Stacking the Shelves: The Blackwell's 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, it's been a week. I actually had a birthday. My 30th. Yikes. Honestly, I don't feel much different, and I didn't expect to. I definitely still feel like a young adult who has no idea what they're doing in life. I'll probably feel that way until I'm retired, if I ever get to retire. Haha (*cries*). I didn't get anything super exciting this year besides some flowers, snacks, and a teddy bear. Oh, and some cash from my parents. I wanted to do something like that TikTok video where someone buys you 30 books for your 30th birthday, but my family wasn't having it. Lol. I did end up spending a lot of money on myself for books and such this month, even plane tickets to Disney next year, but not a lot arrived the actual week of my birthday, so no major fun things to open right now. Though my Adult FairyLoot box did deliver to my parents' house, and they just forgot to bring it when they visited. So sad.

As for books, I only have one physical copy to share this week. It's my first ever order from Blackwell's, which sells UK copies and has free shipping to the US! I'm so happy this site was shared online somewhere. Waterstones' shipping is ridiculous, so having free shipping on UK books is fantastic! I ordered Tara Sim's The Midnight Kingdom, and it arrived in great condition compared to Waterstones' iffy overseas shipping, and only three days past the release date. Amazing!

 As for ebooks, I actually had a lot. I've been downloading a bunch of stuff on Kindle Unlimited lately that I've been immediately returning or abandoning as they're just not what I want right now. I have two that I downloaded and read earlier in the week, Crossing Acheron by H.G. Birde and Shiver by Crea Reitan, but since then, I've been floundering. I've been in a post-Red, White and Royal Blue movie slump. I just want more Henry and Alex on my screen or a similar story on my Kindle, but it's so hard to find anything that fits my specific interests. Crossing Acheron, though, was great! It was part of my vampire-addiction reading phase that I'm also currently going through. Reading tastes are weird. Lol.

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

Stacking the Shelves: The International 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.

Another week of work. That's about all that happened. I've been really lazy the past seven days. I've only gone to the gym a couple of times, and I've spent a lot of time on TikTok. I'll try to get back in the swing of things starting this weekend. I think I just needed some chill time to relax my brain last week.

As for books, first up are two international editions of From Blood and Ash. The one on the left is the Ukraine edition, which came with the pretty double-sided Poppy/Hawke bookmark, and the one on the right is the Serbian edition. Both of these books had major issues getting to me. They were lost for weeks. The Serbian copy even got returned to Serbia and then had to be resent to me. Blugh. But they're here now. I'm not looking forward to ordering the sequels, though.

And here is an impulse PangoBooks order. I had a notification set on Pango for anyone selling the original covers of S.M. Gaither's Shadows and Crowns series. I haven't read this series yet, but I hate the new covers, so I went on the lookout for the originals. They were nowhere to be found. But about a week and a half ago, someone listed the first three! I jumped on them. Unfortunately, books two and three have some pretty icky damage that I didn't see in the photos. The spine is cracked on book two and the cover is bent on book three. The seller had a note in their listing, but it was brief and I didn't see it until after. So I think this, plus my experience purchasing the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac set, has made me jaded against used booksellers. I'm going to try to only buy secondhand for special editions now. Or things that aren't available anymore.

Next, I have a copy of my favorite read of 2023 so far! I read Silver Under Nightfall as an ebook earlier this month, as I was really into vampires at the time. Still am, actually. It's a weird craving for summer. I just want to read vampire books all day, every day! But anyway, I loved Silver Under Nightfall so much that I had to buy a physical copy, but I was hesitant in case a book box company like Illumicrate decided to do a special edition set of it and the sequel next year. And since the US cover is meh and the regular UK one is eh, I couldn't really decide which version I wanted to buy anyway. BUT, someone was selling the Goldsboro version with red sprayed edges for cheap, so I bought it off Mercari. XD

 As for ebooks, I only have one this week. I requested a NetGalley e-ARC of A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen, and, less than an hour later, I was approved! It was weird. So much was happening the day I was approved for this: JLA announced the fourth book in the Flesh & Fire series (which I have mixed feelings about since all I really want is more Poppy books but I still love the world in general) and FairyLoot announced a bunch of stuff too. My booklover heart is a little overwhelmed with everything lately. And so is my wallet. However, I'm excited to read this ARC, and I'm especially grateful since I am not a fan of the cover. I'll be able to decide once I finish the ARC if I should order a physical copy because of all the limited foiling that's supposed to be happening in the first editions or if I can just wait to see if book boxes do prettier editions.

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

Stacking the Shelves: The JLA Cards 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.

Nothing crazy happened this week. It was actually pretty chill. The only major thing was that my parents dropped off all of my packages. And boy, there were a lot of them. Otherwise, it's just been the same ol' same ol'. I guess I did get my bookcases arranged the way I want and clean my house a bit, but those are pretty meh tasks. I am excited for this weekend, though. I just need to sleep for like 80 years.

First up is part one of the many preorders that were delivered to my parents' house. I ordered the FairyLoot editions of The Last Hours trilogy by Cassandra Clare. I haven't read this installment in the series yet, or the Dark Artifices, but I always thought the editions were pretty. And wow, they look great in person. However, FairyLoot recently announced The Mortal Instruments will also get editions like these, and I just don't think I can justify paying for extra copies of all the Shadowhunters books, since it's not a series I love. I like elements of it, but not enough to spend a bunch of money. So, I'm going to finish reading Chain of Gold (I'm about 20% in right now), and then I'll decide if I want to sell these books or keep them. And, if I keep them, I may just buy The Infernal Devices trilogy to match and forget about the modern Shadowhunters stories when it comes to these editions.

 

And here is part two of the preorders. Two were from Barnes & Noble, and the order included their edition of Light Bringer by Pierce Brown and an extra copy of their exclusive edition of A Soul of Ash and Blood. My Indigo preorder of ASOAAB also came in. Yay! Obviously, I've already read ASOAAB, but I don't think I'll be reading Light Bringer any time soon. I loved the original Red Rising trilogy, but I'm going to wait until all the "spinoff" books release before I re-read the first trilogy and then binge read the last four books once they're all out. Pierce Brown's cliffhangers are pretty brutal, so waiting for Red God to release could destroy me if I picked all the books up right now.

Next, I have more preorders. My order of the Bookish Box Cupidity Omnibus by Raven Kennedy arrived. It showed up with no tracking or shipping email to let me know it was coming. Actually, the only reason I was aware of it was because I have Informed Delivery for my parents' house, and it said there was a package shipping from Arizona. Oh well, at least it got here. And it's gorgeous! And thick! My FairyLoot preorder of The Iron Vow by Julie Kagawa also arrived. I think this is the last one in the new spinoff/sequel series. All that's left is for FairyLoot to do the Call of the Forgotten trilogy and The Iron Legends bindup. I just need FairyLoot to wait until next year to do them. They're dropping so many sales lately, and my wallet is hurting. I'm having to skip stuff I would have been interested in if they'd just slow down.

And this is my favorite item for the week. My PrettygalPins JLA World tarot card deck arrived! Look at these beauties! It features every couple in JLA's paranormal books except for the Lux characters. Entangled has the rights to those characters still, I believe. Boo. But OMG they're all so beautiful! I actually think my favorite is Alex from the Covenant books. She looks so badass. But Roth is also a big one! After all, he's my favorite JLA character after Kieran Contou, with Daemon a close third. I have to decide how I'm going to display these things, as I want all of them to have shelf space, but I only have so much room. Ugh. The dilemma.

 As for ebooks, I have three. Two are from Kindle Unlimited: Crossing Acheron by H.G. Birde and Caught Stealing by C.E. Ricci. I'm actually almost finished with Caught Stealing. I'm about 65% in. It's a MM sports/college romance. The other book is one I randomly saw on some social media platform that I can't remember now, and it sounded really good. The last ebook for this week is a NetGalley review copy of The Fractured Dark by Megan E. O'Keefe, which is the sequel to The Blighted Stars, a sci-fi book I read and reviewed a couple of months ago.

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

Stacking the Shelves: The Lost Boys 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.

So my Ikea Billy bookcases are now built. There was only one incident that resulted in a replacement part being ordered, but otherwise, they're up. Now, I just need to fill them with books! I'll share some photos later. Right now, they don't look that impressive with only five shelves barely filled. Other than that, I've just been working, sleeping, and, weirdly enough, reading a lot of The Lost Boys fanfiction, which I'll get to in a bit.

I didn't get any physical books this week. Well, technically, I did, they were just delivered to my parents' house, so I'm likely to get them this upcoming weekend sometime, if they visit me or I visit them. We'll see. But I did get my preorder incentive swag from Sara Hashem for her book The Jasad Heir, which I very much enjoyed. I can't wait for book two!

Next, I have part of my A Touch of Magic Designs order from a couple of weeks ago. So, turns out, the first order I talked about was my original order. That one was missing some stuff. When I asked for a replacement since I thought the first order was lost in the mail somewhere, it actually came with the correct Kingdom of the Wicked print and a replacement shelfie that it was supposed to originally have. So I don't feel too bad about getting a duplicate order. I still don't understand why that first order took an entire month and a half to get to me, though.

 

And finally, I have the ebooks for this week. Here's where The Lost Boys story comes in. So for some strange reason, after seeing a tweet about The Lost Boys movie, I decided to read some fanfic. And now, I just want to read a dark and gritty vampire story that has similar vibes with a MM or MMF relationship. So I went to the internet to ask, and Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco was recommended. It's one I've had on my Goodreads TBR, but I always forget about it. I bought it immediately when I saw the rec though. I knew it would fit the mood I'm in. I haven't started it, since I'm still deep in the fanfic, but I plan on diving into it soon. My library hold for Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor also came in. I want to read this one to see if I'd like to purchase the new Illumicrate editions that are going on sale at the end of the month. They look gorgeous, but I can't justify $100+ on books I don't know if I'll like.

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

July Wrap-Up & August TBR

July was packed with so much family stuff. Ugh. While it's nice to be around my family every once in a while, there is a point where you just need to be alone for long periods of time. Lol. My older sister visited my parents, so I drove to their place and they drove to mine so we could hang out, eat, etc. I also went with my younger sister and her husband to St. Louis where I got my Billy bookcases (photos to come). There were also two birthdays, my dad's and brother-in-law's, in July. It was a lot of family together time. Hopefully August is a lot calmer.

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 July

Bro and the Beast 4: 3 stars (KU)

Moth: 3 stars (KU)

Seraph: 3 stars (KU)

Beyond the Veil: 4 stars (ebook)

Per Sanguinem: 3 stars (KU)

Crave: reread

A Soul of Ash and Blood: 4 stars

Crush: 4 stars

I read eight books in July, which is decent. It's not as good as the previous months have been, but I did read a couple of chunkier books, so that, plus my increased family time this month, contributed to the lack of dedicated reading time. I did manage to get one physical book off my pre-2023 TBR, though, which makes me very happy. That was Crush by Tracy Wolff, and I reread Crave as well. Other than those, I read six ebooks, four of which were on Kindle Unlimited. The KU ebooks included Bro and the Beast 4 by L.C. Davis, Moth and Seraph by Lily Mayne, and Per Sanguinem by Ashlyn Drewek. I also read Beyond the Veil by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti and A Soul of Ash and Blood on Kindle.

Books Bought/Received in July

I knew July was going to be a preorder-heavy month, but holy cow did I not realize how much all those preorders would add up. In total, I purchased 18 books in July. I received one book that I didn't pay for in July, and I received 15 total books within the month.

The 14 books I bought and actually received in July include the Kindle edition, regular hardcover, and Barnes & Noble edition of A Soul of Ash & Blood. I also ordered Ashes & the Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent, The Struggle and the Spanish edition of A Light in the Flame by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Slaying the Shadow Prince by Helen Scheuerer, and Star Bringer by Tracy Wolff and Nina Croft all from B&N. I also bought a secondhand hardcover copy of A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (not pictured) for my Dusty Shop dustjackets. And, technically, I also purchased a copy of Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent from Amazon, but I used Kindle gift card refund money to do it. My preorder of The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem also arrived along with my order of Boyfriend Material and Husband Material from Illumicrate/Afterlight. Oh, and my Adult FairyLoot July box came in, but I sold the book, so it's technically gone now.

 Now, I also bought some books I haven't yet received, either because they were preorders or because they were shipped to my parents' house and I haven't picked them up yet. The one preorder I paid for this month was for the Chest of Fandoms edition of A Light in the Flame. The three books at my parents' house include the Indigo and an extra B&N edition of ASOAAB, along with Light Bringer by Pierce Brown.

As for what I received in July, I just got the Brandon Sanderson Kickstarter book for the third quarter. It's called Yumi and the Nightmare Painter.

Currently Obsessed With

Not a ton to mention this month in terms of shows. I think there's just the one new addition. Other than that, it was mostly just me rewatching The Office some more.

I watched season three of The Witcher over the course of July. I think I watched the first three episodes relatively early in the month, and then I binge-watched the rest of it this past Friday. I'm definitely sad Henry Cavill is leaving after this season, but I think I'll give Liam Hemsworth a try as Geralt, just because I do love fantasy shows in general and there are so few good ones out there. I want to support the ones that I can, and I also do like the main actresses. I'm worried with the diminishing interest in this season and future seasons, with Cavill leaving, there won't even be a season four. Ugh. But other than that, I watched Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in theaters with my dad and sister. It was pretty good, but, like most movies nowadays, the CGI replaced the practical effects that made Indiana Jones so enjoyable.

August TBR

I have too many things on my TBR for how much I need to get done this month to prep for my trip to Iceland at the end of September. I need to stop requesting books to review on NetGalley. It rarely ever works in my favor in terms of time and enjoyment factor. That being said, first up are the books I need to review. That includes The Pariah by Anthony Ryan, Enchanted to Meet You by Meg Cabot, and Calamity by Constance Fay (NetGalley ARCs). I'm also currently reading Covet by Tracy Wolff, the third book in the Crave series and Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare as a Libby ebook. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll finish it on Libby before it leaves. But my FairyLoot edition is going to reach me soon, so I can read that copy. I'd also like to read Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent and reread Kingdom of the Wicked so I can binge the rest of the series. On top of all of that, I need to continue reading George R.R. Martin's A Storm of Swords.

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