Tag: weekly roundup

Unstacking the Shelves

Posted April 2, 2016 by Nicky in General / 6 Comments

Yes, that’s right! For the first time in a while, I’ve actually avoided acquiring any books this week. I haven’t done much unstacking though, either. I’ve read a couple of books, but I got bogged down in The Stress of Her Regard (Tim Powers), of which I’m not enough of a fan to be getting very far with it. Still, I did some more reading on Friday that I’d done all week…

Books finished this week:

Cover of The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart Cover of Wolves by Simon Ings Cover of Wolfsbane Winter by Jane Fletcher

Reviews this week:
Stormy Petrel, by Mary Stewart. Not my favourite of Stewart’s romance/suspense novels, but a comfort reread for me. 3/5 stars
A Stranger in Olondria, by Sofia Samatar. Richly written and vivid, though I think I wanted more resolution or… something. 4/5 stars
A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan. I reread I loved even more the second time round. Awesome alt-history with study of dragons, what’s not to love? 5/5 stars
The Black Moth, by Georgette Heyer. Since this was Heyer’s first novel, it’s understandably not as great as some of the later ones. But it was still a lot of fun! 3/5 stars
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson. I actually prefer Lawson’s blog as a context for her writing, I think, but there’s no denying she’s funny as hell. 3/5 stars
Library of Souls, by Ransom Riggs. Pretty good finish for the series, though my enjoyment was somewhat marred by the fact that it’s less a series and more one continuous story. It took me a while to pick the threads back up. 3/5 stars
Flashback Friday: The Earth Hums in B Flat, by Mari Strachan. Not as whimsical as I expected from descriptions, but enjoyable, though not comfortable. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
Library closures. The perspective from someone who helped to run a community library on the importance of libraries — and trained librarians.
Shelf Love Challenge April Update (and TBR list). Also featuring my love letter to my (ex-)local library.

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted March 26, 2016 by Nicky in General / 10 Comments

Hello everyone! It’s been a busy week, particularly as I’m now trying to tackle my library books and get them down to zero, in preparation for a long trip to stay with my partner. I have a month, and 36 books to go… and some of them are the second book in a series where I own the first book but haven’t read it yet. Uh, wish me luck?!

Received to review:

Cover of Saint's Blood by Sebastien de Castell Cover of Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay Cover of Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie

So excited about all three of these!

Books finished this week: 

Cover of The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer Cover of Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs Cover of The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski Cover of Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson Cover of Fathom by Cherie Priest

Cover of The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black Cover of The Selection by Kiera Cass Cover of Liars and Thieves by Karen Maitland Cover of Blood and Feathers by Lou Morgan

Reviews this week:
Clean Sweep, by Ilona Andrews. Lots of fun, and funny too. Ilona Andrews’ books are always fun, I think. 4/5 stars
Junk DNA, by Nessa Carey. Spoiler: there’s probably no such thing as junk DNA. At least not in the amounts previously thought. Nessa Carey writes clearly and concisely, and I think the book should work for laypeople. 4/5 stars
The Winner’s Crime, by Marie Rutkoski. I’m not sure if my writing might be too generous — the plot relied heavily on miscommunication/lack of communication, which always drives me bananas. 4/5 stars
Solstice Wood, by Patricia A. McKillip. More accessible than the other book, Winter Rose, but less enchanting. 3/5 stars
Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell. Love, love, love. Might read it again before long. 5/5 stars
The Winner’s Kiss, by Marie Rutkoski. Got over most of my quibbles from the second book, and ended things well. 4/5 stars
Flashback Friday: Helen of Troy, by Bettany Hughes. Enjoyable take on the myth of Helen and the way it has developed, though probably dry if this isn’t an area of interest for you. 4/5 stars

Other posts:
Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Really Love But Feel Like I Haven’t Talked About Enough/In A While. What it says on the tin!

How’s everyone? Anything exciting going on?

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted March 19, 2016 by Nicky in General / 19 Comments

Well, for the first time in a while I haven’t got any new books this week! I did pick up some print copies of books I already owned for my collection, but I don’t really count those as acquisitions unless I’m going to reread. And there was a library trip, but only a small one!

Cover of A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer Cover of The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer Cover of Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson Cover of Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear

Yes, honestly, that is a small one. I technically own the Heyer books… somewhere.

Books read: 

Cover of Solstice Wood by Patricia McKillip Cover of A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan Cover of Stormy Petrel by Mary Stewart

Cover of Carry On by Rainbow Rowell Cover of A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar Cover of The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Reviews this week:

The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All The Way Home, by Catherynne M. Valente. A worthy final book, though I was disappointed not to see more of a couple of characters. It ends very neatly. 4/5 stars
Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days, by Brian K. Vaughn. I wanted to like it more, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the art. Made a decent introduction, though. 3/5 stars
Winter Rose, by Patricia A. McKillip. I normally love McKillip’s work, but this was my third read and I consistently don’t seem to “get” this one. 3/5 stars
Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, by Kai Ashante Wilson. I wanted to like it, but the pacing was off and there were so many things skimmed over that I really wanted to know. 2/5 stars
Alex + Ada: Volume One, by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn. Very very introductory, so it’s hard to say if I’ll like the rest of the series. 3/5 stars
Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay: The Dodgy Business of Popular Music, by Simon Napier-Bell. Gossipy and light, but uses terms like “Red Indians”. Whaaa? 2/5 stars
Flashback Friday: The Postman, by David Brin. An interesting concept for a post-apocalyptic story. I wanted more female characters, though. 3/5 stars

Other posts:

Why reread? Examines why I like to reread — and asks whether you do, too.
Top Ten Tuesday: Spring TBR. What it says on the tin: some books I hope to read soon.

So how’s your week been? I wish I’d read more, but it hasn’t been a bad week. My only worry is getting together the money for my domain name renewal and such.

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Stacking the Shelves

Posted March 12, 2016 by Nicky in General / 22 Comments

You know how I said last week there was a bookalanche? Well, it seems to have… set off another? Plus I got some review copies. And I joined a new library. At least I read quite a lot too?!

Books to review: 

Cover of Passenger by Alexandra Bracken Cover of Too Like The Lightning Cover of Demon Road by Derek Landy

Between being a fan of Ada Palmer’s work with Sassafrass and Jo’s praise, I couldn’t resist picking up the latter, and I’ve seen so much enthusiasm about Passenger, so I thought I’d give it a try. And Demon Road, well, the hardback from the library is a beast so glad to have the ebook. Thanks Tor, Hachette and HarperCollins!

Library books:

Cover of House of Suns Cover of Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds Cover of Red Moon by Benjamin Percy Cover of A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

Cover of Saturn's Children by Charles Stross Cover of The Dark Heroine by Abigail Gibbs Cover of The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater Cover of Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Grabbed the Stiefvater books since it’s the first time I’ve seen them both on the shelves, and I don’t know when I’ll next swing by that library. The Alastair Reynolds books are for my epic reread with my sister; we’re starting with Century Rain, which is the book we both started with way back when (and the book which got my sister to read again after years of refusing). A Natural History of Dragons is for a reread and Saturn’s Children because I don’t feel like reading in ebook lately. The other two I was just randomly curious about.

Books bought: 

Cover of Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer Cover of Faro's Daughter by Georgette Heyer Cover of Frederica by Georgette Heyer Cover of Watch the Wall, My Darling, by Jane Aiken Hodge

Cover of Forest of Memory by Mary Robinette Kowal Cover of The Devil You Know by K.J. Parker Cover of The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster Cover of Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher

Cover of Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds Cover of Redemption Ark by Alastair Reynolds Cover of Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds Cover of Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds

Cover of The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds Cover of Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days by Alastair Reynolds Cover of Zima Blue by Alastair Reynolds Cover of Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews

A-Force: Warzones Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps

Um. My only excuse is that some of these were secondhand and thus very cheap or free, and then the novellas were from my partner via our Valentine’s Day agreement (for me: £10 ish for books, no questions asked, each month; for her: at least one nap, no pouting allowed, each month). You can see four distinctive sections — romance novels, fantasy novellas, Alastair Reynolds, and kickass ladies in comics. And then an Ilona Andrews one tacked on that I almost forgot to list.

Books read: 

Cover of Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip Cover of Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson Cover of Ex-Machina: The First Hundred Days Cover of The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu

Cover of Alex + Ada Vol 1 by Sarah Vaughn and Jonathan Luna Cover of Clean Sweep, by Ilona Andrews Cover of Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay by Simon Napier-Bell Cover of Junk DNA by Nessa Carey

Reviews this week: 

Tolkien: An Illustrated Atlas, by David Day. Mostly worth it for the art included. 3/5 stars
An Earthly Knight, by Janet McNoughton. A reread I appreciated more than I did the first time, based on the ballad of Tam Lin. Lots of historical detail. 4/5 stars
The Last Enchantment, by Mary Stewart. It felt like Stewart tried to see the best in all the traditional characters, which didn’t always work. 3/5 stars
The Paper Menagerie, by Ken Liu. Interesting collection of stories, and my only real problem was something about the tone. Probably very idiosyncratic! 3/5 stars
Murder in the Dark, by Kerry Greenwood. One of the weaker entries in the series, I think, with a weird cult thing going on. 3/5 stars
Vicious, by V.E. Schwab. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Morally dubious superpeople and a fun story structure. 5/5 stars
Flashback Friday: Before I Go To Sleep, by S.J. Watson. Fairly typical amnesiac thriller, and rather predictable too. 2/5 stars

Other posts:
Spoilers! A post on why I like spoilers and why I might not be alone in that.
Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Characters Everyone Likes But I Just Don’t Get. Apparently it’s unpopular opinions time again?

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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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