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.
November is upon us! Normally the last two months of the year are my “catch up” months where I go back to check out earlier releases in the spring or summer that I might have missed, but 2017 seems to be an extraordinary year. Due to extenuating circumstances I am much farther behind on current releases than I have ever been and, incredibly, there are still a lot of great books coming out and we don’t appear to be slowing down at all as we make our steady march towards winter! Real life should be calming down for me later this month though, and hopefully I should be back on track with having enough reviews to schedule posts at least two weeks in advance, which is where I’d feel most comfortable.
And in other news, in case you missed the announcements, November is Sci-Fi Month! I’m not as organized this year though, so I’ll be kind of playing this event by ear, gathering up the sci-fi titles in my TBR and maybe making an effort to bump them up. I might also have a couple special spotlights and giveaways coming up, so keep an eye out for those!
And now, on to the new books…
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!
First, my thanks to Tor Books for sending me all kinds of goodies this week. Lately, you might have noticed a lot of buzz surrounding Steal the Stars by Nat Cassidy and Mac Rogers. This is actually the novelization based on the hit science fiction podcast from Tor Labs and I am so curious to see what it will be all about. The next surprise arrival came in the form of Blade of Empire by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, the continuation of The Dragon Prophecy series. This being the second installment, I’m not sure that it can be read as a standalone, but it looks really cool regardless. I also got a finished copy of The Dark Intercept by Julia Keller, whose release date kind of snuck up on me! It’s a YA sci-fi dystopian, which would make it a good choice to read this month, if I can get to it.
Next, Valiant Dust by Richard Baker is a book I’m super excited for, being the first of a new military SF series that has been described as perfect for Horatio Hornblower and Honor Harrington fans. An unsolicited finished copy of Deadhouse Landing by Ian C. Esslemont also showed up last week, but it’s the second volume of Path to Ascendancy and unfortunately I haven’t read the first book. It sounds intriguing though, so hopefully I can check out the full series one day. Finally, I was excited to receive a finished copy of The Realms of God by Michael Livingston. I believe this is the final book of the Shards of Heaven series which I’ve been really enjoying, and I can’t wait to see how the story will conclude.
Actually, Tor left one last surprise for me this week. With thanks to their YA imprint Tor Teen, I received this ARC of Blood and Sand by C.V. Wyk and I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to see it. I am a sucker for anything to do with Ancient Rome and gladiators, and this one sounds like it’ll be a very promising debut. And speaking of ARCs, I requested The Infernal Battalion by Django Wexler as soon as I got a heads up from the author that they were out in the world! My thanks to Ace Books for this fifth and final volume of the amazing military fantasy series The Shadow Campaigns! This is going to be an epic finale, I can just feel it. And with thanks to Prometheus Books I also received this surprise copy of Blockbuster Science by David Siegel Bernstein, a book that explores the real science behind our favorite sci-fi books, movies, and shows like Gravity, The Martian, or Dr. Who. Whenever this publisher does nonfiction, their subjects are always very interesting.
Also, Artemis by Andy Weir is almost here! My thanks to Crown books for sending me a finished copy. I am going to be reading this one very soon, and hopefully I’ll have a review ready by release week. The wonderful team at Inkshares/Geek & Sundry also sent over a finished copy of Sparked by Helena Echlin and Malena Watrous. I was sorry that I didn’t get to check this one out in October, so maybe I’ll get another chance to fit it in later this fall. And rounding out this batch is Successor’s Promise by Trudi Canavan, the final novel in the Millennium’s Rule trilogy. I’ve been waiting for this conclusion for a long time, and I am grateful to Orbit for sending me a finished copy.
Finally, from Saga Press comes Above the Timberline by Gregory Manchess, a jaw-droppingly beautiful painted novel about a polar explorer’s son searching for his stranded father. Oh my goodness, guys. Mere words cannot express how stunningly gorgeous this book is! I just can’t stop looking through these pages, which are filled with more than 120 fully-illustrated art pieces that go along with the story. I have plans to review later this month, and I can’t wait to post some images of the paintings! With thanks to the publisher and Wunderkind PR for sending me the book.
Kicking off the digital book haul this week is Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman of Seraphina fame. I’m really looking forward to see what else she has in store for us with this new series about dragons, and my thanks to Random House for Young Readers for approving me for the eARC via NetGalley. While I was over there I also grabbed Zero Day by Ezekiel Boone when I saw the book being offered for “Read Now”. This is the finale of the The Hatching trilogy, and I can’t wait to see how this spider apocalypse will play out. From Tor Books I also received an eARC of Semiosis by Sue Burke, which looks like a very interesting story about alien first contact!
And I’ve found that having NetGalley auto-approval privileges from Del Rey can be dangerous. At a time when I should be reining in my requests, I am instead tempted by all their books! I found out about Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman from Tammy at Books, Bones, and Buffy last month, and she definitely piqued my interest in it. So I when I saw the eARC pop up earlier this week, I just couldn’t help but hit the download button. I also couldn’t resist hitting the “Read It” button for Iron Gold by Pierce Brown, but surely I can be forgiven for looking forward to this next series in the amazing Red Rising saga. And last but not least, I also took the plunge on Daughters of the Storm by Kim Wilkins, which sounded really interesting from its description of a Norse-flavored epic fantasy debut about five sisters who team up against their stepbrother to save their kingdom.
Although it’s been a while since I’ve reviewed a series from Serial Box, I certainly have not forgotten about their titles. I’m especially excited about continuing with the completed Bookburners Season 2 by Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, Brian Francis Slattery, Andrea Phillips, and Mur Lafferty. I was also offered another serial for review, the completed first season of ReMade by Matthew Cody, Kiersten White, E.C. Myers, Andrea Phillips, Carrie Harris, and Gwenda Bond which is the publisher’s first YA series, featuring a dystopian adventure about twenty-three teenagers trying to survive in a world they barely recognize. Thank you so much to Serial Box for the review copies.
And I just have one audiobook for review this week. Star Wars: The Legends of Luke Skywalker by Ken Liu is pretty self-explanatory, I think, featuring a collection of myths and tales about the legendary Jedi Master. It’d be interesting to read a Star Wars book by Ken Liu though! With thanks to Listening Library.
Reviews
A quick summary of the reviews I’ve posted since the last update:
The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne (4.5 of 5 stars)
For We Are Many by Dennis E. Taylor (4 of 5 stars)
Kill Creek by Scott Thomas (4 of 5 stars)
The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (4 of 5 stars)
Children of the Fleet by Orson Scott Card (3.5 of 5 stars)
The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli (3.5 of 5 stars)
An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson (3.5 of 5 stars)
Star Wars: Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson (3 of 5 stars)
Roundup Highlights:
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update
Here’s what I’ve managed to “unstack” from Mount TBR since my last roundup post, with most of the reviews having been posted already. Like I said, I’ve fallen behind on number of books read while working through the thousand-plus-page Oathbringer, but now that I’m done it shouldn’t be long before I’m completing more books again.
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 
Pingback: Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads — The BiblioSanctum – horrorwriter
I like how the cover of ‘Deadhouse Landing’ looks similar to “Deadhouse Gates’ 🙂
I still want to read all of the Esslemont books and Erikson’s latest trilogy, but I want to reread the whole series first – will probably take me forever but I am getting there 😀
Looking forward to your review of ‘Artemis’!
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I wonder if that’s intentional! I’ve only read one of Erikson’s Malazan books and I’ve never read Esslemont. One day I’d like to give them all a try!
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I could help you catch up by just… taking some of these… *appears from ceiling*
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Haha, actually, if only you lived closer, I’d love to share! 😀
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Oh my! If I tried to stay apace with all the amazing books that are coming out these days, I would need 48 hours days, no need for sleep and freedom from my day job. Well, a girl can dream, can she? 😀
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I know, I’m running on 3-4 hours of sleep a night as it is! As usual, too many books and not enough time.
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“reviews to schedule posts at least two weeks in advance”
Aye carumba!!!! 2 weeks?!?!? Man, I feel really on top of things if I schedule a post 12hrs ahead of time, or even at all to be honest 🙂
It is really ironic that I can be so super organized when it comes to what I actually read but the writing end of the process is a real messy hodge podge. Probably doesn’t help that I cross post to places like Librarything where I have to tweak changes to the review to fit their html setup. Yeah, that’s what it is! It is ALL Librarything’s fault!
And is Deadhouse Landing an arc paperback or a hardcover?
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Yeah, I’ve got some obsessive compulsive tendencies, and falling behind on scheduling blog posts is one of those weird things that trigger some stress 😀
And I would have to check, but I believe that’s a finished copy paperback of Deadhouse!
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Paperback, rats. Well, thanks for letting me know. If it was a hardcover, I’d have offered to pay for shipping for it.
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I plan to read The Hatching at some point but that will probably be next year now.
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No need to hurry, in fact it might even be better to start the series once the full trilogy has come out so you can hit them up all at once 🙂
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Iron Gold!!! 😰😰 Also, I’m looking forward to starting Deadhouse Landing (Hopefully after I wrap up Jade City). Seems like this one didn’t have much advanced promotion.
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Haha, I know, I was so excited when I saw that Iron Gold was available. I’m hoping to start Jade City this month too, if I can fit it in somehow!
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Just finished it and liked it quite a lot! Good balance of action and politicking.
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I’m hoping to get approved for Unbury Carol! I’m also getting a copy of Above the Timberline soon, and I’m very excited to take a look. I remember hearing about it months ago and being intrigued! I also don’t remember getting this many review books at the end of the year, although I know many of them come out next year. But I keep getting finished copies of books coming out the same month and I just won’t be able to get to them all😐
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I’m sure you’ll get approval, let’s just hope they don’t take too long to check their requests! And oh yay, I’m excited to hear your thoughts on Above the Timberline! When this book came, my jaw hit the ground. It’s an incredible work of art!
And I know, right? I don’t remember so many new releases towards the end of the year in 2016 either. It’s been crazy this year!
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You’re auto approved for Del Rey? Gosh, I can see how that would be dangerous 😀 I would go insane if I was auto approved for them.. Jesus! But hey, getting Iron Gold can be in no way bad 😀
And you’ve got Artemis too! This already makes it an absolutely worthwhile SciFi Month 🙂 BTW I’m also doing SciFi Month! Gonna be fun 🙂
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Auto approvals in general are sooooo dangerous! Especially when you have no self control like me! Ugh, I get tempted by EVERYTHING 😀
And yay, the more the merrier for Sci-Fi Month!
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Dangerous, yes! But!!! If I could be auto approved by 50 publishers OR by Del Rey? I would probably choose Del Rey 😀 😀
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Wexler! And the new Brown 😀
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I’m super psyched about both! 🙂
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I still need to read Skitters and I can’t believe book 3 will be out soon. I’m so curious about Unbury Carol and I haven’t read Bookburners Season 1 and now 2 is already out. So many good books this time around and I’ll be looking forward to some of your sci-fi activities.
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Believe it or not Bookburners is already well into its third season, so I hear ya! I’m falling so far behind! 😀
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I’ll be interested to know what you think about Tess of the Road!! My review is still on an early draft form and I still do not know if I liked it or not haha.
Also excited to know your thoughts on Artemis and Steal the Stars!!
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Wow, you already read Tess of the Road! It might be a while before I get to it, but thanks for bracing me for potential issues 😀
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YESSS! I can’t wait to see your review of All Systems Red!
I’ll also be interested to see what you think of The Last Namsara and The Bloodprint. They both fell in the three/three and a half star range for me.
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All Systems Red was so awesome! I loved Murderbot!
And I thought The Last Namsara was an okay book for a YA. But I couldn’t get into The Bloodprint 😦
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I keep forgetting that Rachel Hartman has a new book out next year! Though I also admit that I’m trying to go light with pre-orders on 2018 books at the moments, since I really overdid it with buying new books this year. But that’s definitely one I’m looking forward to. And I’m interested in learning more about Daughters of the Storm, too.
On a Star Wars related note, I went to an event a couple weeks ago where Daniel Jose Older was speaking, and he announced he had finished a Star Wars novel. That’s all he said, but it’ll be interesting to see what he contributes to that universe. 🙂
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Forgot to mention that I was bad and bought more books recently. *blushes* Here they are:
Shadowhouse Fall by Daniel Jose Older
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie Dao
Wicked Like a Wildfire by Lana Popovic
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I have the Forest of a Thousand Lanterns audiobook for review still! Looking forward to it! 😀
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Oh, neat! They got Daniel Jose Older to write a Star Wars book? I like how they’re pulling in some new talent from the current crop of popular SFF authors. I’ve found that not all of them can pull it off, but I’m always curious to see what new voices can do!
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Yeah! I didn’t know that either, until he mentioned it at the Boston Book Festival a couple weeks ago. He didn’t say much more, except that he was really excited about it. 🙂
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yay some interesting books for you there! happy reading!
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Thanks, you too!
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So many good books on here – I do so love these posts, all the goodies in one place – makes it so easy for scatterbrains like me!
Lynn ;D
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That’s why I like browsing other people’s book hauls too. Though it’s also dangerous, I always end up adding a lot more to my tbr 😀
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I’m excited for Tess of the Road. I’d really like to read that because I loved the Seraphina books.
Also placed Above the Timberline on my TBR because of the phrase “painted novel”. Does that mean it’s all illustrations? I’m so curious, I might get it.
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Yes, I enjoyed the Seraphina books as well and am curious to see what else Hartman can do with dragons!
And I just finished Above the Timberline. It’s soooo beautiful. There’s a story and text, but it’s also fully illustrated on every page. Think picture book for adults, though it’s much more elaborate 😀
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I couldn’t wait. I requested Hartman’s book on NetGalley soon after reading this post. So glad they granted me an eARC! 😀
“Picture book for adults”?! I’m sold. I hope it’s in one of my local stores.
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Sweet! I look forward to your review of Tess! And I’ll also have my review of Above the Timberline up tomorrow. I’m excited to share the pictures! 😀
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Great idea putting them all together like this every other week. I keep forgetting to do my wrap ups. 😆
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I find it easier than writing multiple posts 😀 Easier to just combine a bunch of memes together, haha!
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Don’t blame you! 😀
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Above the Timberline looks GORGEOUS. Looking forward to reading your review.
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