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!
Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey, the seventh book of the much raved about Expanse series. I’ve been waiting soooo impatiently for this one, and I can’t wait to start!
Also thanks to Subterranean Press for an ARC of Phoresis by Greg Egan! Like a lot of the books the publisher sends to me early, I can’t seem to find anything online about this book yet, but the description on the back describes it as a narrative chronicling a tale of two planets. One is inhabited while the other is not, though with the former’s resources dwindling, its people are hoping to build a bridge from their planet to its (hopefully) inhabitable sister. Sounds interesting indeed.
Next up is a new-to-me book courtesy of Fiery Seas Publishing and the kind folks at Wunderkind PR. Demon Freaks by J.R.R.R. Hardison sounds totally bizarre. A group of punk rocker kids need to ace their SATs so they sequester themselves in an isolated cabin in the woods in order to cram for it. What could go wrong? The evil Golfer’s Association, that’s what. This might be a little too silly for me, but if you enjoy quirky books like this, you should check it out!
Another surprise arrival coming up, this one with thanks to Entangled Publishing. The November Girl by Lydia Kang follows a half-mortal named Anda who is born of the lake and is the bringer of November storms. When a runaway named Hector ends up on her island on Lake Superior, an unexpected relationship forms. I gotta admit, while I’m generally iffy when it comes to magical realism novels, something about this one really speaks to me. It’s also gotten some fantastic reviews so far, so hopefully I’ll have time to take a look.
With thanks to Inkshares I also received a finished copy of Sorcery for Beginners by Euphemia Whitmore with Matt Harry. I had hoped to read the ARC of it this summer, but the release date snuck up on me quick!
And from BookishFirst, I read and shared my thoughts on an excerpt from The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden, and ended up winning a raffle for the ARC! I’ve already read it and loved it, so be sure to keep an eye out for my review next week.
Kicking off my next batch of new books is an ARC of Child of a Mad God by R.A. Salvatore, the start of a new series from the author who brought us Drizzt Do’Urden. I also got an ARC of Shroud of Eternity by Terry Goodkind, the sequel to Death’s Mistress. Next up are a couple of finished copies: Hymn by Ken Scholes, which is the final volume of his Psalms of Isaak series (unfortunately I have not read any of the previous books), and Weave a Circle Round by Kari Maaren which I’m really looking forward to reading (hopefully soon!) I also love the adorable key bookmark it came with. Thank you Tor for all the great books!
I would also like to thank Pyr books for sending me a finished copy of The Nine by Tracy Townsend, which I am so excited to read especially since I’ve heard such amazing things about it recently! I couldn’t quite manage to fit it in my November schedule, but I’m starting it now. Since I prepare these posts ahead of time, by the time you’re reading these words, hopefully I’ll be well into the story already and enjoying the hell out of it. And finally, I received an ARC of Blade and Bone by Jon Sprunk, which is the third volume of the Book of the Black Earth series. I’ve only read the first book, so yes, I’m a bit behind!
Wait, what’s this? More goodies from Tor! A couple weeks ago I was surprised to receive from them a large lumpy package, and when I opened it, I found six of these paperback-sized hardcovers inside. Apparently they are part of a new line of miniature books that Tor just put out, with selections ranging from Tor’s older classic titles to newer releases. The full list of releases are Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson; Six Months, Three Days, Five Others by Charlie Jane Anders; Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card; Wild Cards edited by George R.R. Martin; Old Man’s War by John Scalzi; and From the Two Rivers by Robert Jordan. With dimensions of 4 x 6, these are definitely “mini-sized” and oh so cute! My thanks again to Tor for this cool set, and also for giving me a great holiday gift idea for some of my more bookish friends.
After several weeks of binging on NetGalley I’ve resolved to reign in my requests this month, so there’s only a couple new books in the digital haul. From St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books I was sent a widget invite to Between the Blade and the Heart by Amanda Hocking, a Young Adult novel inspired by the Valkyries of Norse mythology. From First to Read I also lucked out and scored a review copy of Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh, which I had entered a draw for because it looked interesting!
Reviews
A quick summary of the reviews I’ve posted since the last update:
Communication Failure by Joe Zieja (4 of 5 stars)
ReMade created by Matthew Cody (4 of 5 stars)
Origin by Dan Brown (4 of 5 stars)
Above the Timberline by Gregory Manchess
Awakenings by Edward Lazellari (3.5 of 5 stars)
Provenance by Ann Leckie (3 of 5 stars)
Interviews & Guest Posts
A huge thanks to author S.C. Flynn for stopping by The BiblioSanctum this week with a guest post featuring a character from his new novel The Hidden Face!
Guest Post: “Malombra Reviews The Hidden Face!” by S.C. Flynn
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update
Here’s what I’ve “unstacked” from the TBR since my last roundup post. Reviews are 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 
Your review of Communication Failure finally compelled me to acquire its predecessor, Mechanical Failure and add it to my reading queue: some fun reading would be quite welcome right now! And enjoy Persepolis Rising: it went even beyond my wildest expectations… 🙂
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Nice! Communication Failure was a little too silly for me (the second one was toned down, so it worked a lot better), but if humorous sci-fi is your bag, it might work! I hope it ends up being to your tastes!
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i need to do some serious unstacking! I have high hopes for next year (I say that every December!)
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I know what you mean. I say the same thing every year too 🙂
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The mini-hardcovers. What do you think of them?
They seem very much like a novelty item to me and I wonder, and hope not, if they are a new format. I’m already unhappy with what they [the publishers in general] did with the trade paperbacks, reducing the size and making them massmarketpaperback quality.
So if hardcovers in general start getting messed with, well, I can guarantee that that will be the end of buying them for me.
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The mini hardcovers seem like a gimmick, albeit a very cool one! I wouldn’t worry, I doubt they’ll be replacing their traditional hardcovers any time soon, this strikes me as a novelty format which they will only put out for certain high profile or classic titles. The timing of these new minis probably isn’t a coincidece either, I’m sure they’re marketing them as Christmas gift ideas for the bookish, or the perfect stocking stuffers!
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Thank goodness.
Sanderson’s books would have to be split up into 4 or 5 to fit these little things…
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Oh good! Glad to hear you enjoyed The Girl in the Tower, so I’ll keep an eye out for your review soon. Curious to know what you thought of The City of Brass, too.
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I really enjoyed both! My review for The Girl in the Tower is up now, so you can see how much I loved it. The City of Brass was a gem of a surprise as well, I didn’t expect I would like it so much!
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Oooh nice! Lots of new to me ones here! Seen a few of them around but have yet to read any! I hope you love each and every one of these new reads!
My STS will be up tomorrow so be sure to stop by then!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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Thanks, I hope you enjoy your new reads as well!
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It’s been ages since I read a Greg Egan book, but I really enjoyed some of his past work. I’m curious about The City of Brass so looking forward to the review.
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I’ve never read Greg Egan, so I’m curious! And The City of Brass was awesome, I hope you get a chance to check it out!
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I had heard about those mini Tor books, so cool that they sent you a pack! I’ve never read Old Man’s War and I was thinking that would be a cool format to read it in. Do you know if they are the entire book? It almost seems like they would be abridged.
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Yeah, I was really surprised when this lumpy package from Tor came, and then these six tiny little hardcovers came out. I believe they are the full book – I would need to confirm, but I can’t imagine Tor would put out abridged versions, because I think they would want to market these to new readers, and it would be so annoying if they weren’t complete!
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Ahhh, I’m so impatient for Into the Drowning Deep. I hope it lived up to expectations!
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Sad to say I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped, but I was probably expecting too much!
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Omg Arden!!!
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It was amazing!
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Thanks for hosting me this week!
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You are welcome, thank you so much for dropping by!
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A great bunch of books as always. I need a copy of Demon Freaks because it sounds odd and I have to know what it’s about!
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Honestly, Demon Freaks sounds so bizarre! If you do get a chance to check it out, I would love to hear what you think.
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A great bunch of books! I love the look of The Nine and hope you enjoy reading these.
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Thanks! I’m currently reading The Nine and I’m having a blast 🙂
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I’m glad you’re enjoying it so much:)
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I have to remember to add Above the Timberline to my TBR because I totally want to read that now! The November Girl has me really curious too with the Great Lakes angle. The TOR minis look kinda cool too!
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Knowing how much you enjoy sci-fi and fantasy artwork from your Sunday posts, I think Above the Timberline would be right up your alley 🙂
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I’m excited to read Into the Drowning Deep and All those Explosions! I have both on my ereader and planning to read this December!! *_*
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I believe I rated both books 3 stars – solid with some flaws, but overall enjoyable enough. Can’t wait to hear what you think of them 🙂
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Really like the look of the November Girl. Great haul. Enjoy 😀
Lynn
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That one piqued my curiosity as well. It sounds positively enchanting 🙂
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Sorcery for Beginners looks like a lot of fun! On the other hand, I panicked a little when I saw From the Two Rivers in the post thinking there was a new prequel series to The Wheel of Time that I’d need to get around to one day 😀
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