Stacking the Shelves

Posted December 10, 2016 by Nicky in General / 18 Comments

Wow, it’s been a heck of a week for me, acquisitions-wise! And fortunately, I’ve got back into reading a bit more. I have a new project with my reading, which I should post about properly later, which is all about getting back to enjoying it instead of feeling like I have to meet targets or something. It’s helping a lot!

Books to review:

Cover of The House of Binding Thorns by Aliette de Bodard Cover of Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson Cover of Gutenberg's Fingerprint Cover of Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey

Cover of Strangers in Company by Jane Aiken Hodge Cover of Hunger Makes the Wolf by Alex Wells Cover of The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman

What a haul, right? I’m especially excited about The House of Binding ThornsThe Burning Page and Miranda and Caliban. Technically, I know I’m getting a copy of The Burning Page for Christmas, but if I get the time to read the ebook first, I’ll be very happy. And it looks like I will!

Books finished this week:

Cover of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis Cover of Camelot's Shadow by Sarah Zettel Cover of The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis Cover of Fair Chance by Josh Lanyon

Cover of The Litany of Earth by Ruthanna Emrys Cover of A History of the World in 12 Maps Cover of Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys Cover of A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson

Reviews posted this week:

Dark Run, by Mike Brooks. If you’re looking for something a bit Firefly-ish, then this is a good bit. Sometimes I couldn’t decide whether the references were on purpose or weirdly coincidental. It’s a fun set-up, though, with an interesting set of characters who are a bit more diverse than aboard the good ship Serenity. The Maori character, for example, was really fun. 4/5 stars
Ultimate X-Men: Hellfire and Brimstone, by Mark Millar et al. The tension between Wolverine and Cyclops is just… ugh. This series is so juvenile. 2/5 stars
In the Woods, by Tana French. Wow. I really expected to love this, because so many of my friends did, but it was totally unsatisfying as a crime novel and I didn’t find the literary pretensions satisfying either. It might have managed on character, but I ended up disliking most of them. So… Tana French is not for me! 2/5 stars
Captain Marvel: Rise of Alpha Flight, by Tara Butters et al. I wanted this to be a strong continuation of the series for a character I love. It was okay, but not more than that. If you’re more familiar with the other characters, it might be more satisfying, though. 3/5 stars.
Broken Homes, by Ben Aaronovitch. This is… still ow. I think that’s all I need to say. 4/5 stars
Augustus, by John Williams. This is a book I appreciate more for the thought behind it than for the book itself, I think. I liked the way it tried to get a look at Augustus Caesar and some of his contradictions, but I wasn’t always a fan of the way it was put together. 4/5 stars
Flashback Friday: The Gulag Archipelago, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. This is one of the books my mother gave me (quite rightly) before I went to university, instructing me that this was something I really should read. I didn’t read it before university, but it definitely left an impression. 5/5 stars

Other posts:

Top Ten New To Me Authors in 2016. What it says on the tin… with a little bit of cheating here and there.
What are you reading Wednesday. A very comprehensive update on my current reading!

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18 responses to “Stacking the Shelves

  1. I’m really happy to see that you are getting back to enjoying reading again. I agree, deadlines can suck the fun out of it when it is looming and you HAVE to get this finished. I’ve been through that myself and it can get pretty stressful! Have a good fun reading week!
    chucklesthescot recently posted…Stacking the Shelves #159My Profile

  2. Sometimes, I feel the worst thing a reader can do to themselves is force it to meet a deadline or hit a target–that often takes ALL the fun out of things. Here’s hoping your new project works out the way you want it to–it’s never good to not enjoy reading when you’re a reader!

    Here’s hoping you enjoy all your recent bookish acquisitions! I posted up my Stacking the Shelves this morning, if you’re interested in checking it out. No pressure or worries if you’re not, though! Either way, happy book-ing to you…and have a great weekend!
    Beth @ Betwixt the Pages recently posted…Blog Tour, Press Release, Spotlight and Review: Smoke SkyMy Profile

    • It’s really just about enjoying reading again! Nothing fancy, just relaxing all the rules and reading for fun.

      The Genevieve Cogman series is a lot of fun! I hope you enjoy it.

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