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!
Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts – Bastards gotta stick together. That’s what a group of court children who were born on the other side of the sheets learn when they stumble upon a crime they were never meant to witness, and now they’re all that stands between the kingdom and treachery. I don’t know about you, but this one sounds awesome! My thanks to Disney-Hyperion for the ARC!
Worldshaker by J.F. Lewis – My thanks to Pyr for this beautiful finished copy. That’s some seriously gorgeous cover art, which is a considerable improvement from the ARC edition if I’m remembering right!
Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop – I was also really excited to receive this fifth and final novel of The Others series. I’m actually a little nervous to read it because I still can’t quite believe it’s all coming to an end, but hopefully I’ll get to start it sometime next week. With thanks to Roc.
Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey – Much love to Tor for sending me this keeper copy! In case you missed my review for this book, you can find the link below. I loved it, but then it’s Jacqueline Carey and she never disappoints!
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab – The wonderful folks at Tor also sent me a finished copy of this third and final novel of the Shades of Magic trilogy. This series has been growing on me and I find myself really looking forward to see how the finale will play out.
Eleanor by Jason Gurley – This book made some waves when it came out last year, and now its paperback release is on the horizon. I still really need to read this! With thanks to Broadway Books.
The Devil Crept In by Ania Ahlborn – A great review of this from Jennifer over at Book Den convinced me to request it and give it a try, and I’m so glad I did. I already read it and it was creepy as hell! My thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley.
Borrowed Souls by Chelsea Mueller – Thank you to Talos for this e-galley which I grabbed as soon as I saw it pop up at Edelweiss. Borrowed Souls is on my list of most anticipated debuts of 2017 and I can’t wait to check it out.
The Heart of Stone by Ben Galley – I’ve wanted to read Ben Galley ever since last year’s SPFBO, so when he emailed me earlier this month asking if I would like to review his upcoming book, I said absolutely! Next month Ben should also be stopping by for a guest post, so stay tuned for that.
Snapshot by Brandon Sanderson – Audiobook, courtesy of Audible Studios. I only learned of Snapshot recently, but it’s Sanderson so of course I have to read it! Apparently this novella takes place in the same universe as The Reckoners, though I’m not sure how it all fits together yet. Can’t wait to listen and find out.
Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire’s End by Chuck Wendig and The Wanderers by Meg Howrey – More audiobooks, courtesy of Penguin Random House Audio. Of course I have to see the Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy through, and The Wanderers was a book that caught my attention recently, when I saw a blurb describing it as Station Eleven meets The Martian.
Greedy Pigs by Matt Wallace and Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones – More novellas from the generous Tor.com team! I’m very curious about Mapping the Interior and I just finished Idle Ingredients so I should be all set now for Greedy Pigs!
Reviews
Here’s a summary of my reviews posted since the last Roundup. For this week’s highlights, I want to bring attention to a couple of excellent reads: The Grey Bastards, which I read for SPFBO; and The Valiant, an amazing YA novel about female gladiators in Ancient Rome.
The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French (4.5 of 5 stars)
The Valiant by Lesley Livingston (4.5 of 5 stars)
Death’s Mistress by Terry Goodkind (4 of 5 stars)
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty (4 of 5 stars)
Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey (4 of 5 stars)
Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire (3.5 of 5 stars)
Freeks by Amanda Hocking (3 of 5 stars)
Gilded Cage by Vic James (2.5 of 5 stars)
Roundup Highlights:
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update
Here’s what I’ve read recently, with a couple 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 need to try and hunt down a few more of the Matt Wallace books after enjoying the first book in the series. I still snigger every time I think of Monsieur Udders!
LikeLike
After four books, the series is still great. I can’t wait to read the fifth, which is already on the horizon 🙂
LikeLike
OOoh nice haul!! I got Etched in Bone last week! Now I just need to read the previous two and I’ll be set! LOL! There used to be a time I was ALWAYS caught up on my series, I can’t remember what that was like now! LOL! Hope you enjoy all the new reads!
My STS will be up tomorrow, so be sure to stop by if you can!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
LikeLike
I just finished Etched in Bone this weekend. I kinda expected a little more for an ending, but overall the entire series has been very enjoyable. I hope you get to catch up soon!
LikeLike
Worldshaker has such an awesome cover! Heart of Stone was *almost* my next paperback read, until I picked up my copy of Skullsworn last night. 🙂
LikeLike
Ah, Skullsworn is a good choice too though! I hope you’re enjoying it. I probably won’t start it until closer to release, but I’m excited!
LikeLike
I also got a surprise copy of A Conjuring of Light. I’m very curious to see how this series wraps up. I’m reading Kings of the Wyld right now and really enjoying it!
LikeLike
Kings of the Wyld was so much fun! I hope you’re enjoying it. And let’s hope we’ll both enjoy A Conjuring of Light too 🙂
LikeLike
I do want some of those
LikeLike
Curious, anything in particular catch your eye? 😀
LikeLike
Schwab and Etched in Bone obviously and as for new ones, Borrowed Souls looks intriguing. I feel like UF have been lacking lately
LikeLike
Yeah, I notice there are a lot of books from existing series still coming out, but very few new ones have stood out in recent years.
LikeLike
The cover for The Heart of Stone caught my attention (what a powerful, arresting image!) and I went to read the blurb for the book, so color me intrigued for what promises to be a very intense story! 🙂
LikeLike
Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve wanted to try Ben Galley for a while, especially after his fantasy western Bloodrush got such great reviews in last year’s SPFBO!
LikeLike
Nice, these look great!
LikeLike
Happy reading!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, you cleaned up! That’s a ton of books! I loved The Valiant – definitely one of my favorites of the year (already). I’m hoping to read Royal Bastards soon! It sounds awesome. I hope you enjoy all of your new books!
Have a lovely weekend, Mogsy. =)
Check out my STS post!
LikeLike
I’m so glad you enjoyed The Valiant as well! It’s one of my favorites of the year already too 🙂 Definitely best YA novel I’ve read so far at least!
LikeLike
I reallllly want to read Matt Wallace’s novellas!! I LOVE the idea of supernatural catering. I really need to catch up on the ADSOM trilogy too 😮
LikeLike
Sin du Jour is fun as hell (no pun intended 😉 )! I think you’d really enjoy the series!
LikeLiked by 1 person
One day when I find some breathing room in my schedule or take a vacation I’ll DEFINITELY be reading these!
LikeLike
Nice haul! 🙂 I was so excited when I aw Snapshot appear on Amazon, haha. Can’t wait to hear what you think! Several of the others look great, too, like the indie one. Awesome cover. Hope you enjoy all of them!
I just got The Valiant through interlibrary loan! Unfortunately, I don’t have access to the audiobook, but I’m to try it anyway 😀 I might even shuck my responsibilities and read it through tomorrow…
LikeLike
Hopefully I’ll get to Snapshot soon. The audiobook is only a little more than a couple hours so it should be a quick listen. I can’t believe I only found out about it recently, but when I heard “Reckoners world” I knew I needed it! 😀
And I hope you enjoy The Valiant!
LikeLike
Can’t wait to read your review! 😀 And I did end up loving The Valiant!! I’m planning to review it this week.
LikeLike
Hooray! I look forward to it 😀
LikeLike
Kings of the Wyld. Cant wait to see your review. Kinda regretting passing on a copy of Miranda and Caliban now.
LikeLike
Really enjoyed Kings of the Wyld. I’m a bit behind on writing my reviews, so hopefully I’ll get it up in good time 🙂
LikeLike
I’m in the middle of A Gathering of Shadows (Schwab) and kind of know what you mean about “growing on you”. Both this and book one started out pretty slow for me but book one ended strong and I am just getting to the point in book 2 where things are heating up! She takes her time setting the scene which I appreciate but which also keeps the books from being my absolute favorites though I am loving the series! I’ll look foreward to your thoughts on the conclusion!
EEP! So many reviews of interesting books you’ve published lately and I am SO behind on reading them. That’s what Sunday mornings are for I supposed….
LikeLike
Yes, I felt the same way about AGoS! Honestly the first book didn’t do much for me and I thought it was way too hyped. I’m glad I continued though, because I think I reached that same point as you and finally felt, “Hey, now we’re getting somewhere!”
LikeLike
I can’t wait to read Etched in Bone and The Valiant. They book sound so good and I LOVE The Others series. I’m sad to see it end but excited for the spin-off series. So many good books this week. I love Matt Wallace and need to make time for Greedy Pigs since I’ve already downloaded it.
LikeLike
I just found out the other day about The Others spinoff! I’m sad that Meg and Co’s story is over but I’m so glad to hear that Bishop will still be writing in this world!
And I can’t wait to dive into Greedy Pigs either – especially with that ending to Idle Ingredients!
LikeLike
I really need to get on with reading Schwab’s series! I’ll have to pick up the third book when I’m back in the UK.
LikeLike
I just started it. Not bad so far! 🙂
LikeLike
I didnt realize you havent read Eleanor yet. I really enjoyed that one.
LikeLike
LOL no I haven’t, though it’s been on my tbr foreeeeever. Soon…
LikeLike
I know you didn’t mention it here, but I LOVED The Bear and the Nightingale! I finished it in 3 or 4 days, partly because I was home sick, and enjoyed every moment of it. 🙂
LikeLike
Wow nice! I’m sorry you were sick (hope you’re better now!) but at least you got to binge read a great book 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aw, thanks for the shout out. 🙂 I’m so glad you were able to snag a copy of The Devil Crept In.
LikeLike
Yeah I was so glad too. As soon as I saw you review, I knew I had to read it! 🙂
LikeLike
The title that intrigues me the most is The Wanderers, I heard about it recently and it sounds right up my alley!
I have a copy of Empire’s End and I am excited to see how this trilogy will end!
LikeLike
I’m hoping to tackle Wanderers soon! I don’t know much about it, other than the cool sounding blurb but I’m excited to discover all its mysteries 🙂
And I recently finished Empire’s End – I was happy with it!
LikeLike
Mapping the Interior sounds really good…and also like it might be creepy. I’d love to read it.
LikeLike