgoing” is keeping up with “incoming”, as well as help catalog the books that have been added to my shelf (requested, unsolicited, gifted, purchased, borrowed, etc.) in the last two weeks. Much love and gratitude to these publishers and authors for filling my days with such great reads:
Digital and Audio:
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson – e-galley with thanks to Tor. I can never resist a good epic fantasy. After seeing an excerpt of this I was so amazed that I wrote to request the full eARC.
The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher – digital ARC with thanks to Roc Books via NetGalley. On the one hand, I love Jim Butcher’s UF Dresden Files. On the other, I threw in the towel after just two books of his epic fantasy series Codex Alera. When I saw this up on NG though, I made the decision to give it a shot. I don’t know what I’ll make of it yet, but I look forward to finding out.
An Apprentice to Elves by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear – digital ARC with thanks to Tor via NetGalley. Monette and Bear together? How could I say no? Only after I requested did I realize this is the third book of a series, but I’ve also heard this works perfectly fine as a stand alone. Let’s hope so!
The Builders by Daniel Polansky – e-galley with thanks to Tor.com, a new imprint specializing in publishing great SFF novellas and novelettes. They actually sent me e-galleys of their entire lineup of upcoming titles for this fall (all ten of them!) but for simplicity’s sake I’ll list only The Builders for now because it’s the one I’m most interested in (though I’ll likely end up reading a bunch more others — for the full list of titles received as well as their covers and descriptions, go here). I can’t help it, I just love stories about animals.
Flex by Ferrett Steinmetz – Audiobook with thanks to Audible Studios. Just in time for the sequel! I’ve been meaning to get to this for a while, and I’ve heard great things about it from other bloggers.
Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski – Audio CDs with thanks to Hachette Audio, who are awesome for continuing to feed my insatiable Witcher addiction with these audiobooks!
Bound ARCs & Finished Copies:
Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson – Print ARC with thanks to Tor. The day this arrived, I was actually expecting another book from Tor, so when this ARC fell out of the package instead my jaw just hit the ground. This is one of my most anticipated reads this year, but I didn’t put in a request figuring there’d be about a snowball’s chance in hell that it would get approved. For it to show up unsolicited was a surprise indeed – but a very happy one! I will be reading it for sure, so look for the review at the end of September.
Tower of Thorns by Juliet Marillier – Print ARC with thanks to Roc Books. When this book came, my husband was like, “Why are you acting so weird?” and I was like, “Because I just opened this package and this book called Tower of Thorns was in it and it’s only like THE most anticipated release of 2015 for me and now I can’t breathe I’m hyperventilating and why can’t I stop flailing and DON’T YOU JUST @#$%#^& UNDERSTAND?!?!??!?!!?“
Battlemage by Stephen Aryan – Print ARC with thanks to Orbit, whose publicist very kindly procured a copy for me. I am frankly amazed that this book isn’t getting more attention. Um, hello, battlemages? BATTLE. MAGES. As soon as I saw the title and the description, I knew I had to read it. Because battlemages. I’m very excited about it, so watch for the review to be posted in September.
The Uninvited by Cat Winters – Print ARC with thanks to William Morrow via LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers Program. I almost forgot I won this book back from the June batch! By the time it finally arrived I’d already planned my reading list, but I’d still really like to fit this in.
The Bloodforged by Erin Lindsey – Print ARC with thanks to Ace Books. E. L. Tettensor/Erin Lindsey is a fabulous storyteller, whether she’s writing mysteries or romances. So of course I jumped at the chance to be a part of her tour for the new book The Bloodforged. Be sure to stop by The BiblioSanctum next month for the review.
Abomination by Gary Whitta – Hardcover with thanks to Inkshares and Wunderkind PR. This book came highly HIGHLY recommended to me and the enthusiasm with which it was pitched was immensely infectious. It didn’t take much to convince me. Fantasy? Historical Fiction? Horror? YES PLEASE.
Updraft by Fran Wilde – Hardcover with thanks to Tor. It looks like I’d been put on the list for a finished copy of this book, and I’m very grateful; there’s nothing like the feel of a bound book in your hands!
Nightwise by R.S. Belcher – Hardcover with thanks to Tor. Another finished copy from the awesome folks at Tor who seem to know exactly the kind of books I’m interested in!
The Best Horror of the Year Vol. Seven edited by Ellen Datlow – Paperback with thanks to Night Shade Books. These anthologies have been on my radar for a while, and Volume Seven just might be the one where I’ll finally take the plunge.
The Song of Synth by Seb Doubinsky – Paperback with thanks to Talos. The ever generous folks at Skyhorse Publishing continue to surprise me with great looking books. The cover of this one caught my attention right away, as you can imagine!
The Paradox by Charlie Fletcher – Paperback with thanks to Orbit. Last year I was blown away by the first book of this series The Oversight. Really looking forward to reading The Paradox, its sequel.
Forbidden by Cathy Clamp – Paperback with thanks to Tor. I’ve never read Cathy Clamp before, so I’m really excited about this. Forbidden is the first book of the reboot of her Sazi Universe, making this a great jumping on point for new readers. I’ll have a review and a giveaway for this book later in the week as part of the tour, so be sure to check back for that!
OTHER ARCS…
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff – Thank you so much to Tammy at Books, Bones & Buffy for sending me her extra copy! I had an eARC of this book, but was forewarned that it might be difficult to read because of the heavy visual component. After this physical ARC arrived, the full meaning behind that statement finally hit home. You guys, the amount of graphics in this book is STAGGERING. It’s also very gorgeously and creatively put together. Check out the photos, though seriously, they don’t do the book justice at all. It’s like a work of art.
The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich – This was an ARC I won from great folks at NOVL. I knew very little beyond the fact that it is a horror YA novel, so I was very surprised when I took a look through it to see the format. Like Illuminae, there is a huge visual component, and the story is told through a similar epistolary fashion via articles, interviews, notes, etc. with lots of little illustrations on the side. What do you think, is this maybe a burgeoning trend in YA?
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WHAT I’VE READ SINCE THE LAST UPDATE
I’ve always been what you’d call a “fast reader”. But lately I feel like I’ve been reading even more than usual, and I attribute that to a recent change in my daily schedule. Daughter #2 is now six months old and is probably hitting a growth spurt, because she’s no longer sleeping through the night (not that she ever did, really) and the quiet hours during late night feedings/cradling and rocking/sitting next to her crib waiting until she calms down enough to fall back asleep have been prime reading/audiobook listening time for me. If there’s anything to be gained from this, I guess it’s that the more books you see me read, it means the less sleep I’ve been getting! 😉
Reviews:
Here are the reviews I’ve written and posted since the last update, gathered together and listed here for your convenience and viewing pleasure.
One Good Dragon Deserves Another by Rachel Aaron (5 of 5 stars)
Zero World by Jason M. Hough (4.5 of 5 stars)
The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski (4 of 5 stars)
Cash Crash Jubilee by Eli K.P. William (4 of 5 stars)
The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard (3.5 of 5 stars)
Departure by A.G. Riddle (3.5 of 5 stars)
Court of Fives by Kate Elliott (2 of 5 stars)
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Have you heard of or read any of the books featured in this week? What looked good or caught your eye? Any new discoveries? Let me know! Nothing makes me happier than sharing my love for books and I hope you found something interesting for a future read. Until next time; see you next Roundup! 🙂
~Mogsy/Steff~
The BiblioSanctum 
So jelous of the Shadows of Self! So much good stuff!
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Shadows of Self! Tower of Thorns!
Yeah, I would be hyperventilating as well. 🙂
Let’s see what I’ve read of these…I read One Good Dragon Deserves Another and it was also 5* read for me. I had so much fun reading it. 🙂 I also read new Scalzi and FFF(I love this series).
Other than that: I got caught up with webserial called Worm. I am not even quarter-way through since it’s a really long story about introverted geeky girl who has minor superpower.
I also read Alice by Christina Henry, dark, creepy take of Alice in Wonderland and new Bujold short story.
Looking forward to your reviews!
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Alice is on my to-read list and will probably be my next (or second next?) read. Glad to hear you enjoyed it, I like the sound of dark and creepy 🙂
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I never read something by Marillier before, but you just made me invest my next audible credit into Dreamer’s Pool. Started listening a few hours ago and I like it very much. 🙂 Thanks! Now I have to put the Sevenwaters series on my to read list for my vacation next month.
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Glad to hear you are enjoying Dreamer’s Pool. I LOVED that book. Made me a fan of Marillier on the spot, leading me to also pick up her book Daughter of the Forest (which I also adored). I don’t know why it took me so long to read her work, but I’m glad I finally did because she’s amazing.
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wow that’s great, so many good books there! I’m jealous!!! happy reading!
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OOoh very nice! I’m curious about The Dead House! And ooh Illuminae! Been seeing that a LOT!!
That’s a lot of new reads!! Hope you enjoy each and every one of them!
My STS will be up tomorrow, so be sure to stop by then!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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I’m actually a lot more interested in The Dead House after finding out the format of it. I’m definitely intrigued!
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Wow where do I start? LOL. I definitely see some familiar books that I have as well. I saw Abomination on Edelweiss and almost requested it, but now that I see how excited you are about it I may request a copy. I’m also curious about Dead House. I didn’t realize there was such a graphic element to it. And tell your daughter that growth spurts are supposed to mean they sleep BETTER. You know, they grow while they’re sleeping! In any case, lovely books, enjoy!
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Abomination will be on my list for this month – I hope it’ll be good, because I admit my expectations are pretty built up now after all the good things I’ve heard 😛
And LOL you know the funny thing about babies and growth spurts is that it can go either way, and I think it’s just my luck that neither of my daughters have slept much during growth spurts. They must have high metabolism, always waking up demanding more feedings!
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I can’t believe I haven’t even read Dreamer’s Pool and an ARC of Tower of Thorns is out there in the world — IN YOUR HANDS! Haha, I can picture that exact same scenario happening with my husband. And wasn’t Illuminae great? I was blown away by the creativity with the layout.
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Yes, the arc of Illuminae BLEW MY MIND. I’ve never even seen a hardcover ARC before, they went all out with this one!
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Omg Sanderson!!!!
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I REALLY want to know what the deal with Illuminae is.
I have to read the Mistborn trilogy next month! Sanderson is doing a tour for Shadow of Self and is coming near me in October.
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Illuminae seems to be about a conspiracy, top secret government stuff…it looks really intriguing, or at least the presentation does anyway! I’m hoping it won’t be just an empty gimmick 🙂
And lucky! Sanderson doesn’t come to the east coast often, I find. He was at Balticon last year right in my backyard and you can bet I did everything I could to clear my schedule so I could go see him speak and get my books signed 🙂
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I’ve zeroed in on “The Bloodforged” since I remembered your mention about EL Tettensor’s other series and I’m curious to try something else by this author: I will of course need to read the first volume, but the series looks interesting and it sports many of the elements I like in a book. 🙂
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Yep! The Bloodbound is actually the first book before The Bloodforged, and they’re quite different from her Nicolas Lenoir. If you like fantasy-romance, it could be a good series for you 🙂
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So. Many. Books!! It’s quite a wonderful dose of book porn 🙂 And: Battle! Mage! That is the definitive reason to want that book, completely agree! Look forward to hearing how it works. And serious envy over Tower of Thorns, I’m really looking forward to that one!
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I just want to shout BATTLEMAAAAAAAGE! Really, why aren’t more people talking about the book? I’m very curious about it.
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You have NO IDEA how much I laughed out loud about your Tower of Thorns reaction! XD Because I remember your enthusiasm for Dreamer’s Pool, and how your review of Daughter of the Forest prompted me to jump on the Juliet Marillier bandwagon. (Thank you again for doing that, btw. 😀 ) So I read your reaction here, and I thought, “That would TOTALLY be me if I were in her shoes!”
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Haha, I’m glad someone understands me because my husband sure didn’t. Seriously, not even after my perfectly rational and carefully laid out explanation to him! 😉
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*steals all of these*
*sneaks off*
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I am all the colours of green over your Tower of Thorns book – I can’t wait for this one to hit the shelves!
Loads of goodies on here but frankly I’ve been dazzled by the Marillier – goes away…..
Lynn 😀
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Yes, I’m so looking forward to that one!
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TOWER OF THORNS!!!! Flail away, we totally understand. 😀 Illuminae intrigues me so much but I am also skeptical for some reason. Maybe I’m just being contrary because of all the hype? Hopefully it ends up being fantastic!
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I know what you mean with Illuminae. The cynical side of me screams GIMMICK!!! but let’s hope there’s substance 🙂
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So many awesome books! 😮 I might be a bit jealous 😉 Enjoy them! I’ll sure be back to read your reviews!
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