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.
Received for Review
My deepest thanks to all the wonderful publishers for the review copies received. For more details and full descriptions of the books, be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages!
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch – My thanks to Crown Publishing for a copy of this ARC! Here’s a pic of the wickedly creative package that it came in, which I thought was really cool. I’ve actually been meaning to check out Blake Crouch’s other series Wayward Pines for a while, so this was definitely a welcome arrival.
Armada by Ernest Cline – From the kind folks at Crown, I also received a nice surprise in the form of this paperback edition of Armada. As you can see, the book is sporting a brand new cover, and I love the look! Here’s my review from last year, I had a lot of fun with this book. The paperback release is April 12 so be sure to note the date on your calendar if you missed the hardback!
Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor – The Chronicles of St. Mary’s series has been a bestseller in the UK for years, and this summer Skyhorse/Night Shade Books is finally bringing it to the US. My thanks to the publisher for an ARC of this quirky time-travel novel.
Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay – One of my most anticipated books of the year! Guy Gavriel Kay always delivers, and I can’t wait to read his upcoming novel inspired by the conflicts and dramas of Renaissance Europe. With thanks to NAL.
And I Darken by Kiersten White – “What if Vlad the Impaler, the brutal prince, had been Lada the Impaler, the brutal princess?” If that’s not enough to pique your interest, I don’t know what will. That was the quite from the author about her inspiration, and I just love the sound of this book. Thank you to Delacorte Press.
Nightstruck by Jenna Black – My thanks to Tor Teen for this finished copy! The description had me at “paranormal horror.” Granted, it’s a tricky genre for Young Adult, but I’m looking forward to give this one a try.
Quantum Break: Zero State by Cam Rogers – My first reaction to this book was, “Wait, THERE’S A QUANTUM BREAK NOVEL?!?!?!?” Quantum Break the game is one of my most anticipated Xbox One titles this year, and they’ve been so hush-hush about this tie-in novel that I didn’t even know about it until earlier this month. I can’t wait to read this one, thanks Tor Books!
Pathfinder Tales: Hellknight by Liane Merciel – I’ve been playing the Pathfinder RPG with my gaming group for years now, but believe it or not I’ve never actually read any of the Pathfinder Tales novels, which you’d figure would be right up my alley. High time for that to change! Very happy that my first Pathfinder book will be by Liane Merciel, who has written some great tie-in novels, including one for Dragon Age. My thanks to Tor Books for this one as well!
Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer – I have a real weakness for political science fiction, and Ada Palmer is an author I’ve always wanted to try. I’m also really excited to be taking part in the blog tour later this spring, so stay tuned for more information on that! My thanks to Tor Books.
Company Town by Madeline Ashby – I also couldn’t resist requesting this sci-fi mystery by Madeline Ashby, who’s also the author of The Machine Dynasty series, the first book of which blew my mind when I read it a while ago. It makes me optimistic for her upcoming novel from Tor, which I hope will be as thoughtful and hard-hitting.
Sawbones by Melissa Lenhardt – I’ll admit, when this one first caught my eye on NetGalley, I ended up passing it by (albeit reluctantly) because it was straight up historical fiction without a speculative element. However, the Orbit publicist made me decide to take a second look when she wrote me a note saying she thought this one would be right up my alley. How could I resist a recommendation like that? With thanks to their sister imprint Redhook for the widget invitation!
A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab – When I saw that they had switched publishers and narrators for this sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic and that it would be performed by two of my favorite narrators, Kate Reading and Michael Kramer, I just knew I had to get my hands on the audiobook edition! Much thanks to Macmillan Audio for the opportunity.
Infomocracy by Malka Older – Thank you so much to Tor.com for an eARC of this cyberpunk political thriller from debut author Malka Older!
The Raft by Fred Strydom – It seems I just can’t say no to a dystopian. What happens when humanity loses its collective memory? This book sounds like it could either be really confusing or really awesome, but when I saw it up on Edelweiss from Talos, I saw no harm in giving it a shot.
The Binding by Nicholas Wolff – I’m feeling so optimistic about the horror genre this year, I pretty much want to check out anything and everything. This was on my list of debuts to watch, and doesn’t hurt that it’s a supernatural horror. With thanks to Gallery Books.
The Summer Dragon by Todd Lockwood – When one of the most renowned artists of dragons in fantasy fiction has written his debut novel about his beloved subject, hell yeah, I really need to take a look. My thanks to DAW!
The Devourers by Indra Das – This book was only peripherally on my radar for the longest time, but when I saw that cover I one-clicked that request button so fast you wouldn’t freakin’ believe. Evocative and dreamlike stories can be hit or miss with me, that’s true, but with a cover that gorgeous, I think I’ll take my chances. Yes, I’m a cover whore and I’m not sorry! My thanks to Del Rey.
Warrior Witch by Danielle L. Jensen – An eARC of the third and final book of the Malediction Trilogy is in my reader now, locked and ready to rock thanks to Angry Robot! Looking forward to see how it all ends.
Reviews
Here are all my reviews since the last update, gathered together and listed here for your convenience and viewing pleasure. It was a pretty good couple of weeks, I must say.
Marked in Flesh by Anne Bishop (4 of 5 stars)
Fellside by M.R. Carey (4 of 5 stars)
Of Sorrow and Such by Angela Slatter (4 of 5 stars)
Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor (4 of 5 stars)
United States of Japan by Peter Tieryas (4 of 5 stars)
The Last Mortal Bond by Brian Staveley (4 of 5 stars)
Jaws by Peter Benchley (3.5 of 5 stars)
Lustlocked by Matt Wallance (3 of 5 stars)
Snakewood by Adrian Selby (3 of 5 stars)
Author Spotlights
My thanks to Brian Staveley who stopped by The BiblioSanctum with a guest post last week!
Guest Post: “The Unforgiving Net; the Horror of Publication” by Brian Staveley
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update
Here’s what I’ve been reading recently. There are many awesome new releases in early April so I’ve been checking out a lot of them during the second half of March. Keep an eye for reviews of the following books in the upcoming weeks, if they’re not up already that is!
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 
I love the cover of Infomocracy. Really cool.
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It’s beautiful. Cyberpunk is a genre that’s always full of surprises, so I’m looking forward to checking it out.
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I recently binged on the two Shades of Magic books and they were so damn good! Sawbone looks like fun 🙂
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My review of AGoS should be going up soon…and Sawbones looks great, I’m excited to dive into some historical fiction for a change 🙂
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Eeeek Brennan!!! 😀
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You’ll love this book, I think it was my favorite of all of them!
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I’ve started hearing some so-so things about Rebel of the Sands, so I’ll be interested in reading your thoughts when your review posts. After being burned by overhype a couple times in the past year, I’m going to hold off on those kinds of releases until I have a better idea of how much the reviewers I trust liked them (or not).
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I’d say Rebel was better than average, some really predictable plot elements in the second half of the book, but it was so much fun overall! I know what you mean though, I’ve been burned so often by hyped YA, these days I don’t chances as often!
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Oooh nice! I’m hearing good things about And I Darken!! Can’t wait to give that one a try! And ooh Warrior Witch is another I am looking forward to! I read Nightstruck this week and LOVED it! Though I didn’t care for the cliffhanger…mostly because it was quite evil and now I have over a year to wait for the next one! Read with caution! 😉
Happy Reading!
My STS will be up tomorrow, stop by then if you can!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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So happy to hear about Nightstruck! That one was a complete unknown to me when it arrived, and your praise is very promising! Cliffhanger doesn’t sound too great, but I’m willing to give it a shot! Thanks!
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I am ridicilously anxious to dig into Children of Earth and Sky, and I apparently have a copy of Hellknight on the way.
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I’m really excited to dig into Children of Earth and Sky too, can’t wait to enjoy some more GGK.
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I love the look of Sawbones and The Devourers, I saw them on NG but at the moment they’re US.
I also looked longingly at Rebel of the Sands but I decided against it because I had too many books lined up – every now and again I try to be sensible – I usually deeply regret it after the fact but there it is. There are only so many hours in the day after all.
Brennan – *want* *BADLY*
Lynn 😀
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I thought Sawbones was going to be a UK release (because afaik in the US it’s ebook pub date only so far) so hopefully the UK publisher will offer some ARCs. Devourers caught my eye because of that gorgeous cover – who knows, the story might not work for me at all, but I’m giving it a go 😀 And Brennan’s book was amazing! I thought it was the best one yet!
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I do love that paperback cover for Armada:-) I have Warrior Witch too but I’m a little worried because some of the early reviews have not been good. Hmmmm I guess we’ll see. I really wish I had requested Rebel of the Sands now, but the timing just wasn’t right. Can’t wait to read your review!
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I’ve been seeing those reviews for Warrior Witch as well and it’s making me nervous too. Series enders are tricky, I hope Jensen will pull it off. We’ll see! 🙂
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ARMADA!!! I’m going to be listening to the audio VERY soon – I can’t wait! Nice of them to send you a copy 🙂 I only just found out about Children of Earth and Sky but I’ve added it to my tbr shelf (yesterday I think) I can’t wait to see what you make of it! Oh and of course AGoS will be one of my very next reads! I can’t wait 😀 AWESOME haul as usual my friend! xx
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Awesome! I can see Armada being a lot of fun in audio with Wil Wheaton narrating. And yay, it makes me happy more people are getting interested in Guy Gavriel Kay’s Children of Earth and Sky – the description is kind of vague, but I’ve never been disappointed in GGK’s work and I’m looking forward to diving into it soon!
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Great Haul!! I am really curious about Too Like the Lightning 🙂 And I look forward to seeing the illustrations in Summer Dragon 🙂 (and reading the book too of course. Just impressive for an author to also be an illustrator)
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Yeah, I didn’t even know there would be interior illustrations until I saw a link on twitter. That’s so fantastic!
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I hope we both love Children of Earth and Sky!! You and all the awesome books this week. I may need to visit and read some of these babies.
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I hope so too, I’m so looking forward to diving into Children of Earth and Sky!
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So many lovelies on here! The one that immediately went on my TBR was Just One More Damned Thing After Another. It looks like a blast and I’ll be interested to see what you think about it!
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Oh cool, glad you saw something interesting! I’ve always been curious about that series too, after seeing Jodi Taylor’s books pop up frequently on Amazon Kindle or Audible as best sellers. I’m looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about 🙂
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Awesome grab with The Summer Dragon! Jealous of that! 😛 I did receive a copy of Children of Earth and Sky too (on Net Galley), and it’ll be my fist time reading GGK.
Look forward to your reviews of Arena and The Labyrinth of Dragons too.
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I actually didn’t mean to grab the Summer Dragon off NetGalley since I was holding out hope to request a finished copy, but the publisher sent an email with links and I inadvertently clicked one without realizing it’s a widget that automatically accepts the invite. But yeah, I learned it has interior illustrations, how gorgeous that would be in physical format!
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Arrghh, so jealous that you’ve read Labyrinth of Drakes already! My preorder isn’t even going to arrive on the release date, it makes me saaaad. But it looks like you have an amazing haul!
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It was awesome! I loved your review of A Natural History of Dragons, I hope you’ll enjoy the rest of the books and I look forward to seeing your reviews of The Tropic of Serpents next 😀
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