Stacking the Shelves: The Blood and Ash Set 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.

The year is almost over. Thank god. We're closer every day to having sanity back. Hopefully. But now that it's autumn, it's darker out, which means I get in bed by 7 p.m. Lol. I haven't been reading much because I've been stuck in my Interview with the Vampire obsession, but I did get a bunch of books. And, of course, there are more books on the way.

As for books I actually received this week, two Jennifer L. Armentrout Books for Days Crate sets arrived. One of them was the much-anticipated Blood and Ash set. These are sooooo pretty. I'm not a huge fan of the plain red background, but the artwork is so gorgeous. I also got an acrylic Poppy/Cas/Kieran add-on standee in my order, along with an art print, sticker, and a few overlays. Oh, and my preorders of the FBAA coloring book also came in. I got two copies. One to color and one to collect.

 

 

The other Books for Days Crate set is the last two books in the Lux series/Lux spinoff. It's Oblivion and Obsession. I haven't read either of these yet. I think I'll do a whole reread of the series when/if the last book in the Origin series is released. Now, I do like the covers for this particular set, but I still haven't found a special edition Lux set that blows me away. Maybe FairyLoot will do editions one day. Not that I need to spend more money on these books.

 

 

 

And finally, I received my preorders of three different books from very different places. The first is The Strength of the Few by James Islington, which I received from Barnes & Noble. Next, is Empire of the Dawn by Jay Kristoff, which I ordered from Blackwells, and then, I finally received my Origins Zodiac Academy novella special edition from the authors' company. It had been delayed for months, so it's weird to finally have it in my hands.

 

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

Stacking the Shelves: The German Zodiac Academy 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.

It is another week of 2025. But, it is a bit of a happier one. Things are looking up. I just hope we can all last until next November. As for my personal life, it's been quiet. Mostly just sleeping, eating, working, and obsessing over the Interview with the Vampire AMC show. I've been devouring actor panel interviews, fanfic, and everything else I can get my hands on. I haven't had this level of fandom since Game of Thrones and Supernatural. It feels great, but I don't want to wait until April to see season three. Sigh...

As for the actual books I received, I have a mix of stuff. I went to my local used bookstore last Saturday and got The Road of Bones by Demi Winters with trade credit. My Barnes & Noble preorder of the hardcover edition of The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen also arrived. It came with a wonderful mark on the front cover, so I don't know what to do about that. I don't think B&N will replace it. I also don't even know if I want it anymore. Ugh. Then, my preorder of the UK edition of Wrath of the Fallen by Amber V. Nicole also arrived. It's so pretty and purple and white. I love it. If the UK ends up doing all of the previous and future books in this series in this style, I might finally get rid of the other editions I have. I have like two indie paperbacks, the FairyLoot set, one tour edition, and a LitHaven version. It's too much. The last preorder that arrived was the German edition of Zodiac Academy's The Awakening by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti. I will not be getting all of the books in this series in German. It's too much money and the art isn't absolutely amazing, but I think I'm going to get an edition here are there based on the character. Like, for instance, if there's a Seth and/or Caleb one, I might have to buy it.

 

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

October Wrap-Up & November TBR

Well, it's November. This year is simultaneously taking 1,000 painful days but also going by super fast. I wasn't reading a whole lot this month. I got sucked into a new show, so I was fixated on that, and I spent a lot of time doom scrolling instead of reading. Hopefully, I can fix that in November. Who knows? Certainly not me.

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

A Fire in the Sky: 3 stars

Bitter Burn: 4 stars

Four Ruined Realms: 4 stars

Warrior Princess Assassin: 4 stars

I read only four books in October, and I can contribute the downfall to the current state of affairs in the country. It's hard to read when crazy people are trying to take over. The four books I did get to read, though, were pretty good, for the most part. My first read was A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan, then I read Bitter Burn by Sierra Simone, Four Ruined Realms by Mai Corland, and Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer. Three of them were physical books off of my TBR too, so that was great. The only ebook was Four Ruined Realms, which I read on Kindle Unlimited.

Books Bought/Received in October

This month was a big, BIG YIKES. I spent waaaaaay too much. And it's looking like November and December won't be any better. Sigh. I need to really start reading the books I have so I can sell the ones I don't want to keep after I've read them. I'm both running out of space and money. Lol. Overall for October, though, I bought 22 books and received 18.

The 18 books I received consisted mostly of preorders that I'd already paid for. These include Lily Mayne's Monstrous series editions by Renegade Romance, the UK bindup editions of Meg Cabot's Mediator series, the Doylestown signed TPOBAB, a replacement B&N TPOBAB, the UK Waterstones edition of What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller, the FairyLoot Unearthly set, the FairyLoot edition of The Nightshade God by Hannah Whitten, the Acrylipics 3D edges version of FBAA, Bitten by Jordan Gray, and Bitter Burn by Sierra Simone, both from B&N.

 

Now, for what I bought. I only received 16 of the 22 books I purchased. Those included preorders from B&N: Mate by Ali Hazelwood; Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick; Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent; the new deluxe Narnia edition; the B&N and regular edition of Bonds of Hercules by Jasmine Mas; and Beyond the Veil by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti. It also included four in-store B&N purchases: Skyward by Brandon Sanderson, The Shadow of the Gods by Johyn Gwynne, The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington, and a collection of Edgar Allan Poe. I also received my FairyLoot editions of Savage Blooms by S.T. Gibson, which was the October Romantasy book, and my September Adult book, Alchemised came as well. I did receive my Owlcrate Romantasy book as well, What Fury Brings, and my Mercari order of The Black Prince by Ariana Nash. I also ordered a Kindle copy of North Queen by Nicola Tyche.

 As for the remaining seven books, some of them should be on their way soon and others won't ship out for a while yet. Those include the Lilac Library edition of Quicksilver, the Blackwell's edition of The Wrath of the Fallen, and the FairyLoot editions of Fallen Stars, Dire Bound, and Bonds of Hercules.

Currently Obsessed With

I finally watched a TV show I'm now obsessed with. It's AMC's Interview with a Vampire, which was perfect for Halloween time. I am now back on my vampire obsession ways. I need more in my books and shows. I think I'm going to watch Castlevania next and maybe re-read Empire of the Vampire to prepare for the finale coming soon. Other than that, I did go see The Life of a Showgirl in theaters earlier this month for the premiere of the new Taylor Swift music video. I also listened to the album for a few weeks. I stopped listening recently, though. I didn't want to get burned out. Other than that, I continued to rewatch the Shrek films.

November TBR

I am currently reading Wrath of the Dragons by Olivia Rose Darling, The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde, and Court of Nightmares by K.A. Linde. I'd also like to read Blood & Steel by Helen Scheurer, Rein of Shadows and Endings by Melissa Roehrich, The Nightshade God, and re-read Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. I very much need to read We Who Will Die by Stacia Stark, Our Rogue Fates by Sarah Marsh, and To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast as well. Those three are all NetGalley eARCs.

***

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!

Stacking the Shelves: The Too Much 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.

It's November. Wow. October was nuts, but it's time for a quiet fall month. I hope. Maybe. Ugh. It's getting scary out here in the U.S. Send help, international friends. Or take me with you. But anyway. Cheerier subjects, once again. Books. I've spent too much money on them lately, and FairyLoot keeps dropping special editions right before the holidays. What the heck, FairyLoot?! Grr.

As for books I actually received this week, I went nuts. Well, I went nuts months ago, and am now paying the price. By that, I mean my preorders went insane. I have the new deluxe Narnia omnibus edition, the B&N and regular edition of Bonds of Hercules by Jasmine Mas, and Beyond the Veil by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti. I also have my FairyLoot edition of The Nightshade God by Hannah Whitten that arrived. I'm very mad that it has a dent in the top of the spine, but FairyLoot won't replace it. It'll look bad sitting next to the two other books. I can deal with damage on the bottom of a spine and the back of the book, but if it's at the top of the spine and the front of the book, where it's noticeable, I get upset.

 

 

 

If my preorders weren't enough, I also went to B&N this week when I stopped by for a dentist appointment, and I bought four books. The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington and The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne were on a buy-one-get-one-half-off table, so I got those two. I also wanted a collection of Edgar Allan Poe's work, so I got that and Brandon Sanderson's Skyward, which I've been wanting to read for a while now.

 

 

 

And next, I received my preorder of the 3D-printed edge of From Blood and Ash that Acrylipics did. Now, I don't really care about the fancy 3D edge. I honestly only care about the dust jacket. I collect different covers of the FBAA books, for the most part, not the edges. I've already purchased book two, though, and I am hoping Acrylipics holds off on selling the rest of the series for a while, as I need to save some money.

 

  

And finally for the physical books, I received my preorder of Lily Mayne's Monstrous series. Or at least, it's the first five books in the series. I wasn't sure about buying these because the series was fun, but only one of the books is really one I think I'd like to reread. However, now that I've canceled Kindle Unlimited, I'm glad I did purchase them. Plus, these editions from Renegade Romance look way better than the original cover art. Not offense to the designer of the original covers, I just like this style of these more. The order also came with some cute couples bookmarks.

 

And, for the ebooks, I have one I bought only because I had some Kindle credit that was expiring at the end of December. It's the North Queen by Nicola Tyche. It was on sale for $0.99, so I got it for like $0.24. Now, normally I would have just read this on Kindle Unlimited, but, like I said, I actually decided to cancel KU. Amazon has some terrible business practices, and I'm kind of over it. I really wish B&N would make some competition for them in the indie/ebook space. And canceling KU also gives me the opportunity to read the books I already own. 

 

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