Bookshelf Roundup: 02/20/21: 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!
More surprise book mail this week! With thanks to Saga Press for a finished copy of Machinehood by S.B. Divya, which I’ve seen described as a pretty heavy-concept sci-fi thriller about artificial intelligence in a future where the population is ever increasing its dependence on technology. I haven’t decided if I want to read this yet, but I’ll definitely keep it in mind if I’m ever in the mood for a more cerebral read.
Also thanks to Tachyon Publications for an ARC of this super fun looking Middle Grade book called Jillian vs. Parasite Planet by Nicole Kornher-Stace. This one is probably going to go to my daughter, who might be up for doing another guest review. I do love that the publisher also included a bag of gummi crawlers in the package though, haha! That, I’ll be keeping for myself. 😉
And many thanks also to Ballantine Books for sending along Forget Me Not by Alexandra Oliva, which I’m really excited to read! I had a great time with the author’s debut The Last One, so I’m curious to see how this one will stack up. Really hoping I’ll enjoy it just as much.
Just one audiobook in the digital haul this week, but it’s one I’m very much looking forward to listening to. Black Coral by Andrew Mayne is the sequel to The Girl Beneath the Sea in the author’s new mystery-thriller series about underwater crimes related investigation. I love his work and will read anything writes! Thank you, Brilliance Audio!
A couple of NetGalley widgets also hit my inbox this week. With thanks to Angry Robot for Composite Creatures by Caroline Hardaker, an atmospheric tale set in a near-future dystopia, and Ballantine Books for Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, a scientific mystery of adventure and survival. I can’t wait to read this one!
Reviews
The Power Couple by Alex Berenson (4 of 5 stars)
The Minders by John Marrs (3.5 of 5 stars)
A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel (3.5 of 5 stars)
Star Wars: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray (3.5 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 
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Looking forward to your review of the Weir book. I’ve read his Martian and Artemis, and will probably read this one also.
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Same! I loved The Martian, though I hope I’ll like this more than Artemis. I mean, it wasn’t bad, but she literally sounded exactly like a female Watney, lol!
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Indeed, she did! Nothing bad about that, though. Let’s see if he can jump out of that suit!
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Andy Weir’s books intrigue me though I haven’t got round to reading any yet.
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What did you think of The Bone Maker and The Echo Wife? The Bone Maker is an anticipated read that I haven’t got to yet. I got an audio review copy of The Echo Wife and while I thought the concept was really interesting it definitely wasn’t my favourite Gailey book. Happy reading!
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I loved The Bone Maker, and The Echo Wife took me a bit to get into, but I ended up enjoying it. I wasn’t really a fan of her hippos western series, so I was pleasantly surprised when this turned out to be completely different. It was definitely more my type of book!
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Some interesting books this week! I hope you enjoy them 🙂
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Nice haul! I got offered Composite Creatures too, but just don’t have room for it in my review schedule.
Good luck with this week’s reads. I loved The Bone Maker, so curious to see your final thoughts (already saw your GR rating), but The Echo Wife was a DNF for me (it just didn’t grab me).
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Yeah, I didn’t have time to join the Composite Creatures tour, but I did jump on the offer of a NetGalley widget 🙂
And I loved the Bone Maker too, and also The Echo Wife though admittedly it took its time to grow on me.
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Composite Creatures looks very promising! And I’m curious about the new Andy Weir novel: so far my experience with his works is 50/50 so I’d like to see how this one fares with me… 😉
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Yeah, I’m guessing you loved The Martian but was not so on board with Artemis…that was my and a lot of others’ experience.
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Ooh nice new reads! These are new to me ones. 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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I also got Project Hail Mary, and I’m pretty excited about it!
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I’ve enjoyed a number of more cerebral tech-related books so Machinehood grabbed my attention. As did that package of gummis!! 🙂
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I do love it when publishers throw little surprises like that into their book packages!
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Surprise book mail is always fun! Hope you enjoy your reads this week, curious to see how you like The Echo Wife.
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I really enjoyed it! Took some time for me to get into it, but in the end I loved the mystery!
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New books, yay
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I’ve got to check out the new Andrew Mayne series, especially if it’s as addictive as The Naturalist.
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I definitely want to read the Andrew Mayne. It’s not available to request in the UK so I’ve added it to my wishlist for now.
Lynn 😀
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