Stacking the Shelves

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books we are adding to our shelves, whether they be physical or digital. This includes books bought (my wife would say I buy too many), borrowed (a rare occurrence), and received for review (which I’m trying to reign in).

New Acquisitions: Paperback Treasures

Well, bookstores may be closed and we may be on self-isolation lock down, but I went on a bit of an online shopping spree when I found out our vacation would be canceled . . . and the first 2 shipments arrived this week.

I’ve been wanting to read The Broken Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin for a long while now, but I prefer to read in mass market paperback – which has presented a challenge. I did manage to find all 3 books online, but only The Broken Kingdoms has arrived so far . . . which is fate’s way of being cruel, handing me book 2 without book 1.

While Star of the Morning is still waiting on the shelf, having the next 2 books of the Nine Kingdoms by Lynn Kurland – The Mage’s Daughter & Princess of the Sword – on hand increases the odds I’ll crack the spine soon. If I’m going to lose myself in a new series, I like to know I have the next book (or two) waiting.

Once upon a time, I had a copy of Steel Beach by John Varley, but it likely got downsized when our youngest was born and my office/library became a nursery. Regardless, it’s nice to have that story of instant sex changes and a bored, suicidal AI back on the shelf.

The Paladin of the Night, meanwhile, completes my Rose of the Prophet trilogy by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman – convenient, since I began reading The Will of the Wanderer this week.

Review Titles

All digital on the review front this week . . .

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Where Shadows Lie (Book 1 of The Last Gift) by Allegra Pescatore was pitched to me as a fast-paced Epic Fantasy featuring an LGBTQ+ protagonist with an invisible illness and a diverse cast of characters, set in the wake of the Chosen One’s death, when his little sister is left to pick his burden.

I was introduced to Robyn Nyx through Uncharted (if you missed my 5-star review, check it out – and then get reading!), so when she offered my Goddess and I an advance copy of Silk and Leather: Lesbian Erotica with an Edge, edited by Victoria Villasenor . . . well, how could I resist?

Finally, as much as I love Saga Of Recluce & Spellsong Cycle, I haven’t read much of L.E. Modesitt Jr.’s science fiction, so I was quick to jump on the offer of an advance copy of Quantum Shadows, a standalone philosophical cross-genre tale that blends science fiction, myth, and legend in an adventure that pits old gods and new against one another in a far future world.

New Acquisitions: Digital Titles

If one good thing has come of this COVID nonsense is that a ton of authors have made titles available at steep discounts to help stave off self-isolation boredom.

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Planet of the Giant Women & Agents of the Giant Women by August Renfelt are part of an erotic sci-fi adventure, where a race of Giant Women seeks to sexually subjugate humanity; while Feast of Goblins by Raven Burning is an Ilsa von Vore adventure featuring an adventuring party captured as part f a treaty feast between monster factions.

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Mistress Maggie By Joscelyn Anne Hayes is a most unorthodox love story containing romance, transgenderism, spirituality and S&M; Pimped by Joe Brewster is a raucous femdom sex farce involving office sex and unexpected love; and A Radical Gynocracy by David Holly is the story of a miracle drug called Minibate that has freed the Earth from the evils of male dominated societies and ushered in the dawn of a new gender.