Tag: Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves

Posted March 5, 2016 by Nicky in General / 23 Comments

This week there has been a, uh, bookalanche. Between preorders and filling my stamp card for vouchers at Waterstones (and finding a pre-filled one in my purse too!) and Bookmooch, I’m set for life, I think.

Library books:

Cover of The Selection by Kiera Cass Cover of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin Cover of Alex + Ada Vol 1 by Sarah Vaughn and Jonathan Luna

I’ve been warned that The Selection is probably not my thing, but I promised to try it all the same, in a bit of boundary-pushing. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, well, the summary I’ve read doesn’t interest me? But I know people have loved it, so I’m giving it a try. And I’ve heard good things about Alex + Ada, and I’ve loved android stories since The Positronic Man, so bring it on.

Books bought:

Cover of Lady of Magick by Sylvia Izzo Hunter Cover of The Impostor Queen by Sarah Fine Cover of Feed by Mira Grant Cover of Deadline by Mira Grant

Cover of A Crown for Cold Silver by Alex Marshall Cover of The Vagrant by Peter Newman Cover of Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip Cover of Starborn by Lucy Hounsom

Cover of Steal the Sky by Megan O'Keefe Cover of Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury Cover of Fires of the Faithful by Naomi Kritzer Cover of Eifelheim by Michael Flynn

Cover of The Child Queen by Nancy McKenzie Cover of The High Queen by Nancy McKenzie Cover of The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home by Catherynne Valente

All of these have been on my wishlist for a while, or are new copies of books I’ve lost or only had as ebooks. It’s quite the haul, I know. There’s actually a few more, thanks to my sister finding some of Alastair Reynolds’ books for me in a second hand bookshop, but I’ll feature those next week!

Books read:

Cover of The Last Enchantment by Mary Stewart Cover of Murder in the Dark by Kerry Greenwood Cover of Vicious by V.E. Schwab Cover of The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home by Catherynne Valente

Reviews this week:
Courage is the Price, by Lynn O’Connacht. Great depiction of anxiety, and also being brave and growing up and facing things. 4/5 stars
The Winner’s Curse, by Marie Rutkoski. Liked this so much more than I expected. Interesting world, and an awesome female lead. 4/5 stars
Sunset Mantle, by Alter S. Reiss. Epic fantasy, itty bitty living space. 4/5 stars
The Story of Kullervo, by J.R.R. Tolkien. Disappointing, even for a fan as academically minded as I am. 2/5 stars
The Wicked + The Divine: Commercial Suicide, by Kieron Gillen. Lacking Jamie McKelvie’s art, I found this kind of unappealing, and the story didn’t progress. 2/5 stars
The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Marie Pope. A book I appreciated much more on a second read, with a perfect love story. 5/5 stars
Flashback Friday: Railsea, by China Miéville. Apparently, I found this one unputdownable! 5/5 stars

Other posts:
Meeting Will Stanton. A post about my first experiences with one of my favourite series of books!
Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books To Read If You’re In the Mood For Complex Fantasy Worlds. Wow, now that’s a long post title… At least it’s descriptive!
ShelfLove March Update. My progress on the Shelf Love 2016 challenge, plus a bit about this month’s discussion topic — tropes you hate.
March TBR. Ten books I have to read this month.
The lesbian dies (again). After waking up to find my sister upset over developments in a TV show, I had a rant about the tragic queer narrative.

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted February 27, 2016 by Nicky in General / 22 Comments

Yay, Saturday! I should probably be doing my assignment, so you can probably expect tons of comments today from me.

Books bought

Cover of A Matter of Oaths by Helen S. Wright Cover of The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski Cover of Unnatural Habits by Kerry Greenwood Cover of Murder and Mendelssohn by Kerry Greenwood

I picked up Helen Wright’s book after a chat/recommendations thread on Twitter, and of course I had to grab The Winner’s Crime before I could read The Winner’s Kiss. I did pick up a couple of other books for my permanent collection, too, but all ones I’ve already read and often even had as ebooks. And, hurrah! My Phryne Fisher collection is complete, as I have quietly amassed the other books I originally borrowed, too.

Received to review:

Cover of The Wolf in the Attic by Paul Kearney

Read this week:

Cover of Sunset Mantle by Alter S. Reiss Cover of The Story of Kullervo by J.R.R. Tolkien Cover of The Wicked + The Divine Vol 3 by Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen

Cover of An Atlas of Tolkien by David Day Cover of The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope Cover of An Earthly Knight by Janet McNoughton

Reviews this week:
Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater. I wasn’t as impressed as I hoped, but I did enjoy it, and Stiefvater definitely has a great touch with atmosphere. 3/5 stars
Dead Man’s Embers, by Mari Strachan. Set in Wales in the aftermath of the Great War, this isn’t exactly the most cheerful read, but very well written. 4/5 stars
Ms Marvel: Last Days, by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona. The Amazing Spider-man stuff included is pure filler, but there’s good development of Kamala and her close friends/family in the main part. 4/5 stars
City of Blades, by Robert Jackson Bennett. No surprise here that I was bowled over. Just as good as the first book. 5/5 stars
Rebel of the Sands, by Alwyn Hamilton. I wasn’t as wowed as everyone else seems to be, but it’s definitely enjoyable and I love the setting. 3/5 stars
Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi. A very fun reread, gotta love the main character’s snarky voice. Light, but satisfying. 4/5 stars
Flashback Friday: A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr. A classic by now, I called this book a ‘wry smile at humanity’s expense’. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
Giveaway: A Gathering of Shadows. Slide in under the wire and get a chance to win one of two copies of V.E. Schwab’s new book.
The Comfort Zone. A discussion about what might constitute my comfort zone (and a resolution to, perhaps, push out of it).
Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Enjoyed That I Didn’t Expect To. Kind of ties in with the comfort zone discussion, since I had trouble identifying what mine is, and that was the original prompt.

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted February 20, 2016 by Nicky in General / 33 Comments

It’s been a busy week, both for books bought and books read! What’s everyone else been getting their hands on or reading this week?

Books bought

Cover of Truthwitch by Susan Dennard Cover of Courage is the Price by Lynn E. O'Connacht Cover of A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Truthwitch arrived in Illumicrate’s second box, and I’m excited to read it — especially with Robin Hobb’s endorsement on the cover. Courage is the Price is written by a friend of mine, and now it has a print edition, so of course I had to get it. Aaaand Waterstones had a copy of A Gathering of Shadows already, so I grabbed it and cancelled my preorder. But, to make up for that (since apparently sales like that don’t count for first week sales), here is a preorder giveaway!

Plus, uh, a batch of comics. Which I justify by pointing out they are female superheroes, and as such need supporting.

Cover of Spider-woman: Vol 0 Cover of Spider-woman: New Duds Cover of Spider-Gwen

I mean, until Jessica Drew, Carol Danvers and Hope Van Dyne join the Avengers in the MCU, I won’t believe that Marvel have finally got the message we want them.

Library books

Cover of The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne Cover of The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon Cover of The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker

I already own The Girl in the Road and The Speed of Dark… somewhere. This should be impetus to read them. In theory.

Books to review

Cover of False Hearts by Laura Lam Cover of The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski Cover of The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu

Thanks, Pan Macmillan, Bloomsbury and Saga Press! Because I am dreadfully behind, False Hearts will actually be my first book by Laura Lam, and I’ve only just got The Winner’s Curse… good thing I felt like reading it, haha.

Read this week:

Cover of Georgette Heyer: Biography of a Bestseller by Jennifer Kloester Cover of Death by Water by Kerry Greenwood Cover of Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater Cover of Dead Man's Embers by Mari Strachan Cover of Ms Marvel: Last Days

Cover of City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett Cover of Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton Cover of Old Man's War by John Scalzi Cover of Courage is the Price by Lynn E. O'Connacht Cover of The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Yes, I did read all of those. Yes, I do eat and sleep, we just don’t quite understand how I fit it in.

Reviews this week:
Soundless, by Richelle Mead. Not a favourite of mine, unfortunately, especially because it features the magical healing of a deaf character. 2/5 stars
The Boy Who Lost Fairyland, by Catherynne M. Valente. Now this I loved, quite predictably, since I’ve enjoyed the whole series. It’s a Changeling-child of a book within the series, but I didn’t resent it for that. 4/5 stars
Lois Lane: Fallout, by Gwenda Bond. I love superhero novels, and I love the increasing role of women in comics and comic-related media. So, yep, I loved this, too. 4/5 stars
Georgette Heyer: Biography of a Bestseller, by Jennifer Kloester. It has a lot of detail, and does its best to shine a light on a woman who was very private when alive. 4/5 stars
Colour Me Calm: Mandalas, by Elizabeth James. One quibble: it had at least one design that has been published before. It could be innocent, but it bothered me a bit. 3/5 stars
Death by Water, by Kerry Greenwood. I enjoyed this one a lot, since it allows Phryne to leave behind the comforts of home and her familiar cast, and go a bit further afield. 4/5 stars
Flashback Friday: Camelot’s Blood, by Sarah Zettel. The last of the quartet, this romance does interesting things with the Arthurian setting. 4/5 stars

Other posts: 
Appreciating comics. A piece on how exactly I came to love comics — and appreciate them as an art form.
Top Ten Tuesday: Songs I Wish Were Books. Heavy on the modern folk music.
Review of Illumicrate’s Box #2. What it says on the tin!

And seriously, if you like V.E. Schwab’s work and haven’t got a preorder of A Gathering of Shadows, welp, I got you covered.

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted February 13, 2016 by Nicky in General / 20 Comments

Happy Saturday, everyone! I do look forward to my Saturday posts and going round the regular blogs and some new ones, saying hi, so don’t be shy to leave a comment here — I’ll always reply and comment back on one of your blog posts too. It’s been a quiet week, really: reading-wise, anyway. I did have a friend visiting from the US, so Monday and Tuesday were spent pretending to be a tour guide.

Received to review:

Cover of First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen Cover of Lois Lane Fallout by Gwenda Bond

I still need to read Garden Spells, so hopefully First Frost will be an impetus to read both! I’m quite hopeful given a couple of friends’ enthusiasm for them. I got Lois Lane Fallout via maximumpop, who have an astounding amount of good book giveaways.

Bought:

Cover of The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman Cover of City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett Cover of Ms Marvel: Last Days

Cover of The Wicked + The Divine Vol 3 by Jamie McKelvie and Kieron Gillen Cover of The Buried Book by David Damrosch Cover of Lone Survivors by Chris Stringer

Well, City of Blades actually came via my friend from the US, so it would match my copy of City of Stairs, and The Buried Book and Lone Survivors were gifts from another friend. All of these come from my wishlist, so I’m looking forward to getting stuck in. Especially The Wicked + The Divine!

Library: 

Cover of False Colours by Georgette Heyer Cover of The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart Cover of The Prince and the Pilgrim by Mary Stewart

Cover of Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude Cover of Demon Road by Derek Landy Cover of The Drafter by Kim Harrison

I am feeling like a Heyer binge, so I am pleased to note my local library has a bunch in stock at the moment. I need to finish reading Mary Stewart’s Arthurian books, for sure, and I’m a completist, so I had to pick up the Age of Ultron PreludeDemon Road is Cait @ Paper Fury’s fault.

Read this week:

Cover of Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude Cover of Song for the Basilisk by Patricia McKillip Cover of Soundless by Richelle Mead Cover of The Boy Who Lost Fairyland by Catherynne M. Valente Cover of Lois Lane Fallout by Gwenda Bond

Reviews this week:
Rose Cottage, by Mary Stewart. A quiet romance I reread for the familiarity/comfort factor. 3/5 stars
The Collectors, by Philip Pullman, read by Bill Nighy. Atmospheric and creepy, and the narrator really worked. 4/5 stars
Arrows of the Queen, by Mercedes Lackey. My first encounter with Lackey’s Valdemar, surprising as that may be considering how long I’ve loved this genre. I quite enjoyed it, but the writing can be weak. 3/5 stars
The Midnight Queen, by Sylvia Izzo Hunter. A little bit of Sorcerer to the Crown, a little bit of Jonathan Strange & Norrell, and a lot of sweet romance. 4/5 stars
Song for the Basilisk, by Patricia McKillip. Lovely, though not the most accessible of McKillip’s books. 4/5 stars
Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude, by Joe Bennett and Will Pilgrim. Unfortunately, rather a waste of time unless you seriously need an update. 2/5 stars
Flashback Friday: Camelot’s Sword, by Sarah Zettel. Third in the series, and seeing these posts go up is making me really want to reread them… oops? 4/5 stars

Other posts: 
Blog accessibility. A really important post for me, suggesting quick tips to make your blog easy for readers with visual issues to read.
Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Romances I’ve Loved. Some fairly predictable ones here…

What’s everyone else been up to? Any book sprees, or have you been more restrained than me?

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted February 6, 2016 by Nicky in General / 23 Comments

This is definitely not an unstacking week! I bought five books this week, and received one to review as well. And I didn’t get much reading done at all… oops!

Received to review:

Cover of Dreams of Distant Shores by Patricia McKillip

I’m quite excited about this one! I love McKillip’s work.

Bought:

Cover of Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff Cover of Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton Cover of Soundless by Richelle Mead

Cover of The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski Cover of Defy by Sara Larson

I’ve heard mixed things about Defy and Soundless, but I was curious anyway and had leftover euros to spend. So hurrah! And hey, I went three months without buying books…

Read this week:

Cover of The Midnight Queen by Sylvia Izzo Hunter Cover of Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

Reviews this week:

Kingfisher, Patricia McKillip. Her first novel in a long time, everyone’s very excited about this. And I think she delivers. 4/5 stars
Queen of the Flowers, Kerry Greenwood. Fun and more personal/involving than the last couple of books. 4/5 stars
Time’s Anvil: England, Archaeology and the Imagination, Richard Morris. A bit prone to rambling and tangents, but interesting. 3/5 stars
Dreamsnake, Vonda N. McIntyre. A reread for me. Worth the second visit, though there’s a lot of things I’d still like to know! 4/5 stars
Signal to Noise, Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Interesting ideas — magic in pop music and vinyl! 3/5 stars
Flashback Friday: Camelot’s Honour, Sarah Zettel. Maybe the most influenced by Welsh mythology of the whole series, this is a comfort read for me. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

Unpopular Opinions TagWant to know what series I think is overrated? Oh, and there’s an interesting discussion in the comments about the Grisha trilogy!
ShelfLove Challenge UpdateHow am I doing on my yearly goals? Quite well, so far!
Top Ten Tuesday: Historical Settings I LovedWhat it says on the tin.
February TBR. I’m planning to read a lot this month. Let’s see how laughably wrong my TBR pile is!

How’s everyone been this week? Reading more than me, I hope!

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted January 30, 2016 by Nicky in General / 30 Comments

Wait, it’s Saturday again already? Well, I haven’t bought any books this week (despite some temptation), so once again I get to showcase what I’ve been reading. It isn’t a true “Unstacking” week, though, because I did get a review copy… although technically, I got it last week and forgot to include it in the stack.

Cover of The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Hellig Cover of The Collectors by Philip Pullman Cover of Queen of the Flowers by Kerry Greenwood Cover of The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers Cover of Signal to Noise by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia

 Cover of Time's Anvil by Richard Morris Cover of Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart Cover of Kingfisher by Patricia A. McKillip Cover of Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey

It was a very good reading week, despite the struggle I had with the maths assignment that just wouldn’t die.

And here’s a book I was sent by the author:

Cover of Chameleon Moon by RoAnna Sylver

Aaaand the weekly round-up…

Reviews this week:

City of Stairs, by Robert Jackson Bennett. Loved this one, really looking forward to City of Blades5/5 stars
Unnatural Death, adapted from the book by Dorothy L. Sayers. I think in previous readings I rated it higher, but I got a bit tired of the convolutions in this one. Still, 3/5 stars
Santa Olivia, Jacqueline Carey. Actually a reread for me, but it still had some surprises. Lots of fun! 4/5 stars
Phonogram: Rue Britannia, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie. I was toddling in the 90s, so a lot of the references were lost on me. The art’s great, though. 3/5 stars
How Not to Summon Your True Love, by Sasha L. Miller. Cute story, kinda fun, but the asexual relationship wasn’t as big of a feature as I’d have liked. 3/5 stars
The Girl from Everywhere, by Heidi Heilig. I read it in two sittings, so despite having some quibbles about characterisation later on, the setting and worldbuilding definitely worked for me. 4/5 stars
Flashback Friday: Camelot’s Shadow, by Sarah Zettel. An old review of a series that’s turned into comfort reading for me, and this is the book that features Sir Gawain the most! 4/5 stars

Other posts:

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Picked Up At Random and Loved. It was a freebie week, so it took me a while to think of a topic, but this one was fun.
On reading kinks (that one trope). Is there something in a story that will always make you love it? I had a go at dissecting mine here.

How is everyone? Eating up books as much as you’d like? Tempted by anything in particular? Update me!

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted January 23, 2016 by Nicky in General / 8 Comments

Another week without having purchased any new books! Surely I deserve some kind of reward, like a new bo — oh. Oh well! Here’s the books I’ve finished this week:

Cover of City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett Cover of Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey Cover of The Castlemaine Murders by Kerry Greenwood

Cover of the Unnatural Death audiobook by Dorothy Sayers Cover of Phonogram: Rue Britannia by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie Cover of How Not to Summon Your True Love by Sasha L. Miller

Plenty of reading this week — some of it very last minute, actually.

Just two books acquired this week — two review copies via Netgalley, Less Than Three Press and Hot Key Books:

Cover of How Not to Summon Your True Love by Sasha L. Miller Cover of The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Hellig

I’m not a big fan of the cover, but apparently this is part of a set of books which will focus on aromantic and asexual characters. That I can get behind, and I enjoyed Sasha L. Miller’s The Errant Prince. So I’m excited about the whole idea, and I enjoyed the story.

And now the weekly roundup:

Reviews this week:

Unnatural Creatures, ed. Neil Gaiman. Fun theme and a bunch of great stories, some old and some new. 4/5 stars
A Portrait of the Brain, by Adam Zeman. Disappointingly simplistic and not really suited to my level of understanding, but probably a good starting point for those interested in neurology. 2/5 stars
Impulse, by Dave Bara. A fun enough space opera that didn’t really shine. 2/5 stars
This Savage Song, by Victoria Schwab. Monsters and humans and an interesting world set-up, oh my! I really enjoyed this and recommend it. 4/5 stars
The Frog Princess, by E.D. Baker. A favourite of my sister’s, I thought this was cute, though slight and very much aimed at the middle grade. 3/5 stars
The Castlemaine Murders, by Kerry Greenwood. It’s Phryne, so it was fun, but it was lacking the spark that made some of the other books great. 3/5 stars
Flashback Friday: Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, by Tad Williams. This is a whopping big series with four huge volumes, which is about the only reason I haven’t read it since I was eighteen. It’s typical, in some ways: a scullery boy becomes… well, you’ll see. 4/5 stars

Other posts:

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Recently Added To My TBR. What it says on the tin — some books I’ve got, some books I’m hankering after.

How’s everyone been doing? Hope you’ve all been reading tons, and adding great books to your shelves!

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted January 16, 2016 by Nicky in General / 13 Comments

Not quite an Unstacking the Shelves week, but that’s okay because I don’t have many books finished, either! I’ve been trucking along with reading City of Stairs, but haven’t finished it. As you might expect, given my goal is to finish 365 books this year, I’m now behind! I’ve made my partner promise that tomorrow is all for reading (except for the bit where we go for a walk — I’ve just got a Fitbit, and I’m determined to get my 10,000 steps!).

Still, I haven’t bought any books this week, just received one ARC:

Cover of Different Classes by Joanne Harris

I’m excited to have got this, as I usually enjoy Joanne Harris’ work and this has the same setting as Gentlemen & Players and blueeyedboy, if I recall correctly. Looking forward to reading it.

And now for the weekly roundup:

Reviews this week:

The Grey King, by Susan Cooper. An old favourite, and set in Wales, so no wonder it gets… 5/5 stars
The Parthenon, by Mary Beard. Interesting, even if it didn’t focus on what I was expecting it to focus on. 4/5 stars
Ruin and Rising, by Leigh Bardugo. Last book of the trilogy, and definitely worth it in my view. Loved the moral ambiguity at some points. 4/5 stars
Murder in Montparnasse, by Kerry Greenwood. Another solid instalment of Miss Fisher solving mysteries, though not my favourite. 3/5 stars
Lagoon, by Nnedi Okorafor. I found this interesting, but ultimately the pacing didn’t work for me, nor the treatment of LGBT characters. 3/5 stars
The Mistletoe Bride & Other Haunting Tales, by Kate Mosse. Some interesting stories, but overall it felt kind of overwritten. 2/5 stars
Flashback Friday: Young Avengers: Family Matters, by Allan Heinburg and Jim Cheung. A reminder to reread this whole series soon, I think! 4/5 stars

Other posts: 

Top Ten Tuesday: 2015 Releases. Just shows you how behind I am, really…

Hope everyone’s well and reading more than me! Totally feel free to explore the week’s posts and comment, or go further back if you like — I always try to return comments!

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted January 9, 2016 by Nicky in General / 8 Comments

It’s not quite an Unstacking the Shelves week, but I haven’t bought anything, so here’s a quick peek at what I’ve finished!

Cover of Unnatural Creatures ed. Neil Gaiman Cover of A Portrait of the Brain by Adam Zeman Cover of Impulse by Dave Bara

Not as good a reading week as last week, but still, progress!

My haul this week is all via Netgalley. I’m so excited to have got Kingfisher, and I’m looking forward to trying Adrian Tchiakovsky’s work. I need to read City of Stairs pronto so I can get to City of Blades

Cover of Kingfisher by Patricia A. McKillip Cover of City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett Cover of The Tiger and the Wolf by Adrian Tchiakovsky

I’m especially glad about Kingfisher, because I wasn’t sure if I was going to get it — they normally only grant ARCs to people with over 1,000 followers, and the Bibliophibian lost around 400 in moving from WordPress hosting to self-hosting. So hurrah! Hurrah!

And what else has been going on? Well, here’s the weekly roundup:

Reviews this week:

The Dark Arts of Blood, by Freda Warrington. Deliciously self-indulgent. I remain so glad I picked the first book up on a whim. 4/5 stars
Siege and Storm, by Leigh Bardugo. Not as compelling as the first book, but I did enjoy it. 4/5 stars
Before They Are Hanged, by Joe Abercrombie. I knew I’d enjoy this, as it was a reread, and it definitely stood up to it. 4/5 stars
Genes, People and Languages, by Luigi Cavalli-Sforza. Interesting, but lacked focus. 3/5 stars
Death Before Wicket, by Kerry Greenwood. Probably my least favourite of the series so far, alas. Maybe I just hold Phryne to really high standards. 2/5 stars
Beauty, by Sarah Pinborough. Slightly darker again than the other two books, this wraps up the trilogy… and leaves a lot of things open. 3/5 stars
Flashback Friday: Young Avengers: Sidekicks, by Allan Heinburg and Jim Cheung. A favourite series of mine, this was the first Young Avengers comic I read! 5/5 stars

Other posts:

January TBR. Check out what I’m planning to read this month!
On Deadlines, GRRM and Consequences. The POV of a freelance ghostwriter on the issue of Martin’s announcement that The Winds of Winter will be late.
Top Ten Tuesday: Resolutions. Check out my bookish resolutions for the year.
Bout of Books Progress. Follow along and see how I’ve been doing.

How’s everyone else been? Any awesome discussion posts you want to share? Any exciting ARCs hit your doormat?

I may be slow to reply today, as I’m getting on the train at ridiculous o’ clock to head to Belgium for a month with my partner. So yay for that, and feel free to mob my inbox while I’m out…

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Unstacking the Shelves

Posted January 2, 2016 by Nicky in General / 26 Comments

For the first time in a long time — or possibly the whole time I’ve been doing the Stacking the Shelves meme via Tynga’s Reviews — I don’t have any new books from any source to share this week! It helps that the library is closed and I have a firm resolution to stick to a budget (see my Shelf Love participation post). Technically, my book ban from December is over, but I do want to try and be mindful of buying books this year.

So to celebrate, I have a new feature for this blog. Sort of. I remember someone else once posting “Unstacking the Shelves” posts, while they were trying to catch up with their backlog, and I’m going to shamelessly steal their idea. Whenever I have no books to report buying, I get to do an Unstacking the Shelves post, showing what I’ve read in the last week!

Which is, this week, the following six books:

Cover of Word Puppets by Mary Robinette Kowal Cover of The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman Cover of Murder in Montparnasse by Kerry Greenwood

Cover of The Parthenon by Mary Beard Cover of Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor Cover of The Mistletoe Bride by Kate Mosse

My favourite read this week was probably The Masked City, which I enjoyed more than I expected to based on my rating of the first book — I’m beginning to think I was overly cranky with that one! It was interesting to read Kowal and Mosse’s short stories, too; they’re very different collections. Lagoon, I’m still processing… So far, I still need to write reviews for the last four.

At the same time, I thought I might start highlighting my other posts this week for people who only come by on a Saturday via the link-up. That way, people just dropping by can get a better idea of my blog — and maybe some people will want to stick around!

Reviews this week:
Greenwitch, by Susan Cooper. This was my reread for the TDIR Readathon; it’s a very familiar book for me, so it was like visiting with old friends. I did have some new thoughts about Jane Drew this time, though. 5/5 stars
Charm, by Sarah Pinborough. Second in the series, this retells the story of Cinderella… with extra sex and links to all kinds of other fairytales. 3/5 stars
Word Puppets, by Mary Robinette Kowal. Received to review via Netgalley, this introduced me to Kowal’s non-Regency work. There are some forgettable stories, but for the most part it’s a strong collection. 4/5 stars
The Masked City, by Genevieve Cogman. So much fun! Magic and books and dragons and Fae… And did I mention that the main character is an operative for an organisation called the Library, and there’s an awesome magic system using the power of words? Sign me up! 4/5 stars
The Cutting Room, ed. Ellen Datlow. Unfortunately not really my thing, though there are some very memorable stories in the collection. Probably a case of ‘it’s not you’… 2/5 stars
The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie. This was another reread, albeit one I wasn’t as familiar with as Greenwitch. I enjoyed it a lot; memory, if anything, had downgraded this from the rating it deserved. 4/5 stars
Flashback Friday: The House at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman. This feature reposts old reviews I wrote before I had this blog. Neil Gaiman’s work is solidly entertaining, but I thought maybe I was exactly the wrong age to appreciate this one. 3/5 stars

Other posts:
Bout of Books Participation Post. For once, I’m on time to join in the Bout of Books readathon!
Top Ten Tuesday: Repeat Gifts. This week I went off-script and picked a theme of my own, talking about the books that I’m always giving to new people.
ShelfLove Participation Post. This challenge worked really well for me last year, and here’s my (rather ambitious) plan for 2016!

I’ve also just added a bunch of social media options to the blog, so you can now follow me on Google+ or Facebook. I have a Twitter as well, but it has more of a personal focus. Me being me, though, a personal focus still means a lot of book chatter.

Oh well, we’ll see! How’s everyone doing? Hope you’ve started 2016 as you mean to go on, with laughter and light and love and anything else your heart desires.

(Please please please do not comment telling me to enjoy my new books. It will make it obvious you haven’t read the text at all and will make me sad.)

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