This is going to be one of my weird STS posts, where I have books without covers. Well, presumably books without covers yet, at any rate. This is in service of the Thanksgiving holiday, as we’ll be away this week so I’m putting things together early – or at least as early as possible. Or too, early in the case of most of these books.

For Review:
Automatic Reload by Ferrett Steinmetz
The Four Symbols (Black Sun #1) by Eric Giacometti & Jacques Ravenne
Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams
The Ranger of Marzanna (Goddess War #1) by Jon Skovron
The Sin in the Steel (Fall of the Gods #1) by Ryan Van Loan

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m having the damnedest time wrapping my head about Thanksgiving being this coming week. I know it’s not too early, but my brain keeps expecting it to be colder if it’s really Thanksgiving. Which it really is – no matter what I think of the subject.

For Review:
An Alaskan Christmas (Wild River #1) by Jennifer Snow
Country Strong (Painted Pony Creek #1) by Linda Lael Miller
Hanukkah at the Great Greenwich Ice Creamery by Sharon Ibbotson
How to Be A Movie Star (How to Be #2) by TJ Klune
The Last Tourist (Milo Weaver #4) by Olen Steinhauer
Sea Change by Nancy Kress
Who Speaks for the Damned (Sebastian St. Cyr #15) by C.S. Harris

Purchased from Amazon/Audible:
Upon the Flight of the Queen (Ring-Sworn Trilogy #2) by Howard Andrew Jones (audio)

I think that Macmillan dumped their latest catalog into Edelweiss about five minutes after I closed last week’s Stacking the Shelves. Which gave me a week to privately chortle with glee over getting the eARC for Network Effect. I absolutely LOVE Murderbot and can’t wait to read its next story. I’m also thrilled to get Tevinter Nights. I’ve lost count of just how many times I’ve replayed Dragon Age Inquisition at this point. Oh well, I suppose everyone needs a hobby.

For Review:
Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights edited by Patrick Weekes
Drone (Miranda Chase NTSB #1) by M.L. Buchman
The Girl in White Gloves by Kerri Maher
Harrow the Ninth (Locked Tomb #2) by Tamsyn Muir
Hideaway by Nora Roberts
The Hollows (Kinship #2) by Jess Montgomery
The Library of Legends by Janie Chang
Miss Austen by Gill Hornby
Much Ado about Nutmeg (Pancake House Mystery #6) by Sarah Fox
Network Effect (Murderbot Diaries #5) by Martha Wells
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho
The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
The Stolen Gold Affair (Carpenter and Quincannon #8) by Bill Pronzini
Starborn (Born Prophecy #2) by Katie MacAlister

Purchased from Amazon/Audible:
The Name of All Things (Chorus of Dragons #2) by Jenn Lyons (audio)

It was clearly a very brief drought, at least on the book front.

A friend who shares my tastes in books and video games recommended the Nora Roberts series. I’m hit or miss with Roberts, although I love her In Death series as J.D. Robb. But it was a strong recommendation from someone I trust and the library had the first two books, so hey, it’s all good. And then the eARC floodgates opened…

For Review:
A Blight of Blackwings (Seven Kennings #2) by Kevin Hearne
Cast in Wisdom (Chronicles of Elantra #15) by Michelle Sagara
A Delicate Deception (Regency Impostors #3) by Cat Sebastian
Night Train to Murder (Ishmael Jones #8) by Simon R. Green
On the Corner of Love and Hate (Hopeless Romantics #1) by Nina Bocci
The Secret Chapter (Invisible Library #6) by Genevieve Cogman
Sisters by Choice (Blackberry Island #4) by Susan Mallery
Stars Beyond (Stars Uncharted #2) by S.K. Dunstall
Stealing Thunder by Alina Boyden

Purchased from Amazon:
The Bone Fire (Somershill Manor #4) by S.D. Sykes
Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones by Micah Dean Hicks
The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
Paper Son (Lydia Chin & Bill Smith #12) by S.J. Rozan

Borrowed from the Library:
Of Blood and Bone (Chronicles of the One #2) by Nora Roberts
Year One (Chronicles of the One #1)  by Nora Roberts

Another short stack this week. NetGalley and Edelweiss are showing more of next year’s books than this year’s books, but not all that many of either. That will change after the holidays, which are coming thick and fast and way too soon. I’m typing this on Halloween and it feels like the end of the year is just around the corner – which it kind of is.

For Review:
Destiny’s War (Saladin’s Secret #1) by Pyram King
Girl Gone Viral (Modern Love #2) by Alisha Rai
The Last Passenger (Charles Lenox #13) by Charles Finch
Meet Me on Love Lane (Hopeless Romantics #2) by Nina Bocci
Prosper’s Demon by K.J. Parker
Starbreaker (Endeavor #2) by Amanda Bouchet

Purchased from Amazon:
The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz

It’s easy to see that the calendar year is winding down in the publishing world just by the size of this stack. Most books appear in Netgalley and Edelweiss a few months in advance, but three months from now is January-February which are pretty much the doldrums as far as publishing is concerned. I used to think I would get caught up a bit during times like this, but, as the saying goes, I am so far behind at this point that I can never die. Or at least that’s what my late Aunt’s sweatshirt used to say!

For Review:
Accepting the Lance (Liaden Universe #22) by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Careless Whiskers (Cat in the Stacks #12) by Miranda James
Lady Abigail’s Perfect Match (Townsbridges #2) by Sophie Barnes
The Queen of Raiders (Nine Realms #2) by Sarah Kozloff
Rogue Planet (Mars Wars #2) by John Andrew Karr

Purchased from Amazon:
Our War by Criag DiLouie
Song for the Unraveling of the World by Brian Evenson
A Transcontinental Affair by Jodi Daynard

I didn’t buy anything this week, in spite of the short stack. I’m surprised. Or it’s just the both the books I’m reading and listening to are awesome and didn’t feel the need. Still, it is a short stack.

So short that I put Deal with the Devil in with a very much “not yet final” cover. I’ve had the eARC for a few weeks now but the cover just isn’t available yet. And for a temp cover, the one posted on the author’s site is pretty good. Also, I can’t resist squeeing a bit about a series about Mercenary Librarians. This will be GRAND!

For Review:
A Broken Queen (Nine Realms #3) by Sarah Kozloff
Centurion (House of Rone #3) by Anna Hackett
A Conjuring of Assassins (Chimera #2) by Cate Glass
Deal with the Devil (Mercenary Librarians #1) by Kit Rocha
The God Game by Danny Tobey
In Bed with the Earl (Lost Lords of London #1) by Christi Caldwell
Repo Virtual by Corey J. White
Servant of the Crown (Dragonslayer #3) by Duncan M. Hamilton
Sorry for the Dead (Josephine Tey #8) by Nicola Upson

It’s weeks like this that make me realize just how badly I’m affected by tsundoku. My stack looked so tiny that I couldn’t resist getting more audiobooks from Audible. And they had a sale. And I finished Jade War Friday afternoon and it was just SO AWESOME! I’ve been loving all of the SF and Fantasy I’ve been listening to – so more was just irresistible. Yes, I know I have an addiction. But there are so many worse things it could be. Still, “My name is Marlene and I’m a biblioholic.”

And, in other news, Fall is finally Fell here in Atlanta. People in the South look forward to the falling temperatures of Autumn in the same way that little children look forward to the appearance of Santa Claus at Xmas. I read that on Facebook but it is just SO TRUE!

For Review:
All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg
Blood and Blade (Goddess with a Blade #6) by Lauren Dane
That Kind of Guy (Ravenswood #3) by Talis Hibbert
The Queen of Paris by Pamela Binnings Ewen
Queen of the Unwanted (Women’s War #2) by Jenna Glass
Scornful Stars (Breaker of Empires #3) by Richard Baker
A Tender Thing by Emily Neuberger

Purchased from Amazon/Audible:
The Library of the Unwritten (Novel from Hell’s Library #1) by A.J. Hackwith (audio)
The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye (audio)
Second Hand Curses by Drew Hayes (audio)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow (audio)
The True Bastards (Lot Lands #2) by Jonathan French (audio)

It’s still summer in Atlanta. Maybe not according to the calendar, but it’s supposed to be in the 90s again this weekend. Forecasts say the temps will finally start dropping this week, but, as the saying goes, “Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.” So far this “Fall” we’ve been getting way more weather and not so much climate. For those of you thinking that 90s sounds marvelous compared to whatever you’ve got – particularly if you’ve already got snow – we hit the too much of a good thing point a LONG time ago.

At least this is great weather for staying in the cool air conditioning and reading a good book. Or two. Or ten. But we’re still looking forward to cooler nights when ALL the cats sleep with us!

For Review:
The Apollo Deception by Mitch Silver
A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen
Camp Lake (Carson Chronicles #5) by John A. Heldt
The Case of the Spellbound Child (Elemental Masters #14) by Mercedes Lackey
The Country Guesthouse (Sullivan’s Crossing #5) by Robyn Carr
Curious Toys by Elizabeth Hand
Flamebringer (Heartstone #3) by Elle Katharine White
Into the North (Keltin Moore #2) by Lindsay Schopfer
Losing You by Nicci French
My Way to You (Creek Canyon #1) by Catherine Bybee
The Poet King (Harp and Ring #3) by Ilana C. Myer
Sorcery Reborn by (Rebellion Chronicles #1) Steve McHugh

Purchased from Amazon/Audible:
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (audio)
Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight by Aliette de Bodard
The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl (Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club #3) by Theodora Goss (audio)

I know this list looks long, but it isn’t really. It also sort of is. Confusing, isn’t it? I didn’t get many review copies this week, but there were multiple irresistible sales at Amazon and Audible. The Forward Collection is a freebie for Prime Members, and Audible is doing another one of their sales on selected not-so-recent audios. And then there’s the books I just couldn’t resist. I’m loving Jade City on audio and want to continue with Jade War. I’ve also loved the Mycroft Holmes series by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Whitehouse, so when The Empty Birdcage released this week I got the ebook/audio bundle. If it’s as good as the previous books in the series, which were awesome, I know I’m going to want to switch back and forth from the audio to the book and back depending on where I’m at.

For Review:
Gold Digger by Rebecca Rosenberg
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Otaku by Chris Kluwe
Shatner by Michael Seth Starr

Purchased from Amazon/Audible:
Ark (Forward Collection #1) by Veronica Roth
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson (audio)
Emergency Skin (Forward Collection #3) by N.K. Jemisin
Eye of Truth (Agents of the Crown #1) by Lindsay Buroker
Jade War (Green Bone Saga #2) by Fonda Lee (book and audio)
The Last Conversation (Forward Collection #5) by Paul Tremblay
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers (audio)
Mycroft and Sherlock: The Empty Birdcage (Mycroft Holmes and Sherlock #3) by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse (book and audio)
Randomize (Forward Collection #6) by Andy Weir
Summer Frost (Forward Collection #2) by Blake Crouch
A Trick of Light (Stan Lee’s Alliances) by Stan Lee and Kat Rosenfield
You Have Arrived at Your Destination (Forward Collection #4) by Amor Towles