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. For more details and full descriptions of the books, be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages!
Free Space by Sean Danker – With thanks to Ace Books, I was really surprised (and excited!) to get this in the mail last week. Admiral was such a fun book, and if the sequel is anything like its predecessor then I’m sure this is going to be very enjoyable for me. I also got quite a shock while I was preparing this post and finally got a chance to really look at the cover — I just realized that’s my blurb!
The Holver Alley Crew by Marshall Ryan Maresca – Marshall Ryan Maresca is a writing machine! He’s already been putting out a couple books a year – quality books, I might add – from his two series set in the fantasy city of Maradaine, and now he’s starting a third called The Streets of Maradaine. I can’t wait to see what this new book will bring to the interconnected universe. With thanks to DAW Books.
Death’s Mistress by Terry Goodkind – It’s been a long time since I read Terry Goodkind. Can’t say I enjoyed Wizard’s First Rule all that much, and after abandoning the series, I never looked back. But seeing as that was years ago, it seems a shame to miss out on a potentially good series especially when my tastes could have changed so much since then. Death’s Mistress is the start of an all new epic set in the same world as Sword of Truth, but from what I hear you can enjoy this one without having read the previous series. My thanks to Tor!
The Rising by Heather Graham and Jon Land – Up until recently I’ve only been vaguely aware of this book, but then I got a pitch about it describing it as “Stranger Things meets The X-Files and Independence Day” which immediately sold me. Before, I didn’t even know this had sci-fi elements! Now I’m actually really excited to read this. My thanks again to Tor.
Skullsworn by Brian Staveley – Of my new arrivals this week, this one was probably the biggest surprise. Pyrre was one of the most intriguing characters from The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne and I can’t wait to explore her story in this standalone novel. Huge, huge thanks to Tor.
The Fifth Petal by Brunonia Barry – Another surprise arrival, and even though contemporary mystery isn’t one of my usual genres, I found myself intrigued. Apparently it does have a magical realism element, starring a protagonist who is a “lace reader”, someone who can divine a person’s future through lacework. The Fifth Petal is actually a sequel, so here’s hoping I can figure out whether I can jump into this book without having read the first one. Thank you, Crown Publishing!
Final Girls by Mira Grant – Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant needs to slow down so I can catch up with her books! She has so many, written under both names, that I still need to read, and I’m adding one more to the list – this horror sci-fi novella about a new VR technology that claims to help trauma patients overcome their psychological wounds. Thank you to the awesome folks at Subterranean Press.
Nebula Awards Showcase 2017 edited by Julie E. Czerneda – My thanks to Pyr Books for another awesome Nebula Awards Showcase collection, this time the 2017 edition. I’ve been reading more anthologies lately, so one day soon I hope to check out one of these fantastic books.
Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton – Every time another “recently found” Crichton manuscript resurfaces I get a little wary, especially since the last couple of his posthumously published books have been somewhat disappointing. In the end though, nostalgia won out. Plus, this book is about The Bone Wars, a fascinating (and scandal-filled) period of intense fossil research and discovery in the late 1800s. With thanks to HarperCollins via Edelweiss.
Shadow Run by AdriAnne Strickland and Michael Miller – At this time I really should be limiting my NetGalley requests, but seeing as only a small handful of 2017 YA releases have actually managed to catch my eye, I decided to spoil myself. This sci-fi adventure looks like it could be really good! With thanks to Delacorte Press.
Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough – Pinborough is fast becoming a must-read author for me, so in fact I put in a request for this psychological mystery-thriller as soon as I saw it on offer at NetGalley — and I did it without hesitation. Thank you to Flatiron Books for approving me.
Killing Gravity by Corey J. White – Finally my thanks to Tor.com for also sending over one more e-galley this week, a sci-fi story about a deadly voidwitch. Sounds good to me!
Reviews
Time for a quick roundup of the reviews I posted since the last update. No contest, the Roundup Highlight for this week goes to The Bear and the Nightingale!
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (4.5 of 5 stars)
Department Zero by Paul Crilley (3.5 of 5 stars)
The Dead Seekers by Barb & J.C. Hendee (3.5 of 5 stars)
Infernal Parade by Clive Barker (3 of 5 stars)
Windwitch by Susan Dennard (3 of 5 stars)
Pathfinder Tales: Reaper’s Eye by Richard A. Knaak (3 of 5 stars)
Roundup Highlights:
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update
It’s taken me some time to jump back into the regular post-holiday rhythm of reading and reviewing, but I’m getting there. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve managed to finish these books! I’ve gotten a few reviews up, and the rest will be coming soon.
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 
I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Bear an the Nightingale! I can’t wait to read it!
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I hope you get the chance to check it out!
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Thanks! I hope so too!
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A night mixture of genres on your haul…nice! I plan to look at Department Zero at some point. Enjoy your books!
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Yeah it’s nice to see a variety, I love mixing it up! Thanks!
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You’re right! Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire needs to slow down a bit her book production, or we will all fall tragically behind in our reading! I learned some time ago that she was finally able to quit her day job and spend all her time writing: while I’m very happy for her, and the success she’s enjoying, keeping up with her writing speed is becoming a struggle! 🙂
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Yeah I can imagine she can write full time now, she’s been so successful with her UF series and must be selling a lot of books! I think I’ll be playing catch up for a long time 🙂
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Seanan’s writing speed is a wonder. She once told me that if (god forbid) something were to happen to her, she has enough material finished to maintain her current level of output for the next four years. I am in awe of her.
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Another Crichton book!!??? I’ll be reading that one! I’m impatiently awaiting my copy of Skullsworn in the mail- hope it’s as good as the main series!
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Yeah, I guess they just keep finding unpublished/work-in-progress books in his files. It’s definitely not the same, but I keep reading anyway 🙂
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I’ve still got a few of his originals that I haven’t read yet 😮
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Yeah I can save you the time. Wizards First Rule is the only Goodkind book that resembles a ‘book’ and not an author’s slow decent into a bubble of self praise and smugness.
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True dat! I liked up through book 5, then it really went downhill and I had to force myself to finish the series. Then I abandoned a standalone set in the same universe.
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I couldn’t even bring myself to start book two – I just did not like his writing and the direction of the story enough to feel motivated to pick it up.
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Yikes…considering WFR was a book I actually 1-starred, I can’t even imagine what the rest are like.
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I’ve read all of Goodkinds first series, but only the first one when he tried to continue it. (Just wasn’t very good) I heard Death’s Mistress stars one of the minor characters from the series. I really liked her (better than the lead) so I’m happy she got her own book. *Fingers crossed* that it’s good.
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Fingers crossed as well. Goodkind is definitely a polarizing author, but I am willing to give his new series a chance. Hope it works out.
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Oooh nice! Those are all totally new to me ones! Hope you enjoy each and every one of them!
My STS will be up tomorrow, so stop by then if you can!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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Thanks, happy reading!
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I got Death’s Mistress too – still waiting for my copy of Skullsworn. I’ll likely start on Dragon Teeth next week.
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Looking forward to reading all of these. My husband took a sneak peek at Dragon Teeth and told me it does have a “draft” feel to it, but what he saw looked interesting.
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I just finished reading Dreadnought! But, urgh I’m so behind in reviews that it may be a while until I get to it. Anyway, I’m looking forward to your reviews of it and Guns of Empire.
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I’ll probably have my review of Dreadnought up around release date. It was fun! Guns of Empire review will also be up soon!
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Whoa, very cool to see your blurb on a book cover! Especially when you weren’t expecting it. I can’t wait to read The Bear and the Nightingale, it sounds kind of like a Marillier novel.
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Yeah, I received the book almost two weeks ago but I had just put it in my “new arrivals” bag without looking at it too carefully. As I was laying them out for this post, that was when I thought I caught a glimpse of “BiblioSanctum” 🙂
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Ooh cool, a cover blurb! Yay Mogsy:-) I also got a copy of Behind Her Eyes this week, I’m so curious to see what the #wtfthatending is all about!
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I know, it seems everyone is talking about the ending! I just can’t resist that kind of tease, I have to know!
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I so want to read Skullsworn
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I’m really excited for it too!
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I haven’t read admiral yet but I liked the sound of it, and with Free Space coming out I should get on that. And yay for your blurb!!
Dragon teeth looks good. Burning Page makes me want to get back to those books…
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Thank you, I was pretty psyched to see the quote! And hope you get to get back into the Invisible Library series, the books are getting better and better.
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I had no idea that Mira Grant was Seanan McGuire ! :O How is she able to write so much ?!
I can’t wait for Skullsworn, it definitely one of my most anticipated releases of this year, I wasn’t blown away by The Last Mortal Bond but I like Pyrre as a character, she’s really unique and I really want to know more!
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Yep, Seanan McGuire = Mira Grant and you’re right she sure pumps out a lot of stuff when you think about the titles she’s published under both names in recent years.
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many different books for you this week! happy reading!
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Thank you, you too!
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I am very anxious to see what the hype is all about for the new Sarah Pinborough!
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I just finished the book! It was a very addictive read!
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I haven’t decided yet whether I’m going to pick up Windwitch. I’m sort of curious, but Truthwitch didn’t have me hooked.
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Honestly, I wasn’t blown away by Truthwitch either and I didn’t like Windwitch that much more
Probably even less than the first book.
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O M G I didn’t know there were already ARCs of Skullsworn on the wild! It’s so beautiful I cannot *o* I’ll be looking forward to your review!!
Ohhh and Shadow Run looks so cool also!!
Enjoy Killing Gravity!! I really loved it! 😀
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I was so surprised when it turned up! I hadn’t expected ARCs to become available at least for another month. I’m looking forward to digging in 🙂
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That’s awesome about the blurb! What a lovely thing to be surprised with!
I think I too feel wary but interested in the Michael Crichton book – that’s a fascinating topic but his books – even those that he finished for publication were hit and miss for me. Lots of hits though!
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Same here regarding Crichton – I wasn’t too crazy about Pirate Latitudes and Micro, even though they had another author go in and complete it. They just had a very unpolished feel to them, like you could tell they didn’t have his “final touch”.
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GAH. I was at Barnes & Noble this weekend, and I completely forgot to look for The Bear & The Nightingale!
Oh well. Maybe next time…
I don’t think any of the other books are on my radar, though I’ve been meaning to start Brian Staveley’s first series for a while. Hopefully I’ll get to The Emperor’s Blades in the next couple months.
As for my latest books, over the weekend I got some belated Christmas gifts and stopped at a Barnes & Noble on Cape Cod. So now these are waiting to be read:
N.K. Jemisin’s Dreamblood Duology omnibus
Kerri Maniscalco’s Stalking Jack the Ripper
Juliet Marillier’s Dreamer’s Pool (yay!)
R.A. Salvatore’s Homeland
All three books in Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s Dragonlance Chronicles
James Clavell’s Shogun
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Yes, next time! Because The Bear and the Nightingale is not to be missed, I think you’ll really enjoy that one!
And hooray for Dreamer’s Pool! I’m so so so happy to hear you finally grabbed a copy!
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I love the dual purpose post – makes life a lot easier. And your haul!!! I’m a little sparkly-eyed at some of the titles. Very nice! 🙂
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Heh heh yeah, I like consolidating posts whenever I can 🙂 And I think I read enough to warrant bimonthly updates rather than one big one at the end of the month 😀
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Grats on the blurb! I bet you have many by now? 😀
And arg I’d forgotten Mira Grant is Seanan McGuire. I’d been putting off picking up the Feed series because zombies but now.. Oops.
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I think I have about a dozen blurbs, though I haven’t checked around to to see if I’ve been quoted again recently. They don’t tell bloggers/reviewers about these things, but then it’s kinda cool when I get surprised like that too 🙂
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Ooh, I’m so excited to hear your thoughts on Shadow Run and Free Space! I remember you saying you loved Admiral. (It was one of my 2016 tbrs that I didn’t get a chance to read! But I did order it for my library 😉 ) SO COOL that your blurb made the cover! Apparently you’re popular with the authors!
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Admiral was a really fun book! A quick and addictive read and I hope the sequel will be similar 😀
And thanks, I was surprised to see the blurb actually, since I never know when I’m quoted. I just write reviews and it seems once in a while they get noticed by the publishers.
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How funny that they don’t email you to let you know or something! I guess sending you a copy of the book is as a good way as any, though XD
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Anything by Pinborough! Yep, yep, yep.
Skullsworn I’m really looking forward to.
A couple on here that I definitely like the look of but I’m ignoring them *lalalalalalal* nothing to see here! Okay, so I did take a look….. damn!
Happy reading.
Lynn 😀
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Ahhh, I just finished the Pinborough book and it was awesome!!! 😀
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