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
My thanks 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.
Kicking us off this week is Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente, a finished copy of which I finally hold in my hands, yay! There were some delays with the shipment of review copies, but thanks to the kind folks at Saga Press and Wunderkind PR, I got mine late last month and I devoured it like a hungry beast as soon as it arrived. Be on the lookout for my review sometime in the next week.
Up next are a couple of new ARCs courtesy of Freeform/The Disney Book Group: #MurderTrending by Gretchen McNeil is one I’ve been seeing around a lot in recent months, so when it was pitched to me for review, I couldn’t resist. Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes also caught my eye because I’ve become drawn to YA mysteries lately. The protagonist in this one allows her wealthy grandmother to bribe her into becoming a proper Southern debutante in the hopes of finding out who her father is, so I already know I’ll be in for an interesting ride.
Thanks to Orbit Books, I also received ARCs of a couple highly anticipated May releases! The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn by Tyler Whitesides has been on my radar for a while, but I only recently found out that it’s a heist story, so now I’m even more excited to read it. And then of course there’s Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan, the second book of the Gods of Blood and Powder series that he started last year to follow up his Powder Mage trilogy. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
And then there’s this little gem which was a surprise arrival with thanks to Tachyon Publications. The People’s Republic of Everything by Nick Mamatas looks to be a collection, featuring “a decade’s worth of crimes, fantasies, original fiction”. I’ve only read one book by the author (I Am Providence) and I enjoyed it, so maybe I’ll check this out.
I was also beside myself with excitement when a surprise package arrived from Crown Publishing a couple weeks ago, containing an ARC of Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett! A new RJB book is always cause for a celebration, and this one sounds like it’s gonna be killer. Huge thanks to the publisher.
And speaking of exciting ARCs, a copy of Mecha Samurai Empire by Peter Tieryas landed on my doorstep recently and its arrival was what prompted me to feature it for my Waiting on Wednesday post this week. After all, who can resist a book about 150-foot-tall robots vs. Nazis? The publisher also sent me The Empire of Ashes by Anthony Ryan, the third book of the Draconis Memoria series, but of course, I still need to catch up with book two, gah! Soon, I hope. With thanks to Ace Books.
And at last, the third book of The Queens of Renthia is here! The Queen of Sorrow by Sarah Beth Durst will round out the trilogy, promising a dramatic finale (and a bloody one too, if the trend from the previous books continues). Speaking of, the publisher also included paperback copies of the first two volumes, The Queen of Blood and The Reluctant Queen, in the package, which was so awesome of them! My thanks to Harper Voyager.
And finally, thanks to Pyr Books for this finished copy of Blood Orbit by K.R. Richardson. I’m looking forward to reading it, and also thrilled to be hosting an author guest post and giveaway sometime later this month, so be sure to keep an eye out for that!
On to the digital haul, from NetGalley I didn’t hesitate to snag an eARC of We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix as soon as I saw that it was available; the author’s books are always a lot of fun, so I have pretty high hopes for this one. I also couldn’t resist Brief Cases by Jim Butcher because I never want to miss anything to do with Dresden Files, one of my favorite urban fantasy series. I’ll even read this anthology, even though short stories aren’t generally my thing. I was also sent a widget of Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering, and even though this book is nothing like what I would normally read, I nonetheless decided to give it a try since the publisher description intrigued me. With thanks to Quirk Books, Ace Books, and Atria Books, respectively.
I was also sent an eARC of Scream All Night by Derek Milman from Balzer + Bray via Edelweiss. My thanks to the author who got in touch to let me know about the book! I hadn’t known about this Young Adult horror before, but after finding out more about its premise, I really want to read it now.
And in the audiobook pile, I was pretty psyched to get a listening copy of Circe by Madeline Miller, courtesy of Hachette Audio, after hearing all the wonderful things about this book. Finally, from Macmillan Audio, I requested Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young. I tried as hard as I could to resist this one, but then caved hard after reading Tammy’s rave review at Books, Bones & Buffy!
Reviews
The following is a list of my reviews posted since the last update, along with this week’s highlighted read. The distinction, without a doubt, belongs to The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang.
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (5 of 5 stars)
Head On by John Scalzi (4.5 of 5 stars)
The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus (4 of 5 stars)
Glimpse by Jonathan Maberry (4 of 5 stars)
Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel (3.5 of 5 stars)
Star Wars: Last Shot by Daniel José Older (3.5 of 5 stars)
Roundup Highlights:
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update
Here’s what I’ve managed to “unstack” from the TBR since the last update. Stay tuned for more reviews!
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 look forward to your sky review one day then, I am curious
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I just finished the book, so it should be up soon!
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Space Opera and #murdertrending are two I’m interested in, I’m hoping both turn out to be good reads! The Queens of Renthia I should read now that they’re all out- binge time! and I broke down and got Sky in the Deep too! Oh and circe sounds good from what I’ve seen.
Nice haul!
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Space Opera was interesting…my review should be up soon with my thoughts. Just started The Queen of Sorrows, and I’m really enjoying it so far! Also looking forward to checking out #MurderTrending. And I hope you’ll enjoy Sky in the Deep, I had a great time with it!
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So many nex books for you! happy reading!
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You too! 😀
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Ooh nice! Quite a few new to me ones here, though a few are familiar! I was keeping an eye on Scream All Night! Though I did read #murdertrending and LOVED it!! Always love Gretchen’s thrillers! Hope you enjoy each and every one of your new reads!
My STS will be up tomorrow, so stop by then if you can!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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Oh I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed #MurderTrending! So excited about that one!
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I loved Sky in the Deep. I wasn’t sure at first, but I’m hoping to read more of Adrienne’s work soon!
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I just finished it. It was a quick read and a pretty simple story, but I enjoyed it a lot!
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Sky in the Deep on audio should be good! I loved the emotional connections between the characters and that could translate very well to audio. I was thrilled to get my copy of Space Opera a few days ago so I’ll be reading it very soon. I’ve heard good things so far!
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I actually just finished listening to the book and it was awesome! The narrator for it is really good too, I’ve enjoyed her narration in the past so I knew there was a good chance I would enjoy it 🙂
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Another great haul for you! I’m a little intrigued by the queens of renthia though it isn’t what I usually read.
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It’s a wonderful series. I just started the third book and I’m enjoy it a lot 😀
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Blood Orbit is a title I’m quite interested in, since I love the mix between police procedural and science fiction. And of course the new McClellan – with this author I don’t even need to read a synopsis: I just grab the book and start reading 😀
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Yes, I’m quite eager to jump into the new McClellan book! I love the world and his characters!
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I really loved Circe and am interested in hearing your thoughts about the audiobook. And I’ve also heard great things about Sky in the Deep! 🙂
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I’m so glad to hear you loved Circe! It’s not something I normally read, but the description was irresistible and all the positive reviews had me intrigued! Hoping to start it soon 🙂
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Madeline Miller’s writing is very poignant, so I think you’ll enjoy it (hopefully!) 🙂
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ah, Dresden files… i should really continue that series 😍
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It’s one of the my favorite UF series! And one of the few long running ones that I’m actually keeping up with, lol!
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I love the PC Grant series too! Admittedly, haven’t read a lot of those either, but it’s so funny too 😀
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That’s my other favorite UF series! It’s the only one that literally makes me laugh out loud! 😀
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Nice haul! I’m most looking forward to Empire of Ashes and Little White Lies. 🙂 You’ve got a great lineup there.
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Yeah those book will be interesting, I think!
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Ooh, deep jealousy at the Dresden Files arc! 🙂
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Yeah, I was sort of on the fence with requesting it…I’m not really into short story collections but, I was like, ahh, it’s the Dresden Files, fine I’ll make an exception 😛
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Awesome haul! I love that murdertrending cover!!
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It’s pretty eye-catching (and a bit disturbing)! 😀
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Yeeeess to the new Grady Hendrix. That is currently my most anticipated read. I hope you enjoyed Space Opera! I look forward to your thoughts on it. 🙂
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Yes, a new Grady Hendrix book is always a good reason to celebrate! And I thought Space Opera was fun! My review should be up soon!
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Super jealous of that The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn ARC! I’ve been really looking forward to it, but I’ve seen zero reviews on it thus far so I’m putting off purchasing it until after the release date.
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Yeah, I haven’t heard much at all about it either, which can be a good thing since it’s fun sometimes to go in blind! I’m crossing my fingers it’ll be as good as the description promises though!
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Wasn’t Tammy’s review so persuasive? 🙂 I definitely want to read Sky in the Deep now, though I’ll probably rent it from the library rather than buy it. Can’t wait to read your thoughts on it soon!
As for me, I was in Salem, Massachusetts for a long weekend and stopped by one of their local bookstores… and finally found Juliet Marillier’s Son of the Shadows! Now I can continue the Sevenwaters series. (*jumps up and down*)
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Scream All Night and Sky in the Deep sound like my cup of tea.
Lynn 😀
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