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, and be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages for more details and full descriptions!
Kicking off today’s rather large book haul, with thanks to Orbit for an ARC of Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter, a gorgeous debut that I hope will live up to everything it promises! This looks so good, and the cover is drool-worthy. Also from the publisher, finished copies of Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker and Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes. Both of these authors have an excellent sense of humor, so I’m really looking forward to checking out their books.
A big thanks also to Tor.com for sending this lovely novella, Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett, described as a queer dark fantasy sequel to Shakespeare’s The Tempest. It’s short and sweet, and I’m definitely planning on giving this a read later in the month.
I’d also like to give a shout out to Harper Voyager for sending me Markswoman and Mahimata by Rati Mehrotra from the Asiana series. Book two just came out, but I was offered review copies of both books when I told the publisher that I hadn’t read the first one. Having been curious about this series for a long time, I’ve already finished Markswoman, which was a super quick and fun read.
And how quickly time flies. The paperback release of The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French is already coming out, and the folks at Crown Publishing were so kind to send along a copy. If you haven’t read this yet, you’re really missing out! But don’t fret, still plenty of time to catch up before the sequel drops in October!
Also thank you to Ace/Roc/DAW and Berkley for the following ARCs: The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall was a surprise arrival, described as a homage to Sherlock Holmes with a new twist that is “charming, witty, and weird”; and The Beyond by Chloe Neill is the fourth book of the Devil’s Isle series which I’m painfully behind on, but I loved the first book and I do have plans to continue. A finished copy of A Parliament of Bodies by Marshall Ryan Maresca arrived earlier this month as well, which is the third book in the Maradaine Constabulatory series.
Plus much love to Night Shade Books for these lovelies: Kingdoms of the Cursed by Greg Keyes is the second book of the High and Faraway series, the first book of which I still haven’t had the chance to read yet, but it’s on the list; and The Skinner by Neal Asher is the mass market paperback reissue of the author’s first Spatterjay novel and the start of his classic Polity series.
Up next, I’m beyond ecstatic about these two awesome new arrivals from Titan Books: The Near Witch by V.E. Schwab is a reissue of the author’s now hard-to-find and out-of-print debut, the book that began it all; and Captain Marvel: Liberation Run by Tess Sharpe is an all-new original standalone novel featuring the most powerful hero in the Marvel Universe as she frees Inhuman slaves imprisoned on a distant planet – perfect if you didn’t get enough of the character from the movie.
And finally, my thanks to the amazing team at Subterranean Press for this treasure trove of ARCs: coming to hardcover is The Flowers of Vashnoi by Lois McMaster Bujold, a Vorkosigan Saga novella following Ekaterin in her early days as Lady Vorkosigan; Atmosphæra Incognita by Neal Stephenson is a story of human persistence and innovation, following the construction of a 20-kilometer high tower to bring humanity to the threshold of outer space; In the Shadow of Spindrift House by Mira Grant is a dark horror tale surrounding the titular decrepit property whose legal ownership, for some reason, is something people are willing to pay a great deal of money to determine; and The Girl on the Porch by Richard Chizmar is described as a spooky thriller of twists and turns that will forever change the way you look at your friends and neighbors.
I also want to take this chance to showcase this gorgeous box I received from Night Shade Books and Wunderkind PR earlier this week, celebrating the release of the second book to Tina LeCount Myer’s Legacy of the Heavens series. The box contains both novels in the epic fantasy series, The Song of All and Dreams of the Dark Sky, as well as a delightful assortment of goodies and book swag including a custom crafted scented candle (White Birch, calling to mind the freshness and tranquility of pristine Finnish forests), some yummy mint candies, a couple bookmarks, as well as a note from the author accompanied by this snazzy Tarot card! Stay tuned for more coverage of this series later in the month, as we’ll be sharing some cool content as well as a possible giveaway so you can win your own Legacy of the Heavens box.
On to the digital pile, I added a ton of listening copies to my audiobook queue this week. With thanks to Harper Audio, I received Sherwood by Meagan Spooner, a female Robin Hood retelling, as well as a psychological thriller called The Night Visitors by Carol Goodman. From Random House Audio, I received The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell, which I’ve already listened to and enjoyed a lot, as well as The Women’s War by Jenna Glass, a feminist high fantasy epic. From their Young Adult imprint Listening Library, I received Star Wars: Queen’s Shadow by E.K. Johnston, the story about the end of Padme Amidala’s reign as Naboo’s queen and the start of her career as a senator. And rounding out the audio review copies, I also got Dawn of the Exile by Mitchell Hogan, with special thanks to the author for contacting me to let me know that this follow up to Shadow of the Exile was out, along with a code to review the audiobook!
From NetGalley, I saw Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff on offer and immediately jumped on it. With thanks to Random House Children’s for the approval privileges. My request for Wherever She Goes by Kelley Armstrong was also approved by Minotaur Books, and I just can’t wait to dive into her new thriller. And last but not least, I simply could not resist grabbing Five Midnights by Ann Dávila Cardinal because I can never say no to a YA horror.
Reviews
A quick summary of my reviews posted since the last update:
The Witch’s Kind by Louisa Morgan (4.5 of 5 stars)
Wild Country by Anne Bishop (4.5 of 5 stars)
Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You by Scotto Moore (4 of 5 stars)
The Rosewater Insurrection by Tade Thompson (4 of 5 stars)
The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch (4 of 5 stars)
Batman: The Court of Owls by Greg Cox (4 of 5 stars)
Embers of War by Gareth L. Powell (4 of 5 stars)
Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds by Gwenda Bond (3.5 of 5 stars)
White Stag by Kara Barbieri (3 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 
I will be impatiently waiting for you to read the first two and review 🙂
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Yeah, I’m excited about trying Rage of Dragons, especially 🙂
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Great haul, Mogsy. I had an opportunity to read Rage of Dragons when it was mentioned on r/fantasy when it was still selfpub with equally good cover as new one. I remember thinking that publishers need to jump on it because I think there is definitely a market for books like RoD. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
I am really looking forward to K.J. Parker’s book!
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Cool, I didn’t know Rage of Dragons started as self-pub! That is just too awesome, I love success stories like this!
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What a gorgeous box for The Song of All! I love the book covers for those books. Book swag is always fun-wish I could get some for my favourite books!
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I agree, it is very gorgeous and I just finished the first book and it was wonderful 🙂
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Wow! You’ve amassed quite a lot of books. Happy reading. 🙂
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Haha, yup, it was a busy couple weeks for my mail box 🙂
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Oh wow! That’s a lot!! Pretty much all new to me ones too! I hope you enjoy each and every one 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’s weird, a bunch of unsolicited arrivals came in all at once, so yeah I had a bigger haul than usual! I am hoping to get to most of these!
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If you do ever get around to Neal Asher’s The Skinner, just be prepared for some serious splatterpunk reading. His Spatterjay trilogy is probably his most graphically gruesome of all the books he’s written. Might explain why I like them so much 🙂
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Thanks for the warning! Though I’m not worried about the gruesomeness, I’m pretty inured to that stuff by now. It’s probably why I prefer atmospheric horror these days, because that still makes me feel something 😉 😛
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Uh oh, zombification has started!
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I love how your choices practically cover every angle of science fiction, fantasy and all the realms in between! It would be hard not to find something to one’s tastes among such… riches 🙂
And it would be harder still not to be tempted to grab them all….
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Yes, it’s like a buffet of sci-fi choices!
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I was really happy go get Aurora Rising and Five Midnights too! And everyone’s been raving over The Rage of Dragons, I’ll have to take a closer look at that since it’s not on my radar. And did you eat those chocolate mints? So good!!😁
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Haha, I have not eaten the chocolate mints yet! I didn’t even know they were chocolate because I did not unwrap them, but now I’ll go try!
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I love the cover of Miranda in Milan, I have preordered it and I cannot wait! 😀
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I agree, it’s so beautiful, sort of reminds me of the Rivers of London covers.
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Oooo lots of interesting ones in your round-up! And wow, that’s an amazing treasure trove of goodies from Night Shade Books & Wunderkind PR 😀
xx
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Yes, Wunderkind totally spoiled me this week 😀
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I’ve seen Markswoman around and have been curious, looking forward to your thoughts! Orbit did you well this week! 🙂 Seven Blades in Black is in the queue in a few more reads, hope to get to it before the release date!
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Markswoman was a fun read – I don’t think it would blow any minds, but it was one of those completely chill, enjoyable books you can pick up whenever and expect a good time 🙂 And yes, Seven Blades in Black looks intriguing. The cover still weirds me out, but I look forward to seeing what it’s all about 😀
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I can always use a chill enjoyable book for my TBR!
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Wow, this is a lot! Enjoy!
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Thank you, happy reading!
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Great haul. I would like that Andrew Pyper – did you read it yet? Thoughts??
Lynn 😀
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Yes, I read it! It didn’t really work for me, unfortunately. Started off well, but everything sort of fell apart in the second half. I should have my review up soon.
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Nice haul! I was looking at a couple of these and thinking about requesting at one point because they look interesting, the KJ Parker and Miranda in Milan especially. Hope you enjoy!
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Yeah, been a while since I read KJ Parker and I look forward to getting back into his unique style. And Miranda in Milan looks so delicious, I can’t wait to try it either!
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I would really like to read Miranda in Milan. The new Richard Chizmar looks great, and the cover of Five Midnights is terrifying! I need it. LOL.
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I’m glad I was able to put Five Midnights on your radar! I was drawn to it because of the cover too, lol. Like, what the hell is that thing on there?!
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The Affair of the Mysterious Letter sounds suitably mysterious! And ooh after seeing Capt. Marvel I definitely need more Carol Danvers, so Liberation Run looks like just the ticket! Aurora Rising of course I am curious about as well!
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Yeah, the Affair of the Mysterious Letter wasn’t on my radar at all, but I’m getting good vibes from it already! And I probably won’t see Captain Marvel, I’m just burned out on superhero movies these days, but I totally will still read superhero books 😀
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I’m a huge fan of speculative fiction so I am really happy I have come across your blog. A book that entertains me and makes me think is always a big PLUS. I thought I would recommend a novel I finished that created quite a debate in my bookclub called “The Light of Our Yesterdays” by author Ken Hansen (https://kennethjhansen.com/). This books has SO much going for it and makes you think about religion, terrorism, and tolerance. Today’s society seems to be so enveloped in fear of different cultures and religions I think this book really helps to put things in perspective. Not only that, it’s an exciting thriller that keeps you hooked from start to finish. I hope you will check it out and maybe it will make it on a future list! Thanks again!
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Hi there, thank you for checking out my blog and for the hearty recommendation! 😀
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ooh that’s so exciting about near witch!
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