Stacking The Shelves, Vol. 18: The Birthday Haul, Part 2

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Stacking The Shelves is a weekly event hosted by Tynga’s Reviews that shares the books (both physical and virtual) that you recently purchased, borrowed from a fellow reader or the library, won from a giveaway, or received as gifts. Stacking The Shelves will post on Saturdays as new books are added to my shelves.

Last Saturday I mentioned that I’d split my birthday haul of books into two Stacking The Shelves posts. If you missed Part 1, you can check it out here. Otherwise, it’s time for these three additions to my bookshelves!

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From top to bottom:

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (Science Fiction): If you’ve visited my blog before, it’s no secret that I’ve loved everything I’ve read by UKLG so far. I’m collecting her science fiction novels now; and while those particular books of hers are getting hard to find in stores, a family member was able to find this pick from my wishlist. My thinking right now is that 2016 might be a year of “classic catch-ups,” so this along with Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales will be two of my reading priorities then.

The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth Trilogy, Book #1) by N.K. Jemisin (Fantasy): My birthday present to myself!! 😀  I was in Barnes & Noble for a totally different reason, and then what caught my eye? One of the books I’ve been looking forward to most this year, especially after loving The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms last month. So, would it surprise you to know I’m reading this book right now? 😉

Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama (YA Historical Fantasy / Paranormal Romance): A friend remembered that this book had caught my eye when we visited the New England Mobile Book Fair last fall. What I didn’t realize until I flipped through the book the other day was that it takes place in 19th century Plymouth! Yay for stories based in Massachusetts. 🙂  Monstrous Beauty will be part of my mermaid “market research” project, which I still need to collect more books for. Any recommendations?

My apologies for the crappy photo quality, by the way. I can tell my camera is “aging” because I keep having to touch up the photos before I share them with you. Maybe it’s time to get a new one…

What books did you recently buy or acquire? Have you read or are planning to read of the books discussed above? 

27 thoughts on “Stacking The Shelves, Vol. 18: The Birthday Haul, Part 2”

    • I didn’t know about the historical angle, either, until I flipped through the book. Do you have a paperback copy? That has a map of 19th century Plymouth. (I forget if it’s in the front or back of the book…)

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  4. I really want to read some fiction… but I have so much grad school reading to get caught up with that I haven’t been able to, yet. I have this beautiful new Dune edition from Folio Society and want to read it so bad…. maybe I’ll make some time this week.

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    • The grad school reading is for the publishing classes you’re taking next year, right? I think I remember you talking about that before.

      I’ve never bought books from Folio Society. But I’ve seen some of their reprintings, and they’re gorgeous!

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      • Yeah. Technically, there are only two books ‘required’ as reading, but I tend to try and go above and beyond what I need. 😛

        Folio is gorgeous, but some of their books are too expensive! Just So Stories (an edition I rrrrrreally want because it’s illustrated by one of my favorite authors) is around $800. 😥

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  7. Nice set of books to read. 🙂 I’ve only read Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin before, and I really liked it. I keep meaning to get around to reading something else by her, but i hasn’t quite happened yet. I didn’t know she’s written some scifi though.

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    • Thanks, Phoenix! 🙂

      UKL’s versatility is one of the reasons why I love her work so much. She’s done fantasy, science fiction, mythology retellings, poetry… novels, novellas, short stories, essays… There’s really no other writer out there quite like her. I’d be happy to offer recommendations if/when you’re interested. 😉

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      • Hmmmm… Well, it depends on what your tastes are. You read some science fiction, right? Then you might want to check out The Left Hand of Darkness or Changing Planes. The latter is sort of UKLG’s Silmarillion; it’s a collection of short stories based on the idea that airports have secret portals that allow us to travel to different planets. So it’s a massive exercise in sci fi world-building, and I couldn’t believe how many different examples she came up with.

        If you like mythology, I’d also recommend Lavinia. It’s a retelling of Vergil’s The Aeneid, told from the perspective of Aeneas’ wife Lavinia. It doesn’t seem to be as well-known as UKLG’s other works, since the genre’s harder to pin down, but it’s a wonderful story.

        Hope this helps! 🙂

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  9. Pingback: Time Flies!: September 2015 | Sara Letourneau's Official Website & Blog

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