In the immortal words of John Lennon, “So this is Christmas…” So Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas to those of you who celebrate this holiday, and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Not a lot of books came in this week, and I expect next week to be just as sparse. A lot of people have the holidays off in one way or another.  They’re still not real to me, it’s supposed to hit 70°F here in Atlanta, and pretty much stay that way until at least New Year’s Eve.

This is also the first day of the Top 10 of 2021, hosted by @KimberlyFayeReads. Today’s theme is “Books I Wish I’d Made Time to Read in 2021” and the answer, honestly, is ALL OF THEM. Maybe not the ones in genres and subjects I don’t normally read, but that still leaves all the Fantasy, Science Fiction, Mysteries, Romance, etc., etc., etc. So many books, so little time, and more books and less time EVERY YEAR!

For Review:
Escape from Yokai Land (Laundry Files #12) by Charles Stross
Fire of the Frost by Darynda Jones, Jeffe Kennedy, Grace Draven, Amanda Bouchet (REVIEW!!!)
Quarter to Midnight (New Orleans #1) by Karen Rose
Screams from the Dark edited by Ellen Datlow
The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner
Wake of War by Zac Topping
The Wedding Setup by Sonali Dev

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The stacks may be getting shorter as the year winds to a close, but there is still plenty to love in each of them. This particular stack contains not one or two, but THREE books that I’ve been waiting for – one of which I didn’t even KNOW I was waiting for. Those would be The Grief of Stones, Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments and Ghost of the Bamboo Road, which is the book I didn’t know existed but bought immediately upon discovery. And then there’s Last Call at the Nightingale, which has one of the prettiest covers I’ve seen in a while.

Plenty to love, and plenty to read over this holiday season! YAY!

For Review:
Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore
Cold Clay (Shady Hollow #2) by Juneau Black
Cry Wolf (Haparanda #1) by Hans Rosenfeldt
Curfew by Jayne Cowie
The Grief of Stones (Cemeteries of Amalo #2, Goblin Emperor #3) by Katherine Addison
The Impossible Us by Sarah Lotz
Last Call at the Nightingale by Katharine Schellman
Light Years from Home by Mike Chen
Love, Hate & Clickbait by Liz Bowery
Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments (Edinburgh Nights #2) by T.L. Huchu
Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell by Taj McCoy
Summer Island by Shelley Noble

Purchased from Amazon/Audible:
Ghost of the Bamboo Road (Shinobi Mystery #7) by Susan Spann
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams (audio)

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I’m not sure whether book availability – or at least eARC availability – is easing its way out of the annual holiday slump, or whether it’s just that a lot of covers have finally attached themselves to eARCs I’ve had for a bit. This week’s stack is just a bit taller than the previous few.

It’s also about halfway between Thanksgiving and Xmas, so it also feels as if the holiday season is proceeding apace. The last day of Hanukkah was December 6, so that last candle has been lit for the year. It’s also damp and gloomy here, which is what passes for winter weather in Atlanta.

The books I’m most excited about in this batch are Aspects and Nettle & Bone. I loved John M. Ford’s The Dragon Waiting when it first came out, and I loved it just as much when Tor Books republished it last year. It’s been marvelous to see an old favorite finally back in print and be able to read the books that I missed back then, like The Scholars of Night and the upcoming Aspects.

Nettle & Bone, on the other hand, I’m looking forward to because I adored the author’s wonderfully titled AND written A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking. Based on the blurbs, it looks like this is going to have the same feel and I can’t wait. I also can’t wait for the Hugo Awards to be announced on December 18 as Wizard’s Guide is a finalist for the Best YA Novel award this year.

For Review:
Aspects by John M. Ford
Book of Night by Holly Black
Daughter of Redwinter (Redwinter Chronicles #1) by Ed McDonald
The Falcon’s Eyes by Francesca Stanfill
The Last Dress from Paris by Jade Beer
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
Overlord (Galactic Kings #1) by Anna Hackett
The Seamstress of New Orleans by Diane C. McPhail
Second Spear (Mkalis Cycle #2) by Kerstin Hall
The Starless Crown (Moon Fall #1) by James Rollins (audio)
These Prisoning Hills by Christopher Rowe
Three Debts Paid (Daniel Pitt #5) by Anne Perry
Unnatural Ends by Christopher Huang
Until We Meet by Camille DiMaio
The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories edited and collected by Yu Chen and Regina Kanyu Wang

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page

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Yes, I preordered the audio of The Discord of Gods seriously, seriously early. I mean, really, I only have FIVE months to wait. I have an eARC, so I might start early. BUT this seems to be one of those series that just works better for me in audio. So I’ll probably wait. The other book that really caught my eye is The Ballad of Perilous Graves. I always love a good New Orleans story and this looks like a doozy.

For Review:
All the Queen’s Men (Her Majesty the Queen Investigates #2) by SJ Bennett
The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings
Braking Day by Adam Oyebanji
The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
The Discord of Gods (Chorus of Dragons #5) by Jenn Lyons
Face by Joma West
The Fossil Hunter by Tea Cooper
Four Aunties and a Wedding (Aunties #2) by Jesse Q. Sutanto
How to Be a Wallflower (Would-Be Wallflowers #1) by Eloisa James
In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer
In the Shadow of Lightning (Glass Immortals #1) by Brian McClellan
The Manhattan Girls by Gill Paul
The Memory Librarian : And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe
Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini

Purchased from Amazon/Audible:
The Discord of Gods (Chorus of Dragons #5) by Jenn Lyons (audio)(preorder)

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I’m putting this post together on Thanksgiving, as our company is coming on Black Friday. Whenever, wherever and how many ever Thanksgiving dinners you managed to have, I hope that you had a terrific Turkey Day!

Speaking of thankful things, Audible had a sale early this week. I’m a sucker for Audible’s sales, especially as these were books I was already thinking about. And OMG Kate Mulgrew is reading The Autobiography of Kathryn Janeway!

For Review:
51 by Patrick O’Leary
Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson
The Mozart Code by Rachel McMillan
Out of the Blue (Perfect Fit #4) by Alison Bliss
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
The Perfect Predator by Stephanie Standlee
A Sunlit Weapon (Maisie Dobbs #17) by Jacqueline Winspear
Sword and Shadow (Wolves of Elantra #2) by Michelle Sagara

Purchased from Amazon/Audible:
The Autobiography of Kathryn Janeway by Una McCormick (read by Kate Mulgrew!) (audio)
The Last Watch (Divide #1) by J.S. Dewes (audio)
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (audio)
Shards of Earth (Final Architecture #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky (audio)

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This has not been the greatest reading week, so I’m happy that the new stack isn’t huge. Not that I didn’t have good books this week, just that this week has been a bit fraught with the bathroom remodeling – which is still is progress at least through Monday. It’s hard to read – it’s hard to even think! – when someone is pounding or sawing right above your head!

But pretty book covers are still pretty, and some of these are gorgeous!

For Review:
The Blue Diamond (Daughter of Sherlock Holmes #6) by Leonard Goldberg
The Circus Infinite by Khan Wong
The Destiny of the Dead (Shroud of Prophecy #2) by Kel Kade
Die Around Sundown by Mark Pryor
Elektra by Jennifer Saint
Gouda Friends (Ponto Beach Reunion #2) by Cathy Yardley
The House of Cats and Gulls (Dominion #2) by Stephen Deas
If You Ask Me by Libby Hubscher
Mad Girls of New York (Nellie Bly #1) by Maya Rodale
Rosebud by Paul Cornell
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain
The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
These Impossible Things by Salma El-Wardany
Walk the Vanished Earth by Erin Swan

If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page

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Is anyone else having trouble believing that it’s November already? This year has whipped by so fast I think I have whiplash. That Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away feels a bit unreal. But I’m starting to see books on NetGalley and Edelweiss that won’t be out until August of 2022. That’s just WRONG. Not that I haven’t picked up more than a few already. Like Lucy Checks In. Because irresistible.

But it still feels like someone should be getting a 10-yard penalty for rushing the season. Somewhere.

For Review:
Bad Actors (Slough House #8) by Mick Herron
The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk
Engines of Empire (Age of Uprising #1) by R.S. Ford
Flint and Mirror by John Crowley
Go Hex Yourself by Jessica Clare
The Justice of Kings (Empire of the Wolf #1) by Richard Swan
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Lucy Checks In by Dee Ernst
Never Tell by Stacey Abrams writing as Selena Montgomery
Ordinary Monsters (Talents #1) by J.M. Miro
Sari, Not Sari by Sonya Singh
The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley (Elemental Masters#16) by Mercedes Lackey
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
Temple of No God (Hall of Smoke #2) by H.M. Long

Purchased from Amazon/Audible:
Knot of Shadows (Penric & Desdemona #11) by Lois McMaster Bujold

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Lots of good-looking books this week. Whether they are good reading books is yet to be determined. Howsomever, there’s one book on here that I remember very fondly, Bride of the Rat God by Barbara Hambly. When I read – and loved – this same author’s Scandal in Babylon a few weeks ago, I didn’t catch that the story was a reworking of Bride. But then, I read Bride when it came out in 1994, so it’s not too surprising that I didn’t remember the details, even though I still have my original paperback. One of these days, when I’m looking for a comfort read, I’m planning to go back and see if it’s as good as I vaguely remember.

For Review:
The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
Four Thousand Days (Margaret Murray #1) by M.J. Trow
The God is Not Willing (Witness #1) by Steven Erikson
Hex Work (Babylon Boy #1) by TA Moore
Kamila Knows Best by Farah Heron
Last Duke Standing (Royal Match #1) by Julia London
The Midnight Ride by Ben Mezrich
Parting the Veil by Paulette Kennedy
The Powerbroker (Norcross Security #6) by Anna Hackett
The Women of Pearl Island by Polly Crosby

Purchased from Amazon/Audible:
Bride of the Rat God by Barbara Hambly
The Chicken Sisters by KJ Dell’Antonia
The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein
Innate Magic (Marrowbone Spells #1) by Shannon Fay
Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters
Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill

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I swear, on Wednesday it still felt like summer. On Friday, as I type this, it’s cold and damp and feels like winter blew in all at once. We even got out the flannel sheets last night! I wasn’t expecting that. I had to get out a jacket this morning and I discovered that the cats have been sleeping on it since last spring. I know because the jacket was just extra, extra furry, but not in a way that provided me with any warmth.

It’s going to be a GREAT weekend to snuggle in and READ!

For Review:
The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
And Then I Woke Up by Malcolm Devlin
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma
The Echoes (Kinship #4) by Jess Montgomery
Fated Blades by Ilona Andrews
The Key to Deceit (Electra McDonnell #2) by Ashley Weaver
Last Exit by Max Gladstone
A Marvellous Light (Last Binding #1) by Freya Marske (audio)
Noor by Nnedi Okorafor (audio)
Outcasts of the Wildwood by Rachel Atwood
Seven Mercies (Seven Devils #2) by Laura Lam and Elizabeth May
Sisters of Night and Fog by Erika Robuck

Purchased from Amazon/Audible:
Walk the Wild with Me by Rachel Atwood

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Every once in a while, the daily deal from Audible provides me with a real winner. I’m in the middle of Day Zero right now, and so far, it’s awesome. It’s certainly WAY more awesome than the $2.99 it cost me, so I’m considering it a serious win.

This week’s stack is fairly short. I have more new books in the hopper, but I tend not to post them here until I get covers. After all, oohing and aahing over the pretty covers feels like a big part of the point of STS. (That and keeping me organized, but that’s not half so interesting.) So here’s what I have that I have covers for. The supply chain seems to be wrecking havoc in all sorts of places!

For Review:
A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari
The Hookup Dilemma by Constance Gillam
Nightwork by Nora Roberts
A Taste of Ginger by Mansi Shah
When Blood Lies (Sebastian St. Cyr #17) by C.S. Harris

Purchased from Amazon/Audible:
Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill (audio)

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