Bookshelf Roundup: 09/25/21: 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!
Big thanks to Tor Books this week for this surprise copy of Dune: The Lady of Caladan by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Thing is, I’m not sure where in the sequence this book comes in, and I haven’t even read the original Dune series which means I’m doubly clueless. However, I do know that this is the second novel in the Caladan trilogy, so I don’t think it’s meant to be a good starting point. It also means I’ll likely not get to this one anytime soon, but it’s always interesting to learn about new books regardless.
Also I was very excited to receive a finished copy of The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik, with thanks to Del Rey. In case you missed my review earlier this week, I loved this book! Definitely better than the first one and probably one of the biggest surprises for me this year.
It may have been a light week for physical books, but my digital pile is hopping! I have the kind folks at Macmillan Audio to thank for most of these new arrivals: The Orphan Witch by Paige Crutcher is a tale of family, magic and curses, and I’ve had my eye on it for a while. I also received a handful of horror and dark fantasy titles, including Slewfoot by Brom, The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling, This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno, and Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw, That’s definitely got me set for the Halloween season! Also from the publisher I received These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant, a haunting novel of mystery and suspense, as well as All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman, described as a bloodier fantasy twist on The Hunger Games.
And with thanks to Tantor Audio for a listening copy of A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher! I’ve been hearing great things about this one, and lately I’ve been hankering for more of the author’s quirky humorous stories, so I think this YA/Middle Grade novel should do the trick. And finally, speaking of Middle Grade books, I also received an ALC of Dust & Grim by Chuck Wendig, courtesy of Hachette Audio.
Reviews
The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik (4.5 of 5 stars)
Citadel by Marko Kloos (4 of 5 stars)
My Heart Is A Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones (3 of 5 stars)
Roundup Hightlights:
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!
The BiblioSanctum 
Wait, what… you haven‘t read Dune???
At least go to the film, it’s great. I‘ve seen it twice, and it feels like another grand film like LotR. Anyways, just read it; just don’t Read any book from Brian first, they really can’t compare.
Or at least my review here: https://reiszwolf.wordpress.com/2020/07/11/dune-•-1965-•-sf-novel-by-frank-herbert/
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I tried picking up the first book in college. Could not make it through even half way, because it was just so dense in term of its sci-fi-ness, if that makes sense! It’s been years though, and now that I’m more experienced with the genre, I do want to try again someday. Oh and I’m definitely watching the movie 🙂
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Yes, density and layers upon layers, that’s Dune.
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Throw that piece of offal by Baby Herbert straight into the trashcan. Seriously.
And if you haven’t read the Dune Chronicles by Frank Herbert, then throw it REALLY hard into that trashcan 😉
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Yeah I couldn’t finish Dune when I tried it years ago, but I do want to give it another go someday soon. Chucking the baby Herbert books into the trash seems to be advice echoes by many though, including my husband, lol
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He’s never been a successful (on his own) writer but his choice of KJA for a partner damned him completely in my eyes.
If you couldn’t handle just Dune back then, then I suspect that even if you could deal with it this time, that the rest of Frank’s Chronicles wouldn’t work for you. And without those under your belt, almost everything by Baby Herbert just doesn’t work.
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Yeah the choice of KJA as a writing partner for ANYTHING just makes me kind of skeptical.
And my husband said the same thing about the rest of Frank’s Chronicles, and he is of the camp that Dune was one of the best books ever written, but none of the rest have come close. He thinks I might actually enjoy the later works though, because in his words, there’s “lady romance drama” LOL.
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Hahahahahaa, I like your husband!
Personally, I do think Dune was one of the best SF books ever written, if not the best. The rest of the Chronicles I enjoyed and have re-read multiple times, but they are vastly different beasts.
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OOoh very nice haul! See some new to me ones but a few creepy books look intriguing! I still need to read Naomi’s first book of this series! 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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I hope you’ll get a chance to check out A Deadly Education! People seem to either love it or hate it though, lol!
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I also got the Dune book, lol. (And I also haven’t read the original series) I’m curious about Chuck Wendig’s MG, it looks cute!
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It was such a random arrival. I doubt I’ll read it, especially given some of the comments here, haha. But one day I’d like to finish Dune. I tried it a long time ago and dnfed the first book but I feel like I’m more experienced with the genre now and will have an easier time with it
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I will join the group of commenters loudly encouraging to read Frank Herbert’s Dune (or to pique your curiosity by watching the Villeneuve movie, which FINALLY translates properly this amazing novel on the screen). I have read a couple of the prequel/sequel books by Herbert Jr. and I don’t feel like really recommending them…
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Yep, I definitely will try to get into Dune again (I dnfed it the first time I tried to read it in college). I’m also looking forward to watching the movie when it releases state side!
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These Silent Woods didn’t at all match my expectations going into it, but I ended up really enjoying the book. And I’m looking forward to one day trying Slewfoot. I love Brom’s artwork and I’ve enjoyed one of his prose creations so far.
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I loved Dune, but the rest, I can’t remember where I stopped
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I honestly can’t wait for The Last Graduate!
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I wasn’t a huge fan of Dune but I was younger. I do want to see the movie. And Brom has me curious- haven’t seen anything by him in a while.
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I like the look of the T Kingfisher book. Happy reading.
Lynn 😀
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