Bookshelf Roundup 10/17/20: 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.
I’m back from my trip and well-rested and ready for some Spooktastic Reads! I have quite a few reviews to catch up on, so I’ll be busy getting those up for the next week. In the meantime, here are this week’s new arrivals.
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 thanks to Orbit for sending me an ARC of The Tower of Fools by Andrzej Sapkowski! I love his Witcher series but I’m a little nervous about starting this new one because I’ve been seeing some mixed reviews. I’m still looking forward to reading it though, and I’ll for sure be keeping my expectations in check. Thank you also to Minotaur Books for Deep Into the Dark by P.J. Tracy, the start of a brand new mystery thriller series. I’ve been seeing some great things about how twisty this one is already, so I’m excited to check it out! Last but not least, huge thanks for Tor for sending me an ARC of The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey! I’ve head my eye on this one for a while, and I’m looking forward to reading it.
In the digital haul, I received four audiobooks: first, listening copies of Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco and The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, with thanks to Hachette Audio. Next, with thanks to Penguin Random House Audio I received The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White, the sequel to The Guinevere Deception, as well as Memento by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, a novella of The Illuminae Files! This one I simply can’t wait to listen to!
Reviews
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (5 of 5 stars)
The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky (3.5 of 5 stars)
Roundup Highlights:
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 
My review of Tower of Fools is scheduled for 27.10. – a weak three stars from my side. “Recommended for patient readers interested in a mixture of historical fiction and grimdark fantasy set in mediaeval Middle-Europe.” – patience because loads of listed names, places, and occurences; but also with historical inaccuracies and fibs. I won’t read the rest of the trilogy, but I’m happy to have read this one. I honestly can imagine that you’re going to DNF it after a third in or so.
Ministry for the Future by KSR is only for readers who don’t really need a plot or characters – it should be read more as a series of essays than a novel. Review’s here: https://reiszwolf.wordpress.com/2020/10/08/the-ministry-for-the-future-2020-clifi-novel-by-kim-stanley-robinson/
And I absolutely want to read Black Sun.
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Oh dear, that description of Tower of Fools doesn’t make it sound fun at all! I don’t do too well with that kind of info dump, and sucks about the inaccuracies. And thanks for the heads up about the KSR – I think I might shelve that one for now then, “a series of essays” is definitely not what I’m looking for at the moment!
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How was your trip?
Odds are you’ll get to the new Sapkowski before me (and I’ll try to temper my expectations accordingly), but I hope you like it! I’m also very behind on reviews (also on ARCs and reading and whatever else), so could you just publish some of mine while you’re at it? Thank you! 😁😁
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I don’t know, at this rate I’m falling behind everything – you beat me to Battle Ground, after all 😛 And we had a great trip, thanks! Got in one last warm weekend at the beach and it was a nice restful week. It should tide me over until the Christmas break 🙂
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Hello, I have just finished James J Cudney’s cosy mystery, “Broken Heart Attack”. Review coming soon . . .
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That sounds fun – I should read more cozies 🙂
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Ooh nice! I still need to read Memento myself! Just haven’t gotten around to it yet! I did really enjoy Kingdom of the Wicked! I hope you enjoy all your 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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That’s great to hear about Kingdom of the Wicked! I’m looking forward to it!
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An Illuminae novella! Oh, I want that one!!!
And Deep into the Dark looks perfect for my newfound interest in thrillers and mysteries… 🙂
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Yep, I should be able to knock that novella out quick – perfect for sci-fi month!
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I need to track down the publicist for The Echo Wife, I definitely need to read that one!
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Let me know if you need the name!
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I’ll probably hold off on The Tower of Fools for now in favor of trying the Witcher series, but I’m curious to read your thoughts on it.
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From what I’m hearing, The Tower of Fools is somewhat of a disappointment for The Witcher books fans. I would definitely see if you can start with the latter first!
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I wonder about the Teddy one 😉
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It was kind of bizarre, to be honest!
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I hated Tower of Fools, so I hope you have more luck with it!
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Man, I’ve been seeing a lot of negative reviews for it, now I’m worried!
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So many amazing books Mogsy!!!
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I’m looking forward to reading them! 😀
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Oh wow, this is a fantastic haul! You’ve got a lot of great books this go around. Hope you enjoy!
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Thanks! They’ll keep me busy for sure 😀
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I finally got approved for The Camelot Betrayal, looking forward to it!
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Nice! I hope you’ll enjoy it!
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You have a great haul here – I am hoping to get hold of Black Sun. And currently I’m reading The Ministry for the Future, which is proving to be… interesting. Happy reading:))
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The Echo Wife definitely piques my interest. Hope these all work well.
Lynn 😀
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