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
Some really exciting new arrivals this week, my 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!
Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley – Last week, I got this nice surprise from the kind folks at Little, Brown and Company. Everyone has been telling me what a great book The Rook is and I’ve been meaning to pick it up since forever. Well, now that I have the sequel, I can’t think of a better motivation to get caught up! Book one is on tap for Backlist Burndown for May, promise!
The Edge of Worlds by Martha Wells – My thanks to Night Shade Books for this gorgeous finished copy! While I have not read any of the previous Books of the Raksura, I’m told this can be read as a new series starter. I definitely have plans to tackle this, and hopefully I’ll be able to fit it in soon. In the meantime, check out Wendy’s awesome review!
World of Warcraft: Illidan by William King – It’s no secret I’m an online gamer and a big fan of World of Warcraft, though these days I play very infrequently. Still, you can bet I’ll definitely be jumping in again with both feet later this year when the new expansion hits, and I’m reading this book to get myself hyped. I also have a super soft spot for Illidan, whose role in Legion will be important with the introduction of a new hero class, the Demon Hunter. Sorry, but I just can’t resist: YOU ARE NOT PREPARED! With thanks to Del Rey.
The Last Good Girl by Allison Leotta – My thanks to Touchstone for this mystery crime novel which draws inspiration from real-life stories to shine a light on the serious issue of campus rape. This sounds like a really intense “true-crime” type written by an author who clearly knows her stuff, considering Leotta is a former D.C. federal sex-crimes prosecutor. This is the fifth installment of the Anna Curtis series, starring the eponymous prosecutor main character who has faced up to all kinds of foes, from crooked congressmen to violent street gangs. Now she’ll be heading onto campus to uncover the awful secrets of a notorious fraternity.
Roses and Rot by Kat Howard – Much thanks to the awesome team at Wunderkind PR, who thoughtfully sent along this physical ARC after I emailed in my review for another Saga Press title. I’m really looking forward to this fairy tale-inspired fantasy novel about the journey of two sisters.
The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone – Last week, I received an email about this book with the subject line “Meat-munching mayhem” – yep, that’s definitely one way to get my attention! My thanks to Atria Books for sending this one along, and I love that decorative sleeve. Bring on those spiders!
The Transference Engine by Julia Verne St. John – Thank you so much DAW Books, I’m so psyched for this one! Described as “A fantastical steampunk novel of magic and machines set in an alternate 1830s London”, I also have some SUPER exciting news and info to share with you all about The Transference Engine later this week, so be sure to stay tuned for that!
Awakenings by Edward Lazellari – Earlier this month I got a lovely email from the author letting me know about his crossover urban-epic fantasy trilogy Guardians of Aandor, published by Tor Books. I really like the sound of this one! Book 3 is coming out soon and Edward was kind enough to send over the first book so I can check it out. Thanks Edward!
Way Down Dark by J.P. Smythe – What’s really weird is that I’ve had Way Down Dark on my to-read list for a while now, but the reason I haven’t gotten to it in so long is because it didn’t have a US release, making it tougher to get a copy. So imagine my surprise when a package arrived from Quercus and this book came out! Mark October 4 on your calendar everyone, because that’s when this sci-fi YA dystopian is finally making its way stateside! My thanks to the publisher!
The Demonists by Thomas E. Sniegoski and Almost Infamous by Matt Carter – This week also saw the arrival of some beautiful finished copies. My thanks to Roc for The Demonists, which I’ve reviewed here, and to Talos for Almost Infamous, reviewed here.
Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine and The Suicide Motor Club by Christopher Buehlman – It probably wouldn’t surprise you to learn that Paper and Fire, the sequel to the excellent Ink and Bone, is one of my most anticipated releases this year. I should probably read this closer to release, but it’s taking everything in me not to jump in right now! Christopher Buehlman’s new book also looks great; I’ve read two of his novels and both times I enjoyed myself, so I figured I would give The Suicide Motor Club a shot too. My thanks to Berkley Publishing Group.
Beyond the Woods: Fairy Tales Retold edited by Paula Guran and Firewalk by Chris Roberson – I know I talk a lot about not being an anthology/short stories person, but Beyond the Woods is an upcoming collection from Night Shade Books that looked too amazing to pass up. With fairy tales retold by authors like Peter S. Beagle, Holly Black, Tanith Lee, Jeff VanderMeer, Neil Gaiman and more, what’s not to like? Firetouched is another book coming out from Night Shade that looks interesting, but it’ll probably be a while before I tackle it since this urban fantasy won’t be coming out until this fall. My thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for these e-galleys.
And now for the Tor.com novellas! Their awesome publicist sent over a veritable bounty of eARCs in the last couple weeks. First up is The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson, a gorgeous looking book which I hadn’t even heard of before it popped up in my inbox. There’s also a follow-up to The Emperor’s Railroad with The Ghoul King by Guy Haley, reminding me that I have to catch up with the first book. Happily though, I’m all caught up with the Sin du Jour series so I can jump right into Pride’s Spell by Matt Wallace which should be another fun installment. Finally, I cannot tell you how excited I am for Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I’ve wanted to try some of newer work for ages, but so many of his books seem to be UK releases initially with no news of US release dates. Glad this one is hitting everywhere at once.
MECH: Age of Steel Kickstarter
In other news, I want to give a shout out to this really cool Kickstarter project by Ragnarok Publications that I recently backed. Ever since their KAIJU RISING: Age of Monsters campaign I think I have pledged to every one of their anthology projects, because they always seem to feature a ton of my favorite authors. Now they have a new one running called MECH: Age of Steel which was actually envisioned to be a companion anthology to Kaiju Rising, so that’s just even more perfect. There’s less than three weeks to go until it ends and hopefully by the time this post goes up, the project is close to funding if not already there. Still, that’s plenty of time to pitch in if this is something that interests you, though honestly I can’t imagine how anyone could be uninterested in GIANT FREAKING ROBOTS. Be sure to head on over to their Kickstarter page for more information and for the list of stories and authors. Personally, I think it’s worth the price of admission just for a mecha story written by M.L. Brennan.
Reviews
Here are all my reviews since the last update, gathered together and listed here for your convenience and viewing pleasure.
Saint’s Blood by Sebastien de Castell (5 of 5 stars)
Sawbones by Melissa Lenhardt (4.5 of 5 stars)
The Knights of Crystallia by Brandon Sanderson (4.5 of 5 stars)
The Palace of Glass by Django Wexler (4.5 of 5 stars)
Masks and Shadows by Stephanie Burgis (4 of 5 stars)
Bloodmage by Stephen Aryan (3.5 of 5 stars)
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel (3.5 of 5 stars)
Almost Infamous by Matt Carter (3.5 of 5 stars)
Pathfinder Tales: Hellknight by Liane Merciel (3.5 of 5 stars)
Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton (3.5 of 5 stars)
Roundup Highlights:
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update
Here’s what I’ve been reading since the last Bookshelf Roundup. There were some ups and downs, but for the most part I’ve been really enjoying my recent reads. I already have reviews up for a few of them, and I’ve got the rest scheduled to make their appearance some time in the next few weeks so keep an eye out!
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 
Ooh you got The Ghoul King! I’m anxious to read that one and see where it goes after just reading the first one.
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I still need to read the first one! Glad to hear it was that enjoyable 🙂
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And I haven’t even gotten through the 2 books I planned on reading 2 weeks ago. You’re amazing!!
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I do live and breathe books, I can’t survive without ’em! 🙂
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The ghoul king looks interesting
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It does! I have the first one on my list to read, hopefully soon!
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The whole Tor.com novellas bundle sounds like something I would want for my birthday 😛 I really need to read more of those, I’ve only managed to read Binti so far but I also the Sorceror of the Wildeeps on my Kindle and I am really interested by Envy of Angels, Of Sorrows and Such and many other (basically, I want them all hehe)!
Can’t wait for your review of Sharp Ends, I almost requested it on NG but since I only read his First Law trilogy and not his other books set in the same world and I don’t want to be spoiled, I decided to wait until reading a couple of reviews. Also, I don’t know if Abercrombie is a great short fiction writer and since I’ve been reading a ton of really excellent short works lately, I don’t know if I’ll enjoy this quite as much…
Anyway, I have to stop rambling now 😛
Great haul!
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I’ve been really impressed with Tor.com’s line of novellas so far, and I am saying this as someone who doesn’t even read short fiction all that much! Pretty much everything I’ve read from them has been good to excellent.
I’ll have my Short Ends review up in a couple days! If you’ve read the First Law trilogy, then I think you should be set for the anthology. Of course, it would be even better if you’ve read Best Served Cold, Red Country etc too but it’s definitely possible to get by with what you’ve read. Personally, I felt the quality of the stories to be okay, but could have been better.
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Ooooh! LOTS of new to me titles here^^ I need to look them up but I can’t wait to see how you make out with them all 😀 Enjoy Mogsy and happy weekend! Oh and YES you MUST read Mistborn: Secret History!! I already want to chat about it with you XD
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Thanks for your recommendation with Mistborn: Secret History, I will! 🙂
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Nice haul. I got my copy of Spiderlight the other day – thanks for the tip about publicists. 🙂
I already had a digital ARC of The Hatching, but I love that sleeve. Only physical new arrival I had this week was Hex, which was already on my reading list, but I do like to see the finished product.
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I’m so glad to hear about Spiderlight! And HEX was awesome, I hope you’ll enjoy it!
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I saw that Kickstarter and I will probably go back and support it. Such a cool idea! I loved the Rook when I read it, seems like YEARS ago. Quite a long time between book one and two, but I would love to read Stiletto at some point. And I may have to buy a copy of The Hatching just because of the cool design:-)
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It does seem like a long time between The Rook and this sequel, I remember putting book one on my tbr years ago!
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AHHH STILETTO!!! I pre-ordered this months ago and I’m so excited to get it!! The Rook was amazing, by the way!
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I’m reading The Rook right now to prepare, can’t believe it took me so long to get to it, I’m loving it!
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YAY!!
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Great haul!! I am definitely having to use some self control to not just jump into Paper and Fire as well! 🙂
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Happily, lots of great stuff to read in between, so many books in May and June I’m excited about as well 🙂
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Goodness your bookshelveseseses must be having so much fun!
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If I actually have bookshelveseseses, lol. The new shelves my husband promised me he’d make years ago are still nowhere in sight, I’ve taken to storing some of my book overflow in my linen closet!
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That for mentions that anthology! I love the cover for the books, and I’ll check it out more online; may be something I’d be interested in backing.
And I’ll be curious about your WoW novel review, to see if this one went better than previous attempted reads.
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Ragnarok Pub’s anthologies are always cool – great themes and great authors! Hope you get a chance to check them out!
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Some great books – I must confess that I’ve been feeling strangely ambivalent about requesting anything recently! Probably because I want to catch up some and also some of the books I liked the look of are part of series that I haven’t started – like Ink and Bone. I’m looking forward to The Hatching. And I really do want to read the Rachel Caine book as a backlist book.
Lynn 😀
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I was gonna say, ambivalence is probably a good thing to catch up on some books, which I could use some of. Problem is, even the unsolicited books look so good, I just can’t win 🙂
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Looks like an excellent haul. You wouldn’t notice if I — *hand slapped* …sorry.
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Ha! You’re not fooling me, you get some excellent hauls yourself 😉
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Great haul! I really need to check out the Martha Wells series. I’ve heard a ton of great things about it. I also need to give Matt Wallace’s books a shot.
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I’ve heard great things about the Raksura series too. I’ve only read the first volume of the short stories so far, but it’s enough to know that I love her writing.
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Paper & Fire!!! That’s one of my most anticipated books this summer, too, so I can’t wait to hear what you think of it.
Btw I finished Jordanna Max Brodsky’s The Immortals over the weekend. Oh my goodness. It’s my favorite new book of 2016. I tore through the last 150-ish pages in one sitting because it was just that hard to put down. 😀 Thank you for recommending it!
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EEEEE I am squeeing excitedly in my seat right now hearing how much you loved The Immortals!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, I was the same way with the last part of the book,omg I couldn’t stop!
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