Stacking the Shelves: The Christmas 2022 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.

I promise I'm going to get back to a semi-regular blogging schedule in 2023. I have quite a few wrap-ups, reviews, and other things I need to post in January, so I'm excited. I've been thinking about some of these for a fairly long time. But for now, it's time to wrap up the major haul of the year⁠—Christmas. I got a lot of fun stuff for 2023's holiday celebration.

First up are the two books I received from one of my book club friends. We do a gift exchange/Amazon wish list Christmas each year. I got The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart and A Court of Honey and Ash by Shannon Mayer and Kelly St. Clare. I'm excited to get to both of them, though I have to get through some ApollyCon books first. That's coming up waaaay too fast.

Next up is the first part of my family Christmas haul. My mom got me a Drogon and Children of the Forest Funko Pop, an FBAA Atlantia pin from Dreamy & Co, the three books I needed in the Covenant series, Covet by Tracy Wolff, and two FBAA/ASITE blankets from the JLA Shop. My older sister also got me two Amazon gift cards that I plan on spending on some ApollyCon books I need. And that's not all. I have more.

My younger sister got me this cart that, to probably no ones surprise, I'm planning to use for books. I'd call it a TBR cart, but I think I'll be using it for multiple types of books. Yes, there will be some TBR books on there, but it will also hold my wrap-up books, like the books I bought in the month and the books I read. It'll make writing my wrap-ups a lot easier. So maybe the top will be for TBR and the middle and bottom for the other two categories. We'll see...

Here, I have the non-book-related presents. I got an air fryer, a small weight-rack holder, and a weighted blanket from my parents. I also got a workout belt/phone holder thing from my older sister. Now, since I'm living with my parents, the air fryer won't be needed right away. Poor thing has to go in storage for a while. Darn. But I've used the blanket, and it's pretty nice.. 

The next thing I have for this week is a copy of Broken Boundaries by Evangeline Anderson. This book has been the bane of my existence for sooooo long. I guess since the Ellora's Cave publisher went out of business, they took all of their titles off Nook/Kindle. This meant the copy I bought just disappeared from my Nook's library one day. Well, I like to reread it every once in a while. So I had to put a notification on eBay for a physical copy, as no one was selling it anywhere. After like six months, one finally popped up, and I nabbed it. FYI, I'm not showing the cover here because it shows a lot of skin.

 

I have more Christmas gifts to share. Turns out two of my gifts didn't arrive until two days after Christmas, much to Santa's (a.k.a. my mother's) displeasure. Now, I have Geralt and Yennefer to add to my Pop collection. Sadly, though, I'm still unsure how I feel about this show with the Henry Cavill news. I asked for these before that announcement came out.

 

My order from Emilie Snaith Art on Etsy came in. I love this FBAA Delano + Cas + Poppy print! I can't wait to see more from the artist. They also sent an ACOTAR bookmark, which is very pretty, and I may actually keep it despite my eh-ness towards Feysand. There's also a small print of Cardan and Jude. The artist has a Zodiac Academy print I've got my eye on, so I hope they have another drop soon.

 

Here, I have the November YA FairyLoot book. Yeesh, this thing took forever to arrive. I got it four days before January! Also, I was excited for this one, as it looked very pretty in spoiler group photos. However, the bottom is all bent, and it's nothing that FairyLoot would likely replace. So I'm sad. It was one I was actually excited for, something that hasn't happened with a FairyLoot YA book in a very long time. Boo...

 

 

Every time I think I'm done writing this post, another package shows up. My Chest of Fandoms TCOGB, AKOFAF, and ASITE orders came in on Thursday. These are the German editions. I ordered them back in like August. Unfortunately, the sprayed/stenciled edges for ASITE were printed wrong, so that one is kind of eh. But the other two look great. However, I think I was supposed to receive a goodie/gift as makeup for this issue, and I didn't. I feel bad contacting them over it, but I think I've seen the free print they gave out floating around, and I reeeeeally want it.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The FBAA Fiesta 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.

Well, I started a new job this past Monday. And so far, I have mixed feelings. Most days it's a 60/40 split between "What the heck did I do?" and "This is okay. It could be good." And each day varies as to which feeling is in the lead. But, I try to remember that every new job is icky at first, since you don't know anyone or anything. I think I'm going to wait until spring to get a place of my own, though, even though I desperately want my own library. I just want to feel out the new job and see if I like it.

And yes, this haul is going to be an FBAA extravaganza! I've got so much FBAA stuff to share. A lot of my various preorders came in. One of which included the Lug Live exclusive edition. Which technically wasn't even a preorder, it just took a little bit to ship out. But it's very pretty with its gold raised lettering. Also, my replacement from Waterstones of The City of Dusk came in as well.

Next up are The Dusty Shop's FBAA dustjackets. These are way prettier in person than they appear in photos. (Please ignore the plastic wrap around all of them. I don't want to take it off until I have time to put them on my extra hardcover copies.) I think my favorites are actually TCOGB and TWOTQ, which is a shame since Kieran is my favorite character. I just don't think the AKOFAF artwork captured him well. But yeah, the foiling on these is very pretty. Can't wait to see future books get this treatment!

And here are some FBAA prints I ordered. The artist is raye_illustrations on Instagram. That Kieran and Poppy one is sooooooo cute! And so is the wolven Kieran snuggle session! I don't like the white cardstock framing, though. I'll have to carefully cut that off.

And... you guessed it! More FBAA! My Alsaces swag order came in. I got some pins, prints, bookmarks, and an Atlantia train ticket. So fun! Now, I just have to keep these pretty items packed away until I have my own place and can display them properly. Currently, all my crap is crammed in every nook and cranny of my childhood room. Boooooo. 

 

The last thing I got this past week was a Kindle Unlimited copy of Zodiac Academy book eight. It released on Sunday, and I'm only like 52% through. Because it's over 1,200 pages! I'm not loving this book as much as I'd hoped to. I hate when all of the characters in this series are separated, so this installment is tough to get through right now.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The Mug 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.

I believe by the time this post goes up, I'll have all my moving stuff complete. I think. I hope. Ugh. I'm so sore from moving furniture and boxes up and down the stairs. I had to make four 2.5-hour car trips one-way just to get all my books from my apartment to my parents' house. But they were special editions, so I justified the extra driving trips since the cost evens out.

First up is the first three Plated Prisoner Waterstones editions. I'd heard some bad things about Waterstones' shipping lately, but my copies arrived in very good condition. Woohoo! Now, I just need to get my own place and make a library where I can show them off in all their shiny, gold glory.

Next is something I actually didn't buy for myself. Thank goodness, as my wallet is really not happy with me right now. I won a hardcover copy of TWOTQ and a Casteel mug from the JLA Shop for watching the JLA Book Club TWOTQ readalong live. It came with some goodies too. Oh, and I keep forgetting to share that I got Apollycon tickets a month or so ago. So in April, I will be going back to D.C. to collect author signatures and exclusive JLA editions.

And lastly, I have some ebooks. First, is Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim. I downloaded this one off NetGalley, since I know it's going to be in a certain book box. I'm trying to spend less on books, as I noticed while moving that I have too many unread ones. So I want to read this one before that book box sub renews to see if I should skip January's renewal. Also, I downloaded Mortal Skin and Forgotten Vows by Lily Mayne on Kindle Unlimited. These are the first two books in a fae series similar to The Cruel Prince or the Iron Fey series but new adult instead of YA.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The Waterstones 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.

I'm still in the middle of moving, so I won't be posting a lot. I think I'll only get book hauls/Stacking the Shelves posts out for the next month or so. Although, with the end of the year in sight, I'm hoping to get to all the year-end wrap-ups and anticipated 2023 releases posts. But those will be in January, so I have some time to get settled, thankfully.

First up, I have two random orders I made. I bought the Owlcrate edition of Sorcery of Thorns off of Mercari for pretty cheap. I've had my eye on this edition for about two years now, ever since I read and loved the book. I've been biding my time until I found it for a decent price, though. I also bought The City of Dusk by Tara Sim and Glow by Raven Kennedy from Waterstones, the UK bookstore. It's the first time I've ever ordered from there. Sadly, my The City of Dusk copy came ripped, but they're sending me a replacement.I decided to order from Waterstones because FairyLoot's reveal for their Plated Prisoner editions was very disappointing, so now I'm gonna collect the Waterstones editions. I've got books 1-3 on the way too.

Here is the Indigo edition of ALITF that I preordered. I also got my November Adult FairyLoot book, A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson. I've heard good things about the book, but I'm not sure how I feel about the FairyLoot edition. I don't like the regular cover either, but I think I prefer the black simplistic look to the explosion of red. But I'll read the book before I decide if I truly want the black version or the red version on my shelves.

I had another Prettygalpins card deck arrive. Prettygalpins might as well sign me up for a regular bank withdrawal, because she cranks these things out like once every month or two and my account is feeling it. This month's order is a combination of Laura Thalassa's Four Horsemen series and her Bargainer series. I haven't read the Four Horsemen one, but I did very much enjoy the Bargainer series. I'm actually hoping there are more books in that world in the future.

 

And here, I have the November Owlcrate. I got this box specifically for the FBAA Blood Forest luggage pin. The book, The Luminaries by Susan Dennard, is pretty. It's not one I'd planned on purchasing, but I still think it'll be good. As for the other items, I like the portable toothbrush, the hot hands, and LOTR bowl. But the reading planner and soap dish are items that I'm not sure if I'll use.

 

The last thing I have is the FairyLoot edition of The Dragon's Promise by Elizabeth Lim. It's very pretty. I didn't love the first book, but I did like it enough to get the sequel. And I'm excited to finally have my own library in my new place (once I get one) to show off this special edition and all my other special editions.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The ALITF 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.

Well, I'm in the process of moving, and I realized I have a lot more junk than I thought I did. Oof. And of course, this StS just adds to it. Yay. But honestly, these books are big ones, so I can't be too mad. I just have to figure out how to safely transport them 2.5 hours away without damaging them.

My A Light in the Flame copies arrived! I got the regular edition from Amazon, and annoyingly, the first copy I got on release day was nasty. There were black spots that looked like mold on the back page and that same page had been ripped in half. It was weird. But my replacement arrived on Thursday, the same day as both my preorder incentive and my preorder of the B&N special edition. Thursday was just a big ALITF day.

And for some reason, I decided to check out another library book like three weeks before I move. But this is a book I've heard a lot about. The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards is supposed to be really good, and I'm needing a new supernatural/urban fantasy series to fix the hangover I've got from the next series I'm going to talk about.

I downloaded the second and third books in Jex Lane's Beautiful Monsters series from Kindle Unlimited, and holy heck. This series is addicting! I've had some good times bingeing KU books in 2022; this one is one I have to get physical copies of, though. It's just that good! It's so complex and the main character reminds me of Darrow from Red Rising with the worldbuilding of Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark and a relationship similar to C.S. Pacat's Captive Prince. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get in to another series right now because this one had me so engrossed. The hangover is so real after these books and the wait for number four is gonna be torture. I'm crossing my fingers ALITF helps.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The Map of Solis 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.

Wow, have a lot of things changed in the last couple of weeks. The biggest change being that I'm moving next month because... I got a new job! And this job, I think, will allow me to rent a place with two bedrooms! That means I can have a library!!!! But, that'll come later. I'm moving back in with my parents for a bit, since they live in the area, and if I like the job, I'll then get a new place. So I may be absent in December and the next couple of months as I try to figure out life. But even though I'm moving and I'll have to pack up all my books, I still have more books coming in. Because I'm an addict.

The three physical books I got include two preorders from Barnes & Noble: Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn and Charm by Tracy Wolff. My FairyLoot copy of These Twisted Bonds by Lexi Ryan also arrived. Will I have time to read any of these? Nope. I probably won't get to them until mid-2023 at this point. Ugh.

Next up is Dreamerwhale's FBAA gadget box. It was basically full of swag items. There was a mug of Poppy and Hawke, character cards, three page overlays, a poster with the same image as the mug on it (not pictured), and a giant Hawke book sleeve. The mug, sadly, isn't my thing and I probably won't keep the art print, since the art style just isn't my favorite. I do like the Hawke book sleeve, but I wish it came as a print instead. The character cards depict the FBAA crew in a unique way, so that's fun. And the page overlays are cute, even though I'm not a huge fan of overlays. I'd rather have a print.

And here is a print I bought from the JLA Shop. It's the Solis map of Jennifer L. Armentrout's FBAA world. It was smaller than I thought it would be, but I'm excited to have it. I'm crossing my fingers that in my new place I'll have room to display it with all my FBAA editions. *Squee!*.

Now on to the ebooks. I randomly decided to download Captive by Jex Lane from Kindle Unlimited. It's got a bit of a straightforward writing style that I wish was slightly more flowery, but it's still pretty addicting. I'm about 20% in right now and I think I'll finish it over the weekend. I also bought The Cottage by Ariana Nash. It's a novella set in the Prince's Assassin world.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

The 2022 End of the Year Book Tag

2022 is almost over. Holy cow that went by fast! It's been a pretty quiet year overall. Just working, sleeping, and reading. I do have some big life changes happening at the end of 2022, but right now, everything is quiet. 2022, the quiet year. But I did have some fun trips to D.C. and Disneyland in 2022. That's all that matters, right?

We only have a few weeks left, so I thought I’d do the End of the Year Book Tag. Even though it's pretty late. I’m not sure who this tag was created by, but I found the questions on Green Tea & Paperbacks blog. So, let’s get this party started!

Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin. But I've kind of given up on getting this one done before the end of the year. The other is Wild Lands by Stacey Marie Brown. I may or may not get to this one as well. We shall see.

Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?

It's already autumn, so I'm cheating and basically saying the books that I already plan to read this season that give me autumnal vibes. I feel like rereading A Shadow in the Ember and reading A Light in the Flame by Jennifer L. Armentrout are somewhat autumnal.

Is there a new release you’re still waiting for?

Yes! Zodiac Academy #8, Sorrows and Starlight! Next up would probably be A Light in the Flame. It's not one I'm most excited for, but I think it'll still be a great read.

What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
A Curse of Queens by Amanda Bouchet
A Light in the Flame by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favorite book of the year?

Not necessarily my favorite book of the year, but I might have a couple that make their way to second or third place. Current contenders are Sorrow and Starlight and the Kingdom of the Wicked sequels.

Have you already started making reading plans for 2023?

Yep. I have to finish reading A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin. I already know I'm not going to make the goal of finishing it by the end of the year. I'm on page 800-something out of 1,100-something as of this post, so yeah... Not happening in 2022. I also would like to read the last book in The Poppy War series, The Burning God, as well Broken Bonds by J. Bree. I also want to catch up on my FairyLoot special editions.

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Alright, there you have it. My End of the Year Book Tag answers. What would your answers to these questions be? Let me know in the comments below!

October Wrap-Up & November TBR

October wasn't nearly as chaotic as September, thankfully. But it still wasn't the best month ever. I'm just kind of behind on everything lately. I am excited that I've gotten back into reading, though. Now, I just need to read more books that I actually own and not ones that are on Kindle Unlimited.

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 October

Frostbite: reread

The Emperor of Evening Stars: 4 stars

Prince and Assassin: 3.5 stars (KU ebook)

Prince in Disguise: 4 stars (KU ebook)

King of the Dark: 4 stars (KU ebook)

Reign of Darkness: 4 stars (KU ebook)

Curse of the Dark Prince: 3 stars (KU ebook)

The Cottage: 3 stars (KU ebook)

I read six books and two novellas in October, which is a lot better than last month and the month before. I think I may be getting my reading groove back. Woohoo! Only two of the books/novellas were physical copies, Frostbite by Richelle Mead and The Emperor of Evening Stars by Laura Thalassa, the novella set in Laura Thalassa's Bargainer world. Frostbite was a reread for my book club and to prep for the TV show, which I've decided I don't think I'll ever actually watch. It looks so bad compared to the books. Now, as for the rest of the books, five in total, they were all Kindle Unlimited reads. This includes Prince and Assassin and Prince in Disguise by Tavia Lark and King of the Dark, Reign of Darkness, and Curse of the Dark Prince by Ariana Nash. I also had to purchase the novella that's set in the same world as Ariana Nash's Prince's Assassin series on Kindle. It's called The Cottage. So counting everything, I read eight books/novellas. None of which I owned prior to 2022 (not counting Frostbite, since it's a reread). But, I think it was good for me to get back into reading by just bingeing some fun books vs. trying to force myself to read stuff on my shelves. Even though I know there's some good books stacked there; they just weren't what I was in the mood for.

Books Bought/Received in October

I didn't buy a ton of books in October, but a lot of preorders did come in, some of which only charged this month. So... I guess I did buy a lot. In October, I bought 11 books, two were ebooks and nine were physical books. The Kingdom of the Wicked boxset and the Red, White, and Royal Blue collector's edition were both preordered from Barnes & Noble, which means I was charged in October. Same for A Curse of Queens, which I preordered from Amazon. Amazon.fr (French), charged me for FBAA in October too. I also have my October YA FairyLoot book that I was charged for in October. As for ebooks, I bought The Cottage novella as well as Hell Hath No Fury, an anthology featuring a story from the authors of the Zodiac Academy series. Oh, and I preordered the FairyLoot Crescent City editions that won't arrive until next year.

Now, I do have some preorders that arrived that I paid for in earlier months. Those include FairyLoot's edition of The Blood Traitor and their September Adult Book, Spells for Forgetting. Also, I ordered a copy of The Power on eBay that turned out to be an ARC and not a finished copy. I contacted the seller and they gave me my money back. I still have the ARC, so I need to figure out what I'm going to do with it. My replacement edition of Illumicrate's TWOTQ and my five-months late LitJoy Twin Crowns copy also arrived. In total, I received 14 books this month. But I did buy 11 books in October overall, some just won't arrive for a while.

Currently Obsessed With

Well, I finished my rewatch of The Office, so I decided to rewatch Parks & Rec next. I've watched it a couple of times already, but it's been a couple years since the last rewatch. But I actually have been watching a lot of new TV shows and movies, which is very exciting for someone who barely watches anything new anymore.

Well, first off, I'm going to start with the bad. I could not finish Hocus Pocus 2. I got halfway through and gave up. It was awful. I'll just pretend it doesn't exist. However, season one of House of the Dragon ended in October, and I found that to be awesome! I have a few minor issues with the season overall, but nothing that detracts from my anticipation of season two. Unfortunately, it's gonna be a looooong wait. As for new shows, I binge-watched The Legend of Vox Machina early on in the month. This was a fun adult cartoon based on Critical Role, which I barely know anything about. I think it's a podcast group that plays D&D...? Anyway, season two comes out in January, so that's exciting. I also went and watched Black Adam with my parents. It was fun. Nothing new, but it was a decent addition to the DC superhero lineup. Sadly, DC's League of Super Pets, also starring Dwayne Johnson, was not good. At all. It was a terrible film, even for kids. Yikes. It was another one I watched with my parents, but on HBO Max instead of in theaters. And before those two, I watched The School for Good and Evil on Netflix with my mom. It was good. Could've been better.

November TBR

More repeats in November's TBR. Oops for the umpteenth time. I'm just not good at TBRs this year. For book club purposes, I need to read Amanda Bouchet's A Curse of Queens. I also still need to read my NetGalley ARC of Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah, which I actually needed to review back in September. Shame on me! I also need to reread A Shadow in the Ember, so I remember what happened when I read A Light in the Flame when it releases later this month. Oh, and I have some library books to read. They include Lightlark, Ledge, and You're a Mean One, Matthew Prince. I would like to finish The Bargainer series as well. I'm currently reading the last book in my giant omnibus. And, I want to reread Kingdom of the Wicked so I can read the other two books in the trilogy. I am also continuing, and failing at, my year-long read of A Storm of Swords.

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