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.
I know I just did my Roundup post, but I’m switching up my schedule a bit since it’s looking like I’ll be on the road again next week and I wanted to slip in an update before things got too crazy. So big thanks to the publishers and authors for the following review copies received, and make sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages for more details and full descriptions!
Received for Review
From the wonderful folks at Crown Publishing, I received this gorgeous finished copy of Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett. As a big fan of the author, I should have started this book long before this, but worry not! This bad boy is coming with me on my trip and I’m looking forward to reading it at the beach.
Next up, with thanks to Ace and DAW Books, I received a finished copy of Ravencry by Ed McDonald, the highly anticipated sequel to last year’s Blackwing, continuing the saga of the bounty hunter Ryhalt Galharrow. As well, I received an ARC of The Way of the Shield by Marshall Ryan Maresca, the start of yet another series set in the author’s world of Maradaine. This makes, what, four series now? How many can this amazing man juggle? This time, he will be taking readers deep into the inner workings of Tarian Order, an ancient warrior guild that has always stood for order, justice, and the common people.
And with thanks to Orbit comes this finished copy of Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames, another book that is high on my priority list this month and which I will be reading soon. Also, a surprise came in the form of this ARC of There Before the Chaos by K.B. Wagers, the start of a follow-up series to the author’s Indranan War trilogy. I read the first book of that one a couple years back, and was intrigued to learn of the sequel trilogy. But the great surprise of all this week was probably this next one from Orbit’s sister imprint Redhook, a beautiful ARC of The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner. This book was already peripherally on my radar, but its arrival has shot it all the way up my highly anticipated list. As if the description of magic, folklore, and the dangers of the woods in this fantastical debut weren’t enough, in the package were also these pretty homemade gold feather bookmarks.
From the awesome team at Tor Books, I also received a finished copy of Denied by Cathy Clamp, the third installment in the Luna Lake novels of the Sazi. I’ve read the first book of this shapeshifter urban fantasy series, but I must have missed something because I only have hazy recollections of the second book’s release and the most part it completely passed me by. Looks like I have some catching up to do.
With thanks to Harper Voyager, I also received a surprise copy of Hollywood Dead by Richard Kadrey. Can you believe the Sandman Slim series is now on its tenth volume? I think I’ve only read the first two. As ever with these long-running urban fantasy series, I find it very difficult to catch up once I fall so far behind and I don’t know if I can jump in without feeling like I missed out on a ton. But I do hope I can check it out again sometime; I really like the author and his world-building and characters.
I’m also intrigued by A Time to Scatter Stones by Lawrence Block, a novella starring one of the author’s most beloved creations, the private detective Matthew Scudder. Thank you to Subterranean Press for the ARC!
And who else is curious about You May Now Kill the Bride by R.L. Stine? An author who was a staple from my 90’s childhood is revisiting his famous young adult series in Return to Fear Street, complete with a retro look and the tagline “perfect for fans of Stranger Things“. Okay, I admit I’m tempted to read this, if nothing else for a kick of nostalgia. And that’s not all; R.L. Stine seems to be quite busy these days, also bringing us Scream and Scream Again, a collection of original scary stories written by some pretty well known authors. Despite it being an anthology and targeted at Middle Grade readers, I kinda want to check this one out. With thanks to HarperTeen/HarperCollins for sending me these.
Finally, a big thank you to Titan Books for sending me a review copy of Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover by David Liss, the official prequel novel of the upcoming game for the Playstation 4 which I’m very excited about. The story will be completely new and not connected to any existing comic, game, or movie, covering both the character’s life as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. To get the full picture, I definitely want to play the game and read the book.
In the digital pile this week, I picked up an audio review copy of Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J. Maas, the latest in the DC Icons series. I have my concerns with Maas’ writing, but I’m hoping that my love for Catwoman might allay some of those. With thanks to Listening Library.
From NetGalley, I also hit the download button on The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout, the start of a new YA paranormal series that brings readers back to the author’s Lux universe. While I’m not familiar with her older books, I’ve heard nothing but good things about her stories and hopefully this will be a good jumping on point. With thanks to Tor Teen.
And from the awesome team at Tor.com, I received an eARC of Finding Baba Yaga by Jane Yolen, a short novel written in verse. The format is exactly what it sounds like: a series of short poems that tells the story of a young woman who runs away and comes upon a strange little house in the woods–a house that walks around on chicken legs and is inhabited by the well-known titular fairy tale witch. Not a hundred percent sure this is my kind of read, but hey, you never know.
Reviews
A list of my reviews posted since the last update:
Age of War by Michael J. Sullivan (4 of 5 stars)
Bad Man by Dathan Auerbach (3.5 of 5 stars)
Dreadful Company by Vivian Shaw (3.5 of 5 stars)
#MurderTrending by Gretchen McNeil (1 of 5 stars)
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update
Here’s what I’ve managed to “unstack” from the TBR since the last update. More reviews 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 
Ooooh, great new additions! I’m super intrigued by R.L. Stine bringing back Fear Street titles. Those were some of my faves as a kid, but I’m not sure how well they’d hold up nowadays! Scream and Scream Again also sounds pretty fun, though I tend to typically like MG horror, anyways. I also can’t wait to see your review for The Book of Hidden Things – that’s one I really need to hurry up and get a move on with!
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I already finished reading that new Fear Street book, in like a day. it was a really quick read and I actually liked it more than I thought I would. Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking 🙂
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Oooh, wonderful! Haha it could be the nostalgia but I won’t lie, I’m adding it to my TBR. 😂
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Have fun with Foundryside!!
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I hope to be starting it soon!
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I especially like the sound of Foundryside! And hoping the Catwoman book is good too. I kinda want it just for the cover! The Jane Yolen one looks interesting.
Looking forward to thoughts on The Book of hidden Things!
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Crossing my fingers for the Catwoman book – I’ve already heard some not so good things though 😛
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I need to get started with Nicholas Eames soon as I like the sound of his stuff. I’m branching out a little into SF and fantasy and one I enjoyed a lot was Murderbot! I’ve just grabbed the third one and I see that after the fourth, a full length book is coming! Yea!
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Yeah, I saw the news about the full length Murderbot book too! Can’t wait!
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OOoh nice new reads! Some new to me ones there! Feels like ages since I read a book by Cathy Clamp! I really enjoyed the Bloodsinger series she cowrote but I never did read the latest (last?) book but so much time has passed I will feel totally lost if I attempted it now!
Hope you enjoy all your fantastic 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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I’ve only read that one Cathy Clamp book, but I know her Sazi series is pretty big!
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I’m so excited for The Sisters of the Winter Wood! I hope I get the chance to request it. I’m so curious to see what you think of Foundryside😁
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Sisters of Winter Wood sounds like a book I’ll like! Hope it will be good 🙂
And I hope to start Foundryside soon, if my reading plan holds 😀
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So many great books! Love the cover for that Jane Yolen book. Like Tammy, I’m also super excited for The Sisters of Winter Wood. (Cover for that one is amazing as well and reminds me of black forest wood workings…) Hope you have a great weekend!
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The cover of Sisters of the Winter Wood is indeed quite pretty – and even more gorgeous in real life, with the gold embossing. It’s just the ARC too, I can’t imagine how beautiful the actually finished copy will look! Let’s hope the story will live up to it 😉
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Ohh I so want to read The Sisters of the Winter Wood!!!
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Me too! That one’s been getting a lot of buzz lately.
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So many good books!
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It’s going to be an awesome rest of the year with some of these fall and winter releases.
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Oooh, ‘The sisters of the winter wood’ sounds cool! I need to put it on my list. (The cover looks pretty awesome as well!)
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Yeah, I was really happy when it showed up. The cover is all nice and shiny too, too bad it doesn’t show up so well in the photo!
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yay many great things for you! I was wondering too if I could strat with this Armentrout book. Happy reading!
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Let’s hope we can jump into The Darkest Star with no problems! It looks really good!
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Oooh did they send that feather bookmark thing along with book? That’s super neat! And I’m VERY excited for Bloody Rose. 😀
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Yeah, when I opened the package, the book was wrapped in a like a black paper like a shroud and these gold feathers fell out with little swan and bear cutouts stuck on them, haha! I was wondering what they were! 😀
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I was gonna say, didn’t you post a Bookshelf Roundup last weekend? *lol*
Nice haul once again. I don’t really have anything new to report from my shelves, though I’m currently borrowing Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear from my local library (it’s pretty good so far!) and The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger from one of my friends.
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Haha, yeah we decided last minute on a quick vacation before the start of school. We’re actually on Cape Cod right now, visiting my mother in law again 😀
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Nice! Enjoy your visit. This weekend is supposed to be gorgeous and not too humid, so you picked a great time to go. 😉
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I both love and hate visiting your hauls. I love seeing what you got and hate my TBR growing. I can’t wait to hear what you thought of Divesmack., I’ve had my eyes on it for a long time.
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Dive Smack was pretty good, just not as “thrilling” as I expected for a thriller 🙂
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Ooooo, The Sisters of the Wood sounds good! I love anything with magic and folklore. 😍 I liked JLA’s Lux series years ago when I was a young teen, but as a Young Adult, I’m not sure I would still enjoy the books. I don’t know. I might check out The Darkest Star. 😋 I hope you enjoy all of your new books, Mogsy!
Have a fantastic day. =)
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
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Thanks for chiming in about the Lux books, so glad to know someone who’s read them and liked them! I know nothing about that series, so jumping into The Darkest Star should be interesting! Hope I won’t get too lost 🙂
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I can’t wait to pick up the Sisters of the Wynter Wood – it sounds near perfect so I really have everything crossed that this one lives up to the gorgeous cover
Lynn 😀
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Yes, same here! It does sound like something we’d both like…I hope we don’t hype it up too much for ourselves, lol!
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Terrific haul! Ever since I heard about Ravencry and Foundryside, I haven’t been able to get them out of my head. I’m particularly intrigued to check out the latter; the cover is simply gorgeous, and the reviews for it sound awesome. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts once you get around to it! 🙂
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