Stacking the Shelves – Wicked Witch's Blog

Stacking the Shelves 87

It’s Saturday and that means it’s also time for my weekly Stacking the Shelves post. Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality and details are on her blog. The gorgeous graphic is also used courtesy of the site.

Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

As usual, my STS post is all about highlighting my library loans for the week. I’m very aware of how lucky I am and how many people don’t have access to public library service and I hope that maybe, these posts might encourage a couple of people to use their library more.

This week I’ve got another bumper collection of books from the library as 4 reservations came in and another 6 are in transit to me. At this rate, I won’t have any books on hold so I obviously need to see what else is out there to reserve.

The Adventures of Amina Al Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
I’m really excited to read this as I’ve seen so many good things about it. Amina is a retired pirate captain who gets involved with hunting for the kidnapped granddaughter of a wealthy woman. It’s set in the real world in medieval times but is definitely a fantasy adventure. The cover is gorgeous although the shiny library cover made it almost impossible to photograph!

So Shall you Reap by Donna Leon
It’s Spring so it must be time for a new Brunetti mystery. I love this Venetian series. In this one a body is discovered in the canal and the investigation leads Brunetti to reflect and question some of the things he takes for granted. One of the things that I do enjoy about these books is the reflective side of Brunetti.

The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh
This is the first in a new crime series. There is a large New Year’s Eve party and the next day one of the guests has been murdered. In a small close-knit village, there are lots of secrets and no shortage of suspects. I really enjoy mysteries set in small societies so I’m definitely looking forward to this one.

Silence in the Library by Katharine Schellman
This is a historical murder mystery series that I haven’t read before. It’s set in Regency times and features a young widow Lily Adler who is developing a habit of discovering bodies.

That’s what I’ve added to my shelves this week. There is a definite crime theme as even the fantasy book is investigating a kidnapping.

What have you added to your bookshelf this week? Do any of these appeal to you?

Stacking the Shelves 86

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It’s been a very hectic couple of days. My daughter flew in from the US on Thursday for her Hen (or bachelorette) party. First of all her flight was delayed and then the airline hadn’t brought her luggage. That meant hours at Heathrow which we could both have done without. As she only had the clothes she was wearing, we spent most of today shopping to replace the clothes that she needed for this coming weekend as well as a wedding dress fitting and visits to grandparents etc.

Today we’re all of to Nottingham for a weekend of celebrations including Crazy Golf! So it’s all been very busy and a bit stressful although it’s so lovely to have her back home for a couple of days.

However, it’s Saturday and that means it’s also time for my weekly Stacking the Shelves post. Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality and details are on her blog. The gorgeous graphic is also used courtesy of the site.

After last week’s bumper collection of books, I had another two to collect this week. I didn’t look for any others as I’m not going to have a huge amount of time for reading this weekend and I still have two left from last week.

The Shadows of London by Andrew Taylor
A historical novel set in the 17th century in the reign of Charles II. It’s the sixth mystery (I think) in this series about James Marwood and his friend, Architect Cat Hakesby and I really enjoy them. A murder victim is discovered in a house being restored by Cat and James Marwood gets the job of investigating it. The court including Charles and his latest mistress all become involved too.

Weyward by Emilia Hart
This is also partly a historical novel as it is about three women, Kate in 2019, Violet in 1942 and Altha in 1619.
They tried to cage us
But a Weyward woman belongs to the wild
We cannot be tamed
It’s a story of witchcraft and strong women so I’m really looking forward to it.

That’s all I’ve added to my shelves this week but I still have plenty to read.

What have you added to your bookshelf this week? Do either of these appeal to you?

Stacking the Shelves 84

It’s Saturday and that means it’s time for my weekly Stacking the Shelves post. Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality and details are on her blog. The gorgeous graphic is also used courtesy of the site.

As usual, my STS post is all about highlighting my library loans for the week. I didn’t have any reservations to pick up this week and was in a bit of a rush so I only picked up two books on this visit.

The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson
This is set in London in 1944 and is based on true events. I knew about the use of the Tube stations as Air Raid Shelters but had no idea that people had actually lived down in the tunnels for any length of time. I came across this article online which is written by the author of the book https://www.mylondon.news/news/nostalgia/i-lived-london-underground-station-23319699

Death of a Diva at Honeychurch Hall by Hannah Dennison
This is part of a cosy crime series that I haven’t read before. I was attracted to this one as the events include a staging of The Merry Widow which is one of my favourite operettas.

I’m going to use this week to catch up with a couple of ARCs as I seem to have quite a lot with publication dates in April. Two books that I’ve added to my Net Galley shelf and can’t wait to read are these two

What have you added to your bookshelf this week? Do any of these appeal to you?

Stacking the Shelves 83

As usual, my STS post is all about highlighting my library loans for the week. I only had one request to pick up this week so was able to wander around and just pick up random books off the shelves.

Queen High by C J Carey
I loved Widowland when I read it last year and was really excited to see another novel in the same alternative history. C J Carey creates a world that is scarily believable, a world where literature is edited to remove any references that could provoke unrest (and isn’t that topical at the moment?) and where women are marginalised.

The Ambassador by Tom Flectcher
It’s been quite a while since I’ve read a political thriller and this one sounds excellent. It’s set after a global pandemic when a human rights activist is murdered live on the internet at the British Embassy in Paris. No-one seems to want to investigate so the ambassador decides that he has to. The author has been foreign policy advisor to No. 10 and an ambassador himself so he presumably should know what he’s writing about.

Desperation in Death by J D Robb
I haven’t read an ‘in Death’ book for a while and so I’m looking forward to going back to New York in 2056 and catching up with Eve Dallas and Rourke.

The Collar Bound by Rebeca Zahabi
Leicestershire library users don’t seem to read much fantasy. Certainly the books seem to sit on the shelves week after week. I always try to pick up any new ones that I see just so that they get borrowed. This seems to be a society on the brink of war, Mages in a castle and refugees in a city as well as random magic. I’m looking forward to reading a new author.

As well as my library books, I also bought the next two books in the Ash Princess Trilogy by Laura Sebastian after enjoying the first one.

What have you added to your bookshelf this week? Do any of these appeal to you?

Stacking the Shelves 82

It’s Saturday and we’re back at home this week after our lovely weekend in Bath where we ate far too much. There are so many lovely coffee shops and restaurants there and it’s all to easy to just nip in for a coffee and a cake.

Saturday means it’s time for my weekly Stacking the Shelves post. Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality and details are on her blog. The gorgeous graphic is also used courtesy of the site.

As we’re back at home, my STS post is back to it’s normal role of highlighting my library loans for the week. After being away last weekend, I had several requests to pick up from the library as well as a book that I wanted to read just sitting on the shelf. Here’s my library haul for this week.

GodKiller by Hannah Kaner
This book is right at the top of my TBR as I’ve seen so many great reviews for it and I was very surprised to see it just sitting on the shelf. It’s on a short loan though so I have to read it within 7 days. I can’t see that being a problem somehow.

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
This retelling of the Medusa myth sounds brilliant. I loved the graphic novel Medusa last year and I’m really looking forward to reading this version.

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
This is another book that I’ve seen mentioned and review many times recently. It’s a modern retelling of the Christie novel And Then There Were None and I’m looking forward to seeing how the author uses the plot. I’ve not read any Alice Feeney before so it’s a new author for me.

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths
This is another book that I can’t wait to read. I have loved the Ruth Galloway series since it started over 10 years ago and I’m sad that this is the last one at least for a while.

I am really excited about all of these books and my only problem is going to be deciding which one to read first.

What have you added to your bookshelf this week? Do any of these appeal to you?

Stacking the Shelves 81

This week we aren’t at home as we are spending the weekend in the gorgeous city of Bath. We’ve spent the morning wandering around the city and had to visit the gorgeous bookshop Mr B’s Book Emporium

Obviously I can’t visit a bookshop without buying a book so I added these two to my shelves

As we’re in Bath, that means that I haven’t been able to make my usual visit to the library. Instead, this week’s STS post is mainly all about my latest additions to my NetGalley shelf.

One of my self challenges this year was to not request so many books on Net Galley. Last year, I found myself feeling pressured to get books read and reviewed before their publication date. I also felt that I was having to rush through some of the books.

I can confess that this is challenge that I am currently failing at. My Net Galley shelf currently has 3 more books on it than it had at the beginning of the year!!!!

It’s not my fault! There are so many amazing books coming out this year that it’s hard not to want to read them. Then Net Galley announced that they had a new publisher for Science Fiction and Fantasy and a couple of their books sounded really interesting. Finally yesterday I was thrilled to get an email from Sarah Morgan’s publishers inviting me to read her latest book and I definitely couldn’t say no to that could I?

So here are my latest additions to my Net Galley shelf.

Summer Wedding by Sarah Morgan
I just put this on my shelf without even looking to see what it’s about. I’ve never read a book by Sarah Morgan that I didn’t love.

The Detective by Ajay Chowdhury
I loved the author’s previous two books, The Waiter and The Cook featuring detective Kamil Rahman. He’s now actually working for the Met Police and has to prove himself to them.

The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd Robinson
I loved the cover of this book and the blurb sounds brilliant. It’s the story of a young fortune teller in Georgian Bath who is determined to solve the mystery of her mother’s death.

Over My Dead Body by Maz Evans
This is another one that I requested without even looking to see what it is about. I love Maz Evans’ books for middle grade readers and can’t wait to see how she writes for adults.

The BookBinder of Jericho by Pip Williams
The next book by the author of the Dictionary of Lost Words was another automatic request.

Rivers of Treason by K J Maitland
I could have ignored this one and waited for the library to get it but I couldn’t resist the chance to find out what happens next to Daniel Pursglove in this mystery series set in the reign of James 1

Hammer of Fate/The Fury of Kings
These are both new releases by the publisher Second Sky. They are both the first volume in new epic fantasy series which I am always interested to read.

Hammer of Fate by G N Gudgion
“No surrender. No retreat.” With twenty enemy swords at their backs and a broken bridge ahead, the last knights of an outlaw order turn to fight. A young woman with forbidden magic joins their final stand. And as blade meets blade, she starts to sing…

The Fury of Kings by R S Moule
In the shadow of Eryispek—a mountain said to have no summit—a dark power is stirring. Storms rage in the frozen heights. Unexplained disappearances shake the kingdom below. And old enemies are sharpening their swords…

I am really excited about all of these books and determined not to request any more until I have got my shelf down by a few books!!!!!!!!

What have you added to your bookshelf this week? Do any of these appeal to you?

Stacking the Shelves 80

As usual, my stacking the shelves post is my weekly haul of books from the library and this week is a bumper haul of books that I had reserved. Libraries are such a brilliant way of being able to read books for free. It always amazes me why they aren’t busier.

The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner
This historical novel sounds fascinating. It’s set in Regency England and is about a woman Neva who is able to predict the weather. As this is not a suitable gift for a young lady, she adopts a disguise. She gives her weather forecasts from inside an automaton designed by her father to look exactly like a young man. But then she falls in love with a man. It sounds as though it might have echoes of The Clockwork Girl which I loved last year.

Promise Me by Jill Mansell
The latest romance from Jill Mansell has had some great reviews so I’m looking forward to reading this one. Lou loses her job as a carer and her home and ends up taking the job of caring for grumpy Edgar who makes her an amazing offer. Of course, there are a couple of handsome young men living close by.

A Winter Grave by Peter May
I love Peter May’s mysteries and this is another set in the remote islands off the coast of Scotland. It’s set in 2051 which is unusual and is as much a book about climate change as a murder mystery. I love books set in the near future and can’t wait to read this one.

Becoming Ted by Matt Cain
Ted Ainsworth has always worked in his family’s ice cream business even though he doesn’t even like ice cream. When his husband suddenly leaves him, his world is turned upside down. Then he decides to take this opportunity to follow a secret dream, a dream that he has never told anyone about.

I am so excited about all of these books.

What have you added to your bookshelf this week?

Stacking the Shelves 79

As usual, my stacking the shelves post is my weekly haul of books from the library and this week they are all just random picks off the shelves although one is a book that has been on my TBR for over a year.

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
I don’t often look at the Y A shelves but had a glance at them this week and was really excited to see not only this one but Rule of Wolves too which have both been on my TBR for over a year. I only picked up the first one though. I loved the first trilogy set in the Grishaverse and am really looking forward to reading about what happens next.

A Death in Chelsea by Lynn Brittney
The rest of my library haul this week are all crime books. This one is set in 1915 in London. A young gossip columnist is found hanged in her flat but her family suspect foul play. Then another death occurs leading to the involvement of Chief Inspector Peter Beech. It’s all set against the background of WW1 and sounds like a book I’m going to enjoy.

A Gruesome Discovery by Cora Harrison
This is another historical crime series and it ‘s the next in the Reverend Mother Aquinas series. I love this series set in Cork in 1925. The plots are always really clever and I really like the character of the Reverend Mother.

The Body under the Bridge by Nick Louth
This is a more contemporary thriller involving DCI Craig Gillard. In this one, a missing persons investigation becomes more serious when the Home Secretary becomes involved. I’ve read a couple of these before and enjoyed them so I’m looking forward to this one too.

So that’s my latest library haul.

What have you added to your bookshelf this week?

Stacking the Shelves 78

It’s Saturday again and it’s really cold! The canals are frozen and the grasses and hedgerows stay frosty all day.

As usual, my stacking the shelves post is my weekly haul of books from the library and it’s a lovely selection of books that I wanted to read and random picks off the shelf.

Blade Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
This is the sequel to Realm Breaker which I reread last week and I’m really looking forward to finding out what happens next to this very random group of people. It’s described as YA fantasy but I’m not sure why. Maybe there’s a bigger market for Y A fantasy than normal adult fantasy?

The Mitford Secret by Jessica Fellowes
I’ve read all of the Mitford mysteries. Each one focuses on a different sister as they grow up. We’ve now reached 1941 and the focus on this story is Deborah, who begins the book by getting married and becoming Lady Cavendish. She invites all of the family to Chatsworth where they all become embroiled in another case of murder. This is the last of the books as Debo is the youngest sister and it will be sad to say good bye to a series that I have really enjoyed.

The Mystery of Four by Sam Blake
This was a random shelf pick. Tess Morgan is hosting a grand opening weekend for her house and garden but the event is plagued by accidents. A family friend doesn’t believe that they are accidents however and sets out to discover the truth.

The Museum of Ordinary People by Mike Gayle
This is was another random pick off the shelf. This time I was intrigued by the title. Jess is grieving for the loss of her mother but also having to clear her home. She comes across an archive of items known as The Museum of Ordinary People and begins to delve into the history of these objects.

Apparently the book was inspired by the discovery of a box filled with momentos discovered in a skip.

So that’s my latest library haul.

What have you added to your bookshelf this week?

Stacking the Shelves 77

It’s Saturday again which means it’s time for my weekly Stacking the Shelves post. Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality and details are on her blog. The gorgeous graphic is also used courtesy of the site.

This week we’re all back to normal as the library has reopened. This means my stacking the shelves will be the books that I have borrowed from the library this week. As I couldn’t borrow any books last week, I’ve got a bumper haul this week which is a mixture of random shelf picks and books that I had reserved.

The House with the Golden Door by Elodie Harper
This is the follow up to The Wolf Den and Amara is now freed from the slavery of the wolf den. However, she is still dependent upon the good will of her patron and so isn’t really free. I’m looking forward to reading more about the lives of these women in Ancient Pompeii

Cat Lady by dawn O’Porter
This is a completely random pick off the shelf. The title and the blurb both intrigued me.
It’s safer for Mia to play the part that people expect. She’s a good wife to her husband Tristan, a doting stepmother, she slips on a suit for work each morning like a new skin.
But beneath the surface, there’s another woman just clawing to get out.
And she owns a cat called Pigeon. How could anyone resist?

The Three Dahlias by Katy Watson
This was another random shelf pick. The cover attracted me but the story sounds very intriguing. Three different actresses have played the role of a 1930s detective Dahlia Lively, and they have to team up to solve a real murder.

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn
This is was a Net Galley request that I wasn’t accepted for so I ordered it from the library. Four women have been assassins for years, working for the Museum. However, when they are sent off on an all expenses paid trip to mark their retirement, they realise that they are now the targets. Can they survive?

Beyond Absolution by Cora Harrison
I was really pleased to spot this one on the shelf as I love this historical crime series. It’s set in Cork in the 1920s and features Reverend Mother Aquinas who somehow keeps getting involved in murder investigations.

Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
This was another book that I was really pleased to find. I have already read it back in 2021 when it was first released. I have got the second book Blade Breaker on order at the library but I realised that I don’t remember an awful lot about the first one. It’s a classic epic fantasy involving a group of very disparate characters who come together to save the world. I remember enjoying it but don’t remember the details so I’m going to have a quick reread before tackling the new one.

So that’s my latest library haul.

What have you added to your bookshelf this week?