Bookshelf Roundup 12/25/22: 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.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everyone! I know have been relatively absent on the blog and around the blogosphere the past few days, but it’s for best of reasons. Earlier this week we added a new four-legged member to our family, and this little pup has been an absolute treasure to us but also a handful! He’ll be making his debut next week when things aren’t quite so hectic, and I promise pictures will be incoming (once he’s capable of staying still long enough to not look like a blur in every photo!) For now, to my readers I want to extend my warmest and most heartfelt holiday greetings to you all and your families. However you are celebrating today, I hope your day is filled with love, peace, and joy!
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!
Luckily another short update today so we can all get back to the festivities. Definitely felt like Christmas came early for me at the beginning of the week though, with the arrival of Witch King by Martha Wells. The author has taken the SFF world by storm the last few years with her Murderbot Diaries series, and as much as I love those books I’m also curious and thrilled to be checking out something by her that’s new and different. Thank you to Tordotcom for the ARC.
With thanks also to Minotaur Books for surprising me with a couple new arrivals. Picture in the Sand by Peter Blauner will hit bookstores in early January, and early in the week a finished copy of this historical suspense set in 1950s Egypt landed on my doorstep. I’m also very excited to read What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman, a thriller which was initially new to me, but once I looked it up, I am absolutely loving its description of Desperate Housewives meets The Couple Next Door.
With thanks also to Macmillan Audio, I have a batch of listening copies to keep me entertained during the break! Abandon by Blake Crouch was first published in 2009 but is being reissued along with an audio edition. I also picked up Critical Mass by Daniel Suarez, which is the second in the Delta-V series but I’m hoping it can be read as a standalone. The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes also looked like an interesting thriller, and I couldn’t resist. And finally I also picked up Bad Cree by Jessica Johns, a supernatural horror following a young Cree woman whose dreams lead her on a perilous journey.
Reviews
The Hollow Kind by Andy Davidson (2 of 5 stars)
Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans (3 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 
Looks good!
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I gave up on Suarez after my 3rd read by him. It was too “video game’y” for me. I liked the ideas in general but couldn’t get past the videogames will save us all vibe he seems to like.
It will be interesting to see what Wells does outside of Murderbot and if she’s really talented or just a one series wonder.
Best of luck with your new furby. I don’t envy you all that work 😀
And a Merry Christmas to you and your family and a God blessed New Year!
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I love video game books, that’s pretty much my catnip! But I do remember his Daemon books being a little too over the top for me.
And Murderbot was a breakout for Martha Wells, but she’d actually written a series of fantasy books called Raksura before that. They were really good, but because it was from a smaller publisher they never really got the attention they deserved. So I’m pretty optimistic for Witch King!
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Aww! Congrats on the new fur baby! I can’t wait to see the pictures!
Nice new reads too! All totally new to me ones but I hope you enjoy each and every one of them!
Merry Christmas!
Here’s my StS
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
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Merry Christmas, Steff! And congrats on your new furbaby. I can’t wait to see pictures😁
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A new puppy! Sounds great, I’m sure the family is enjoying that. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
I wonder if Witch King is in the same world as one of her older fantasy series. I’ll check that out at some point. I have a bunch of her older books I’ve been wanting to read, like The Death of the Necromancer and the various Raksura stories. One day… 🙂
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It doesn’t sound like Witch King will be part of that older fantasy world, at least for Raksura. I’ve actually read a couple of those older books, they were great! So I’m quite excited about this one!
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Happy Holidays to you as well, and I’m more than looking forward to some pictures of the new family member 🙂
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The Witch King definitely looks intriguing. I wasn’t that in love with Murderbot but do love some of her other books.
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Haha, I love Murderbot but I loved her Raksura books too! It will be interesting to see her snap back into fantasy!
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Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!! And I look forward to meeting the pup ☃️
Also looking forward to your thoughts on that Francesco Dimitri book.
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I loved the Francesco Dimitri book, I hope he’ll keep putting out books in English!
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A puppy!!!! 😍 And Merry Christmas Mogsy! I have been MIA too but because of work!
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Ooh, I hope work has settled down for you a little!
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Hmm, that Martha Wells book!
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It’s glorious, I want to read it right away!
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I also like the look of the Martha Wells book.
Lynn 😀
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