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 roundup, a huge thank you to the kind folks at Ace/Roc/DAW for sending me an ARC of The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier! Quite possibly my most anticipated release of the year, I just love love love this author. Up next, another release I’ve been looking forward to is Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio, the sequel to last year’s hidden gem of a sci-fi debut Empire of Silence. From the publisher I also received an ARC of Cry Pilot by Joel Dane – a new one for me, but it’s a military science fiction taking place in what sounds like far-flung post-apocalyptic dystopian future, so I’ll probably check it out. A couple weeks ago I also received a finished copy of Unraveling by Karen Lord. As you might recall, I featured this standalone fantasy mystery in a Waiting on Wednesday post earlier this year, so this is one I’m definitely planning on reading later this summer.
With thanks to the teams at Wunderkind PR and 47North I also received an interesting looking new-to-me book called The Book of Flora by Meg Elison. Further research into it shows that it’s third in a series called The Road to Nowhere though, so I have doubts I can read this as a standalone. If anyone has any information or experience with this series, I’d love to know more. Also, looks like the trade paperback edition of Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett is out now, how the time flies. Thank you to Crown Publishing for sending me a copy!
This next batch is courtesy of the amazing folks at Orbit: Fray by Rowenna Miller is the second novel in the Unraveled Kingdom series, which reminds me that I’d better get to the first book Torn soon. Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O’Keefe has also recently moved from “maybe” to “must” status now with the arrival of this beautiful finished copy! Speaking of which, I also received a finished copy of The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind by Jackson Ford ahead of the book’s imminent release date. Really looking forward to this one.
And so much love to Harper Voyager for sending me an ARC of The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang! The Poppy War was easily hands down my favorite book of last year, and I am beyond excited to read this sequel. Also thank you to Tor Teen for a finished copy of Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen, which I actually read earlier this week so a review should be up soon. And thank you to Tor for a finished copy of A Chain Across the Dawn by Drew Williams, sequel to The Stars Now Unclaimed.
With thanks to Jo Fletcher Books UK, I also received Council by Snorri Kristjansson, sequel to the Viking mystery Kin which I just read and reviewed not too long ago. Needless to say, I’m really looking forward to diving in. And finally, with thanks to the publicity team at Subterranean Press for these gorgeous ARCs of their upcoming titles from two very exciting authors: Of Wars, And Memories, And Starlight by Aliette de Bodard and Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire!
In the digital pile, with thanks to Grand Central Publishing for approving me for Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky and Saga Press for granting me access to The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher earlier this week on NetGalley. I guess I was in a bit of a horror mood when I made these requests.
It was also a good week for audiobooks. With thanks to HarperAudio for listening copies of Nocturna by Maya Montayne and The Favorite Daughter by Kaira Rouda; Hachette Audio for a listening copy of The Chain by Adrian McKinty; Penguin Random House Audio for a listening copy of Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town by Adam Christopher; Tantor Audio for The Queen’s Gambit by Jessie Mihalik, the author’s serial novella which is finally coming to audio; and Audible Studios for an advanced listening copy of Beautiful by Juliet Marillier!
Reviews
Here is a quick summary of my reviews posted since the last update:
Star Wars: Dooku: Jedi Lost by Cavan Scott (4.5 of 5 stars)
Finder by Suzanne Palmer (4 of 5 stars)
Uncanny Collateral by Brian McClellan (4 of 5 stars)
One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence (4 of 5 stars)
Little Darlings by Melanie Golding (4 of 5 stars)
The Favorite Daughter by Kaira Rouda (3.5 of 5 stars)
Outland by Dennis E. Taylor (3.5 of 5 stars)
I Know Who You Are by Alice Feeney (3 of 5 stars)
The Haunted by Danielle Vega (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. A bunch of these are written up already, but more 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 
So many interesting arcs!
(Www.evelynreads.com)
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Yeah, the ever growing TBR mountain rises a few more inches 🙂 Happy reading!
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Happy reading!
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Thanks, you too!
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Like the look of quite a few of these books.😁
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Glad some caught your eye, thanks for dropping by! 😀
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🙂
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The Twisted Ones sounds quite interesting. I was also intrigued by Imaginary Friend but one of the reviews talked about 700 pages and a lot of religious stuff which put me off a bit!
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Oof, that almost smacks a bit of Stephen King…the length isn’t going to be a problem for me, but I really hope the religious stuff isn’t too over the top.
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aaaaaaaaaaah I’ll have to check this Seanan book!!!! thanks! happy reading!
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I know how much you enjoy her work! And thanks, you too!
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Wow, what an amazing haul! I am planning on reading Juliet Marillier for the first time this year (I may start with Harp of Kings), and I quite enjoyed Foundryside! 🤗
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I love the look of Harp of Kings! If you want more ideas for Marillier, her Blackthorn & Grim trilogy (starting with Dreamer’s Pool) is also very good, and also Daughter of the Forest. Holy crap, that book just killed me. 😀
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Ooh, thank you for the recommendations! I actually was at a bit at a loss as to where to start with this author, so thank you for the pointers! 😀 😀
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The Dragon Republic! New Marillier! How do you decide which one to read first? It’s a great haul, Mogsy. 😀
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I don’t know, sometimes it does get hard to choose! Luckily the books’ release schedules usually decide for me 😀
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OOoh nice haul!! Seeing quite a few titles that I was eyeing, but with hesitation! Imaginary Friend is one of them! I can’t wait to read your reviews on these! Happy Reading!
My STS will be up tomorrow, so stop by then if you can!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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Imaginary Friend is quite something isn’t it? I’m so curious about it! It just seems so different from his first book, albeit it was 20 years ago, lol.
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I keep going back and forth with Imaginary Friend. It’s long and I’m slightly worried about whether the author can switch genres like that. I may have to just enjoy other bloggers’ reviews😁
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Yeah, I probably should have minded the page count before I jumped on requesting Imaginary Friend, but thank goodness for audiobooks, if I need to knock it out quick at least I know I can grab the audio 😀
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What an amazing haul of goodies. Particularly Marillier and Kuang.
Happy reading.
Lynn 😀
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Thanks! I’m quite excited about both of those. Probably number 1 and 2 on my 2019 anticipated list.
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Seeing Juliet Marillier’s name quoted not once but twice in the same post had the effect of somewhat obscuring any other detail… 😀 I’m very curious to see how I like her other works, even though I’m sure I will love anything she writes… 🙂
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Yes, she’s been quiet for a couple years, I was wondering what she might have been up to! Now I know it’s because she has two titles releasing this year!
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Empire of Silence has always been n the periphery of my TBR, never quite made it officially onto the list. Seems like you think it’s worth checking out?
Looking forward to trying Velocity Weapon, that should be on the docket in a book or two!
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EoS is pretty interesting, almost like a sci-fi space opera made for fantasy readers who loved Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind. It’s nothing too original in terms of its ideas, but it’s great if you enjoy character driven epic narratives!
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Unraveling looks intriguing to me! And ooh The Favorite Daughter is one I’m planning to get. Hope that one was good. I almost missed The Queen’s gambit too as I was scrolling through, but I saw the author’s name so that caught me eye- might need to check that one out 🙂
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The Favorite Daughter was entertaining, but it could get tough if you don’t like unreliable and unlikeable characters! 😀
And yeah, when I got the opportunity to request Jessie Mihalik from Tantor, I jumped on it! I’m very curious to try more of her stuff after Polaris Rising!
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Oooh, The Dragon Republic! I’m hoping to read The Poppy War this summer before The Dragon Republic releases.
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Plenty of time! I hope you enjoy 😀
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Bet you can’t wait to read the sequel to The Poppy War as the first was your favourite of 2018! Lots of variety here, The Dragon Republic looks quite cool, would be interested to see what that’s about. The Twisted Ones & The Chain look like they might be my cuppa tea, I’m addicted to the thriller genre. Hope you have a lovely week ahead 🙂
Caz xx
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I really can’t wait, haha! Both The Dragon Republic or The Harp of Kings are vying for top spot on my most anticipated 2019 releases this year, I really can’t choose which I’m more excited about. And hank you, I hope you had a lovely weekend 😀
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Squeee at Twisted Ones! I *adore* Ursula Vernon, so… yeah 🙂
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Never read Ursula Vernon, and I believe it was from you that I learned that T. Kingfisher is her pen name, and I’m really excited to try her stuff!
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omg, I am INSANELY jealous that you have an ARC of Aliette’s book!!! I haven’t been able to purchase it due to finances so I am definitely feeling the envy right now. I hope you enjoy all of the ARCs you’ve received
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THE HARP OF KINGS OMG I AM SO JELLY AAAH.
Ahem. Great haul!! 🙂
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