Bookshelf Roundup 08/15/20: 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!
With many thanks to the kind folks at Blink and Kaye Publicity, I received this pair of gorgeous hardcovers: Twin Daggers by Marcykate Connolly and Ignite the Sun by Hanna C. Howard! I think I will start the latter first, and have plans to get to it soon.
Also thank you to Subterranean Press for surprising me earlier this week with an ARC of Take a Look at the Five and Ten by Connie Willis. It’s a Christmas novella due out at the end of November, right in time for the holidays!
I also received some ALCs from Harper Audio at the beginning of the month, including Final Cut by S.J. Watson, the new thriller from the author who brought us Before I Go to Sleep; Lies, Lies, Lies by Adele Parks, a domestic suspense of family secrets and drama and more; as well as the terrifyingly titled Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare, a YA slasher horror that’s pretty self-explanatory.
And I guess I must have missed the release of this one last month, but with thanks to Penguin Audio I was able to snag a listening copy of He Started It by Samantha Downing. I loved her debut My Lovely Wife last year, and I can’t wait to dive into this one. While I was checking out the publisher’s new releases, Blood World by Chris Mooney also caught my eye, and I requested the audio since I’ve been hearing a lot of intriguing things about it lately. And finally, from Listening Library I received Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis, because while I may be a lot pickier when it comes to my YA reads these days, I still find it hard to resist a creepy horror story.
Reviews
The Living Dead by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus (4 of 5 stars)
Every Sky A Grave by Jay Posey (4 of 5 stars)
The Night Swim by Megan Goldin (4 of 5 stars
The Hollow Ones by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
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 
I’m curious how much you liked Driftwood. I’ve heard some mixed things, but personally, I just can’t seem to get into it. I find it to be a little like the Last Wish except not as interesting and without the hype of playing some kickass video games first.
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I really liked it, maybe because of the short story appeal, and I seem to be on a run with those mosaic novels. Difference to Last Wish is as you said: less action, more literary. Here‘s my review: https://reiszwolf.wordpress.com/2020/08/14/driftwood-2020-fantasy-novel-by-marie-brennan/
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So, pretty much the opposite of how I felt about it 😂
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True 😁Is it the literary aspect that drove you off? Or just the missing action?
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It was a tough one to get into for sure. By now you’re probably seen my review and know my thoughts on it 😀
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I‘m just curious what you do with all those books. You get them sent as dead tree copies? Where do you store them?
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For the dead tree book that come in, I keep all the ARCs (because I collect them) as well as finished copies for the books I enjoyed. All the rest, I either donate to my library for their fundraising sale, or to a local indie bookstore that also helps distribute books to anywhere in the community that needs reading material, i.e. schools, prisons, nursing homes, etc.
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Donating books to the library is not an option here, they wouldn’t know what to do with it. There are NGOs taking books but only in larger cities. So, I keep the books, even bad ones. At least I won’t ever relocate again and have enough place.
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Oh nice new reads! These are all new to me ones. Though for some reason He Started It has me giggling, guess it’s just the cover look with that title! Lol.
Hope you enjoy all the new reads!
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 a great cover! You just can’t help but wonder what’s going on there 😛
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The cover for Ignite the Sun looks fantastic. It has a very classic feel to it. It’d be incredible as a leather-bound edition with metallic inlays.
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Yes it’s a beautiful cover and even more lovely in person because of the shiny foil. I hope to read that one next!
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I’m reading Blood World right now and its pretty good!
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I’m so glad to hear that! It sounds so intriguing!
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I’m loving that cover of He Started It – I need to check out the first book.
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I loved her debut! As far as I know, this one is entirely separate, but it looks just as interesting 🙂
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Look forward to reading your thoughts on Driftwood.
Lynn 😀
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I have my review up now. It was an odd one 🙂
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Ignite the Sun has the loveliest cover. Can’t wait to see what you think of it!
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It really is a beautiful cover, when it was pitched to me I just had to accept. Hope to read it soon 😀
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Take a Look at the Five and Ten is going straight on my holiday TBR. I can’t believe I’m already planning Christmas and Halloween reading. I ordered a copy of Harrow Lake from Book Depository and it arrived this week. I couldn’t wait and I’m glad I did. I like the edition a lot better. I can’t wait for Clown in a Cornfield.
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Hey, it’s never too early to plan for Halloween and Christmas reading! October will be here before we know it, and then December 🙂
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Very much looking forward to seeing your thoughts on Driftwood! Enjoy your reading!
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My review of Driftwood is up now, in case you haven’t seen it already. It was…weird…haha…but I enjoyed it 🙂
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Yay new books
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Always brightens my day!
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I’m really excited about Harrow Lake!
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