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.
It has been a busy summer, and for the whole month of August we were barely around with all the visitors and road trips. But now we’re back from the beaches and whale watching in Cape Cod, and getting ready for back-to-school. Never mind my ever-growing TBR, there’s also been an insane amount of stuff piling up on my to-do list, but hopefully it’ll just be another week or so before some semblance of order returns to my life again! In the meantime, I’m also behind on thanking the publishers and authors for new review copies received, so please check out this first batch of books and be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages for more details and full descriptions.
Received for Review
A big thank you to Entangled: Teen for the following received: Keeper of the Bees by Meg Kassel is one I’ve been eagerly anticipating. With a tagline of “Beauty and the Beast like you’ve never imagined”, I can’t wait to see to see if this unique and imaginative retelling will live up to that promise. Next up is a finished copy of Seventh Born by Monica Sanz, another book I’m very curious about. The seventh-born daughter of a witch is given a new chance at a future by a handsome young professor who sees something powerful in her that no one else does.
Also my thanks to Subterranean Press for sending me an ARC of The Prisoner of Limnos by Lois McMaster Bujold, the next Penric and Desdemona novella. It’s also the follow-up to Mira’s Last Dance which I just recently reviewed, so the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
Earlier this month the amazing folks at Pyr Books also sent along a finished copy of the anthology Nebula Awards Showcase 2018 edited by Jane Yolen. Since 1966, each year has seen a new volume come out, featuring the nominees and winners of the Nebula Awards. So this is a great collection if you want to check them all out.
Huge thanks also to Tachyon Publications for the following new ARC arrivals: The Last Unicorn: The Lost Journey by Peter S. Beagle is described as a rediscovered origin story featuring the “might-have-been” journey of the beloved unicorn made famous by the author’s 1968 classic. And How to Fracture a Fairy Tale by Jane Yolen is a collection of her stories and poetry offering some unique takes on a number of fairy tale classics.
Courtesy of the awesome team at Ace Books, I also received ARCs of The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman, the fifth book in the amazing Invisible Library series, as well as Priest of Bones by Peter McLean, a delectable fantasy about an army priest crime boss who returns home after the war to find that his criminal empire has been stolen from him while he was away. For readers who like complex story lines and morally grey characters, this one sounds very promising. Finally, the publisher also sent along a finished copy of Irontown Blues by John Varley, a new noir science fiction novel about a detective who hunts for the biohackers responsible for unleashing a dangerous new disease. Plus, his partner is a genetically altered dog named Sherlock.
With thanks to Harper Voyager, I also received a finished copy of Temper by Nicky Drayden. I’ve kicked myself for missing out on the author’s Prey of Gods last year, which is why I decided to check this one out. Unfortunately, I didn’t like it as much as I expected. My review will be up soon in which I will go into more detail, but in a nutshell, it was just too weird for me. I’m sure it’ll find an audience though.
And wrapping up, I received a couple of finished copies from the kind folks at Tor Books: The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal is the second novel in the Lady Astronaut series, sequel to The Calculating Stars (which I still need to read!) You might have also caught our #FearlessWomen coverage last week on this book which includes an exclusive excerpt, so check that out if you haven’t yet. And from the publisher’s YA imprint Tor Teen came this gorgeous finished copy of Girl at the Grave by Teri Bailey Black, which I will be reading very soon.
In the digital haul, from NetGalley I received The Perfect Daughter by Kaira Rouda. I really enjoyed reading Best Day Ever last year and I can’t wait to read more of her work. With thanks to Graydon House for approving my request. Also thanks to Del Rey, I was able to snag an eARC of Thin Air by Richard Morgan. From the author who brought us Altered Carbon comes this mystery described as a tale of corruption and abduction set on Mars. To my great excitement, earlier this week I also received an e-galley of Exit Strategy by Martha Wells from Tor.com. This is the fourth Murderbot Diaries novella, and I can’t wait to dive in. From Edelweiss and Sky Pony Press, I requested A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna after a few early reviews piqued my interest. And after a few months of quiet, I was also pleased to receive a new pitch from Inkshares about their wild and dark fantasy novel, published under their Sword & Laser imprint. The Animal in Man by Joseph Asphahani was the winner of their 2016 manuscript competition, featuring a gritty and violent world where talking animal-human hybrids are split into five different kingdoms locked in war.
In the audiobooks pile, I received an advanced listening copy of Wildcard by Marie Lu, the sequel to Warcross, as well Give the Dark My Love by Beth Revis, with thanks to Listening Library. And from Audible Studios via the Ethan Ellenberg agency, I received a review copy of Signal by Tony Peak, a science fiction thriller about an exploration team journeying out to a distant moon in the Alpha Centauri system to investigate an extraterrestrial signal. This one sounds like it’s right up my alley. Described as perfect for fans of Andy Weir and LOST, the story becomes a survival adventure after disaster strikes and the crew must learn to navigate a hostile environment while facing strange occurrences like false readings on sensors and bizarre nightmares.
Reviews
My reviews posted since the last update:
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett (4.5 of 5 stars)
The Book of Hidden Things by Francesco Dimitri (4.5 of 5 stars)
Shadowblack by Sebastien de Castell (4.5 of 5 stars)
Scream All Night by Derek Milman (4 of 5 stars)
Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio (4 of 5 stars)
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (4 of 5 stars)
Dive Smack by Demetra Brodsky (3.5 of 5 stars)
Mira’s Last Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold (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. 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 
You know, if you hadn’t said anything, I’d never have known you were out and about travelling, etc. Your postings never stuttered, you came to my blog as often as usual and you even commented about the same level. Your interactions here on your blog were just as quick and even as usual.
In fact, I’m going to go so far as to say you are making up all that stuff and you’re really stashed down in your secret bunker online 24/7 😉
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Haha, I usually have my review posts scheduled about a week to two weeks in advance so that is why you never see interruptions. Meme posts I usually post up to a few days beforehand (the above roundup was drafted on Wednesday after I got back, for example 😀 )
As for commenting around the blogs, I do a lot of it on my phone. I was mostly able to keep up on my most recent trip to Cape Cod where we were visiting my mother-in-law who literally goes to bed at like 8, leaving me plenty of time to browse the interwebs when we get home early on the evenings, lol.
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Ooh whale watching- nice! How To Fracture A Fairy Tale sounds fun, and Irontown Blues does too (plus the dog!!) Signal sounds amazing- sounds like there might be some creep factor there- and of course Wildcard (yes it’s here!) and Exit strategy. I love Murderbot.
I have An Unwanted Guest on my shortlist of books to read soon, so I hope it was good! 🙂
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I started Signal, and the beginning of it didn’t really capture my attention, so I put it aside for now – we’ll see if I feel up to giving it another go 😛 And YES, I would totally pick up Irontown Blues just for the dog, lol! I hope you’ll enjoy An Unwanted Guest, I had fun with it!
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I’ll certainly be grabbing the fourth Murderbot book as soon as I can as I’m reading the third one this month.
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Nice! I liked it a lot – I hope you’ll enjoy it too!
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Oh what fun!! My work did a whale watching trip but unfortunately I was sick on that day 😦 I haven’t been whale watching since middle school!
Great wrap-up! Have a great September!
Erica | Erica Robyn Reads
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Ah, that’s too bad, but yeah it wouldn’t have been fun on a whale watching trip while sick – I noticed that the boat really tosses you around a lot 😀 And thank you, hope you have a great September too!
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Oh wow! Whale watching! That’s so cool! I feel like I’d love to experience that too but I don’t like being out on the ocean! Too scary for me! Lol!
Nice new reads too! A few familiar ones to me and quite a few new to me ones! I hope you enjoy all of them!
My STS will be up tomorrow, so stop by then if you can!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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It really is quite disconcerting to be out in the open water, but we went on a clear day and you could still see land even though it was waaaaaay out in the distance – but it helped, lol!
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Looks like you have a ton of great stuff in your TBR pile!
Btw, I finished The Book of Hidden Things last night. That ending line!!! Ahhhh! ❤
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Oh I know, it was such an evil last line! I kind of wish he hadn’t ended the book on that note, it would have been just fine without that extra “what if?” element thrown in. I thought he got a bit cheeky there 😛 I can see how it could make some readers fly into a rage!
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On the one hand yeah, I agree. But I don’t know if you could even classify it as Fantasy if he didn’t lead you on at the end there. Like, just when everything was normal, bam. Lol It was a really great read.
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Great month! I’m curious about Priest of Bones, and Girls at the Grave and Give the Dark my Love are both catching my eye right now
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I hope to be starting Girl at the Grave soon – still kind of waffling on Priest of Bones, but given some of the positive response so far, I’ll probably check it out 🙂
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Whale watching! Jealous
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It was my first time, and I loved it!
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Happy reading with Keeper of the Bees! And Wildcard is one I’d love to read!!!
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I just started Keeper of the Bees! It is so wild and wonderful so far! 😀
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Yay, Priest of Bones is on my reading list as well 🙂 Hope it can deliver!
Not sure what to think about that new Peter S. Beagle story? The cover looks nice…
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I’m not sure about the Peter S. Beagle story either. His Last Unicorn is a classic, I don’t know if I want to read an “alternate” version or anything to that effect 🙂
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I hope you had an amazing summer!! Ooh, you read the new Pinborough. 🙂
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I did and I enjoyed it! Review should be up in a couple of days!
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Oh that’s great there! Many good looking books and I’m so curious about your reviews! Happy reading!
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Thanks, and happy reading to you too!
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The two that immediately stand out to me are the Cogman and McLean. I need to catch up with the first and maybe I’ll await your comments on the second.
Lynn 😀
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Yay, you definitely need to catch up with The Invisible Library, the series is getting so good! And haha, I was thinking I would wait on Priest of Bones as well, but every day that goes by I get more curious so I think I will read it 🙂
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Oooh, you went whale-watching off the Cape! 😀 Did you see a lot of whales while you were out there? New new book haul too, btw!
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We did see a lot! We went out to Stellwagen Bank (like all the whale watching boats in the area, I presume) where there was a ton this summer, apparently. We saw humpbacks, probably close to two dozen of them in the area feeding.
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Yup. The whale watch I went on last October went out to Stellwagen Bank, too. Though I heard on the news recently that whales and dolphins have actually been spotted closer to Boston Harbor than in years past…
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Love that picture! I think i’d be too scared to be that close to whales, but in theory it sounds like a lot of fun!
Keeper of the bees sounds interesting. Saw a review yesterday, and i want to read it at some point as well. Hope it will be as good as you expected!
I’m also meaning to check out Martha Wells’ books. Murderbot is proper awesome!
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I started Keeper of the Bees, and it’s really cool so far! Probably one of the most unique and imaginative YA I’ve read so far this year 😀
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Oooo, I’ve always wanted to go whale-watching! That photo is beautiful. I loved Keeper of the Bees! That series is awesome. 😍😍 Happy reading!
Have a lovely day, Mogsy. =)
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
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I’m loving Keeper of the Bees so far! It’s so good 😀
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I’m really curious about Keeper of the Bees as well. I’d read a review on it, and apparently the characters are super interesting. Also, I’m intrigued by Give the Dark My Love! I’d been seeing it everywhere, and the title just grabbed my attention right from the get-go. 😉
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You’ve got some super amazing books to look forward to! I’m personally pumped to read Priest of Bones! It sounds sooooo good, I’m dying to crack it open! Hope you discover some new faves among these! Happy reading!
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