Stacking the Shelves
I’m sneaking in an impromptu Stacking the Shelves this week because there some very cool new arrivals to talk about. Actually, I’ve not been requesting books that much for the past few weeks in order to catch up a bit with my TBR, but there are always plenty of surprises in the mailbox. Plus there were also a few books that slipped through the cracks and got left off my last book haul post, so we have to remedy that! My deepest gratitude to the publishers and authors who send their books my way, and I’d like to feature them here today:
RECEIVED FOR REVIEW
Doctor Who: Royal Blood by Una McCormack, Big Bang Generation by Gary Russell, Deep Time by Trevor Baxendale – Paperbacks, with thanks to Broadway Books. Confession: I don’t watch the show, and I realize I may be the only one left on the planet who doesn’t. When this set of three books showed up in the mail one day, I even needed my friend’s son to tell me which Doctor this was (Answer: it’s the current one). Still, I’m very interested in checking these out. They look like they’re intended for a Young Adult audience plus they’re relatively short, which means they should be pretty quick reads. I’ve always wondered what the fuss was all about, and I find books are perfect for dipping your toes in (never underestimate the power of a media tie-in novel!) The release of these books will coincide with the premiere of the new season this September, so whether you’re a die-hard Whovian or a total newcomer like myself, be sure to keep an eye out for them on shelves this fall.
The Secrets of Blood and Bone by Rebecca Alexander – Paperback, with thanks to Broadway Books. Another unsolicited title sent by Broadway this week, but it must be serendipity because this one is actually a sequel to a book I read last year! It gets an automatic bump up my TBR.
Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho – Hardcover, with thanks to Ace Books for sending a finished copy. It’s gorgeous! Looking forward to starting this one soon.
Supersymmetry by David Walton – Paperback, with thanks to Pyr. The arrival of this finished copy reminds me how badly I want to read the first book. Now I can it and the sequel back to back!
I also want to give a shout out to Tor.com and their incredible publicity team for sending along e-galleys of their fall line-up. Last week I only featured The Builders by Daniel Polansky, but there are plenty more titles that look interesting to me including The Last Witness by K. J. Parker, Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, Envy of Angels by Matt Wallace (this one especially sounds like so much fun — it was described to me as “Christopher Moore meets Gordon Ramsey!”), Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson, Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell, and earlier this week I was also sent an e-galley Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire which will come out later than the others, in April 2016. These novellas will be perfect for checking out authors I’ve never read before (but have always been curious about!) Huge thanks to the awesome folks at Tor.com!
GIFTED
Last fall I was offered the wonderful opportunity to be a beta reader for Daughter of Dusk by Livia Blackburne. As thanks, the author gifted all of us our very own hardcover copy of the finished book, signed and even annotated with notes in the page margins in the book where our suggestions/feedback helped shaped the final version. I was floored by the time and care Livia put in to give us a special keepsake to remember the experience by, and it’s seriously the best bookish gift I have ever received. Thank you so much, Livia.
PURCHASED
There were also some book purchases I made earlier in the summer that I forgot to mention. I really shouldn’t be buying more books but Bookoutlet is evil and they keep enticing me with their emails offering me coupons as well as news about their steep discounts. I ended up mostly grabbing backlist titles I’m very interested in, like Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine which I’m curious about now because I ADORED her new book Ink and Bone (it became one of those must-check-out-everything-else-this-author-has-written situations, you understand). I also got Of Bone and Thunder by Chris Evans, The Time Roads by Beth Bernobich, Hild by Nicola Griffith (some Historical Fiction love) and Dragon Age: Last Flight by Liane Merciel. I think I got all five books for just a little more than $15.
My co-blogger Tiara is also the most horrible enabler, I swear! After her post last month about books available through Kindle Unlimited, I went looking to put together my own list. I’m subscribed to the service too, after all, and I realized there are a lot of free books and audiobook deals I could be getting in on. That was how Darkness Brutal by Rachel A. Marks and The Harvest by Chuck Wendig ended up in my Audible shopping cart. And while I was at it, there was a sweet Whispersync deal on The Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, so oops, it went into the cart as well.
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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. We’ll be resuming our regular Bookshelf Roundup schedule next week. Until next time! 🙂
~Mogsy/Steff~
The BiblioSanctum 
Must have a look at the MacgUire book 🙂
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Seems like that one is getting lots of attention!
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So many wonderful things! I want the Mcguire one now!!!!
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I hope a copy comes your way soon!
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Oooh very nice! Lots of new to me ones! But yay for Signed copies!! Those are the best! I just love staring at the signatures and re-reading the notes/messages authors write! Never gets old!
Happy Reading!
My STS will be up tomorrow, so be sure to stop by then!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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Definitely, I totally understand your love for signed copies now 🙂 And it’s even more amazing when they are so thoughtfully personalized.
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Hey, Tiara isn’t the only bad influence when it comes to books-I-must-have-now. You are, too. 😉 *lol*
I don’t have any of those books, but a number of them caught my eye. Prince of Shadows was already on my wishlist, too (before I’d even heard of Ink and Bone, interestingly enough).
And that’s so awesome about Lidia’s personalized annotated copy for you! What a wonderful gesture to her beta-readers. It really shows how much she appreciates the feedback from you and the others.
I’ve got a STS post this week, too, but am delaying it until tomorrow. (I didn’t realize that Part 2 of my Writer’s Digest coverage would post at DIY MFA yesterday, so that’s my priority today instead.)
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Yeah, I had heard of Prince of Shadows, but at the time I didn’t think it would be my kind of book so I never really paid it much attention. Now that Ink and Bone has blown me away, I’ve done a complete 180! I am so curious about the rest of Caine’s books now 🙂
And yeah I couldn’t believe it when the copy of Daughter of Dusk came. I knew it was going to be signed because Livia had emailed all of us to tell us that, but wow, the annotations and notes in the margins were so thoughtful.
I’ll be keeping an eye out for your StS post! 🙂
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Wow, so many cool books:-) I need to contact someone at Tor.com and get some of the novellas! They look amazing. So cool about the annotated Daughter of Dusk. That is pretty special. And I’m not a big Dr. Who fan either but I can see how it might be easier to jump in with a novelization.
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Yes, give them a holler! The publicist for Tor.com is awesome and the nicest guy ever! 🙂
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So many books! I finished Supersymmetry yesterday; just as good as Superposition. Hope you like both of them too!
Great deal on the book you purchased! I wanted to check out Of Bone and Thunder when it came out last year (loved its cover!), and I had actually never of Nicola Griffith until I went to Readercon – she was the guest of honor – but I listened to her interview and got that feeling she writes a good story.
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Oh I’m glad to hear that about the Superposition duology. Looking forward to it!
And I had Nicola Griffith’s book on my list for a while so when I saw the historical fiction 50/50 deal at Book Outlet I had to jump on it. She shares an agent with a couple of my favorite authors, so chances are good her stories will be kind I like 🙂
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Reading Sorcerer To The Crown now, and It’s interesting. It’s full of political intrigue about magic and the characters, so far, are pretty likable. I hope to really get into it from here on out, as I’m only at 16%. So many great books! Happy reading!
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Sorcerer to the Crown will be my next read, I think. Glad to hear you’re enjoying it!
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Ooo~ That Daughter of Dusk really caught my eye. I think I might have to go see if I can find it somewhere around here.
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I hope you do! it’s actually a sequel, book two of Midnight Thief. If you enjoy YA, the books are good and I liked Daughter of Dusk even more than the first one 🙂
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That is a serious haul! Especially for just one week! Love the personalized copy of the book you beta read, that is so cool she took the time to do that. And, I’m about 2/3 through Sorcerer to the Crown, look forward to hearing what you think of it (I think you’ll really like it) 🙂
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Ooh, when you say I’ll something, I pay attention because our tastes are generally similar. I think SotC will be my next read 🙂
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Nice loot!
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Yeah, t’was a busy week 🙂
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Oohh, so jealous of the Tor.com galleys! I really want to read Seanan Mcguire’s, it sounds right up my street. Enjoy!
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Every Heart a Doorway seems to be getting a lot of love, I’ll definitely have to check it out now 🙂
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Great haul. I really like the look of the witches book – I don’t know why in particular other than I have a strange desire to read a story of that nature about now! Odd – and there it was on your list. Interest piqued!
Lynn 😀
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Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell? Yeah, I read his London Falling a while back, also featured a witch in it. He’s got some interesting ideas! Makes me curious to check out his novella too.
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Sorcerer to the Crown and Sorcerer of the Wildeeps both look great – hoping they find their way to me soon as well. I’ve never had much luck with the Doctor Who novels . . . they just don’t have the same charm.
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I will have the benefit of going into the Doctor Who novels blind then, since I would have nothing to compare to, haha! 😀
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That’s awesome you got a signed and personalized book! I can’t even imagine all the time and work that went into doing that.
I’ve been waiting on A Court Of Thorns And Roses from my library for 2 months now. (I’ve told myself I can’t BUY more books until I get some of the ones on my TBR shelf read.) Only 17 more people ahead of me! *is unlikely to wait to buy it much longer…* *laughs*
Prince of Shadows sounds really good. Can’t wait to see your review of it, when you get to it!
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I’ve been hearing great things about Sorcerer to the Crown – Jan at Notes From a Readerholic loved it. YES, Bookoutlet must be stopped! I’ve had too many late-night online book buying binges thanks to them. 😉
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