Stacking the Shelves--Ending September with a Bang! Edition

 

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! The meme is now hosted by Reading Reality.

Another week in the books! Work was a little intense this week. I feel like things have been rough this last month since we lost two of our team members due to layoffs and it's almost a little unpleasant, but I think we're trying to work through things. I don't know. It's also hard since we're all remote and things are still busy. I feel like some of our teamwork has dwindled. Now it's just a "can someone else do this for me" instead of "can I get some help on this thing" or "can someone trade me this for that?" I feel like losing 1/3 of our team during our busy season was not helpful to us.

Outside of the work realm...things were good. The renovations on my new place are chugging along. We're basically working it one floor at a time in multiple stages. We've torn out all the carpet from the top floor and took out all the flooring on the main level. The basement was unfinished so we gave that a decent cleaning. I think we landed on doing a basement floor paint and giving the walls some paint to brighten things up. My kitchen has been demolished as the cabinets weren't of great quality and my parents wanted me to have a little something better since my home wasn't built with extra storage in mind. Essentially the house is a good size for me, we just need to make a few improvements so I can definitely maximize my storage and being able to get all the things I've accumulated for my household into my house. Might be awhile until I can actually move in, but at least I'm not in a rush to move in.

I also got the rest of my UK copies of The Mirror of Infinite Endings! From what I ordered for myself I got 3/4 covers and a friend in the UK helped me to get the Tesco edition which has my final cover! So I am all set! Just have to wait to arrange shipping and payment with her once she's able to get it mailed out! Such a relief to have all 4 in my collection. I ultimately ordered 6 copies--1 was Goldsboro, 1 was the standard and 4 were Waterstones. I think next time I might just go with 5 (keeping the Goldsboro in that number). I definitely need to get on some site so I can try selling some of my extras from years past! I just need to set my account up to sell and take allllll the pictures and load them up and all that good jazz. Especially with a house to take care of and pay for, I am going to need a little extra funds. It will help once I can go through all my books again and see if there are other special editions I no longer need.

But anyway onto the goods of the week!

Don't Fall by B.B. Reid
Cursed City by Kate Golden
Death by Kristin Cast
Land of Oz edited by Marie O'Regan & Paul Kane
The Emperor's Enemy by Jasmine Mas--B&N edition. Yes, I still need to read this one but I had a compulsion to buy all three before they disappeared! Plan on reading it next, which breaks my duology rule, but I am super excited for it!
Threshing Day by Rebecca Yarros
Escape Me by Tahereh Mafi
The Lost Spectacular by Zoe Duhaime
The Dreamless by Jen Williams

The Mirror of Infinite Endings by Stephanie Garber--Waterstones edition with the Hourglass
The Mirror of Infinite Endings by Stephanie Garber--Standard edition with the Broken Heart
The Mirror of Infinite Endings by Stephanie Garber--Goldsboro edition, #232 and it was the Pie!

Not pictured are two more Waterstones that ended up being duplicate hidden covers.

Then I received my Fairy Loot edition of The Thorn Queen! Decided I'd rather have a matching UK FL set than a US one!

The Thorn Queen by Sasha Peyton Smith--Fairy Loot edition

And then at long last...I received my LitJoy Crate editions of the Caraval series!! I ordered these over a year ago but they were worth the wait!

Caraval by Stephanie Garber
Legendary by Stephanie Garber
Finale by Stephanie Garber
Spectacular by Stephanie Garber

Then for review from the publisher I received:

The Velvet Knife by Maureen Johnson

THANK YOU HarperCollins!!

And that was it for me this week! I was going to share pictures of my house in its "before" stage, but then I saw how much I had going on in this post so I thought I'd better save that for next week! I think that should be a slower week with releases. I've forgotten how much I preordered. Lol. 

What all did you get this week?

September Wrap-up

I feel like this was a difficult month. I didn't do too bad with the amount I read. Granted, half of them were pretty short reads. This was a busy month work wise so there were a handful of days where I found myself working through my break and not getting much reading done. Then towards the end of the month, I finally bought my home! But now we're in renovation mode with it and that is consuming my weekends for the time being. So my spare time has kind of gone out the window and my reading time has gone with it! Luckily, I already made my Goodreads challenge for the year, but I don't think I will be beating last year's number. Not unless I dig up more novellas and graphic novels! Lol.

ARC Reads

None this month

New Release Reads

Rebel: The Graphic Novel by Marie Lu (9/1/26)
The Mirror of Infinite Endings by Stephanie Garber (9/22/26)

TBR Reads

Fortress of Ambrose by J. Elle (10/14/25)
The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong (10/14/25)
Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson (8/6/24)
The Champions by Kara Thomas (7/27/24)
Meridian Six by Jaye Wells (6/2/13)
Children of Ash by Jaye Wells (1/27/16)

Book Blogger Hop #431

This meme is hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addict!

This week's question is: As a book lover, what’s your biggest fear?

MY ANSWER: That I will not be able to read all the books I own before I die. Truly one of my worst fears ever.

 

Books from the Backlog #205

 

Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.  If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks. This is a fun meme hosted by Carole's Random Life in Books!

With her wedding fast approaching, as well as her fiancé's investiture as grand master, Master Demon TrapperRiley Blackthorne is just trying to keep Atlanta safe from Hellspawn. When she meets a high-level fiend who claims to be free of Lucifer's control, and allows him to remain at large, she knows there will be consequences.

Denver Beck is facing two major events: taking his vows as a grand master and then as a husband. He's as nervous about committing his life to the fight against Darkness as he's excited to say, "I do". All his worries about the future are confirmed when a city is buried in brimstone, killing every single inhabitant. Was this Hell's doing, or is some other entity at work? It's Beck's job to find out.

After more cities are destroyed, Riley is summoned to Rome to answer for her actions. If they want a future as man and wife, she and Beck will have to take a stand. But will they be strong enough to stop this new threat, a killer that even the angels fear?

I added Valiant Light by Jana Oliver to my TBR pile in June of 2018! I was very late to learn that she had added onto this series after the publisher cancelled the rest of it. So naturally, I am SOOO behind with it. I do believe it's good and done now and has been for years. But it's been SOOOO long I definitely need to re-read the books prior to Jana publishing these on her own. Because I have zero memory of them, other than knowing that I LOVED them!

Can't Wait Wednesday #268

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

The New York Times bestselling author of Seven Deadly Thorns, Amber Hamilton returns with a dark academia romantasy inspired by Cinderella.

Vesper Fontaine and Lonan Duval have always been rivals. Competition for top student at Gossemort Academy, school of magic, is cutthroat. They both keep dangerous secrets, and tonight those secrets could get them killed.

It's hours until The Ridding--a high-stakes, one-night-only test, in which students will be locked in the school and challenged to survive until dawn. Three trials will challenge them, and only the best (and most loyal) will survive.

Then an unexpected element enters The Ridding--a mysterious prince claiming to be Vesper's bloodmate. But what happens when your fated mate is a fate worse than death? As the clock ticks closer to dawn, the trials grow darker, and hope wanes. To survive the night, Vesper and Lonan may have to put their trust in their worst enemy.

You'll be shocked to know I STILL need to read the first book of this series, lol! But it sounds like one I will enjoy so I am excited for the sequel as well!

TITLE: Twelve Dark Hours
AUTHOR: Amber Hamilton
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury YA
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: November 3, 2026

Rinley Renard isn't just a master thief-she's also the sole survivor of a political coup that nearly destroyed Feronia. When the opportunity to steal a priceless sword brings Rinley back to the scene of the massacre, it's a chance to exact her revenge-even if it means masquerading as a guard in the enemy stronghold, where she's still a hunted fugitive.

Prince Zoren Dreiko may be the empire's most powerful Dread Knight, but he has his own reasons for quelling the latest Feronian rebellion. Capturing the masked outlaw stirring unrest might finally free Zoren of his father's traitorous legacy, and keep the vicious empress he serves from taking his head.

Trapped in a brutal cat-and-mouse game, Rinley and Zoren's forbidden attraction blurs the line between duty and desire. When victory for one will doom the other, both are faced with an impossible choice between love and loyalty.

Experience Sherwood Forest like never before in this sizzling Robin Hood- inspired romantasy from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Estep.

I'm usually hesitant about Robin Hood-esque stories. I don't know why, they just don't always work out for me, but I have loved Jennifer's recent slew of "romantasy" books so I might give this one a try at least.

TITLE: Queen of Foxes
AUTHOR: Jennifer Estep
PUBLISHER: Red Tower Books
GENRE: Fantasy Romance
RELEASE DATE: November 10, 2026

Mini Review--Children of Ash by Jaye Wells

The exciting second installment of the Meridian Six series ... 

Freedom is a luxury paid for with blood. Several months after their first victory over the vampires, Meridian Six and her band of rebels are called in to Book Mountain for a brand new mission. Zed, the leader of another rebel group needs help saving children who were captured by the Troika and sent to Krovgorod, the worst of the vampire labor camps. 

It's an impossible mission, but Saga, the rebel leader sees a opportunity. He wants to use the camp infiltration to assassinate the infamous "Dr. Death," a vampire with a reputation for performing terrible experiments on his human prisoners. Saga promises Six that if she manages to kill Dr. Death, she will be free to leave the resistance. 

It's a hard bargain to refuse, but Meridian Six knows this will be her toughest fight yet. Getting inside the prison camp will be simple, but escaping it will be hell.

Children of Ash by Jaye Wells was the second installment of the Meridian Six series which I believe is long over despite the open-endedness of this title! It was a short novella series set in a dystopic future where vampires rule the earth and humans are their prey and slaves.

Meridian Six is looped back into working for Saga when another resistance leader requires his help in rescuing children from a prison run by vampires. The last thing Six wants to do is get involved with the vampires again, but when there's a chance to get revenge on one of the vampires who hurt her, she's all in. Working with her is Zed, the leader of the other resistance group and who is desperate to get back the kids he helped rescue at one point. 

This time around, we get a lot more point of views. It was a bit discombobulating at first as we don't see Meridian Six right away. If it weren't for the blurb, I'd wonder if she was in the story or not. But once the story gets going, things start to move really fast.

I almost think we could've done without some of the povs, just to keep a short story moving forward. But at the same time I did enjoy seeing new characters.

It's a bit sad that this was likely the last novella of the series as there was a lot going on. True, the ending can leave you satisfied for the most part, much like the first novella, did. I would never say no to more.

This was yet another action packed short little read and since there were evil vampires in it, I was totally on board. A fun and quick read that I'd highly recommend if you need the break from the big chonker reads! Lol.

Overall Rating 4/5 stars

Top Ten Tuesday #697

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week's topic is: FALL-THEMED FREEBIE: Top Ten Covers with Fall Vibes

*in no particular order

10. HUNTERLORE by Dana Claire--this one has great fall colors and vibes going with the leafless tress!
9. THE CHANGING MAN by Tomi Oyemakinde--all the red leaves on the ground definitely give off fall vibes
8. EPISODE THIRTEEN by Craig DiLouie--yes, spooky and fall tend to go hand in hand for me! But this one does kind of give you a wet, fall night vibe!

7. ASYLUM HOTEL by Juliet Blackwell--I think for this one it's the sunset colors over the treetops over the spooky hotel that give me the fall vibes! Lol.
6. THE IVORY CITY by Emily Bain Murphy--definitely the red-orange coloring!
5. THE FOREST KING'S DAUGHTER by Elly Blake--everything about this cover says fall to me!

4. REBEL WITCH by Kristen Ciccarelli--when I looked at my copy in hand, the colors were very much fallsy! Here...well, on my screen it just looks kind of eh. Not bad eh, just not really fallsy, but in real life it's totally rockin the fall vibes!
3. SPELLCASTER by Jaymin Eve--this has a nice goldenrod coloring that evokes yellow leaves for sure!
2. THE HAUNTING OF PAYNES HOLLOW by Kelley Armstrong--more fall coloring...plus spooky vibes AND a Sleepy Hollow vibe at that!

1. DIVE BAR AT THE END OF THE ROAD by Kelley Armstrong--this totally screams a cold fall night!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a fun meme where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week.

Last Week I Read:

Meridian Six by Jaye Wells (4 stars)
Rebel: The Graphic Novel by Marie Lu (5 stars)
The Mirror of Infinite Endings by Stephanie Garber (5 stars)

Currently Reading:

Children of Ash by Jaye Wells

What I Plan to Read Next:

The Emperor's Enemy by Jasmine Mas

Other Posts of Interest:

Top Ten Tuesday #696
Can't Wait Wednesday #267
Books from the Backlog #204
Book Blogger Hop #430
Stacking the Shelves--The Really BIG One with Double Vision Edition