Stacking the Shelves

Posted June 25, 2016 by Nicky in General / 14 Comments

Hey everyone! This week I have kind of had a bit of a spree, which I needed post Brexit-vote — I don’t really talk politics here much; suffice it to say my planned future with my Belgian partner is looking a wee bit more unsettled. Hurrah democracy, but boo, I wish this hadn’t come to pass!

Books acquired:

Cover of The Jewel and her Lapidary by Fran Wilde Cover of Desert Rising by Kelley Grant Cover of Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews Cover of Winterwood by Dorothy Eden

Cover of Toad Words & Other Stories by T. Kingfisher Cover of Runtime by S.B. Divya Cover of The Terracotta Bride by Zen Cho Cover of The Winding Stair by Jane Aiken Hodge

A nice haul, right? A good mix of fantasy and a couple of the romance-suspense type novels I like for comfort reading. Hopefully it won’t take me long to repair the damage to my to read pile I’ve just done…

Received to review:

Cover of Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn Cover of Summerlong by Peter S. Beagle Cover of Blood Moon by M.J. O'Shea

I heard good things about the first two, and requested the third on a whim.

I did get some good reading done earlier in the week, but the warm weather here took it out of me later in the week. I do recommend Being Mortal; it’s a really important examination of what dying is like in the modern world. It made me cry, but it’s very worth reading.

Books finished this week:

Cover of Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore Cover of Missing Microbes by Martin Blaser Cover of The Sleeping Prince by Melinda Salisbury

Cover of The Door into Shadow by Diane Duane Cover of Being Mortal by Atul Gawande Cover of Death Among the Marshes by Kathryn Ramage

Reviews posted:
Blood Price, by Tanya Huff. Fun urban fantasy with some unique features (like a protagonist with retinitis pigmentosa). Not Huff’s all time best or something, but a lot of fun. 3/5 stars
Darwin’s Ghosts, by Rebecca Stott. We can be prone to thinking Darwin’s idea was totally original, but as he acknowledged himself, there were antecedents. This book discusses some of them — while acknowledging that Darwin’s theory is what finally made sense of all the data. 3/5 stars
Midnight Never Come, by Marie Brennan. I didn’t love this as much as the Isabella Trent books, but that’d be a pretty high bar anyway. Midnight Never Come has a lot of interesting set-up, though one of the characters felt a little disconnected from the action. 4/5 stars
King of Attolia, by Megan Whalen Turner. This book views Gen from the eyes of someone naive to his intelligence, and that makes it a lot of fun. Even though we made the same mistake when reading The Thief… 5/5 stars
Unnatural Habits, by Kerry Greenwood. Lots of social commentary and a look at the deeper parts of Phryne’s personality, combined with a rather bitterly funny subplot. 4/5 stars
Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury. Lots of beautiful prose and not so much substance, for me. Probably deservedly a classic though. 2/5 stars
Flashback Friday: The Children of Llyr, by Evangeline Walton. More than the first book, this is where I really fell in love with Walton’s evocation of the Welsh mythology. Beautiful and harrowing. 5/5 stars

Other posts:
Top Ten Books from 2016 So Far. I didn’t really struggle with this, which surprised me! Looks like I’m pretty caught up.

How’s everyone been doing?

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14 responses to “Stacking the Shelves

  1. I don’t think you have too much to worry about with Brexit. Hardworking people coming here to live and work, especially with a partner already here should be ok. Criminals, terrorists, hate clerics and those wanting a free ride forever at taxpayers expense are the ones who need to worry! Besides it’ll be a couple of years before anything changes. Try being a Scottish voter who said no in Indy Ref then yes to Brexit! I have no clue what the future holds here for me with IndyRef 2 coming. Wish I had the money to move to England!
    chucklesthescot recently posted…Stacking the Shelves #138My Profile

    • It’s more of a problem for us because neither of us earns much money, and if the non-EU rules apply, then we don’t have enough money…

  2. I hope you enjoy your new additions. I am looking forward to reading The Sleeping Prince! I really hope everything works out for you regarding Brexit. It’s been an odd week, that’s for sure.

  3. majoline

    Oooh, that Fran Wilde book, it sounds good. I forget which book you recently reviewed that I was looking up, but Wilde’s book came up as a related recommendation, so I’m very interested. Also, *Sweep in Peace* is so much fun 😀 Can’t wait to see what you think of the rest of the books!

    Also, I broke down and borrowed *The Thief* thanks to your reviews 😉

    • I’ve been meaning to pick it up for a while, and her novel as well. Ilona Andrews is usually lots of fun, so I feel like I need that right now!

      The Thief is cool; the later books get better and better.

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