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
Thank you to the publishers and authors for the following review copies received, and for more details and full descriptions of the books, be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages!
Silverwolf by Jacey Bedford – Earlier this year I really enjoyed Winterwood, so when the sequel showed up in the mail one day I was pretty excited. Can’t say I’m too crazy about the cover though, but as long as the story is once again filled with the adventure, magic and romance of the first book, then who am I to complain! With thanks to DAW.
In Calabria by Peter S. Beagle – I was also thrilled with the arrival of this ARC from the wonderful folks at Tachyon Publications. This will be my first time reading Peter S. Beagle.
The Gates of Hell by Michael Livingston – Already read and reviewed, check out the link below! Fantastic sequel to The Shards of Heaven, a historical fantasy set in Ancient Rome. Much thanks to Tor for the finished copy.
Snowed by Maria Alexander – Yay, got my copy! My thanks to Raw Dog Screaming Press, a wonderful small publisher dedicated to putting out dark and off-kilter lit from the fringe, as well as Beverly Bambury Publicity. I don’t usually do “seasonal reads”, but I seriously can’t wait for the chance to snuggle up to this one over the holidays.
The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington – A new epic fantasy that sounds incredibly enticing; I really can’t wait to dive into this. My thanks to Orbit!
Dear Sweet Filthy World by Caitlín R. Kiernan – Another cool surprise from the awesome team at Subterranean Press. For readers who want to check out the author’s work, this anthology sounds like a great idea. It collects stories that were previously published in Kiernan’s subscription-only digest, so this is the first time many of them will be available to the general public.
The Catcher’s Trap by Ricardo Henriquez – This is a new one to me, and thanks to Inkshares for putting it on my radar. The pitch I received with it described the book as a dark fantasy/horror novel inspired by the author’s own struggles with depression, coming out as gay, and his experience immigrating to the United States. I’ve seen it compared to a dark fairy tale and Pan’s Labyrinth, and some of the reviews talking about the horror and the gruesomeness are actually giving me serious anxiety! I love the horror genre, but this might even be too intense for me. I can’t deny I’m intrigued though, and maybe I’ll give it a look once I take some time to rally myself.
Scythe by Neal Shusterman – I haven’t really been following this book, but when it came out of a surprise package last week I knew it on sight. That striking cover is not one you easily forget, and Neal Shusterman is an author I’ve wanted to read for a long time. I’m really excited to read this, thank you Simon & Schuster.
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty – A surprise from Orbit which arrived two days after I had already downloaded the digital galley, but I’m also extremely grateful to have a physical ARC. My thanks to the publisher for sending me this highly anticipated novel!
Hunted by Meagan Spooner – After seeing so many bloggers feature this book on their blogs my resolve finally cracked and I requested it from Edelweiss. I can’t resist a Beauty and the Beast retelling. Thanks to HarperTeen.
Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin and Fireborn by David Dalglish – Audiobooks, with thanks to Hachette Audio. Very excited for the conclusion of the Wolf by Wolf duology, especially after the way book one ended. And speaking of highly anticipated sequels, I’m also looking forward to the follow-up to Skyborn.
Star Wars: Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel by James Luceno – It really is a week for highly anticipated audiobooks. The movie can’t come soon enough, but in the meantime I’ll be checking out this prequel novel. With thanks to Random House Audio.
Agents of Dreamland by Caitlín R. Kiernan and Standard Hollywood Depravity by Adam Christopher – More novellas courtesy of the generous team at Tor.com! Caitlín R. Kiernan is a very busy author these days and I’d love to catch up on her more recent stuff. And while I haven’t read Made to Kill yet, I hope that won’t stop me from enjoying Adam Christopher’s new story set in that same world.
Reviews
Review roundup time! Hands down the best two books I read during this period were After Atlas and The Purloined Poodle and I am happy to be highlighting both this week.
After Atlas by Emma Newman (4.5 of 5 stars)
The Purloined Poodle by Kevin Hearne (4.5 of 5 stars)
The Gates of Hell by Michael Livingston (4 of 5 stars)
Iron Cast by Destiny Soria (4 of 5 stars)
Wolf’s Empire: Gladiator by Claudia Christian & Morgan Grant Buchanan (3.5 of 5 stars)
An Import of Intrigue by Marshall Ryan Maresca (3.5 of 5 stars)
Ninth City Burning by J. Patrick Black (3 of 5 stars)
Chasing Embers by James Bennett (3 of 5 stars)
Roundup Highlights:
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update
Here’s what’s come off Mount TBR lately. Stay tuned for reviews!
Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? I hope you found something interesting for a future read! Let me know what you plan on checking out. Until next time, see you next Roundup!
The BiblioSanctum 
How many books, on average, do you read a year? And do you review them all?
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I clock in at about 200 reads a year with mostly novels making up this number, but some shorts and novellas thrown in as well, and ~30% audiobooks.
No, I don’t review everything, but I do try to review most 🙂
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I was wondering if it was about that. You certainly seem to do a bunch of reviews…
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Ha, yeah, hang around here long enough, you’ll see I’m very prolific 😉
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OOoh very nice!! Lots of new to me ones here! Except for Scythe! I have my eye on that one! And ooh Hunted! So can’t wait for that one either!! Hope you enjoy all the new reads!!
My STS will be up tomorrow, so stop by then if you can!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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Yeah, I’m very curious about Scythe! I’m probably going to read that one now that it’s fallen into my lap.
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Nice. I have a digital copy of In Calabria to read. As many times as I’ve watched The Last Unicorn, it will be my first Peter S. Beagle read as well. I’ve had my eye on The Shadow of What Was Lost, but barring a surprise review copy I’ll probably wait for the paperback.
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Heh, I haven’t even watched The Last Unicorn, so you’ve gone a one up on me there 😉
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I have a copy of Six Wakes on the way, I’m so excited for it:-) And I can’t wait to hear what you thought of The Secret Life of Souls!
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I’m really looking forward to reading it, I hope we’ll both love it 🙂
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That Fireborn cover tho. I love it!
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I’m with you there! The covers for the series are gorgeous, and they’ve outdone themselves for Fireborn.
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I can’t add any more books to my queue…
I can’t add any more books to my queue…
I cant’ add any more books to my queue…
Ok, maybe just one or two… Can’t resist the temptation! 🙂
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I know the feeling – the struggle to contain Mt. TBR is real 🙂
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I’ve been waiting for Scythe to omen out. I can’t wait to get into Snowed. Yea for dark and twisty. I’m also interested in the Tirenan book. I’ve read a couple of books by her and really enjoyed them.
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Yay for Snowed! Something tells me that would be a great one to read while stuck inside from a winter storm 🙂
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Hope you enjoyed Blood For Blood! I read that a week or two ago and thought it was even better than Wolf By Wolf. 🙂 And I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on Hunted and Scythe once you’ve read them, since they both look interesting.
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Just finished drafting my review of Blood for Blood! I think I still enjoyed Wolf by Wolf more, but it was a great ending!
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Wow, check out all of those books! I am impressed! I really liked Blood for Blood, though it broke my heart a tiny bit. I also have Hunted for review — while I didn’t love Spooner’s debut trilogy, I loved her second trilogy with Amie Kaufman. I hope you enjoy all of your new books!
Have a wonderful week. =)
Check out my STS post!
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Yeah, after Blood for Blood, I really felt like I needed a hug, lol. And I’m curious about Spooner – Hunted will be my first book by her 🙂
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Oh that’s nice! new books! happy reading!
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Thanks, happy reading to you too!
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I am curious about the Islington book
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Hoping to start that one soon!
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Totally agree with you about the cover for Silverwolf. It’s kind of awful, to be honest! I’ve added Hunted to my list because I can’t ignore a Beauty and the Beast retelling and I’m looking forward to your reviews of Six Wakes, Snowed and Dear, Sweet Filthy World 🙂
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The cover of Silverwolf really bugs me! But I guess they are trying for a “romance” feel with the sequel, which makes me think the story will be leaning heavily that way too. I hope not too much, but guess we’ll see!
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Ooh, the cover of Scythe makes me very curious, somehow. Gonna have to go look that up!
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It really is striking! Caught my eye the first time I saw it too.
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Very cool! I went to a book store after work today and ‘The Shadow of what was lost’ caught my eye. I might put it on my wishlist 🙂
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I’m really looking forward to reading it – soon, I hope! After all this holiday craziness…
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Good reminder that I still need to check out Winterwood! That book’s got my name all over it. I can’t speak for Scythe, but Unwind by Neil Shuterman is an absolutely incredible book. Fingers cross Scythe is just as good!
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I’ve heard all sorts of great things about Unwind (it’s been on my TBR for a while now too, ha!) but I’ll probably start with Scythe since I have that one in hand.
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Unwind is a great read – I’ll second Danya’s feelings on that one.
I have a copy of In Calabria and Hunted. I really liked the look of The Shadow of What was Lost but it was due out November so I thought I’d behave. I’m still using this month and next to try and catch up. I hate missing books though. Much sadness 😦
Lynn 😀
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My enthusiasm to read Shusterman is definitely increasing! And I hear ya…the idea that I might possibly miss a good book is hard, but I gotta be vigilant with catching up on my tbr.
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Ah! There is actually a decent amount of books here I hadn’t heard of yet! 😦 I have a LOT of catching up to do next month!
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Same here!
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I’ve never read anything by Peter S Beagle but I love his name…I get an image of a beagle with glasses reading a book. Yeah I know, I’m a bit on the weird side! Enjoy your books!
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Heard lots of great things about The Last Unicorn, but never read it or even seen the movie! So I’m definitely looking forward to checking this one out.
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Scythe!! Oh I want to read that one really bad! Hunted sounds great too – and of course, I’m always curious about Star Wars titled 😀 I hope you enjoy these^^ xx
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Haha, all this excitement over Scythe is getting me pumped too 🙂
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