Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: New Books & What I’ve Read
Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every two weeks where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, what I plan to read soon, and what I’ve finished reading since the last update. Sometimes I throw in stuff like reading challenge updates, book lists, and other random bookish things.
Received for Review
Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski – Audiobook CDs, with thanks to Hachette Audio. I love “The Witcher” so I was thrilled to get this from the publisher. What made me gawk was that the box contained 9 discs! Yikes!
Long Black Curl by Alex Bledsoe – Hardcover, with thanks to Tor. The publicist who contacted me about this book had such awesome things to say about it, I just had to check it out. I’ve never read anything by Bledsoe either, so I’m looking forward to it.
Frozen in Amber by Phyllis Ames – Print ARC, with thanks to DAW. An unsolicited copy of this arrived a couple weeks ago, back when I still could not find a description for it anywhere online. But now there’s more information and I think it sounds fascinating. It had me at shapeshifting “WerCougars”.
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine – Hardcover, with thanks to NAL. I’d heard fantastic things about this book from two bloggers whose opinion I really respect; Lisa @ Tenacious Reader and Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy both gave it high marks, so I jumped on the opportunity when the publisher contacted me about it.
The Child Eater by Rachel Pollack – Paperback, with thanks to Jo Fletcher Books. A care package from the UK came last week containing this little gem. I think this is the upcoming paperback edition from JFB, and I’ve already heard some good things about the book from folks who read it when it was first published last year. Definitely looks interesting.
Half a War by Joe Abercrombie – eARC with thanks to Del Rey. The third book of the Shattered Sea trilogy! I can’t wait to get to this one!
The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard – eARC via NetGalley, with thanks to Roc. A very unique looking fantasy, this one sounded intriguing enough that I decided to give it a shot.
Nightlife: As The Worm Turns by Matthew Quinn Martin – eARC via NetGalley, with thanks to Pocket Star. This is the sequel to Night Life, though the edition I got is actually an omnibus containing both books plus a novella. Thanks to the wonderful interview Wendy did with Matthew earlier this week, I’m even more excited about this.
Press Start to Play edited by Daniel H. Wilson and John Joseph Adams – eARC via NetGalley, with thanks to Vintage. This book was featured for my Waiting on Wednesday this week so you already know why I want to read it. Very happy my request was approved!
The Red: First Light by Linda Nagata – Audiobook, with thanks to Audible Studios. Saga Press is re-issuing Nagata’s The Red books this year and looks like it’s getting the audio treatment at the same time! I requested the audiobook because the story seems like it would be great to experience in this format.
Purchased Audiobooks:
I’ve been pretty good with reining in my book buying habits so far in 2015, but I just can’t resist audiobooks. They are so easy to slip into my schedule when I’m otherwise unable to sit down to read print books, so I don’t mind splurging on them once in a while. Plus, WhisperSync deals make it so worth it.
Nova by Margaret Fortune – I regretfully had to pass this book up for review when I got an email about it, since my June was just too busy. But based on some of the good things I’ve heard about it, now I wish I’d made the time. Gonna have to listen to this one soon.
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi – Ever since I read The Water Knife, I’ve taken a new interest in everything Bacigalupi has written. I am especially curious about The Windup Girl.
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson – Neal Stephenson’s books can be a challenge, and indeed that has been my experience so I didn’t really have much interest in this one when it came out. However, a friend of mine loved it and insisted that I absolutely must pick it up. At 800+ pages, I figured the only way I could ever get to this one in good time is via audio – and even that one runs almost 32 hours.
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update
This past fortnight has been quite productive in terms of reading and reviews. Keep an eye out for my reviews of these books in the coming weeks, though a bunch are up already: Alive, The Galaxy Game, Blood of Elves and The Price of Valor.
Highlighted Reads:
Holy crap, you guys. Ink and Bone is AMAZING. That one’s definitely going to find a top place on my end-of-the-year list.
Time Salvager was a blast too, a great action-filled time travel book for the summer. Review coming in a few days.
Have you heard of or read any of the books featured in this week? What looks interesting to you?
The BiblioSanctum 
Half the World! Sure hope I am not too late with my request. Must read it now. Also a fan of Bodard, looking forward to that one too.
Read The Red:First Light last year. Good stuff, big fan of Nagata. And I am in the press sheet for the new Wexler…with a very awkward pull-quote. Yikes.
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I saw that in the press release! It wasn’t awkward, I thought it was a good quote. It gave both books one and two the praise they deserve.
And I’m listening to the Nagata book now – very good so far. About a quarter of the way through and I am very interested in where the story is going.
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Happy reading 😀
Awesome books
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Thanks, happy reading to you too!
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Nice haul! I’ve tried audiobooks on a number of different occasions, but have yet to find a style or narrator who works for me. It’s a shame, because they’d be wonderfully convenient, but I find I just lose patience with them.
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Definitely more convenient. It took me a while to get used to them too, but now that I am, I can’t imagine life without them.
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OOh very nice! Those are mostly new to me reads! I sadly couldn’t get into Rachel Caine’s Ink and Bone, but hope you enjoy it! Enjoy all your other new reads as well!
My STS will be up tomorrow, so be sure to stop by then!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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Yeah I remember seeing your thoughts on I&B, sorry to hear it didn’t work for you but it was a good review!
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So glad you loved Ink and Bone!! Most of your books are unfamiliar to me, which is odd, but I love finding new books to add to my list. I have a copy of The Unremembered that I’d like to read soon, so I’m curious to hear your thoughts. I just got a finished copy of Time Salvagers and I’m starting it soon. Happy 4th of July!
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Happy 4th of July! I wish I’d liked Unremembered a bit more but it had a very old-school fantasy type feel that was nice. I’m hoping to start on book two Trial of Intentions soon.
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I’m interested in The Long Black Curl by Alex Bledsoe. I haven’t read anything by him before either, but his Eddie LaCrosse series has been on my radar for a while.
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I was a little concerned that it was the third book in the Tufa series but the publicist assured me I could read it without reading the first two. She made it sound very good and I could hear her excitement come through, it was so infectious that I knew I had to give it a try!
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Ink and Bone is on my TBR, I hope I get to it soon, it sounds really good.
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It’s awesome. I hope you enjoy it 🙂
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I hope so too! I just bought it today actually!
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Ink and Bone is SOO good! Glad you got a copy of it!!
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I’m honestly at a loss as to how to review it. How to put all these emotions into words…
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I really fancy the Bodard book so will keep my eye out for that one. Also the Bledsoe – I’ve read the first in his Tufa series and have the second one waiting. I like his writing. It’s sort of very gently – almost like you could forget you’re reading fantasy (in a good way), like shadows and whispers.
And, I’m just going to have to read Ink and Bone – everyone seems to be loving it so why deny myself!!
Just started reading the Chu book – really been dying to pick it up!
Lynn 😀
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I have been hearing lots of great things about the Bodard book – sounds like a real page turner. Hope to get to that real soon!
And you make Bledsoe sound awesome!
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I’m gonna have to get myself a copy of Ink and Bone aren’t I..
And maybe Time Salvager..
And don’t long audiobook CDs make you thankful for MP3s? xD
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Absolutely! I think Ink and Bone will be right up your alley 🙂
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Aaaand it’s sat in the basket. 😉
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Oooooh, looking forward to your reviews on Ink and Bone and House of Shattered Wings! 🙂
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My review of Ink and Bone will be up this Friday! And House of Shattered Wings has yet to be read, but I’ve been hearing a lot of good stuff already from people who have started it. That’s on the list this month 🙂
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Holy crap, a 32 hour audiobook…that’s crazy! I don’t think I’ve ever listened to one that was longer than 20 hours. I’ve heard that Seveneves is really great with very well realized and diverse female characters (yay!), but apparently it gets kinda bogged down in the minutiae of all the science. Hopefully you end up really liking it! 🙂
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Oh no, I have problems with books that get bogged down by the minutiae of tech and science. Maybe getting the audio of this is a good thing then. I can usually tolerate techy and hard sci fi jargon better in this format 🙂
And haha, 32 hours isn’t actually even close to the longest audiobook I own. Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance is a whopping 48 hours!
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