Bookshelf Roundup: 10/02/21: 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!
Super excited to receive a copy of The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke this week, with thanks to Berkley Books! I read The Nesting by the author last year and was very impressed with the creepy vibes and Gothic atmosphere, so I’m hoping for more of the same here.
Also thank you to Del Rey for a finished copy of The Free Bastards by Jonathan French. In case you missed it, my 5-star review went up earlier this week. This was an incredible ending to The Lot Lands trilogy, and if you haven’t read this series yet I recommend you run, don’t walk, to pick it up.
With thanks also to Tor Books for a review copy of The Scholars of Night by John M. Ford, a reissue of the late author’s technological espionage novel set in the 1980s.
Only one audiobook in the digital haul but it’s one I’m very excited about! With thanks to Listening Library for Sunreach by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson. I’ve always known that Skyward novellas were coming but I had no idea when, so it was a nice surprise when I saw the ALC offered last week. Definitely going to be listening to this real soon!
Reviews
The Free Bastards by Jonathan French (5 of 5 stars)
Cackle by Rachel Harrison (4 of 5 stars)
Roundup Hightlights:
What I’ve Been Playing
MMOs being the time sinks that they are, I’ve all but left the genre behind me, but I was pulled back in this week with the release of New World from Amazon Games. It’s probably the biggest triple-A MMO title to come out in years and it was also delayed a long time, but it’s finally here and so far I’m having a blast. Having had bad experiences with open betas and all that hype in the past, this time I decided to avoid all of that and am just enjoying being able to experience the world for the first time. It really is a gorgeous game, and so far the biggest highlight for me has been the crafting system, which is just INSANE. I have a feeling I’ll be spending a lot more time in New World, so I better be careful about balancing my reading!
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 
And what do you think about New World’s waiting queue simulator? 😁
LikeLike
Lol I was smart, I didn’t follow any of the big guilds to the busy servers. Some of them had queues in the thousands! The longest I had was maybe 200?, Ten minutes wait at most, and only on the first day. Coming from some of the worst World of Warcraft launch day fiascos, this was a walk in the park! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
so, Sanderson has already reached the point in his career where he’s “co-authoring” books eh? makes me wonder how long before we have books with “Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn: Insert Generic Title X”.
LikeLike
Yeah it’s worrying, especially since he doesn’t seem to be doing any actual co-writing, which I would have been more OK with.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ohhh, rubberstamping his name. He’s now the Patterson/Clancy of fantasy 😦
LikeLike
I was wondering if you’d’ve picked up New World. I’m not an MMO person, so my interest in it is mostly casual, but mostly I’ve heard negative things, though it might just be that it’s an Amazon thing. Either way I’m happy you’re enjoying it 😁
I’ve no idea what to think of Sanderson outsourcing, other than it’s probably a sign of the End Times approaching. But… maybe it’ll be a good apocalypse?
LikeLike
I’ve been seeing some negative things too, but it’s always like the same complaints leveled against every big new mmo release, lol. I have run into some issues, but I feel like a lot of the criticisms have been exaggerated. So far having fun but then I’m still very early in the game!
And yeah, I’m not really feeling too good about this Sanderson trend, not gonna lie!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aaa yes, somebody else including video games. Excellent. :mrburnshands: xD In seriousness though, right there with you. I love the gathering and crafting, and I’m super intrigued by the lore of Aeternum. Which faction did you go? 😀
LikeLike
The Marauders! And yes, the crafting is totally insane! I kinda like it… And fishing 😀
LikeLike
OOh nice new reads! Quite a few new to me ones. The Lighthouse Witches kind of caught my eye but I decided to wait on reviews before I picked that one up! Super excited to read Horseman! Got my preorder so I just need to work it into my queue!
Hope you enjoy all the lovely new reads!
My StS will be up tomorrow, so stop by then if you can!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
LikeLike
I didn’t like Horseman as much as I expected! Hope it worked for you!
LikeLike
I wanted to read The Lighthouse Witches but I think it’s an October release and I just couldn’t do it.
LikeLike
It was pretty interesting! I still need to write my review but it was definitely one I needed to think hard about!
LikeLike
I’m the same way with MMO’s these days- who has the time?- although I still dip into LOTRO and Star Wars The Old Republic occasionally- but this one I may need to try!
LikeLike
Yeah, they suck up too much time! But it’s been a long time since we’ve gotten an MMO release with such excitement and energy behind it, I just had to try!
LikeLike
I don’t think I’ve ever played an MMO. Always stuck more to the single player RPG’s even if they offered online group options. They can be so addictive, and though I’ve no desire to get sucked back in again I do sometimes miss playing them and wonder if any of my old games might still work.
LikeLike
Yeah, MMOs can get pretty dangerous, especially if you get addicted, it’s hard to extract yourself especially when you’ve become invested. Everything in moderation though, and the social aspect can be pretty awesome!
LikeLike
Brandon Sanderson is onmy list as audiobook as I love the work Suzy Jackson did with Skyward!
LikeLike
Suzy did a fantastic job with Sunreach too!
LikeLike
I never know about novellas
LikeLike
I read them once in a while, but yeah I’m not big on them either.
LikeLike
I’m also looking forward to the cj Cooke book.
Lynn 😀
LikeLike
It was an interesting one! Very moody 🙂
LikeLike