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!
Much love to Tor Books for this trio of gorgeous finished copies! I’ve been hearing quite a bit about Crossroads of Canopy by Thoraiya Dyer and while there have been some mixed reviews, the bulk of what I’ve seen has been positive. I’m hoping to read it soon. Next up is the latest Pathfinder Tales novel, Through the Gate in the Sea by Howard Andrew Jones. I’m actually really excited about this one, which features a “deepwater salvager” protagonist, and from the looks of things there will also be lizard-folk and feathered dinosaurs. Finally, The Skill of Our Hands by Steven Brust and Skyler White is the second novel of the Incrementalist series. I’ve actually read book one back when it came out four years ago, so it’s been a while and I’ll probably need a refresher on the story and characters before I jump into the sequel.
Also huge thanks to Orbit for the following finished copies received! I am beyond thrilled for Winter of the Gods by Jordanna Max Brodsky, sequel to the absolutely amazing The Immortals which was one of my favorite books last year. As well I’m pretty pumped about Revenger by Alastair Reynolds which — believe it or not — will be my first time reading anything by the author, so that’s something I’m looking forward to. I also got a nice surprise last week when this print copy of Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames showed up on my doorstep. It’s a book I’ve been curious about for a while though, and I have definite plans to read it.
Thanks to the awesome folks at Wunderkind, I was also offered the opportunity to review these two amazing titles from Saga Press: The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley sounds really intriguing, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to check it out later this month. And then there’s Phantom Pains by Mishell Baker which I’m so, so, so psyched to read! I adored the first book Borderline, and I can hardly wait to get back into this world with Millie and the Arcadia Project.
The White Road by Sarah Lotz – When this ARC arrived, it made my day — I’m a huge fan of Sarah Lotz and this book has been on my must-read list from the moment I heard she was writing a new horror-thriller about survival in the most inhospitable environments on planet earth, from the claustrophobic Cwm Pot caves to the merciless Death Zone of Everest. My thanks to Mulholland Books!
The Seventh Age: Dawn by Rick Heinz – Kudos to Inkshares for always introducing me to the coolest books! This was pitched to me as a “Jim Butcher-esque Chicagoan fantasy horror series ‘with a two pack-a-day habit'” featuring a blend of ancient and contemporary magic. It appears to have flown under a lot of radars, but I’m seeing a lot more of it around now and readers seem to be giving it a lot of praise.
My thanks to the Jo Fletcher Books team for this beautiful proof of Empress of the Fall by David Hair, book one of the Sunsurge Quartet. It’s the start of a sequel series to David Hair’s Moontide Quartet which I have to say is one of the most breathtakingly stunning epic fantasy series I have ever read, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, you are missing out. I’m ashamed to admit that I’m actually a book shy from completing it, but I’m hoping that won’t prevent me from jumping into this one and enjoying it right away. I’m still a little floored by the spectacular design of the winged Pegasus; one has to wonder what the finished copy will look like if the ARC is already this gorgeous.
Alone by Scott Sigler – Another surprise arrival, but it was also one I was quite happy to receive. I might have had mixed feelings about the first book, but ever since the second one, the story has been really growing on me and I find myself looking forward to see how The Generations trilogy will end. Thank you to Del Rey Books.
The Only Child by Andrew Pyper – My request for this book actually got approved around the same time I featured it for Waiting on Wednesday earlier this month, so that was some great news! Thank you to Simon and Schuster for the opportunity!
The Valiant by Lesley Livingston – Audiobook, with thanks to Listening Library. As soon as I saw this book, I knew I had to read it. Ancient Rome and female gladiators, come on! In fact, I’ve actually finished listening already, and yep, LOVED IT.
Freeks by Amanda Hocking – I also couldn’t help requesting this book in audio, because something me it’ll be a fun one to listen to. With thanks to Audible.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells – Another tasty novella from Tor.com! I’m a fan of Martha Wells’ Books of the Raksura so this one has me especially excited, and I’m also curious to see how she’ll tackle the sci-fi genre.
Dreamfall by Amy Plum – This is on my list of must-read YA of 2017, so when I saw it pop up on Edelweiss, I simply couldn’t resist. With thanks to HarperTeen.
The Empire’s Ghost by Isabelle Steiger – I was also happy to receive this e-galley invite to one of my most anticipated fantasy debuts of the year. Thank you to Thomas Dunne Books.
Reviews
A summary of my reviews posted since the last Roundup:
In Calabria by Peter S. Beagle (4 of 5 stars)
Heartstone by Elle Katharine White (4 of 5 stars)
Bookburners by Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, Mur Lafferty, Brian Francis Slattery (4 of 5 stars)
Lost Souls by Kelley Armstrong (3.5 of 5 stars)
A Darkness Absolute by Kelley Armstrong (3.5 of 5 stars)
The Rising by Heather Graham and Jon Land (3.5 of 5 stars)
Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza (3.5 of 5 stars)
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update
Here’s what I’ve read recently, with a few reviews already posted. The rest to come 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 could sure take and read a few of those 😉
And I am curious about Wyld, kind of want to request it, but at the same time I worry it is not for me
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That always concerns me too when it comes to new-to-me authors, but I have seen a few rave reviews that makes me think Wyld will be right up my alley, so crossing my fingers 🙂
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You’re going to be pretty busy with that lot! I need to make The Immortals more of a priority and get it read by the spring if it can. I’ve got a couple of series catch ups I need to get to first and a few random paperbacks and then back onto the ebooks for March! Enjoy your books!
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Yep, thankfully a few of these are still a couple months out from release, but the reading list for February is definitely filling up!
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That is a haul!
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Yep, the ever growing TBR 🙂
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I’m about 100 pages into Kings of the Wyld and loving it! Has that same mature, kind of snarky, kick-ass feel as Andy Remic or Mark Smylie.
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Holy shit, you just said the magic words. Also, every time I hear the “Mark Smylie” I start longing for the sequel to The Barrow. Oh man, now I’m even more excited to tackle Wyld!
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Awesome set of books you got! I just bought Freeks! I hope its good!
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I finished Freeks recently. On the face of it, the story was pretty standard, but there was a nice romance if you like that in your YA 🙂
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Cool!
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I’m looking forward to your reviews for several of these books, especially Kings of the Wyld and Empress of the Fall.
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Kings of the Wyld has shot pretty far up my list now, so I’ll definitely be reading it soon 🙂
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So many great books all in one post. It looks like all of the books you’ve reviewed lately were good ones, too. 🙂
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Yep, no really “stand-out” reads this week, but everything falling in the 3.5 to 4 star range is nothing to complain about 🙂
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Consider me jealous about Crossroads of Canopy. Looking over recent releases that was one that topped my curiosity meter. I also am a book shy of completing the Moontide Quartet and as much as I loved it thus far I find myself very intimidated by 800 page tomes anymore. But The Stars are Legion is awesome. So that should go to the top of your list.
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I’m curious about CoC too. It’s got some pretty mixed reviews though, but the setting and ideas intrigues me.
One of these days I need to finish up the Moontide Quartet! It really is a brilliant series.
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Some lovely books on here – the one I’m most looking forward to is Winter of the Gods – oh, and also Valiant.
Lynn 😀
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Valiant was AWESOME! And yep, WotG is high up on my list too – gah I’m going to have a hard time deciding what to read next 😛
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I’m salivating over the cover of Empress of the Fall – wow! You have a few digital galleys that I missed somehow, so I just went back to NetGalley and requested The Only Child. Also I missed Dreamfall somehow, I might download it but I need to put the brakes on at some point, lol. And The White Road! Wow, great haul, 2017 is looking like a fantastic book year:-)
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Yeah, the Edelweiss offerings from Harper YA are always tempting, I have to only request the ones I know are must-reads 🙂
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I haven’t heard much about Crossroads of Canopy yet, I’m interested to hear what you think of that one! Stars Are Legion looks so good — plus it’s a standalone! Yay! 🙂
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The reviews I’ve seen for CoC have been all over the place…which just gets me more curious, of course 🙂
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Great haul! I’ve heard some mixed things about Crossroads of Canopy, so curious to hear what you think of it. Also, love that cover for the David Hair book! 🙂
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The Pathfinder book looks fun, and I loved the Immortals. Can’t wait to read Winter of Gods. Valiant I’m really curious about, Freeks I liked and Six Wakes I just finished too. Can’t wait to see what you think of those!
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Six Wakes was fun, wasn’t it? Not what I expected at all, but it was very enjoyable 🙂
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I’m so excited about The Valiant- esp since you enjoyed it! Yay! I was hoping it would be as awesome as it sounds *dances* And I’m super excited to hear what you think about Winter of the Gods, The Only Child, Revenger…so much good stuff on your list, as usual! 🙂 And I really hope you enjoy Crossroads of Canopy, too!
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P.S. I just started reading a book that reminds me quite a bit of The Dresden Files, too- it’s kind of like UK Dresden fan-fiction, but super fast paced! It’s one of the Nightside books by Simon R. Green, #9 Just Another Judgement Day. (The cover makes me laugh- it’s basically Harry with guns!) The first chapter of 50 pages has already blasted through more plot than most full novels. It’s pretty great XD One of the library workers turned me onto them. We have a ton of ardent Dresden fans in our library!
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Review of The Valiant is up now – I loved it. I didn’t think I was going to like it so much, so that was a nice surprise 🙂
And I’ve heard of the Simon R. Green Nightside books, they’ve always interested me, but of course I came to the genre late and by the time I heard of them it was already half a dozen books in. I wish I had more time to catch up with all the UF series that interest me 🙂
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There are soo many, I know! Whenever I browse ARCs by, say, Berkley PG, I’m like, “Book 14? I don’t think I can catch up in time to order this” haha
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OMG yes, it’s especially bad with the Penguin paperback imprints 😀
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The title that most caught my attention was the new sci-fi novella from Martha Wells: having recently read the first of her Raksura novels (that are fantasy, indeed, but for me with just a pinch of SF thrown in for flavoring – IMHO), I’m quite curious to see how she deals with a different genre. I like writers who hop among the genres, to me it shows great flexibility 🙂
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Yeah, sci-fi from Wells should be fun! I have read her Star Wars novel, but that in my mind doesn’t really count, lol! The Raksura books are evidence enough that she’s an incredible world builder, so I’m more interested to see what she can do with her own original world and characters.
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wow nice, many great books there ! happy reading!
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Thanks, happy reading to you too!
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That is a pretty epic line-up. Here’s hoping they’re all great!
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Thanks, I’m looking forward to a lot of them 🙂
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I’d also seen a negative review of Crossroads of Canopy, so I’ll be curious to see what you think of that one. Also – WINTER OF THE GODS! I already pre-ordered that one, so I’m looking forward to reading that one, too.
Besides WotG, my most recent book additions are brand new ones: Dawn Study by Maria V. Snyder, and Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman.
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Yeah, I’ve seen mostly negative to average reviews for CoC which is a shame. And nice haul! I hope you enjoy WotG. I’m also curious about Norse Mythology. Not the biggest fan of Gaiman, but that one does look good 🙂
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