Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads
Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every other weekend which fills the role of several blog memes, like Stacking the Shelves where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, as well as It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? where I round up what I’ve read since the last update and what I’m planning to read soon. Mostly it also serves as a recap post, so sometimes I’ll throw in stuff like reading challenge progress reports, book lists, and other random bookish thoughts or announcements.
So, as you might have heard, our area got a bit of snow last week…
We’re in northeastern Maryland, and winter storm Jonas kicked us hard in the ass. Official numbers put snow accumulation in our town at around 28-29 inches, which sounds about right. When I opened the door to our yard on Sunday morning, some of the drifts were more than three feet high (my daughter, in the above photo, is about 41 inches tall) and we were pretty much snowed in the whole weekend, despite all our efforts shoveling and snow blowing. The plows were still working overtime trying to get the roads clear and most businesses were closed, which meant nowhere to go and nothing to do but stay at home for days. Yes, you can bet I spent a lot of that downtime reading.
RECEIVED FOR REVIEW
Before the blizzard hit though, some great books showed up in the mail. Some were titles I requested, but as usual there were more than a few happy surprises. I would like to thank the publishers and authors for sending me these wonderful review copies:
Snakewood by Adrian Selby – One of my most anticipated releases for this spring! I was very excited when this ARC arrived. My thanks to Orbit for the chance to read this dark fantasy story about a band of mercenaries who use strange alchemy and magical brews to escape a killer hunting them.
Starborn by Lucy Hounson – A squee-inducing book, courtesy of the good folks across the pond at Tor UK. A YA fantasy adventure about a young woman on the run until she is rescued by two strangers, leading to a chain of events that awakens her own power within her. I cannot wait to start this.
The Damned by Andrew Pyper – Last week I got an unsolicited package from Simon & Schuster, and my jaw literally fell open when I opened it up to see this inside. HOW DID THEY KNOW I WANTED TO READ THIS ONE BADLY?! Apparently, the paperback release is next month, complete with a brand new cover. Like I said in a recent Top Ten Tuesday, The Damned is a top 2015 release that I meant to read last year, but was sad that I didn’t get to do so. Its serendipitous arrival was no doubt telling me that it was time, so I dove into the book that very same night and devoured it. My thanks to the publisher for sending me this most excellent horror novel. Review to be posted soon!
The Dragon Round by Stephen S. Power – The awesomesauce of S&S does not end there. Last year before the holidays I also got a nice email from the publicist working on Simon 451 titles letting me know they saw my Waiting for Wednesday post about The Dragon Round, and asked if I would be interested in a review copy. I told her that I had been approved for the eARC already, but they said they were more than happy to send a print copy along as well. It came earlier this month, and I love having a physical copy. I know it’s just the proof version, but I still look at that cover and get a bit of vertigo from that stunningly gorgeous image. The high seas and dragons! My thanks again to Simon & Schuster, I am even more excited to read this now.
The Lyre Thief by Jennifer Fallon – This book first landed on my radar late last year, and the more I learn about it, the more delicious it looks. A story about stolen music, the quest for a tiny lyre, and a powerfully compelling female protagonist. This epic fantasy sounds right up my alley. With thanks to Tor Books.
Poseidon’s Wake by Alastair Reynolds – My thanks to Ace Books for sending me the finished hardcover, which was a surprise arrival like the ARC I got last month. I guess they really want me to read this! And believe me, I really want to read it too! Priority will always go to requested books of course, but I’ve also been looking into my library to see if they have the audio of the first book Blue Remembered Earth. When my reading schedule clears a little, I’d like to start this series. I’ve heard great things about it, and Alastair Reynolds is an author I really NEED to read.
Kingfisher by Patricia A. McKillip – Speaking of authors I really need to read, lately I’ve been hearing all sorts of praise for Patricia A. McKillip’s latest novel. I was also in a Twitter discussion earlier this week about which books of hers are our favorites, and of course I had to sheepishly admit I’ve never read her. I hope to remedy that next month when I dive into Kingfisher, a book of ancient magic and knights, enchantresses and fae. My thanks again to Ace Books.
Ex-Isle by Peter Clines – Paperback, with thanks to Broadway Books. This was a surprise arrival, but a very welcome one! I’ve been following Clines’ superheroes meets zombie apocalypse Ex-Heroes series for a while now. Still, it’s hard to believe this is already book 5! Good thing I’m caught up so I can dive right in.
Doom of the Dragon by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman – My thanks to Tor for this finished copy of the latest book in the Dragonships of Vindras sequence. My guess is that I won’t be able to read it as a standalone as it is the fourth and final volume, but it’s definitely getting bumped up the list of unsolicited-books-or-series to try out if time allows! I hear folks talk about the authors’ Dragonlance books all the time, and I feel like I owe it to myself to check out their writing.
Dragon Hunters by Marc Turner – Hey, look at all these covers of dragons harassing ships! Dragons, dragons, dragons! This update seems to be all about dragons, but that, my friends, is what I call a happy problem. Tor Books was also kind enough to send along this gorgeous finished copy of the sequel to When the Heavens Fall. It was a surprise arrival as well, but seeing as I already had every intention of continuing the series, book two’s arrival couldn’t have been more perfect!
The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone – 2016 is shaping up to be a great year for Horror. I swear, every time I turn around I see another new title that catches my eye. This one showed up on Edelweiss the other week, and it was on my watchlist so I couldn’t resist requesting. Thanks to Atria/Emily Bestler Books for approving me. It sounds like an eco-horror type story from its description, but from the blurb on the Canadian edition, I think I also caught the mention of — brace yourselves — carnivorous spiders. Ruh oh!
Squid’s Grief by DK Mok – I read DK’s epic fantasy novel Hunt for Valamon last year and had a great time with it. So when she emailed me to ask if I would be interested in a review copy of her upcoming book Squid’s Grief, I said absolutely! I believe this one is sci-fi, but the description hints at a dynamic and quirky team-up, the same kind I enjoyed so much from her last book. And hey, any mention of a heist, I’m there.
The Fireman by Joe Hill – I also read Joe Hill for the first time last year, and I promised myself that it wouldn’t be the last. NOS4R2 rocked my socks, so here’s hoping The Fireman will as well! eARC courtesy of William Morrow via Edelweiss.
The Emperor’s Railroad by Guy Haley and The Jewel and her Lapidary by Fran Wilde – More goodies from the wonderful team at Tor.com! I have to say, I’m getting more curious about The Emperor’s Railroad by the second and I know Tiara is excited to read it. And I didn’t even know about the Fran Wilde novella until I got the email with the eARC! I love discovering new stuff.
KICKSTARTER REWARDS
I was also happy to at long last receive my physical copy of The Death of Dulgath from Michael J. Sullivan’s Kickstarter campaign for this third book of the Riyria Chronicles. I really didn’t mind the wait, and I appreciate how he and his wife have worked ’round-the-clock getting our goodies out and keeping us updated on the shipping process. The project was a wild success with a lot of rewards to mail out, and I am excited the book (signed, plus lots of bookmarks!) is in my hands now, along with a Rose and Thorn t-shirt.
REVIEWS
Here are all my reviews since the last update, gathered together and listed here for your convenience and viewing pleasure. My first five-star rating of 2016 went to Robert Jackson Bennett’s City of Blades. Have you read this amazing book yet?
City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett (5 of 5 stars)
Winterwood by Jacey Bedford (4.5 of 5 stars)
Dreaming Death by J. Kathleen Cheney (4 of 5 stars)
The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson (4 of 5 stars)
The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster (3.5 of 5 stars)
The King’s Justice by Stephen R. Donaldson (3.5 of 5 stars)
Truthwitch by Susan Dennard (3.5 of 5 stars)
The Rogue Retrieval by Dan Koboldt (3.5 of 5 stars)
Owl and the City of Angels by Kristi Charish (3.5 of 5 stars)
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHTS
My thanks to the authors who stopped by these last couple of weeks!
Interview with Lawrence M. Schoen, Author of Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard
WHAT I’VE READ SINCE THE LAST UPDATE
This is what happens when snow keeps you stuck indoors for four-and-a-half days (though to be fair, a couple of these are very short novellas). I did a lot of cleaning, polished off a lot of books, and listened to even more audiobooks while leveling in World of Warcraft with my husband.
Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? Nothing makes me happier than sharing my love for books, so let me know what you plan on checking out. I hope you found something interesting for a future read! Until next time, see you next Roundup! 🙂
The BiblioSanctum 
Kingfisher and Snakewood are two books I’m most excited about:-)
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Been seeing more and more good reviews of Kingfisher we we get close to the release date, I’m pretty excited too!
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Dragons! Dragons everywhere… 😀
I’m really excited about The Fireman and Snakewood; can’t wait to read your thoughts. 🙂
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Everything is better with dragons 🙂
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I just finished Kingfisher and I should do a review of it very soon (if I don’t manage to write it today), I really enjoyed it but the modern setting of the story was a bit odd.
I am really intrigued by Snakewood, it is on Netgalley right now and I think that I am going to request it!
I have not read any Alastair Reynolds either, I would like to read Revelation Space but I don’t know when I’ll manage to read it…
Anyway, great haul, I can’t wait to see your reviews of those books 😀
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Oh awesome, I’ll be watching for your review of Kingfisher, can’t wait to see what you think of it and compare notes when I read it 🙂
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Reynolds, of course! 🙂 I love his star- and time-spanning stories, though I need to read the previous books first, but this means I can gleefully add them to my hoard!
And I’d like to try out Joe Hill: only recently I’ve become aware of the fact he’s Stephen King’s son, and I’m curious to sample his writing.
Hope all that snow ((brrrr…)) melts soon!
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That’s how I feel! I’m going to keep watching to see if my library will get the Poseidon’s Children audiobooks. And yep, Joe Hill comes from a very talented family of writers!
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Nice haul! Hope you love them all. Happy reading!
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Thanks!
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We had snow, now it has rained so it’s all meh. Yes yes others would be all omg you have so much snow..not for our standards
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Haha, probably not. Though I’m originally from Canada and this was probably more than what we usually got up north.
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Wow, the snow! That’s so crazy…
I’ve been wanting to read The Lyre Thief for a while, so I’m very interested to hear your thoughts on it. And I’ve looked up some of the other books you received, which seem amazing too. I wish I would’ve known about the Kickstarter for Death of Dulgath! I love this author so much, and all of his books and I would’ve loved to contribute to it that way.
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Yes, Michael J. Sullivan is a champion of self publishing and crowdfunding, he’s done a couple very successful campaigns for his books now. The Death of Dulgath did really well, and I glad he also so good to his fans!
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The Robert Jackson Bennett book has started off with great reviews! The Jennifer Fallon looks very interesting.
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So true, I haven’t seen a negative review yet for City of Blades, great news for RJB 🙂
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I juuust reviewed Kingfisher. It was a complex one for me — it’s so linked with Arthuriana, which I know far too well to relax and just enjoy, sometimes, you know? But McKillip is good, so hopefully you’ll enjoy it!
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Sweet! I’m hopping right on over after this to check out your review. I’ve heard it is very complex too and I’ll be interested to glean the details.
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Starborn is only a UK release?? 😦 But there’s always the Book Depository, right? Anyways, that one had caught my eye a while ago, so I’m looking forward to your thoughts on that one.
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Yes, as far as I know, it’s a UK release (so far!) Here’s hoping it is good and it will do well enough for a US publisher to help it get over here!
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So many Dragon books! I got Dragon round from NetGalley! I heard you got snow, but wow! That’s a cool photo! I read Burning Midnight last week. Talk about a strange book!
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I thought Burning Midnight was so fun. Very strange, but cool concept! My review will go up tomorrow 🙂
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So jealous of the snow! (I bet you never thought you’d hear that:-)) The most snow I’ve been in is maybe 6 inches. But on to the books…I can’t wait to read your review of The Damned, I loved that book so much! I’m super excited about The Fireman as well, and wow, I love the cover of Squid’s Grief!
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Haha, you wouldn’t be saying that if you had to shovel it 😀
And I loved The Damned! It’ll be up on release day (of the paperback edition)!
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The storm you guys got was supposed to make it’s way to us but then it diverted and ended up passing us over altogether. I kind of feel cheated, since when does Canada miss out on big storms?! LOL! And again yesterday we were supposed to get lots but only got a little – just enough to make the roads crappy and make my drive home last night…interesting XD You sure got lots of fantastic books here^^ but I’m most excited ror Dragon’s Round! I can NOT wait to see how you make out with it!! Congrats on ALL your amazing goodies and enjoy!
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Haha, I know, I’m originally from Canada and we did get all sorts of bad snowstorms. This one was crazy even by those standards though 🙂
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Holy cow! That is a ton of snow. We’ve had a fairly snow free winter this year (knock on wood).
You got a lot of great looking books it seems! Joe Hill always looks interesting to me, but I haven’t gotten around to reading anything by him yet.
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Joe Hill is great! Well, the one book I’ve read by him anyway 😉 I’ve always meant to go back to read Heart Shaped Box or Horns, but now that I have a copy of The Fireman looks like I’ll be reading that next 🙂
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I’ve heard a lot of people rave about Heart Shaped Box. It’s on my list to check out eventually. Even though I’m leery about it being too much like a gender bent Silence of the Lambs.
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Wow – all that snow! Lots of snow angels.
I love your haul. Snakewood looks amazing and the Joe Hill book – well, they all look pretty awesome to be honest.
I really enjoyed the Damned too and Drake. Look forward to checking out your reviews – you’ve certainly packed in a lot of reading.
Lynn 😀
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I played with my daughter in the snow and lasted about five minutes before I said, screw this, I’m too cold 🙂
But yeah that’s the good thing about being snowed in, got lots of quality time reading in 🙂
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Awesomesauce Haul this week!! Snakewood, The Fireman, The Damned, The Lyre Thief, Dragon Round! *sheesh* I would NOT know where to start! 🙂
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I’ve built a tentative reading list, but yeah, I wish I could take every one of them in all at once 🙂
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Jealous of that review copy for Snakewood! But I did manage to grab a copy of The Dragon Round on NetGalley 🙂
I love the Rose and Thorn Shirt!!! I got one too 😀
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As soon as I saw that shirt design, I knew I had to have it. I chose the red color too, because it was just so perfect!
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WOW! So much snow. That would have even slowed us in Iowa down. Has it melted at all? I must have missed your City of Blades review and need to check it out though it’s enough to know you loved it – I am super excited for that one! I am intrigued by Kingfisher ad have also started seeing some complimentary talk about it – I’ll be interested to hear what you think of it!
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It melted a lot this week, which is good, because for a few days after the blizzard the roads were a complete mess even though it had stopped snowing. There was just so much accumulated and mountains of snow narrowing either side of the street. And I adored City of Blades. Going to be diving into Kingfisher soon 🙂
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Looks like you got as much as as I kept getting in storms last winter. Which was not a fun winter; this area actually broke its previous record for snowfall by a large amount, which was a little bit terrifying.
At least you had some good books to keep you going until you could dig your way out again!
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Yeah this blizzard broke records in this area. When I was in Toronto we sometimes got these snow storms which were just as bad or worse, but I have to say it was still pretty insane 🙂
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