Bookshelf Roundup 11/26/23: 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.
To folks in the US, I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday. This year we stayed put and celebrated with just the family, avoiding having to travel in the bad weather. The long weekend was filled with food, shopping, food, a bit of reading, food, and more food. It’s Saturday night right now, and I feel as though I’m finally coming out of my turkey-induced haze. It’s hard to believe we’re only a month away from Christmas, but the next few weeks are my favorite time of the year!
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!
A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle Jensen (Del Rey): Excitement came earlier this week in the form of a highly anticipated upoming release, the first book of the Norse-inspired Saga of the Unfated series.
The Hidden Queen by Peter V. Brett (Del Rey): Also from the publisher came the second book of the Nightfall Saga, the author’s new series set in the same world as The Demon Cycle. I have been following these books since the beginning so I plan on continuing, but I find myself completely mystified by the period-piece-meets-Voldemort cover.
Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner (HarperVoyager): Another sequel, this one the follow-up to Godkiller, continuing the characters’ quest through a land of gods and demons.
There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini Singh (Penguin Audio): I still haven’t read this author, but I’m certainly intrigued by this thriller about a deadly reunion set in a remote mansion in New Zealand’s Southern Alps.
Night Owl by Andrew Mayne (Brilliance Audio): A new Andrew Mayne book is always a cause for celebration, especially the beginning of a new series. I’m listening to this now though, and it’s a counterintelligence spy thriller that’ very different from his other stuff.
The Daughters of Block Island by Christa Carmen (Brilliance Audio): I have been hearing a lot of great things about this book, so with the release of the audio edition next month, I just had to request a listening copy to check it out.
Reviews
- 4 of 5 stars to Calamity by Constance Fay
- 3.5 of 5 stars The Hunting Moon by Susan Dennard
- 3 of 5 stars to System Collapse by Martha Wells
Recent Reads
This week, I wrapped up Katherine Arden’s Small Spaces quartet with Empty Smiles, and ugh, it was a disappointing end. Overall, I can see this being a good series for kids but for adults, it’s way too flimsy. This is why I tend to stay away from middle grade books and I’m just glad Arden is returning to adult fiction with The Warm Hands of Ghosts next year. I also finished The Mystery Guest, and oh how I love Molly the maid! Mister Lullaby was a good read as well, a great horror that I think will appeal to fans of Stephen King or if you enjoy stories like Joe Hill’s NOS4R2. And finally, as we near the end of Sci-Fi Month, I managed to fit in Defiant which I hope to review next week. This book concludes the Skyward series, and now that’s an ending done right!
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 
Wednesday was some seriously bad weather! I”m really surprised more flights/plans/etc weren’t cancelled. We have so many leftovers! I made enough for about 12-15people, and only 8 people ended up being at our get-together. And half of them were gluten free people, so 2/3rds of what we brought we had to bring home again. So our fridge is groaning with massive amounts of mashed potatoes, stuffing and green bean casserole. Thankfully, Mrs B and I both love all of those.
But I weighed myself and I gained like 4 lbs over this extended time off 😀
LikeLike
Thanksgiving is all about making too much food anyway, so it’s all good! 😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aw, sorry that series ended up disappointing! Looks like that’s the same author as The Bear and the Nightingale, right? I never loved that book but something always makes me want to give it another shot all the same… Like maybe it was just the wrong time and I might like it more now.
Hope you enjoy the new books! Glad you had a good Thanksgiving. I’m super excited for the month ahead too, it’s always fun. Hope it lives up for you, too!
LikeLike
Yes, and I loved The Bear and the Nightingale! But some authors just don’t jump well from writing adult fiction to children’s books.
LikeLike
Happy to see that you enjoyed the Mystery Guest. I’m looking forward to that one and hoping to pick it up during December – try to get some of my January books in ahead of time.
Lynn 😀
LikeLike
Fantastic! Hope you get to it soon, you’ll love it!
LikeLike
Glad to hear you had a nice holiday! We don’t usually travel for the holidays ourselves either. So it’s nice to just be home and not deal with the roads. Our news always tells us leave early if you’re going somewhere! Lol.
Nice new reads! These are all totally new to me ones but I hope you enjoy them all!
Here’s my StS
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
LikeLike
Yep, staying at home and not having to deal with the holiday traffic and chaos is the best! If we have to travel, leaving early is pretty much a must!
LikeLike
The style of art and cover design for Sunbringer looked very familiar, and then I realized last week I purchased the audiobook of Godkiller. 🙂 And I like the sound of Night Owl. It’s good to have another series different from the rest. Can’t wait to try it, likely as audio as I have with all the rest of his I’ve tried.
LikeLike
Yay! Hope you’ll enjoy Godkiller. It’s always nice to read something and then find out the follow up won’t be too far behind!
LikeLike
I hope you enjoy The Daughters of Block Island!
LikeLike
That one sounds awesome, can’t wait to start it!
LikeLike
I’m really looking forward to reading Defiant and Sunbringer. I’m glad to hear that the Skyward series ends well. There should have been Eight sounds really intriguing too. It sounds as though you had a good holiday weekend. I don’t believe in travelling when everyone else is if I can possibly help it.
LikeLike
I was all nervous because as much as I love Sanderson, sometimes his endings can be a bit iffy. Nothing to worry about with Defiant though, whew!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Jensen books sounds interesting
LikeLike
I’ve enjoyed her books in the past, should be fun!
LikeLike
I can’t wait for The Mystery Guest! And I am nearly finished listening to Defiant!
LikeLike
Yay! It was awesome, wasn’t it!
LikeLike
Fortunately I had an experience with turkey in college to put me off it forever, so I (should) have been able to get more reading done instead of languishing in a turkey-haze. But I’m glad you had a good Thanksgiving, even if you didn’t get back up north this year! Hope the next few weeks are even better!!
LikeLike
Oh no, I can’t imagine being turned off turkey, every Thanksgiving must be tough because turkey is everywhere and in everything!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lol sounds like a Thanksgiving weekend well spent. Mine was lots of eating too and lots of laughs. My family is hilarious. Can’t help but have a good time when we all get together.
LikeLike
That’s wonderful! My family is spread across the globe, so we never get big fun get togethers like that!
LikeLike