Bookshelf Roundup 01/16/21: 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!
A few new arrivals this week. First, with thanks to Subterranean Press, I received an ARC of The Cretaceous Past by Cixin Liu, translated and publishing for the first time in the US this May. I don’t know much about this one, just that it was previously published in the UK under the title Of Ants and Dinosaurs and that it’s a short story in the form of an allegorical fable. The cover looks incredible!
Also with thanks to Entangled: Teen, I received a surprise copy of Crown of Bones by A.K. Wilder which I had actually added to my watchlist last year, so I was pretty excited at its arrival! I don’t often see a lot of YA epic fantasy come my way, but whenever they do, I’m intrigued. Crossing my fingers it’ll be good!
And thank you also to Orbit for sending along a finished copy of Brother Red by Adrian Selby. This will be my third book by the author, and I think it is also set in the same fantasy world as the other ones. I’m really looking forward to reading this, especially since it appears to have an element of mystery.
In new audiobooks, I received a listening copy of Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert from the awesome folks at Macmillan Audio. I really enjoyed the fairy tales in this series, so I wasn’t about to miss this collection! With thanks to HarperAudio, I also received The Frozen Crown by Greta Kelly, a hidden gem of a fantasy novel that’s been getting lots of praise lately.
And in new eARCs this week, I received a widget for The Minders by John Marrs with thanks to Berkley Books. I’ve been hooked on his work ever since The Passengers, and this one sounds like it’s going to be another pulse-pounding near-future thriller!
Reviews
In the Garden of Spite by Camilla Bruce (5 of 5 stars)
The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick (3 of 5 stars)
The Effort by Claire Holroyde (2.5 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 
Dinosaurs! And Tales From the Hinterland looks great. The Star Wars one also…
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Tales was good, and so was the Star Wars – might be a while until I get to check out the dino one though 🙂
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I’ll be looking forward to your review of Albert’s Tales from the Hinterland!
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You’ve probably seen it by now – I enjoyed it!
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Hmm, I should give Adrian Selby’s books a try. Mind you, I should read some of the books already on my shelves. Ahem.
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Haha, I need to remind myself of that all the time 🙂
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I’m super curious about Brother Red. Oooh, a new John Marrs. I have him on my list because you love him.
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I’m really excited to read that one! He has a way with action and thrills.
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This is an interesting list! I’ll keep an eye out for The Minders – I enjoyed The One and would like to read more of his writing.
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The One! I’ve read a couple of his books but not that one, I’d like to try it. 🙂
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Ooooh I really wanted Tales from the Hinterland! (No luck yet but) I can’t wait to see how you like it! And Brother Red. I’ve heard mixed things about both previous books and have always been on the fence about reading them.
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I did not like Selby’s first book at all, but I picked up his second one anyway and ended up loving it. So I’m hoping this one will be more like the second 🙂
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OOh nice! I still need to get my keeper copy of Tales of the Hinterland! I really enjoyed that one! 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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Thank you!
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I also downloaded Minders, I’m so excited to read another Marrs book!
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I know, as soon as I saw his name, I hit the button!
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The Cretaceous Past looks fantastic (I can’t resist a good dino tale) and Brother Red is one I’m really curious about. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on The Frozen Crown. 🙂
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I just finished The Frozen Crown and couldn’t believe how much I loved it. Hidden gem of the year for sure.
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The cover for The Frozen Crown caught my attention and a quick peek at the synopsis told me it might be a perfect fit for my tastes – adventure AND politics sound like a great mix 🙂
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I just finished it and loved it! It definitely has all those things and more!
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Cixin Liu is one of the authors I’d really like to try. I’ll probably start with The Three Body Problem unless something else really catches my eye before that (which is always possible).
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Yeah, I’ve never read anything by him either, though I have his Three Body Problem books in the original Chinese after my parents finished reading them and gave them to me!
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I did not dare request Frozen Crown, it sounded so ya fantasy romance, and they scare me. Read it fast and tell me 😀
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There is romance, but it’s not that heavy at all. There are definitely more fantasy and political elements. I think you would love it 🙂
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Tales of the Hinterland looks pretty good, I meant to read the other book but still haven’t yet. Too many books, so little time haha. Hope you enjoy some of these!
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Thank you! And the nice thing about Tales from the Hinterlands is that you don’t have to read the series before starting it. I think it might actually help to read this collection first before starting the books 🙂
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I have seen “in the Garden of Spite “everywhere with raving reviews but I am still not convinced it would be for me Mogsy 😉
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I understand! I loved he book, but it’s definitely not going to be for everyone! 😀
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Can’t wait to read your thoughts on the Push.
Lynn 😀
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it was a strange one!
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The Selby book is one of my next reads and I’m looking forward to it. Marrs – I still haven’t read even though I did buy one of his not so long ago.
Lynn 😀
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