Stacking the Shelves: The Replacement Edition

"Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

This week has been a lot better than the past couple of weeks. Thank goodness. My new shelf space is organized, my minimal Halloween decorations are up, and I have the most amazing wall art that I need to share at some point that I'm so excited about. But, for now, let's discuss books.

First up in this haul is one of two replacements I had to get from FairyLoot due to damages. *sigh* I'm pretty sure the shipping facility FairyLoot uses just shoved a crushed copy of Gods & Monsters in a box and sent it to me. Because the box my first copy came in was completely fine. But, thankfully, FairyLoot sent a replacement super quick. Now, I'm just waiting on my FBAA FairyLoot replacements to arrive. Oh, and I thought I'd go ahead and share the September FairyLoot books, since I didn't in my last StS. I originally wasn't going to keep them, but nobody is buying these. So, I thought I'd at least read them first before taking the copies to my used bookstore. I know the books will be fine reads, I just think the US copies look better than FairyLoot's "exclusive" editions.

And last, but certainly not least, I finally received my August FairyLoot box! Yay! My parents came to visit a couple weeks ago, and they brought it with them. I was so excited for this box, and then I realized once it shipped that when I changed my shipping address on FairyLoot's website, it didn't update. Thus, the box was sent to the 'rents' house. But now I have one of my most anticipated fall 2021 books. I also love the pin banner, which I desperately needed and is already in use. I am getting rid of the second book, Afterlove. It's just not my cup of tea. But otherwise, this was a solid box.

Well, that's all I've received in the past few weeks. Next time, I should have some swag and one or two pre-ordered ebooks. Maybe my replacement FBAA editions will be in too? Let's hope. I don't think I have any physical copies incoming, sadly, other than FBAA. Maybe a FairyLoot pre-order will ship out soon? That'd be fun.

What books have you bought/received lately?

September Wrap-Up & October TBR

I can't believe we're into October now. Wow. I feel like I spent the entire month of September so stressed out that it just flew by. I think October will be pretty much the same. I have big work projects and a possible mini family vacation happening as well. *sigh* I really just want to stay home and read, but it's probably not going to happen soon.

In this wrap-up, I’ll list the books I read, the books I reviewed, the books I bought/received, and my TBR for next month. Now, let’s get this bookish party started!

Books Read in September

Oaths of Legacy: 4 stars (my review)
Storm & Fury: re-read
Bitter Sweet Love: re-read

I only read three books in September. Technically, it was only 2.5, since Bitter Sweet Love is just a novella. But I'm counting it as three since I'm disappointed I couldn't get through the entire Harbinger trilogy this month. Stupid life, being all stressful and causing me to not want to read. Other than the two Dark Elements/Harbinger books, I read Oaths of Legacy by Emily Skrutskie, a NetGalley review copy. It's the second book in the Bloodright series, and I very much enjoyed this installment. I'm excited for book three. So, overall I read one ebook, re-read an ebook, and re-read a physical book.

Books Bought/Received in September

I spent a lot of money on books in September. Some of it was planned, some of it was not.

In total, I bought 15 books this month; 14 were physical copies and only one was an ebook, Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa. It was $0.99 on Kindle. Thankfully, I only pre-ordered one FairyLoot book, which was their edition of Vespertine by Maragaret Rogerson. It won't arrive until later this year. I also had two B&N pre-orders that shipped this month, which mean I was charged in September, though one didn't technically arrive until October, so it's not pictured here. Under the Whispering Door is the one that did make it. My major book  expense was when I went to my local used bookstore, Hooked on Books, and ended up grabbing way too much. I'm not going to list everything here, but it was 11 books total. Oops. At least they weren't full price. All in all, I paid for 15 books this month, including the one ebook and one FairyLoot pre-order; however, I actually only received 13 of these within September.

As for books I received in September but didn't pay for in September, my pre-order of both FairyLoot's and Bookish Box's FBAA books finally arrived, bringing my total FBAA book count to eight physical copies, in addition to the ebooks. I also received my September FairyLoot with Defy the Night and Beasts of Prey, both of which I'm trying to sell, but I don't think anyone will buy them. Ugh. I paid for September's FairyLoot in August with my six-month subscription plan. My pre-order of the FairyLoot edition of Iron Raven by Julie Kagawa came in, along with my UK EOTV copy. I think I paid for EOTV back in July, since Book Depository charges when you check out. I also "bought" a free ebook of Fortune Favors the Cruel by Kel Carpenter on Kindle. And lastly, my friend got me a copy of Deal With an Elf King by Elise Kova as a late birthday gift. In total, that's 25 books I received: two ebooks and 23 physical copies, only eight of which I've read. Yikes. My TBR is going to fall over and kill me one of these days.

Currently Obsessed With

Not a ton of obsessions in the month of September. But I am getting prepared for spooky season with the TV show I'm currently watching. Oooooo...

The show I've been somewhat binging over the course of September is What We Do in the Shadows, a mockumentary style vampire show. My sister wanted me to watch it, and it's fun. Not super funny, but it has its moments. The third season isn't quite as good as the first two, though. I can't remember if I've been watching anything else besides weekly episodes of Animal Kingdom on TNT. That show will end this month, sadly. But after I catch up on these two, I'll probably dip into some Halloween movies as well as some paranormal shows like Lucifer.

October TBR

Once again, more TBR repeats for the month of October, unfortunately. I only have to re-read one Harbinger book before I get to read Grace & Glory for the first time and I may actually be finished with it by the time this post goes up. Maybe. Other than those two, I'm still working my way through A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin. Sadly, I've fallen behind on this one. I'm going to have to step up my reading to get this one done by the end of the year. Or I could just read more than one chapter at a time. Ha! My other major TBR books are EOTV and Jennifer L. Armentrout's A Shadow in the Ember. Both are book club reads. Everything else I read will just be for fun. No plans needed. :)

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Okay, well, that's the month of September, plus some October sneak peeks, all wrapped up into one post. Do you have a wrap-up post for last month? If so, share in the comments!

Stacking the Shelves: The Double Special Edition

"Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

This week has, like last week, been stressful. Not solely because of work, though that has played a small part. I've been feeling icky over the past week (it's not the C-19 word, I know that for sure). But, the sickness is over, and I have energy once again. Oh, and now it's mysteriously October?! Where did September go?

First up in this haul is the September FairyLoot, which was a total dud. The box was just awful. The edition of the book was subpar compared to normal FairyLoot quality, and I totally prefer the US hardcover design. I'm actually trying to sell my box, minus the tarot cards and monthly theme art items, but seems like everyone else is trying to sell their boxes too. If I end up being unable to sell the box, I'm thinking I'll read the book, and if I like it, I'll buy a US copy to take to Apollycon and get signed by the author.

Another FairyLoot order came in. My FBAA pre-order! YAY!!!! While I don't really love the covers of these editions, the inside designs are to die for! I plan on displaying the naked books and framing the reverse dustjacket art. However, I'm waiting to hear back from FairyLoot before I frame anything because my TCOGB copy had some damage to the front cover that has indented both sides of the jacket. My FBAA jacket also had some damage to the corner flaps but it isn't as terrible. Still sad, though. I hope I can get new dustjackets.

More FBAA items? Are we surprised at this point? So I ordered some magnetic bookmarks (and one sticker) from Etsy. This is part one of two orders. Though technically, it's three orders and I just had two shipped together. I honestly spent waaaay too much money on these chibbi bookmarks. It's insane.

This is the last of my 2021 pre-orders. Of physical books, that is. I still have one ebook waiting to be downloaded in October. EOTV I ordered from Book Depository, and it arrived super banged up. It honestly looked like a used book, not a brand new hardcover. BD decided to ship the ginormous book in a bubble mailer. WTH!?! Why would a book company send an international order in a bubble mailer? It makes no sense. I contacted BD, though, and they gave me a tiny refund. I didn't even know they gave partial refunds. I just wanted to encourage them not to use bubble mailers for international orders. Also, my pre-order of Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat arrived. It was the final book in my B&N fall 2021 pre-order purchase. I'm excited for this one, and I really hope it's good

Lastly, we have the FBAA Bookish Box special edition set, with associated trinkets. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by this box. The books are super nice and better quality than they appeared in sneak peeks, the T-shirt and blanket are uber soft, and the Dominique artwork is fantastic! The candle and bookmarks are good too. I'm a little meh on the necklace and the keychain though. The keychain just because it's a little too sharp to put in my bag. I don't want it to cut holes in my bag if I do put it on my keys. I will say, though, BB's editions are my least favorite of the three versions we've gotten. But that map! It's very pretty! I'd show it, but I'm too lazy. ;)

Well, that's all for this post. I can't believe I received all of this in just a single week. It's crazy how all of my pre-orders are coming in at the same time. Next time, I should have another FairyLoot edition and my August FairyLoot box (which was hanging out at my parents' house), so it'll be another good book week.

What books have you bought/received lately?