Bookshelf Roundup 08/08/20: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads
Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every 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 summarize what I’ve finished reading in the last week 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 the roundup this week, huge thanks to Saga Press for an ARC of Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. I am SO EXCITED for this one! I must have alarmed the whole neighborhood with my fangirl shrieking when I saw what was in the book mail. Other treasures from the publisher included finished copies of The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis, which I’m hoping to start later this month, as well as The Vanished Queen by Lisbeth Campbell which I’ve heard surprisingly little about until now, but what I’m learning of it really makes me want to check it out.
My thanks also to Titan Books for Alpha Omega by Nicholas Bowling, which was pitched to me as Black Mirror meets Ready Player One, and you know me, I’m up for anything with a gaming angle! With thanks to William Morrow I also received an ARC of Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots, which was completely new to me. Looking it up on Goodreads though, I saw that it was about superheroes but with the twist of focusing on the often underappreciated and dispensable employees of supervillains…hence henches. I’m definitely going to be giving this one a closer look! And finally thank you to Tor Books for a review copy of Uranus by Ben Bova, which is apparently a part of the author’s The Grand Tour sequence of books but also the first part of a new trilogy called The Outer Planets.
I also picked up a few audiobooks for review this week. I tried to resist, but I just couldn’t stop myself! Like many, I read Twilight back in the day, and while it didn’t exactly bowl me over, I couldn’t get over the nostalgia behind the idea of Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer so I nabbed a listening copy with thanks to Hachette Audio.
From Listening Library I also received ALCs of Vicious Spirits by Kat Cho, the sequel to Wicked Fox, and The Companion by Katie Alender, a creepy mystery that seems like it has a lot of potential for YA horror.
And last but not least, thank you to Macmillan Audio for a review copy of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini. The hype surrounding this one has piqued my curiosity for a while, but the icing on the cake is the narration done by none other than Jennifer Hale, one of the greatest and most talented voice actresses to ever grace the gaming industry. Needless to say, it made my choice to do this book in audio a foregone conclusion.
Reviews
His & Hers by Alice Feeney (4 of 5 stars)
Deal with the Devil by Kit Rocha (3 of 5 stars)
The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson (3 of 5 stars)
The Bright Lands by John Fram (2.5 of 5 stars)
This Week’s Reads
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 Jennifer Hale – she‘s Commander Shepard from Mass Effect for me. Also Leah in Diablo3 and GW2’s Queen Jennah. I didn’t notice her in the last couple of years, though.
Lately, Tor doesn’t love me anymore because my feedback rate is below 80% and that seems to be a nogo for them. Shame on me and my Netgalley addiction!
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She’s definitely Commander Shepard for me too, as I played FemShep through 1-3. I also always think Bastila Shan because of KOTOR, and when SWTOR came out, I played a female trooper because I had such a crush on her voice, lol! I can’t think of anything major she’s been in the last two years either, though I know she’s Ashe in Overwatch and continues to record voice lines whenever they have events. Too bad I can’t play her, I suck at aiming 😛
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You’re hopelessly lost in love, when you start playing because of one voice, haha 😂
I played gw2 through many nights because of the music track, so I can relate (yes I know you can download it independently but it’s not the same).
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I totally understand! I enjoy game soundtracks so much that I co-host an MMO music podcast, so you’re preaching to the choir 😀
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At least the choir listens. And we found yet another commonality that way.
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Looks like a good haul as usual! 🙂 I just got back to Every Sky a Grave this week. I can’t wait to see how you liked it!
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By now you’ve probably seen my review so you know my thoughts – I can’t wait to hear yours 🙂
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I’ve almost finished Every Sky a Grave, too, and am hoping to get to First Sister soon 🙂
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I hope you’re enjoying ESAG, I am hopefully going to start First Sister as well…let’s see if I can get to it before the end of the month 😀
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I can’t decide whether to start First Sister or jump to a later soon-to-be-published. So many lovely, lovely books 🙂
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Looking forward to what you think of Posey’s latest. I have been pleased with this stuff, but when he stopped his current series and started this new one, I have to admit, it annoyed me and put me off. I’m definitely holding off until I see several reviews that make me feel it is worth getting over my sulk 😀
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I didn’t even know he hadn’t finished his previous series (Outriders?) before starting this. I don’t mind when authors bounce around different projects, but I do hope they make plans to return. Brandon Sanderson, for example, but I know not a lot of authors are quite as prolific as he is or have the same work ethic.
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Yeah, Outriders ended, not at a cliffhanger, but with a big war looming between Earth and Mars and a lot of potential chaos with some revelations about one of the main bad guys.
I was enjoying it so I hope he gets back to it soon. I have a feeling though that this new series is going to take precedent and that Outriders will be for “rainy days”.
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I’ve had my eye on both Black Sun and Hench. And all the hype around To Sleep in a Sea of Stars has me curious about that, as well. Glad to hear they found a great narrator for the audio.
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Yeah, I’m going into TSiaSoS with tempered expectations. The hype around it is insane and I need to be careful not to be drawn into it 🙂
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Ooh nice! Lots of new to me reads here. I hope you enjoy them all!
My StS will be up tomorrow, so stop by then if you can!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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Thanks, happy reading!
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Physical copies of Black Sun and The Vanished Queen? Nice!
I need to catch up with Every Sky a Grave – it kind of fell by the wayside with my 2 reading challenges last month.
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I’m glad ESaG is on so many people’s radars – it was a fun one 🙂
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I was so excited when my copy of Black Sun showed up too! I just recently heard about Hench and I’m very curious about it😁
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Yeah, Hench was completely new to me, I can’t believe I hadn’t heard about it earlier!
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The new Roanhorse novel is the one I’m more curious about, given that I quite enjoyed the other two books I read from this author. And the cover is magnificent…
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It really is! I love her other series, but I’m intrigued by this one as well and what new stories and characters it will bring.
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Yessss, I’m not the only one who wanted some classic Twilight flashbacks and snagged Midnight Sun! Black Sun and The First Sister both look super cool.
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I know, as hard as I tried, I couldn’t escape the pull of nostalgia!
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I’m tempted to pick up To Sleep In a Sea of stars on audio solely for Jennifer Hale. I need FemShep to tell me about space adventures!
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Yep, Jennifer Hale definitely helped me make my decision to do the book in audio, not to mention it’s a long book, and I also prefer to do these doorstopper tomes in audio format 😛
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Ooooooh, I’m so excited for Black Sun! Can’t wait to see what you think of it!
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I seriously can’t wait to read it!
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I reviewed Alpha Omega the other week, I really enjoyed it – look forward to seeing what you think!
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Ooh, I’m glad to hear that! I’m so curious about it!
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The vanished queen looks interesting
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I’m definitely curious about that one.
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Oooh I will go listen to a sample of Midnight Sun now!
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I hope you’ll enjoy it!
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Aaah, Black Sun! I’m jealous. 😀
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I was so happy when it arrived, it’s probably in the top 3 of my most anticipated for this year.
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I would love a copy of the Roanhorse so hope that one works well and I’m NGL – I will read the Meyer – it would be rude not to.
Lynn 😀
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