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New This Month: 24 Anticipated Releases for February 2026!

New This Month: 24 Anticipated Releases for February 2026!

Posted by By Veronica February 3, 2026
Hey bookworm friends! I've been loving making my 'New This Month' posts but I always find way too many amazing books to add to the list. 😜 So please take…
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Top 10 Covers That Feature Unique Typography – From My TBR

Top 10 Covers That Feature Unique Typography – From My TBR

Posted by By Veronica February 3, 2026
Hey bookworm friends! It's been a while since I took part in a TTT post but I miss these more social posts! Today's TTTopic is really fun because it has…
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My Top Board Games & Video Games of 2025!

My Top Board Games & Video Games of 2025!

Posted by By Veronica January 31, 2026
Hey bookworm friends! Dark Shelf of Wonders is a bookish blog but I have other hobbies and this year, I want to make room on my shelf to talk more…
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BBNYA Finalist 2025 Review: THE REVENGE OF CAPTAIN VESSIA

BBNYA Finalist 2025 Review: THE REVENGE OF CAPTAIN VESSIA

Posted by By Veronica January 22, 2026
Hey bookworm friends. Now that the #BBNYA2025 winner has been announced, it's time for the finalists tour! This week I'll be sharing my full thoughts on The Revenge of Captain…
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SILENT IN THE GRAVE by Deanna Raybourn │ Review

SILENT IN THE GRAVE by Deanna Raybourn │ Review

Posted by By Veronica January 21, 2026
Hey Bookworm friends! As a huge fan of the Veronica Speedwell series, I had been curious about Raybourn’s first historical mystery series. When I heard that the next Speedwell book…
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It’s Monday, Let’s Catch Up │#13

It’s Monday, Let’s Catch Up │#13

Posted by By Veronica January 19, 2026
Hey bookworm friends. I hope you all had lovely weekends. I celebrated my brother's birthday, and spent some time reading. Now that it's mid-January, I'm itching to get back into…
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My Superlative Awards & DNFs of 2025

My Superlative Awards & DNFs of 2025

Posted by By Veronica January 15, 2026
Hey Bookworm friends! Today we've had a massive snowstorm in my city, with about 35cm of snow. My poor dog doesn't know what to do with himself; this morning he…
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My Last Check-in for 2025: Q4 Reads & Challenge Updates

My Last Check-in for 2025: Q4 Reads & Challenge Updates

Posted by By Veronica January 9, 2026
Hey bookworm friends. It might technically be 2026 now but I'm still in holiday mode for another week! Luckily the normal routine doesn't start for us until the 12th (thanks…
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New This Month: 20 Upcoming January 2026 Releases❄️

New This Month: 20 Upcoming January 2026 Releases❄️

Posted by By Veronica December 29, 2025
Hey bookworm friends! It's almost 2026 and if you are planning your reading for next year, keep reading. Here are the books coming out in January that I've got my…
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BBNYA Semi-Final Spotlight: Coal Gets in Your Veins

BBNYA Semi-Final Spotlight: Coal Gets in Your Veins

Posted by By Veronica December 6, 2025
Hey bookworm friends. Here I am with another spotlight for #BBNYA2025 and it's the penultimate one I'll be sharing; the tour is almost done! Today's showcase is for Coal Gets…
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Posted inBookish Lists
New This Month: 24 Anticipated Releases for February 2026!
Posted by By Veronica February 3, 2026
Posted inBlog Memes
Top 10 Covers That Feature Unique Typography – From My TBR
Posted by By Veronica February 3, 2026
Posted inGames
My Top Board Games & Video Games of 2025!
Posted by By Veronica January 31, 2026
Posted inBBNYA Book Tours
BBNYA Finalist 2025 Review: THE REVENGE OF CAPTAIN VESSIA
Posted by By Veronica January 22, 2026
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dark.shelf.of.wonders

Devoted to Fantasy 🖤 Always aiming to diversify my reading.
Support Indie Authors🌻.
📚 Book Blogger, Board Game Lover & Dog Cuddler.
How was your January, friends? The last week was How was your January, friends? The last week was the longest of my life: two funerals back to back and a cancelled concert I've been looking forward to for months! My break from socials was much needed though. I spent some time with my family and went for a long walk in the snow. It was so nice to slow down and actually enjoy the snow rather than just complaining about the cold! Now I'm back, just in time for a reading wrap-up! I'll be doing them monthly this year. The better to share more of my reads—I was kind of terrible at that last year. So here's what I read in January. My favourites are marked with a black heart (🖤). The Physical Books: 📚 The Wood at Midwinter, Susanna Clarke. Short Story - 3⭐ The E-Books: 📱 Silent in the Grave, Deanna Raybourn. 4.5⭐ - 🖤 📱 Mirka Andolfo's Sweet Paprika: Open for Business, Steve Orlando with Emilio Pilliu. Graphic Novel - 3⭐ 📱 The Demon of Beausoleil, Mari Costa. ARC, Graphic Novel - 5⭐ - 🖤 The Audiobooks: 🎧 Bookshops & Bonedust, Travis Baldree. Reread - 4⭐ 🎧 Brigands and Breadknives, Travis Baldree. 2.75⭐ The Immersive Reads: 🎧+📚 Gemina, Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff. 4⭐ - 🖤 I completed 3 books that go towards my yearly goals. One ARC & two "Next in Series" down, it's not a lot but at least it's a start! 😁 #MonthlyWrapup #Bookstagram #ReadingUpdate #JanuaryWrapUp #BookRecs
Hi everyone, this is my friend Mohammed. He needs Hi everyone, this is my friend Mohammed. He needs winter clothes and blankets to protect from the cold, food, and other necessities to save his family's lives. Please share his campaign and donate if you can. https://gofund.me/116245bcd Any little bit helps and it can make a huge difference in their lives. Thank you! ❤️ #MutualAid #freepalestine🇵🇸
Tidy the Library: Week 3 - RESULTS! . . 2003: The Tidy the Library: Week 3 - RESULTS! . . 2003: The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) . . 2005: Twilight (Stephanie Meyer) . . 2011: Fifty Shades of Grey (E. L. James) . . 2018: Normal People (Sally Rooney) The correct answer was B: Between Da Vinci and Fifty Shades!! Unlike last week, most people got the right answer. The HOA HOA girlies do👏🏽not 👏🏽mess👏🏽around when it comes to the sacred texts 😜!! Congrats: @melbsreads @the_bookishmum @megancristbooks @alibraryinapril @karenholmeswriter 🍎 @saras.reading @booksarethenewblack11 @bewitchingbooksravenousreads @bamamele.reads @gemsbooktalk 🩸 @ws_bookclub_ @alexlcriddle @a.selkie.reads @gianna.of.vengerberg #TidyTheLibrary #PlayWithMe #BookishGame #Bookstagram #Twilight
🌟BBNYA 2025 Finalist Tour🌟 For today's tour I'll 🌟BBNYA 2025 Finalist Tour🌟 For today's tour I'll be sharing my review of The Revenge of Captain Vessia by Leslie Allen 🩸Page Count: 449 Pages 🏴‍☠️Genre: Fantasy, Romance, LGBTQIA2+ 🩸Age Category: Adult 🏴‍☠️Date Published: Oct 4, 2024 We meet Captain Claire Vessia in jail having been accused of a whole pirate ship’s worth of crimes. As she’s waiting to be executed, the narrative immediately sets up such tension and high stakes that it captured my attention. Capain Vessia’s voice is engaging and multi-layered; I loved following the story from her POV. Plotwise, it’s unlike anything else I’ve ever read! My favourite parts of the story are the world-building details of how a vampire would go about being a pirate captain and maintain her identity hidden. I also appreciated that we didn’t spend the entire story just on the ship. This world is fun and traveling around made me feel like it's lived in and leaves questions open for the continuation of the series. The pacing flowed in a satisfying way for me, there were swashbuckling action scenes when I wanted them and introspective moments at the right times. I also love how diverse the pirate crew members are. The Captain made sure there was some trans and nonbinary rep on her pirate ship. The interactions of the crew were fun but I wish that more of the side characters felt more relevant to the actual plot. That being said, Captain Vessia’s love interest, Moira, is interesting and I loved her so much that I wanted some POV chapters for her to better understand her thought processes and to flesh out the romance a bit more. I wouldn’t say it's exactly Enemies to Lovers, but there's a difference of ethics between them that they had to wrestle with. I'm not really sure that they dealt with it so much as shoved it aside so they could finally be together. Overall, the story was gripping, I enjoyed the revenge arc, exploring this world and the characters. However, it would benefit from another round of proofreading. It was riddled with typos, grammatical errors, and using the wrong words at times. The frequency in which I found errors did impact my enjoyment which is a bummer because the story is good!
🪦Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn - Review 🪦Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn - Review As a huge fan of the Veronica Speedwell series, I had been curious about Raybourn’s first historical mystery series. When I heard that the next Speedwell book will cross over with Lady Julia Grey, @booksarethenewblack11 and I jumped into a buddy read to meet her immediately! The story begins during a disastrous dinner party that leaves Lady Julia’s husband dead. Mr. Brisbane, a mysterious detective, approaches her saying he thinks her husband’s death was murder but Julia is affronted and will hear none of it! Fast forward to a year later where she finds a threatening note in her late husband’s things…and she has to come crawling back to Mr. Brisbane begging for help. I had such a fun time with this story because I love the way that it’s split between the characters trying to solve a murder, and their personal problems. Raybourn balances this so well—whether there’s a new break in the case or Julia is having a moment of growth, I’m glued to the pages. Another thing that this author does so well is setting up the slowest of slow burn romance that builds throughout the series and I’m seeing the beginnings of that here! I see the seeds and I’m excited to watch them bloom in slow motion. The characters are great in this one, especially Lady Julia’s eccentric family. They’re constantly encouraging her to take risks and do foolish things while she’s trying desperately to grab on to normalcy and respectability. It was honestly so enjoyable and satisfying to watch her grow into herself. As for the mystery itself, some of it I guessed but a lot the details and implications I didn’t see coming! For a book that touched on a lot of heavy and sensitive topics, it was broken up with lots of almost absurd moments of levity. With a title like ‘Silent in the Grave’ I was expecting the tone of the book to be, well, more grave. But I really enjoyed the humour! That being said, the ending was explosive and poor Lady Julia suffered a lifetime’s worth of trauma in about a year and came out of it a changed woman. I’m beginning to think I'll love anything Raybourn writes 🖤
Last, Current, Next 📚 Happy Monday morning, book Last, Current, Next 📚 Happy Monday morning, book friends! Here's what I'm currently reading, as part of the January Prompts from @wellreadwyvern_socialclub 😉! Last: - Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn. ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 ---> I buddy read this with @booksarethenewblack11 in preparation for the new Veronica Speedwell which will have a crossover with the Lady Julia Grey books. Loved it and I'm starting to think I'll love anything Raybourn writes! 🖤 Now: - 📚🎧 Gemina by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman -->Continuing my immersive reading for the Illuminae Files, with book 2. Still loving it even though I miss the characters from book 1 🥲. - 🎧 Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree --> Listening to this one with my husband as we paint minis. I'm not as invested in this storyline; Fern feels like a completely different character. But I'm at least glad to be making progress on a series. Next: - 📱How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days by Jessie Sylva --> My ARC of this one is crying out to be picked up, it comes out real soon! ❓What are you reading ? And how was your weekend ? #LastCurrentNext #WRWSocialClub #WRWJan26Prompts #Currently Reading #Bookstagram Books • Audiobooks • Reading Update
💌Book Mail💌 After having a wonderful time being o 💌Book Mail💌 After having a wonderful time being on the judging panel for #BBNYA2025 last year, I was also lucky enough to win a giveaway! 🥰 Thank you so much @bbnyaofficial! The books I got with my gift card are home with me now and I'm so excited to welcome them to my collection 😁! -The Goddess of Nothing at All by Cat Rector -A Holy Maiden's Guide to Getting Kidnapped by Katy Nyquist -The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams ❓Which one of these would you pick up first? #BookMail #ReadingCommunity #ReadingIsLife #Bookstagram Book Haul • New Books • Indie Book • Fantasy • Romantasy • Book Picture
🐺 Book Review - ThistleHeart Home: A Collections o 🐺 Book Review - ThistleHeart Home: A Collections of Poetry by R. C. Lloyd🌲 I wouldn't consider myself a reader of poetry but I found myself getting emotional over certain lines, a new feeling for me! My typical reaction to poems is far more removed because I’m trying to make sense of what I've read. In ThistleHeart Home a lot of the imagery resonated with me. Like the first line of one of the poems: “May the vultures not see you”. I have thought about it a lot and it feels like such a nice thing to wish for someone. It has the opposite energy of "May All of your Bacon Burn" 🤣. The poems are about facing your fears and having the courage to be your true self. Some poems feel like the forest warning you about the dangers that hide in its darkness but only because it knows that facing the dark truths of the world gives you power to overcome them. I wish the poems were titled because it would be easier to keep track of them. But there are adorable illustrations sprinkled throughout the poetry collection and the hardback is out now!! Read if you like: - Poetry collection with a mystery narrator! - Imagery about forests, wolves, and finding a path through the darkness. - A Poetic style that uses a lot of slashes. Example: " Be careful not to let Almosts/ should'ves / could'ves Swallow you whole in your grief" Thank you to @dragon.heart.press and to the author for the e-ARC; All opinions are my own. ❓Are you a poetry reader? Or, what is a genre outside of your comfort zone that you'd like to explore this year? #PoetryCollection #BookReview #Poetry #ReaderCommunity #Bookstagram
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