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.

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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!

With thanks to Tor Books for the following: When I Cast Your Shadow by Sarah Porter is a paranormal YA which I’m actually currently reading (and very close to finishing). It’s a bit of an odd and disturbing book, and not exactly in a good way, but I’ll have a better idea of how I feel once I’m done! Then came this surprise ARC of Weave a Circle Round by Kari Maaren in the mail, which of course I’m very excited about because it’s one of the books on my “Can’t Wait” list for this fall.

Another surprise arrival, White Bodies by Jane Robins is a little bit outside my wheelhouse, but seeing how this year has been a good year for me when it comes psychological thrillers, I might give it a try if I can find some time this fall. With thanks to Touchstone Books.

Also a huge thanks to Titan Books for all their help in ensuring that these gorgeous finished copies of The Race and The Rift by Nina Allan got into my hands! Apparently there was a spot of trouble with the shipping at the warehouse and as a result things took a while, but eventually the books arrived safe and sound. I’ve always wanted to try this author and I’ll be starting these very soon.

Next up is an interesting one. I’d almost given The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne a pass but then an article about the science-y aspects of the book caught my eye, making me realize it was more than just a typical mystery thriller. It sounds like a suspenseful read and I have plans to tackle it in early October. My thanks to the publisher Thomas & Mercer and Wunderkind PR.

I’m also very excited about Blackwing by Ed McDonald, which has already gotten plenty of amazing reviews from its UK release earlier this summer. A post-apocalypic grimdark-ish fantasy? Sign me the hell up! With thanks to Ace Books for the finished copy.

And finally, my thanks to Harper Voyager for Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill. This is another book which gotten plenty of accolades and praise from reviewers, so I’m really curious to check it out. When the package arrived, I was also surprised to see that the publisher had included An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King, a dystopian novel set in near-future China that explores the country’s “One Child Policy” in a culture that favors sons. With everyone plotting to have a boy, the result is that in 2030, there are 40 million unmarriageable men who can’t find wives. Having spent a good chunk of my life growing up in China and having seen the effects of the One Child Policy first hand, this topic is pretty close to my heart and it sounds like there could be more truth than fiction in the book’s premise. I’d love to give this one a read this fall if I have time.

  

  

    

On to the digital haul, my thanks to Tachyon Publications for sending me an invite widget to read Starlings by Jo Walton, an anthology collecting some of the author’s short stories. Over at NetGalley I also couldn’t help myself and requested Ironclads by Adrian Tchaikovsky. My first experience with his work went very well earlier this year and now I’m addicted. With thanks to Solaris for approving my request.

Thanks also to Tor.com for sending me an e-galley of The Armored Saint by Myke Cole. I’ve enjoyed his Shadow Ops books in the past, so I’m quite interested to give this one a try too.

Next up, thanks to Tor Books for sending me eARCs for a couple of amazing looking upcoming releases. As a military sci-fi fan, Valiant Dust by Richard Baker is sounding really good to me. And I became very interested in The Midnight Front by David Mack when I found out that the author has written several Star Trek episodes as well as a bunch of other tie-in work. I’m a Trek lover, so that’s all the endorsement I need!

From First to Read, I also received Seventh Decimate by Stephen R. Donaldson. Despite the book receiving some mixed reviews already, I decided that the author of the famed Thomas Covenant books starting a new series is something I really don’t want to miss.

And my thanks to Inkshares for Kill Creek by Scott Thomas – they knew how much I was looking forward to this book and sent me an eARC in advance of the hard copy that’s also on the way to me right now. I’m so excited to read this creepy haunted house horror, which is appropriately schuduled to come out on Halloween.

Rounding up my new arrivals are a couple of audiobook review copies. With thanks to Listening Library for That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston – I really enjoyed the author’s Star Wars book last year and I figured it was high time I tried some of her other YA stuff – and also for Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao, which I hope will live up to its hype!

Reviews

A quick summary of the reviews I’ve posted since the last update:

Age of Assassin by R.J. Barker (4.5 of 5 stars)
Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda (4 of 5 stars)
Revenant Winds by Mitchell Hogan (3.5 of 5 stars)
Warcross by Marie Lu (3.5 of 5 stars)
The Twilight Pariah by Jeffrey Ford (3 of 5 stars)
At the Table of Wolves by Kay Kenyon (3 of 5 stars)
The Dinosaur Princess by Victor Milán (2.5 of 5 stars)
Nyxia by Scott Reintgen (2 of 5 stars)

Roundup Highlights:

What I’ve Read Since the Last Update

Here’s what I’ve “unstacked” from the TBR since my last roundup post. I’ve already posted reviews for a couple of these, and the rest are coming soon!

    

  

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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!:)

Category: ARCs, Audiobooks, Book Lootz, Bookshelf Roundup, NetGalley     Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

45 Comments on “Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads”

  2. I love the look of the creepy haunted house book and I came very close to requesting the Jo Walton book too which looks great but I’ve decided to try and catch up at the moment so being sensible – which frankly sucks!
    Happy reading.
    Lynn 😀

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  3. White Bodies looks interesting, and An Excess Male has a very interesting premise, I agree. The Race and The Rift covers are very nice.

    The Salt Line I have and am curious about, and Leia is one I was considering. Will be anxious to see your thoughts on those. I think I’m sold on Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, too.

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  8. I have to figure out how to get a copy of Kill Creek. I can’t find any publicity info on the Inkshares website to request, but that book is definitely calling to me😀 I’m also looking forward to Weave a Circle Round. Awesome haul as usual!

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  9. Oooooh, I’m curious about Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, too. But I’ve been burned one too many times by YA debuts, so I’m going to patiently wait for you and others to read it first. 😉 And I’ve never heard of Nina Allen, but the covers for her two books caught my eye. *scoots over to Goodreads to investigate*

    I have a bunch of new books as well, thanks to my birthday earlier this month (gifts as well as using a gift certificate to my favorite indie bookseller on Cape Cod). Let’s see if I can remember all of them…

    – Beren & Luthien by J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien
    – 17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma
    – Crown of Embers and The Bitter Kingdom by Rae Carson
    – House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
    – Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman
    – The Zahir by Paulo Coelho (not SF&F, but I’ve been dying to read it forever)
    – Abhorsen by Garth Nix
    – A poetry book each by Ursula K. Le Guin and Mary Oliver

    I also won a Goodreads giveaway for Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s The Beautiful Ones, which arrived in the mail yesterday.

    Holy crap, that’s a lot of books… XD :S

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    • Wow, that’s a lot! Which indie book store do you go to? Next time I go to Cape Cod, I’ll have to look them up!

      And I agree, I’m really hoping Forest of a Thousand Lanterns will be good. I’m having another string of bad luck with YA lately, several of my highly anticipated titles have not panned out. I still have faith though, or maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment 😛 I keep trying those that sound interesting to me, hoping that I’ll find a gem 🙂

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  11. What a fantastic haul of books! Many, many thanks for sharing as I’ve now nicked across to Netgalley and requested Ironclads:)). Fingers crossed to see if I now get it… I LOVED Sea of Rust, so I’m very curious to see what you make of it. I NEARLY buckled and bought The Race – but I’m both skint and have more than enough books on my TBR pile…

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  16. Loving the font they’ve used on Weave A Circle Round. I’m terrible for judging book covers based on the fonts they use 😀 I added Sea of Rust to my wishlist earlier this week – it sounds really, really good! I DIDN’T KNOW JO WALTON HAD A NEW BOOK!!!!! Ahem. David Mack’s Star Trek novels are really good, so I’m tempted by The Midnight Front but the WW2 setting puts me off a bit. I might look around for some reviews.

    These posts are so dangerous for me – I always find so much stuff I want to read!

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    • I looove the cover for Weave a Circle round! I won’t deny that I totally judge books by their covers and this one made me want to read it 😀

      And yes, Jo Walton’s Starlings is on the horizon, though it’s an anthology and not a novel but I’m sure her fans won’t mind either way 😀

      And I feel the same way about the David Mack book, WWII stories can be hit or miss with me, but given the author’s Star Trek connections I think I’ll risk it!

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  18. Aw Man – there are some great looking books in this haul. The Naturalist was the first to catch my eye for obvious reasons – i.e. it looks like a mystery-thriller that has some biology? Definitely want some of that! An Excess Male also looks really interesting and I am really excited about That Inevitable Victorian Thing – glad you’ll be reviewing the audio of that one. And Leia! By Claudia Gray! I will go look now to see if you’ve already reviewed!

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Welcome to The BiblioSanctum! A Book Blog for Speculative Fiction, Graphic Novels... and more! Mogsy, Tiara, and Wendy are proud moms, geeks, gamers and bibliophiles. We're always reading and yet, there never seem to be enough books! Our Goodreads lists are an eclectic assortment of genres -- and we love to share our thoughts. The BiblioSanctum is a home for our absolute love of reading.


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