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!
I always notice increased activity in my mailbox around June because I guess that’s when a lot of new books are coming out and also when fall ARCs start getting released into the wild. Speaking of, huge thanks to Crown for sending one of my most anticipated titles of 2019: The True Bastards by Jonathan French! This second book of The Lot Lands and sequel to the amazing The Grey Bastards will be focusing on a side character from the first book, so that makes me think it can be read as a standalone. That’s good, because it means more people can experience the awesomeness of this series! I can’t wait to check it out.
Thank you also to G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR for Wicked Fox by Kat Cho, a Korean mythology inspired YA fantasy about a shapeshifter girl who is a gumiho – a nine-tailed fox! I won this ARC from Bookish First and after a few anxious weeks of waiting, the book finally showed up and all was right in the world again.
As well, the kind folks at Subterranean Press are always surprising me with interesting ARCs and this time it was Reading Backwards by John Crowley, a collection the author’s essays on a wide range of subjects, both literary and otherwise. I’m not really one for non-fiction, but I am quite curious to take a look through the topics to see if anything interesting leaps out at me.
My thanks also to Del Rey for sending me an ARC of The Nobody People by Bob Proehl. This was pitched to me as a near-future fantasy story of love, hope, family and community that explores the lengths people will go to fight for one another, no matter the odds. It sounds interesting and I hope to give it a look later this fall.
From the amazing folks at Titan Books, I also received Wastelands: The New Apocalypse edited by John Joseph Adams. I know I’m not the biggest reader of anthologies, but how could I resist the topic or the author line-up, which includes the talents of Veronica Roth, Richard Kadrey, Jonathan Maberry, Seanan McGuire, Hugh Howey, Ken Liu, and many more? I couldn’t, that’s what.
With thanks also to DAW Books for a surprise ARC of Life and Limb by Jennifer Roberson. I only found out about this book recently, but the more I read up on it the more I’m excited to give it a try! The blurb describes it as a western urban fantasy about a biker and a cowboy who must work together to stop the apocalypse. Sounds cool, right?
Also thank you to Penguin Books for sending along The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson, a coming-of-age paranormal story set in Niagara Falls, in a the vein of Stranger Things. Davidson, of course, also writes horror novels under the pen name Nick Cutter, which I’ve enjoyed so needless to say this one caught my eye. I’m planning on reviewing this one later in the summer and I’ll be hosting a giveaway too, so stay tuned for that!
Earlier this month I also came home to an unexpected package full of these amazing ARCs, with thanks to Tor.com: Made Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Ormeshadow by Priya Sharma, The Killing Light by Myke Cole, and The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht! The Killing Light is a sequel (the last book in a trilogy, in fact) and I’m not caught up yet so it might be a while before I can get to it, but the others are all very high on my list of books I want to read this fall.
Big thanks also to Harper Voyager for sending me a finished copy of Protect the Prince by Jennifer Estep, sequel to Kill the Queen which I enjoyed very much last year. I have plans to read this one soon later in the month or in early July, and I’m really looking forward to it.
Thank you also to Ace Books for Salvaged by Madeleine Roux. I didn’t even know she was writing an adult sci-fi, as I’ve only ever known of her YA horror, but this sounds really good and should be interesting. And a couple months ago, I received an ARC of The Big Book of Classic Fantasy edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer from Vintage Books, and last week, they followed it up with a finished copy, which looks gorgeous! And speaking of following up, my thanks to Redhook for surprisng me with this beautifully presented paperback copy of The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner. The hardcover first edition of the novel was released last September, hard to believe the TPB is being issued already; time really flies.
As always, I’m also fantastically grateful to the wonderful team at Orbit Books. An unexpected package arrived on my doorstep a couple weeks ago, and I pretty much broke into a dance on the spot when I opened it and saw A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombieinside. It’s been a while since his last novel came out, and I can wait to dive into his work again. And finally, with thanks to Tor Books I received The Red-Stained Wings by Elizabeth Bear, sequel to The Stone in the Skull (which I still need to read!), as well as Spine of the Dragon by Kevin J. Anderson, the start of a new series marking the author’s return to epic fantasy.
Mostly audiobooks in the digital pile this week, which is good because these days I’ve been listening to so many I can probably knock them all out in no time! With thanks to HarperAudio for listening copies of The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey, a new standalone dark fantasy from the author of Sandman Slim, as well as The Brink by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth, the sequel to Awakened. Also thanks to Penguin Random House Audio for the following tie-ins: Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed follows five former rebel starfighter pilots who are tasked to hunt down the vestiges of the Empire, and Minecraft: The Lost Journals by Mur Lafferty is the third novel in the official series based on the game. From Hachette Audio, I was also very excited to snag Teeth in the Mist by Dawn Kurtagich, having enjoyed her previous YA horror novels.
Thank you also to Macmillan Audio for the following listening copies: The Sol Majestic by Ferrett Steinmetz is a sci-fi adventure that has been compared to the Wayfarer series by Becky Chambers, which intrigues me! Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey is a fantasy mystery about a young woman who uses her magic to solve a murder. The author’s River of Teeth series didn’t really blow me away, but I have a feeling this one will work much better for me. And finally, I am obsessed with thrillers these days – especially domestic suspense! – so I couldn’t resist The First Mistake by Sandie Jones when I read the synopsis about a convoluted relationship between a wife, her husband, and her best friend. The details are super vague, which always makes me curious!
In an effort to let my stats recover from my splurge a few weeks back, I only snagged one book from NetGalley this week, but it’s a good one. Missing Person by Sarah Lotz is an upcoming mystery thriller from one of my favorite horror writers, about a group of amateur detectives whose case is infiltrated by the sadistic killer they’re hunting. My thanks to Mulholland Books.
Reviews
Here is a quick summary of my reviews posted since the last update:
The Poison Thread by Laura Purcell (5 of 5 stars)
Recursion by Blake Crouch (5 of 5 stars)
Queenslayer by Sebastien de Castell (4 of 5 stars)
Pariah by W. Michael Gear (4 of 5 stars)
Limited Wish by Mark Lawrence (4 of 5 stars)
The Night Before by Wendy Walker (3.5 of 5 stars)
Atlas Alone by Emma Newman (3 of 5 stars)
Roundup Highlights
Interviews and Guest Posts
A shout out to the authors who stopped by The BiblioSanctum these last two weeks!
Guest Post: “Goodness in a Nietzschean World” by M.C. Planck
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’m curious to your thoughts on wicked fox!
(Www.evelynreads.com)
LikeLike
Reading it now! Hoping to finish today 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh many intriguing things there! SOme I really want to read too!
LikeLike
I know, from here on out there are so many books I want to read in late 2019 🙂
LikeLike
Looks like you had a good week-plenty of reading done and a nice new book haul to enjoy!
LikeLike
With the schools being out for summer and me having to chase the kids around, I just hope I can keep up with the reading 🙂
LikeLike
Abercrombie is one of the authors I most regret not finding more time for: his First Law trilogy has been languishing on my TBR for years, and I hope that his return on the fantasy scene will prompt me to go back to his work 🙂
LikeLike
Honestly, my favorite of his is Red Country – but yes you have to read the First Law first 😀
LikeLike
Usually I can find at least one book to comment on in these roundups, but not this time. Probably because the caffeine hasn’t kicked in yet…
LikeLike
Ah, me every morning 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m holding a can of caffeine as I type this 🙂
LikeLike
I really love the sound of Wicked Fox and Magic For Liars (: I also really need to get on with Jennifer Estep’s book sometime as it sounds like my kind of story. I hope you enjoy reading everything. I’m also pretty intrigue by quite a few of the ones that you’ve recently read 😀
LikeLike
Wicked Fox I’m reading now and I hope to tackle Magic For Liars soon, since it’s an audiobook 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope you enjoy it as it sounds really unique 😀 I really need to give audiobooks a try sometime, my library has an app full of them but as I’ve never tried listening to a book before I keep putting off trying it out.
LikeLike
Awesome haul! I’ve recently won two books from Bookish First, which surprises me since I don’t typically win giveaways. And I love that they offer a wide range of genres. I’m tempted to grab Missing Person since I have an auto approve with Mulholland, but I need to see what my review load is that month first. Such restraint!
LikeLike
I’ve won one and I used my points to lock in another – I should start entering more of those raffles! I always forget to do the previews and write about them 🙂
LikeLike
I love author essays so I’m going to take a closer look at Reading Backwards.
LikeLike
You should definitely check it out then!
LikeLike
Your review for Kill the Queen convinced me to pick it up recently, so it’s in my TBR! Hope the sequel is good! I’m really curious about Salvaged, I keep almost requesting it and then stare at my toppling ARC stack and stay my hand. My Wicked Fox copy finally arrived, so I’ll be reading that soon!
LikeLike
I loved Kill the Queen! The balance between the romantic and fantasy aspects was perfect. I heard that Protect the Prince was more romance focused though, so crossing my fingers it’ll work out for me! And I hope you enjoy Wicked Fox!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your stacks are always so impressive. If you see a rather short person pretending to be a ninja around your bookpiles, don’t mind me…
LikeLike
Haha, that’s awesome 🙂
LikeLike
Wow, Wastelands does have a pretty good lineup! I could use a good post apoc anthology too! And Salvaged is one I’m interested in. The Sol Majestic being compared to the Wayfarer books- hmm I’ll have to take a closer look at that one.
I just got Recursion and The Girl in Red is my read after that.
LikeLike
I’m hoping that Wayfarer comparison has some merit! I’m always wary about blurbs like that 😀
LikeLike
Ooh, a new Adrian Tchaikovsky title I hadn’t heard of! I’m always in awe of how much you manage to read 🙂
LikeLike
I owe it to audiobooks! I don’t get much time to sit down and read print books these days, lol!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am so excited for Sol Majestic!
Saturday Night Ghost Club, Monster of Elendhaven, and Salvaged look really good too!
LikeLike
I’m so excited to try them all, hard to choose which to tackle first 😀
LikeLike
Sol Majestic has a very interesting cover and I’m definitely intrigued by that one.
And, of course the Abercrombie – everyone seems to be going crazy over his latest book so I can’t wait to see what you make of it.
Lynn 😀
LikeLike
Oh? I haven’t had much time to see what everyone’s been saying about A Little Hatred, but that’s exciting to hear!
LikeLike
I am curious about the Kevin ANderson one!
LikeLike
Me too! I’ve only ever read his Star Wars stuff lol.
LikeLike
I’d love a copy of the Big Book of Classic Fantasy.
LikeLike
I haven’t had time to look at that one too closely yet, though I’ve flipped through it and there’s a good variety in there!
LikeLike
Great Haul! A Little Hatred sounds really good 🙂 Happy Reading!
LikeLike
The covers of Made Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky caught my eye! Oh, as well as Red-Stained Wings, though I haven’t read the first book yet haha. Missing Person sounds really intriguing as well; I love it when the villain infiltrates a group of good guys and you have to figure out who it is. 😉
LikeLike
Lot’s of great stuff this time. I’m really excited for Wicked Fox but I think that’s because it feels exactly like my type of book. 🙂
LikeLike
Amazing haul! I’m really curious about wicked fox
LikeLike