Tag: Stacking the Shelves

Weekly Roundup

Posted September 5, 2020 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

Greetings, folks! I keep saying I’m going to have a break from buying books, but somehow… Not that I’m complaining! It’s been a quiet week, but not because I haven’t been reading — it’s just been a couple of slower books.

Linking up with The Sunday Post @ The Caffeinated Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves @ Reading Reality & Tynga’s Reviews.

Books acquired:

Cover of Fake Law by the Secret Barrister Cover of How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan Cover of Utopia for Realists by Rutger Bregman Cover of Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake

I’ve been anticipating Fake Law and Entangled Life for a while now, but the other two were impulse buys based on a) an email campaign I somehow got signed up to which talks about UBI, and b) being interested in brains and the weird things they do.

I also got a new review copy of a book which sounds like a potentially fascinating microhistory:

Cover of Life in Miniature by Nicola LisleVery micro, in this case… (Yes, I do think I’m funny.)

Books read this week:

Cover of Unfit For Purpose by Adam Hart Cover of Mudlarking by Lara Maiklam

Reviews posted this week:

And so another week is nearly over! How was yours? Any good books stacked this week? Read anything exciting?

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Weekly Roundup

Posted August 29, 2020 by Nicky in General / 15 Comments

Good morning, folks! I felt like this had been a dreadfully indulgent week with far too many books bought, but actually doing this post it seems… fair enough for someone who just had a birthday?! Though once I include the finished copies of books I had to review, it gets a little bigger…

Linking up with The Sunday Post @ The Caffeinated Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves @ Reading Reality & Tynga’s Reviews.

Books acquired:

Cover of Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth Cover of Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis Cover of Bad News by Rob Brotherton Cover of Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

Cover of Bigger Than History by Brian Fagan and Nadia Durrani Cover of The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky Cover of The Vinyl Frontier by Jonathan Scott Cover of Black and British by David Olusoga

Cover of Or What You Will by Jo Walton Cover of Drift Wood by Marie Brennan Cover of Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Not so nuts, right? Though it’s my usual odd mix!

Books finished this week:

Cover of The Contact Paradox by Keith Cooper Cover of The Secret Life of Bones by Brian Switek Cover of Bigger Than History by Brian Fagan and Nadia Durrani Cover of A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn

Reviews posted:

Other posts:

  • WWW Wednesday, a weekly check-in on what I’m currently reading and thinking about

So that was my week! How’re you all doing?

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Weekly Roundup

Posted August 22, 2020 by Nicky in General / 3 Comments

Good evening, folks! Last week I took off owing to the confluence of a sick rabbit and damaging myself by falling onto the corner of a coffee table, but my ribs are fair to middling now and the rabbit seems back to normal, and it’s been my birthday, so I should catch up!

This post was supposed to go up this morning, but the infamous WordPress “missed schedule” issue bit me. Booo.

Linking up with The Sunday Post @ The Caffeinated Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves @ Reading Reality & Tynga’s Reviews.

Books acquired:

Cover of Unfit For Purpose by Adam Hart Cover of The Contact Paradox by Keith Cooper Cover of Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron Cover of The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White

Cover of The Shipwreck Hunter by David L. Mearns Cover of Kindred by Rebecca Wragg Sykes Cover of Nodding Off by Alice Gregory

With most but not all of those being birthday presents from my wife! Aaand here are the eARCs:

Cover of Evie and the Pack-Horse Librarians by Laurel Beckley Cover of Out on the Ice by Kelly Farmer Cover of Dead Man in a Ditch by Luke Arnold

Cover of The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix Cover of An Unnatural Life by Erin K. Wagner Cover of Architect of Memory by Karen Osborne

A nice bunch! Thanks to the publishers!

Books read since my last roundup:

Cover of Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood Cover of Burnout by Emily & Amelia Nagoski Cover of When the Tiger Came Down The Mountain by Nghi Vo Cover of The Arsenal Stadium Mystery by Leonard Gribble Cover of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Cover of Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland by Lisa Schneidau Cover of The Seventh Perfection by Daniel Polansky Cover of The Woman in the Wardrobe by Peter Shaffer Cover of The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold Cover of The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Reviews posted:

Other posts:

And that’s it for this week! How’s everyone doing?

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Weekly Roundup

Posted August 8, 2020 by Nicky in General / 20 Comments

Greetings, folks! This has been a good week for ARCs, and passable for reading… and I have my replacement ereader now, so I can get back to some neglected library books. Hurrah! It’s also been pretty busy in terms of posting reviews, which I hadn’t realised until starting this post. Whoa!

Linking up with The Sunday Post @ The Caffeinated Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves @ Reading Reality & Tynga’s Reviews.

Books acquired:

Cover of Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender Cover of Crowning Soul by Sahira Javaid Cover of Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire Cover of When the Tiger Came Down The Mountain by Nghi Vo

Cover of Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor Cover of A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel Cover of The Right Sort of Man by Allison Montclair

Thank you to the publishers who let me have ARCs (mostly Tor!) and also the two lovelies who have bought me books this week. You know how to spoil a Nicky, and it’s appreciated deeply.

Books read this week:

Cover of Mystery at Olympia by John Rhode Cover of Lock In by John Scalzi Cover of Head On by John Scalzi Cover of A Scream in Soho by John G. Brandon Cover of The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo by Zen Cho

Reviews posted this week:

Other posts:

  • Top Ten Tuesday: Books With Colours in the Title. A motley bunch! Most of which I haven’t read yet, actually…
  • WWW Wednesday. The usual update, discussing A Scream in Soho and John Scalzi.
  • Hobbit Birthday. Giveaway still going on! Open worldwide; £50 to spend at Portal Bookshop for one winner, £15 for two others. (It’s possible to figure out a different bookshop if Portal don’t ship to you!)

Whoa, that took some rounding up.

So how’re you folks? Been reading anything good, or stacking your shelves with anything shiny? I got my finished copy of Seven Devils as well, this week, so that’s something to look forward to!

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Weekly Roundup

Posted August 1, 2020 by Nicky in General / 17 Comments

Well, folks, it’s been quite the week. No new books, and we’ve been in quarantine after Lisa (my wife) developed some potential-COVID symptoms. We’ve both tested negative now and she’s on the mend, but phew it’s been tiring.

Linking up with The Sunday Post @ The Caffeinated Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves @ Reading Reality & Tynga’s Reviews.

So here’s what I have managed to read (not bad, though they were short!):

Books read this week:

Cover of Return of the Earl by Sandra Schwab Cover of Alike As Two Bees by Elin Gregory Cover of The Secret Lives of Colour by Kassia St Clair

Reviews posted this week:

Other posts:

  • WWW Wednesday. A quick update, mostly mentioning the books above.
  • Hobbit Birthday. Giveaway still going on! Open worldwide; £50 to spend at Portal Bookshop for one winner, £15 for two others. (It’s possible to figure out a different bookshop if Portal don’t ship to you!)

So that’s me for the week. How’s everyone else doing?

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Weekly Roundup

Posted July 25, 2020 by Nicky in General / 28 Comments

Greetings, folks. I wasn’t as organised this week, but I’m still getting this posted on Saturday instead of Sunday! It’s good enough for me. It’s been a quiet week as I haven’t been feeling 100% well.

Linking up with The Sunday Post @ The Caffeinated Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves @ Reading Reality & Tynga’s Reviews.

Books bought this week:

Cover of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Cover of Alike As Two Bees by Elin Gregory Cover of The Deep by Rivers Solomon Cover of Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

Cover of Murder in Vienna by E.C.R. Lorac Cover of Murderer's Mistake by E.C.R. Lorac Cover of Death Came Softly by E.C.R. Lorac Cover of Accident by Design, by E.C.R. Lorac

Cover of Rope's End, Rogue's End by E.C.R. Lorac Cover of A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman Cover of Return of the Earl by Sandra Schwab Cover of Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian

As you can see, I discovered a bunch of E.C.R. Lorac books that haven’t been reissued in the British Library Crime Classics series… are available in ebook for a couple of quid each. Yoink!

Books read this week:

Cover of Like a Gentleman by Eliot Grayson Cover of The Man Who Didn't Fly by Margot Bennett

 

Reviews posted this week:

Other posts:

  • Hobbit Birthday. For my birthday, I’m giving away £50 to spend on books (preferably at Portal Bookshop, but I can be flexible if they can’t ship to you) to one person, and one book under £15 to two people! You can get entries (apart from a freebie and one for following my blog) by doing some little self-care/fun/charity stuff.

That’s it for this week? How’re you folks doing?

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Weekly Report

Posted July 18, 2020 by Nicky in General / 17 Comments

Gooood morning, folks! How’s your week been?

A few weeks ago, I let you know I was applying to the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Well, thanks for all your well wishes — I’m in! I’m still working out whether I can take some prior credit in so I can skip the intro to biology module (given I have an entire biology degree), but I should be commencing my studies (part time, via distance learning) in September. I’m really excited!

Linking up with The Sunday Post @ The Caffeinated Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves @ Reading Reality & Tynga’s Reviews.

Books acquired:

Cover of The Man Who Didn't Fly by Margot Bennett Cover of A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown Cover of Covid-19 The Pandemic That Never Should Have Happened And How To Stop The Next One by Debora Mackenzie Cover of Dangerous Remedy by Kat Dunn

Cover of A Declaration of The Rights of Magicians by H. G. Parry Cover of The Secret Life of Bones by Brian Switek Cover of Solve Your Stress Cycle by Emily & Amelia Nagoski Cover of The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

Thank you to Moon Kestrel for A Declaration of The Rights of Magicians, Malou for Dangerous Remedy, and the bunnies for The Extraordinaries. I am being spoilt lately, and I love it! Also, thank you to K.B. Wagers for recommending Burnout — I’m normally pretty allergic to any kind of self-help stuff, but a) I need to read a self-help book for a reading challenge prompt, and b) there’s good stuff out there, it’s just hard for the genre to rise above some of the blatantly bad books.

Books finished this week:

Cover of The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole Cover of Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark

Reviews posted this week:

Other posts:

I have a book voucher in need of using… and an order incoming from Portal Bookshop… so it’s going to be a busy week for my letterbox. What books have you been grabbing lately? Anything you’re ready to shake down the postman for?

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Weekly Roundup

Posted July 11, 2020 by Nicky in General / 24 Comments

Good morning, folks! It’s been a while since I was able to do this, but… this post was prepared on Friday evening! It’s nice to be ahead — and I’m even all up to date on writing reviews, and it’s been a good reading week! I know the cool, rainy summer is really disappointing to some folks, but I’m revelling in it; I loathe heat. (I wouldn’t mind a bit more sunshine, just keep the daytime temperatures below 25°C and the nights cool enough to be refreshing, and I’ll still be happy… but if I have to choose between hot weather and dreary rain, I’ll choose the rain!)

In any case, what have I been stacking my shelves with and reading this week? Here we go! Linking up with The Sunday Post @ The Caffeinated Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves @ Reading Reality & Tynga’s Reviews.

Books acquired:

Cover of The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole Cover of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows Cover of Botanical Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland by Lisa Schneidau Cover of Written In History: Letters That Changed The World by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Cover of This Is Not Propaganda by Peter Pomerantsev Cover of Period by Emma Barnett Cover of A Good Time to Be Born by Perri Klass Cover of Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi

Thank you to the publishers for the eARCs of A Good Time To Be Born and Eight Detectives!

Finished reading this week:

Cover of Annabel Scheme by Robin Sloan Cover of Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders by Aliette De Bodard Cover of Invasive Aliens by Dan Eatherley Cover of The Dead Shall Be Raised & Death of a Quack by Goerge Bellairs

Reviews posted this week:

Other posts:

  • Top Ten Tuesday: The Authors I’ve Read The Most Books By. As usual, it’s what it says on the tin — I mostly guessed rather than looking at actual stats, which would be dominated by the author of the Rurouni Kenshin manga I read when I was 17, and probably GetBackers as well. Not entirely representative of my current taste!
  • WWW Wednesday. The usual update on what I’m reading, with my thoughts on a couple of the books already mentioned here.

Out and about:

  • Postcrossing: Book Review – The Documents in the Case. It figures that my official introduction on the Postcrossing blog is about books! I’ve written a couple of posts for the blog before, but this little series will be my Thing, where you can see me reviewing books about post and mail systems. If you have any recommendations for epistolary novels or books that revolve around post in some way, can you drop a comment over there? (Or here works too!) In any case, I did a whole review of Dorothy L. Sayers’ epistolary mystery, The Documents in the Case. I’ve reviewed the book here before, but my write-up on the Postcrossing blog is all new, and hopefully still worth checking out!
  • Beeminder: Beeminding the Fuzzy Friends. If you don’t know about Beeminder, basically you set goals… and if you don’t meet them, you pay! My latest contribution to the Beeminder blog discusses how I track spending time with my rabbits, and how those efforts have paid off. If you want to hear about the really cute trick Biscuit can do, you want to read this post!

Full disclosure: I help out at Postcrossing and I’m the Support Czar for Beeminder, so obviously I have Ulterior Motives in boosting these blog posts. I hope they’re interesting, though — I don’t always highlight my blog posts elsewhere, but these seemed like they’d have some crossover appeal!

So that’s everything for this week — how’re you folks doing? Grabbed any new books, or been grabbed by any?

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Weekly Roundup

Posted July 4, 2020 by Nicky in General / 16 Comments

Happy weekend! I’ve actually been reading this week, mostly because I stuck to what is clearly working for my brain right now… and I also got quite a few new books, through friends, ARCs, giveaways and preorders (plus my own one book from my wishlist per week).

I also submitted my application to do an MSc in Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (via distance learning), so hey, wish me luck, restrict non-essential time outside the house, and wear masks when you’re out in public; even temporary cloth masks are proven to help, and if everyone masks up, we can cut transmission waaay faster.

Linking up with The Sunday Post @ The Caffeinated Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves @ Reading Reality & Tynga’s Reviews.

Books acquired: 

Cover of Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire by Dan Hanks Cover of The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk

These first two were received to review via Netgalley! Yaaay.

Cover of The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson Cover of The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso Cover of A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy Cover of You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson

Cover of How Contagion Works by Paolo Giordano Cover of The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso Cover of Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

The Murders of Molly Southbourne was via a giveaway (thank you again!) and a friend got me The Obsidian Tower and Seafire for being brave enough to actually press submit on my MSc application, ahaha.

(How do I have four other books when I’m meant to get one a week? Preorders don’t count in the one-a-week, and A River of Royal Blood and How Contagion Works were covered by promotional credit. Score!)

Books read this week:

Cover of The Covid-19 Catastrophe by Richard Horton Cover of Threshold by Jordan L. Hawk Cover of How Contagion Works by Paolo Giordano Cover of The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson Cover of A Ruin of Shadows by L.D. Lewis

Reviews posted this week:

Other posts:

Alright, I think that’s everything — and it’s only Saturday! Whew. Normally I end up doing this on a Sunday night. How’s everyone doing? Been stacking any great books lately?

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Weekly Roundup

Posted June 28, 2020 by Nicky in General / 10 Comments

Greetings, folks! Welp, I’m sort of caught up for right now, but I don’t know if it’ll stick. How’s everyone else doing?

Linking up with The Sunday Post @ The Caffeinated Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves @ Reading Reality & Tynga’s Reviews.

Books acquired this week:

Cover of The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper Cover of The Falling In Love Montage by Ciara Smyth Cover of The Covid-19 Catastrophe by Richard Horton Cover of The Woman in the Wardrobe by Peter Shaffer

Thank you to the kind folks who have bought me books this week… and the customer service folks at Waterstones who managed to get The COVID-19 Catastrophe shipped to me in the end!

Books read this week:

Cover of Murder in the Mill-Race by E.C.R. Lorac

Reviews posted this week:

Other posts:

Alrighty, that’s all done! And how about you folks? Got any awesome new books?

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