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

Books bought

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:

Read this week:

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.

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

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.

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

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

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:

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.

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:

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:

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: 

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 Prelude. Demon Road is Cait @ Paper Fury’s fault.

Read this week:

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?

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:

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

Bought:

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:

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 Tag. Want to know what series I think is overrated? Oh, and there’s an interesting discussion in the comments about the Grisha trilogy!
–ShelfLove Challenge Update. How am I doing on my yearly goals? Quite well, so far!
–Top Ten Tuesday: Historical Settings I Loved. What 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!

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!

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…

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…

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:

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.)