Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Stacking The Shelves (Reading Reality) and The Sunday Post (Caffeinated Reviewer) are both blog memes about sharing the books we’re adding to the shelves and sharing news of the week ahead.

New Purchases

A trio of new purchases this week, starting with a pair of true stories of turn-of-the-century adventure and exploration. The River of Doubt by Candice Millard is the story of Theodore Roosevelt’s first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon, enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within the expedition’s own ranks. Jungle of Stone by William Carlsen recounts the story of American diplomat John Lloyd Stephens and British artist Frederick Catherwood, who endured disease, war, and the torments of nature and terrain to meticulously uncover and document the remains of the legendary lost civilization of the Maya.

And then, a late addition to the shelves (as in this morning), it’s another historical tale, this one a fictionalized account borne of deep historical research. It’s Circle of Days by Ken Follett, the deeply human story of one of the world’s greatest mysteries: the building of Stonehenge.

For Review

There was one new review title storming the porch this week and demanding entry to the bookshelves. Conan: Spawn of the Serpent God is a thrilling story about Conan the Barbarian facing violent abominations, written by Bram Stoker Award Winning author Tim Waggoner.

Currently Reading

Between first pass editing at a client’s 120k-word novel, managing short story submissions to Gender Ever After, and screaming ourselves hoarse at the Blue Jays games, there hasn’t been much time for reading these past 2 weeks, but I’m chipping away at The God is Not Willing by Steven Erikson (in preparation for October’s release of No Life Forsaken) and haunting the pages of A Grave Duet: Collected Halloween Horror by Melisa Peterson Lewis, Kasey Fallon, Rissa Miller one story at a time.

Call for Submissions

Gender Ever After is a sapphic romance (and erotic-romance) anthology celebrating the full, beautiful spectrum of gender expression and identity.

Check out the official Call for Submissions and feel free to submit.