Bookshelf Roundup: 04/24/21: 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!
First, with thanks to Minotaur Books for sending me a review copy of Thief of Souls by Brian Klingborg, kicking off a new series called Inspector Lu Fei Mysteries about a young graduate from China’s top police college assigned to solve crimes in a sleepy backwater town in the north where practically nothing ever happens—until a young woman is found dead with her organs removed and joss papers stuffed in her mouth.
Also thanks to Subterranean Press for an ARC of Everything in All the Wrong Order: The Best of Chaz Brenchley featuring a collection of the author’s short stories. Unfortunately, as of this writing I can find very little information on this book—no Goodreads link, or even a page on the publisher website—but I’m sure that will change soon as we get closer to the book’s release date at the end of August. Chaz Brenchley fans take note!
I was also very excited earlier this week to receive an ARC of Capture the Crown by Jennifer Estep with huge thanks to the amazing team at HarperVoyager. I really enjoyed the Crown of Shards trilogy and love that this new series called Gargoyle Queen is set in the same world.
And also thank you to the awesome folks at Titan Books for a review copy of Aliens: Infiltrator by Weston Ochse, because they know how much I love my media tie-ins! This one is the prequel to the upcoming Aliens: Fireteam video game, a cooperative third-person survival shooter slated to come out later this year. Honestly, there’s not much known about the game at the moment, not even a hard release date, and I’m still on the fence about whether I’ll pick it up. Maybe this book will help me decide, if the story intrigues me!
A couple of audiobook additions to the digital review pile this week. Though technically, I received Instinct by Jason M. Hough at the beginning of the month but forgot to feature it, and welp, that needed to be rectified! I’ve enjoyed Jason’s work a great deal, and can’t wait to check this one out too, with thanks to Simon & Schuster Audio. Next, I also received a listening copy of We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker, with thanks to Penguin Audio. She’s an author I still need to read, and I have a good feeling it’ll be happening soon, as I have this on my reading list for early next month.
Reviews
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (5 of 5 stars)
Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone (3.5 of 5 stars)
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers (3.5 of 5 stars)
The Dispatcher: Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi (3.5 of 5 stars)
Roundup Highlights:
What I’ve Been Reading
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 hope you like Instinct! More than I did, at least 😂
And I wish you luck deciding on Fireteam. I mean, on one hand Isolation was incredible, but on the other, the Alien fps’s usually fall flat when they don’t focus on horror, so… well, maybe the book will be good 😅
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Yeah, when it comes to the Aliens games, the story/horror aspect is generally good. Anyway, after Colonial Marines, I will never fully “trust” a new Alien franchise game again until I see some gameplay and detailed reviews 😛
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I just finished the Pinsker novel. Character-driven, page turner. The end felt rushed. I think you‘ll like it.
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I am so glad! While I’ll be focusing on fantasy for Wyrd and Wonder next month, I hope to sneak that one in.
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I actually count it as a superhero/fantasy rather than SF.
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OOh nice new reads! Some new to me ones but I am excited for Capture the Crown! Hope you enjoy all the new lovelies.
My StS will be up tomorrow, so stop by then if you can!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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I’m very excited for that one – I loved her last trilogy, so I was so happy to find out this one will be set in the same world 😀
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No matter how many Alien movies (or games) come out over the years, there is no doubt that seeing such a threatening image of the famous xenomorph is both thrilling and frightening! 😉
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Yes, seeing the iconic alien still gives me the shivers every time!
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I’ve read quite a few Harlan Coben books, not this one though. I heard him being interviewed on radio recently; an interesting man.
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I know next to nothing about the author, just that I see his books EVERYWHERE! I’m so glad I got to finally read him 😀
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I’m also reading We Are Satellites, I really enjoyed her last book😁
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I didn’t get a chance to read her last one, so I’m going to make an effort to get to this one!
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I’ve seen Harlan Corben’s name around so many times but never tried anything by him. Curious to see what you think of Win.
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You’ve probably seen my review of Win by now! I really enjoyed it, even though the character himself was a bit iffy 😛
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Happy reading 😀
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Thanks! You too 😀
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Oh I loved Capture the Crown, it was a really nice one!
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I loved it too! I am so excited to read this new series!
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Thanks for these book recommendations. I am thrilled I came across your blog because speculative fiction is usually my go-to genre! “Mirrorland” caught my eye for sure! I recently finished a really unique speculative fiction/suspense book called “Lucky King” by Bruce Henderson. Have you heard of it? The book is about a man who writes fortune cookie fortunes that comes true and the people affected by these fortunes. It is going to be a series and each book will focus on a new set of people and a new fortune – really cool concept. I like this book because it is told in different people’s perspectives throughout, even the “Lucky King” himself – who writes the fortunes. This particular book in the series follows Jack DuVal – conservative radio DJ (think Rush Limbaugh) and his fortune, “YOU WILL LOSE WHAT YOU TREASURE MOST.” I couldn’t put this book down and I am excited to see what the next fortune predicts! You can read more about it here – http://www.brucegriffinhenderson.com/
Would love to know what you think! Thanks again and happy reading
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Not my type of read but I love the cover for the Alien book – and it makes me want to go back and watch the first film again. Seriously, could you ever imagine a more scary alien? I’m not sure that anything has come close for me.
Lynn 😀
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