Bookshelf Roundup: 04/09/22: 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.
So, I guess my plan to get off on track…got sidetracked! This week was another busy one–I have family visiting, so I guess reading and blogging had to be put on hold for now, even though I have about four or five reviews that I still have to write. It was also my birthday on Wednesday, so I basically just took that whole day off. I got the coolest gift from my wonderful, incredible husband though!
As some of you might know, I started doing Ninpo last year, and one of the areas I wanted to further focus on was sword, which I began training in recently. To surprise me, my husband got me an iaito, or training sword. My favorite animal being the red fox, he had it custom made and designed with the help of my sensei. They themed it red, with the kanji for kitsune (fox or fox spirit) engraved on the saya and blade. My favorite part though, is the tsuba or guard, which also bears a fox motif. I love it!
Received for Review
Anyway, on to the books! 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 up, huge thanks to Orbit Books for a finished copy of The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne, the second book of the Bloodsworn Saga. I can’t wait to continue this series!
With thanks to the kind folks at Tor Books, this week I also received an ARC of In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan, another one of my most highly anticipated releases for this year.
Also thank you to William Morrow for a copy of Kingdom of Bones by James Rollins. It’s the latest installment in the Sigma Force series, and I’ve actually read the previous one. It’s quite possible to read these books as standalone so I’m definitely going to check this one too, and I’m also really enjoying Rollins’ stuff these days.
And finally with thanks to Minotaur Books for sending me an ARC of Fierce Poison by Will Thomas. It’s new to me, and a quick check on Goodreads shows it’s actually the thirteenth volume of a series of historical mystery novels called Barker & Llewelyn. Not sure if these books can be read individually as standalones, but I hope so.
In the audiobook haul this week, with thanks to Macmillan Audio for Together We Burn by Isabel Ibañez which caught my eye because I’d noticed it was a top pick for a lot of readers this month. From the publisher I also snagged listening copies of Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak because I was feeling in the mood for a horror thriller, as well as Spear by Nicola Griffith because I’ve wanted to try something by her for a long time, and also The Devil’s Dictionary by Steven Kotler because this sci-fi near-future thriller just sounded plain awesome.
Speaking of awesome, with thanks to the amazing team at Random House Audio I also received an ALC of Flint and Mirror by John Crowley which I requested simply because I could hardly resist its historical fantasy premise, as well as Breathless by Amy McCulloch because HELL YES to a “high-altitude thriller.”
Reviews
City Spies: Forbidden City by James Ponti (4 of 5 stars)
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 
That katana though!! And I look forward to reading In the Shadow of Lightning!
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I’m looking forward to In the Shadow of Lightning as well! And I do love my sword 😀
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WOW! That sword is awesome – and beautiful.
And should we find ourselves in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, you are correctly armed… 😉
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Haha, between myself and my daughter (who also takes martial arts) we’re a veritable armory 😀
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Oh wow! That iaito is gorgeous!
Nice new reads too! Those are all new to me ones but I hope you enjoy each and every one of them!
My StS will be up tomorrow, so stop by then if you can!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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Thanks! And I hope we’ll both enjoy our new reads 😀
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Happy birthday, Steff! And what a wonderful surprise. The fact that your husband had it custom made is so special, and its gorgeous!!
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Yes, he really won a ton of points with that one, lol! 😀
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Ohhhh, those pictures are nice!
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Thanks!
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That sword is SO AWESOME!! Happy Birthday! Looking forward to starting The Hunger of the Gods soon – not jumping on In the Shadow of Lightning purely because I feel obligated to read the Powder Mage books first before I try something else of the author’s.
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Thank you! And I hope to start The Hunger of the Gods soon too, though I’m so behind with everything else it might be pushed back til the end of the month. But I really do need to read it!
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I hope you had a fantastic birthday! And what an incredibly cool gift! I love that sword. I mean books are great, but… that sword!!! 🙂
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I know what you mean! Books are awesome, but swords are badass! 😀
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When I first saw the sword I thought it was a wakizashi 😉 Good luck with your training and reading!
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Haha, it’s a full sized sword but once I get into bikenjutsu I’d like to get a wakizashi as well (among some other blades). My daughter’s training sword is a wakizashi though, since she’s so small. She’s also in martial arts and learning some iaijutsu for her next belt 😀
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That’s great to hear you are all studying the way of the sword. I’ve been doing a Japanese style of 柔術 jūjutsu for a while but have yet to try iaijutsu. 🙂
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Nice, jujutsu is a big part of what I’m doing for ninpo too, I really like it, it’s fun 🙂
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Wow, your husband might just be a keeper! And there are so many things to be jealous about there!! I’ve always heard that a good sword feels like an extension of yourself. Can you confirm?
(Also, can confirm, 狐 is definitely fox) Dunno about this “kanji” nonsense, though;)
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Hehe yep 狐 is the Chinese character for fox too so that definitely worked out on multiple levels given my background 😀 And I’ll have to get back to you on the sword feeling like an extension of my arm thing since I’m still getting used to the weight of this one! It’s custom so admittely it’s heavier than some of the other ones I’ve held at the dojo, and I’m also more used to training with a bokken so I guess that still feels more natural to me at the moment 😛
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Happy belated birthday and that is possibly the coolest gift I’ve ever seen! 🙂
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Thanks! 😀
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Oh wow I would love learning to train with that iaito! It’s a true beauty! I used to practice judo when I was a teen and as an adult some krav maga but nothing with a sword!
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Very cool! Our dojo teaches both traditional and modern martial arts and krav actually makes up a huge part of their program offerings!
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Duuuude, the sword is such an awesome birthday gift!!! Happy birthday!! 😄
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Thank you! 😀
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Happy birthday! And what an awesome gift 🙂
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Was gonna ask how you liked Will Thomas’ books… but then saw you haven’t read them yet. I read the first in that series, it was a 3* for me. I do have some interest in continuing it, but not sure if I want to comit to such a massive series.
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I love that training sword!
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Happy belated birthday!! And that’s a really cool birthday gift!
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Woohoo – that sword! Wow.
Happy belated birthday wishes.
Lynn 😀
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