The Next Shelf

Thoughts on what I’m reading
Welcome to The Next Shelf, where I share my unsolicited thoughts and feelings about the books I’ve been reading and listening to.
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Read on: Why The Next Shelf?The first thing I do when I start a new book is I open the cover and smell the pages. The older and more loved the book, the better.
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Read on: A Court of Thorns and Roses – Sarah J MaasA Court of Thorns and Roses is not the worst book I’ve ever read, but it might be the best-worst…
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Read on: Dragonflight – Anne McCaffreyI recently decided to revisit some fantasy books I had enjoyed in my teenage years and see how they held up to rereading…
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Read on: The Places In Between – Rory StewartEvery now and then you come across a book that makes you want to run down the streets, waving it in the face of everyone you pass.
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Read on: The Satanic Verses – Salman RushdieAfter the knife incident, buying the book felt like the tiniest act of resistance against the terrorism of murderous thin-skinned religious zealots…
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Read on: Blood Over Bright Haven – M.L. WangReligion is truly the opiate of the masses in this standalone dark academia fantasy from M.L. Wang…
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Read on: Katabasis – R.F. KuangSome combination of fate and algorithms led me into the dark academia genre, as it often has of late, with this tale of two graduate students on a jaunt through Hell to retrieve their recently deceased thesis advisor…
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Read on: Once There Were Wolves – Charlotte McConaghyThe second offering from Australian author Charlotte McConaghy, the story follows Inti, an Australian wolf biologist leading a pilot project to reintroduce wolves to the Scottish highlands…