May Reading TBR

~ EMM ~ 2 Comments

April isn’t quite over. I am still working on finishing the last book in my Orilium TBR. But (of course) I’m already thinking about what I want to read in May…

May 2024 TBR

These are the three books I have at the top of my TBR for May:

  • Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson — I loved The Space Between Worlds, and I have been eagerly anticipating this second stand-alone set in the same world. Luckily, so have my Camp Book Club friends. So we decided to buddy read it in May.
  • Generation Ship by Michael Mammay — Another long awaited space adventure written by my current fave military sci-fi author. I have been struggling to get this to the top of my TBR for a while, but it’s going to happen in May!
  • A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn — One of my two favorite historical cozy mystery series has a new book out, and I cannot wait to read it!

Are you picking up on the general vibe for my May reading plans?

If not, let me explain. May is my birthday month, and I really want to fill it with anticipated five star reads. Nothing with DNF potential, please. I want to have the BEST reading month.

That’s not to say that April was a bad reading month. It wasn’t. More on that when I do my wrap-up post. It’s just that, readathon months, with their reading prompts, tend to help me clear off titles that have been lingering in the middle to bottom half of my TBR. Which is awesome, but it means I’m very behind on some new releases by my auto-buy authors.

The three books I picked to read in May are exactly that. New(ish) releases by three of my auto-buy authors.

In addition to these three, there are two new releases coming out in May by two other authors on my auto-buy list. I pre-ordered both. The first is Kilby Blades’s second Green Valley Heroes book, Young Buck, which comes out May 9th (her first in this series was Forrest for the Trees). The other is Suyi Davies Okungbowa’s near-future sci-fi novella, Lost Ark Dreaming, which releases on the 21st of May. But, in order to read either of these, I’ll need to take my Kindle off airplane mode, which means reading or renewing my current library haul. (#ReaderProblems)

I’m excited to see how many of these books I can devour in May! Happy reading (and birthday month) to me!

Book Overload — A mid-month check-in

~ EMM

To give you a sense of how my reading is going this month, here are some numbers:

  • Books carried over from previous months = 3
  • Books started this month = 3
  • Books finished this month = 2
  • Current number of books in progress = 4

Do I have more in-progress books now than I did at the start of this month? Yes.

Have I finished reading everything on my Orilium TBR? No.

Status of my Orilium Spring Equinox TBR

In fact, I haven’t even started the Psionics & Divination read (A Fate Inked in Blood) yet! I meant to start that one in the first week of this month so that I could be sure to have plenty of time to finish, but plans changed. I can’t remember my reasoning now, but I’m sure it made sense at the time.

Seriously, everything feels backward and wrong on so many levels this month. Why would reading be any different?

Is some celestial object in retrograde or something? BRB. *Goes to Google.*

Yes. It appears that is in fact the case. Well, there you go. That makes me feel a little better, I guess.

A Game of Hearts and Heists (my Art of Illusions reading assignment) is one of the books I started reading already. But I had to put it aside so I could read (and hopefully finish) The Tainted Cup before my Camp Book Club discussion this coming Friday. The good news is that I am really enjoying The Tainted Cup and find myself excited to get back to it every time I have to put it down to do something else.

After I finish The Tainted Cup, I plan to start A Fate Inked in Blood (finally!) and get back to A Game of Hearts and Heists. There are still two weeks left in the month, so I think I have time to finish all three of those books.

As for the two books I’ve already finished this month, they were both contemporary romance reads. The first was It Happened One Summer, and the second was The Homecoming War. Both were really fun books that I tore through and didn’t want to put down. I sighed happy sighs when I finished them. Highly recommend both if you like contemporary romance.

How is your reading going this month? Are you off to an equally awkward start? Or have you already finished your TBR?

Picking a Book for Inscription

~ EMM

If you remember, there was one open slot in my Orilium Spring Equinox TBR. I needed to pick a book for Inscription. I was going to put this off until I had at least one of the other two books on my TBR read. But, for reasons explained below, I decided to go ahead and do the selection now.

My long-awaited library hold for The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett became available to borrow, so I convinced my Camp Book Club friends that it should be our book pick for April. This automatically added this book to my April TBR.

Then, I remembered that I planned to give my niece a (signed) copy of my friend Addie Woolridge’s latest book, The Homecoming War, for her upcoming birthday. I got myself a copy at the same time that I bought one for my niece, but my TBR has been packed, and I haven’t gotten around to reading it, yet. Another non-Orilium Readathon book added to my April TBR.

At that point, I figured I should just make these options number one and number two for the Inscription draw. But, in order to determine which one would officially make it into my Orilium TBR, I needed a third book.

For my third pick, I added a (relatively short) contemporary romance novel. Rafe: A Buff Male Nanny by Rebekah Weatherspoon surfaced from the depths of my Kindle when I was trying to think of romance books I knew that had a very specific hero-heroine dynamic. I’d actually forgotten that I purchased this book on Kindle back in 2020! So, that book became Inscription option number three.

I used a random number generator to pick one (rather than slips of paper). The result?

The Homecoming War by Addie Woolridge won! Yay!

My Orilium Readathon Spring Equinox TBR

I still need to read The Tainted Cup. So, technically, there is also a fourth book on my April TBR. Fingers crossed I can finish all these by the end of this month!

March Reading Wrap-up

~ EMM

I didn’t realize until I started writing this post how many of the books I read in March were actually audiobooks. Out of the six books I finished, only two of them were in print (both ebooks). The other four were all audiobooks!

What I read in March:

  • Let Your Mind Run by Deena Kastor and Michelle Hamilton — As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’ve been slowly getting more and more into running. For most of my life, I’ve been a competitive swimmer, but we don’t have a lap pool where I live. We do have some excellent trails to run on. I’ve been finding books like this one to be really helpful to me as I attempt to learn how to train myself to build my endurance and speed. This one was especially good for better understanding how to improve my mindset around running. I listened to this on audiobook and really enjoyed it.
  • Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott — I listened to this on audiobook as well, and the narrator was great. This book is pretty dense on the world-building and politics, which is exactly the type of thing I appreciate in epic fantasy and sci-fi. It’s supposed to be a sort of Alexander the Great retelling (in space and gender swapped), but I don’t really remember that much about that bit of history, so I’m pretty sure that any of the cool connections made between history and this retelling were lost on me. I wasn’t reading it for that, anyway, so it didn’t matter to me. I did love the ensemble cast and am really looking forward to reading the next book in the series (or listening to it on audiobook).
  • Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree — This was pretty much what I expected it to be. Cozy fantasy. Not a lot of plot or character development. Just characters that you grow to love doing things that are (mostly) domestic in a D&D-like fantasy world. Glad I read it, but I think I probably should have saved it for a time when I was really craving a chill fantasy read. Instead, I read this at the same time as the next book (a murder mystery), and found myself gravitating more to that one.
  • Sense and Second-Degree Murder by Tirzah Price — Another one I listened to on audiobook. This was another solid Austen re-telling and murder mystery. Though, if you know the original story, it’s somewhat obvious which characters you should trust vs. not. And since I’ve always been more of an Elinor than a Marianne, I was predictably annoyed by Marianne’s actions and her stupid infatuation, which is exactly as it should be. Basically, if you love Austen and cozy mystery, you should definitely be reading this series.
  • The Bomber Mafia by Malcom Gladwell — I wasn’t planning on reading this book, but it was available on audiobook (so many audiobooks in March!) and was something both me and my husband could agree on for a long car trip. This book was actually produced as an audiobook before being turned into text, so the audiobook contains snippets of interviews from history and from present day. Listening to it was kind of like listening to an episode of This American Life. I enjoyed the deep-dive into a bit of history that we only covered at a high level in school. The narrative sparked lots of discussion and maybe even planted a few seeds for future space opera novel plotting.
  • That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming — This was a fun read, and I enjoyed it. I don’t have too much to say about it beyond that. Just be aware, even though the setting is semi-medieval (like Bookshops & Bonedust), the language is really modern. So, if that’s going to bug you, then you may want to skip this book. I didn’t mind it. In fact, I thought the set-up in the first couple of chapters was a nice twist on what you usually see in these types of stories. I’m curious to see how the writing and the world progress over the course of the series.

I’m ending the month with two — no, technically, three — books in progress. One is a contemporary romance (ebook), another is a Fairyloot hardcover (fantasy) that I’m listening to on audiobook, and the third (the one I almost forgot) is the Fairyloot hardcover (also fantasy) that I started reading in January and set aside (because, hardcover). It’s really too bad that I’m enjoying the Fairyloot selections so much, because I really REALLY don’t like reading hardcover books.

In-progress: Faebound, Immortal Longings, and It Happened One Summer

Anyway, none of these books are going to count for the Orilium Spring Equinox readathon. I think I’m still going to try to finish reading at least the audiobook (Immortal Longings) and the ebook (It Happened One Summer) before the end of April. I’m far enough along in both that I don’t think it will prevent me from finishing the other books on my April TBR.

Given how long it’s taking me to make progress on physical books, I think I may start off April with A Fate Inked in Blood, which I have in hardcover (another Fairyloot selection). If I want to finish it before the end of the month, I should probably get started on it right away. Besides, that’s the one I get to use my book bingo card for, which will make it extra exciting! 🙂

It’s Orilium Spring Equinox TBR Time!

~ EMM ~ 1 Comment

It’s that time of year again! Time to head back to the Orilium Academy for the Spring Equinox Magical Readathon!

I have four subjects I know I need to complete if I want to take another shot at advancing my Story Weaver calling from Novice to Apprentice. If you remember what happened last year, I completed the Spring session, and then failed to finish all the prompts I needed to complete in Autumn.

  • Lore: “The Legend of Dia” — This is an Orilium lore short story, and I’m pretty excited that just by reading it I fulfill one of the prompts for this readathon! Woohoo!
  • Inscription: TBD — For this prompt I need to take the titles of three books, write them on scraps of paper, scramble them up, and then pick one at random. I think I am going to do this closer to when I am ready to actually read for this prompt, which probably won’t be until after I read the books for the other two prompts. That way, I can pick three short reads if I’m running out of time. (I’ll do a blog post mid-month to update on progress and tell you what I picked for this.)
  • Art of Illusions: A Game of Hearts and Heists by Ruby Roe — I chose this because, for the prompt, the title needs to include the word “game” or “play.” This works perfectly and also happens to be a book I’ve been meaning to read for a while.
  • Psionics & Divination: A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen — The prompt for this one involves creating a book bingo card. I created the book bingo card first (see below), and basically put together what I felt was a sort of generic romantasy book bingo card (feel free to borrow if you want, and tag me on Instagram if you use it). Then I waited to see what the book club pick was for my guild (the Mind Walkers). I’m thrilled that this book got the most votes because it is one of my Fairyloot hardcovers, and I needed to work one of those in somewhere anyway if I want to stay on track with my 2024 reading goals.

Since I only have four subjects (and one of them has a super easy prompt), I’m thinking that I might also try to complete the Lore side-quest. Or at least, I’ll get it started, even if I don’t finish all of it in April, since there are no deadlines for the side-quests.

However, I’m also starting a new writing project in April. So, I may be happy to have a light reading month. We’ll see how I’m feeling once I get started on my first two selections.

Are you participating in this readathon? What are you planning to read in April?

February 2024 Reading Wrap-Up

~ EMM

February may be the shortest month of the year, but it turned out to be a big month for reading (at least for me). I finished five books!

What I read in February:

  • Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher — This one took me a little while to get into, but once I got through all the backstory stuff and the characters started off on their adventure, I really enjoyed it.
  • Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett — Emily Wilde is exactly the sort of cozy fantasy that I love. This second book in the series had a solid mystery plot in addition to the usual exploration of fairy lore that results in an adventure. Emily Wilde (the main character) reminds me a lot of Veronica Speedwell in Deanna Raybourn’s Victorian cozy mystery series. The two characters have a lot in common, including their relationships with their much more domestically inclined partners.
  • The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi — I listed to this on audiobook, which I think worked really well for the sort of dream-like, lyrical storytelling in this book. This is definitely one of those books that delivers on the vibes. Creepy, possibly sentient house? Check. Unreliable narrators? Check. Characters who are so into folklore that they have nearly made themselves otherworldly? Check. Family mysteries and drama? Check. If that sort of thing is your jam, and you haven’t read this book yet, definitely check it out. But note, I think the less you know about the story going into it, the better.
  • The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation by Cory Doctorow — Well, if you think you’re already frustrated with tech monopolies, this lays everything out in a way that will have you wanting to delete your Facebook account even more than you already do. Not to mention the effect it will have on how you feel about your phone, computer, internet browser, and operating system. Upside is, there are some suggested solutions. I may be pessimistic about the chances we’ll be able to change anything, but I think this is a good read, especially for an election year.
  • Like a Sister by Kellye Garrett — I’ve really enjoyed this author’s other mystery series, and had been meaning to check this one out for a while. It did not disappoint. This was a solid mystery with good twists that kept me turning pages and thinking about the story and characters long after I put it down. I was really excited to see that she has another mystery coming out at the end of April, and I can’t wait to pick it up!

Overall, a solid reading month. Lots of good books, with one stand-out fave (Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands) and zero duds. Here’s hoping that March will bring more of the same!

March 2024 TBR

~ EMM

This post and my February wrap-up are both going up late this month because I went on an unexpected road trip last week and forgot to post these before I left.

I considered re-doing them and combining them into one, but the February wrap-up is taking me a while to finish up, and all I needed to do to finish this one was complete the book list below.

So, an update in two parts. First up, I give you my already in-progress March TBR:

One tome, one FairyLoot hardcover, and a fantasy romance

One of these is already nearly finished, and there is a fourth that I just added to the list today, but that one isn’t in the graphic I already made, so I’m going to save that for my March wrap-up post (assuming I finish reading it before the end of the month).

  • Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott — This book is doing triple duty this month. It’s one of the tomes I wanted to read this year. It’s also our Camp Book Club book pick for the month, and I’m using it to fulfill the March Adventure in Aeldia prompt: “Remove a complex lock enchantment cast on the exit door” (start/continue a series that intimidates you).
  • Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong — I picked this as the FairyLoot hardcover I wanted to read this month because I also snagged it on audiobook from the library. Then the loan expired before I could get to it, and now I think I’m back in the hold queue again. Oh well. Guess I’ll have to actually read the hardcover.
  • That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming — Everything about this looks delightful. The title! The cover! The blurb! I’m very excited to start reading this book (and probably, let’s be honest, binge the entire series).

That’s my plan for this month!

But I’m already putting together my TBR for next month because April is the Spring Equinox session of the Orilium Magical Readathon! YAY!!! Once I get my February wrap-up posted, I’ll share my readathon plans with you.

February TBR Progress

~ EMM

It is the last full week of this month, and I’m finally getting around to posting my TBR. In case you were wondering, that pretty much sums up how this month has been going for me.

I feel like I’m behind on everything that isn’t either race prep for the half marathon I’m running this weekend or reading. That is at least partly as planned. I wanted to have a bit of a break this month, but my to-do list keeps growing as I continue to ignore it.

I’ll deal with all that next week. Right now, I’d rather talk about books. Specifically, how I’m doing on my February TBR.

The plan for February was pretty simple. First up, I wanted to finish my two in-progress books from January (Nettle & Bone and Faebound). Then, I wanted to read three more books (see below), which would put me at a total of five for the shortest month of the year!

See? I made a graphic weeks ago! I just never got around to posting it.

The three books on my February TBR are:

  • The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi — I’m listening to this one on audiobook even though I have the FairyLoot hardcover edition. I’m finding the audiobook format is a good match for Roshani’s lyrical prose.
  • Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett — This is my buddy read book for this month.
  • Like a Sister by Kellye Garrett — This was my Adventure in Aeldia pick for February (read a mystery/thriller). So excited to finally be reading this! It’s been on my TBR forever.

Five books is on the high end of what I usually read in a regular length month. But, I’ve already finished two books (just not the two I’d thought I’d have done by now). And I’m about halfway through two others. So I may just pull this off.

See you back here at the end of next week to let you know how I did.

I may also be back before that, if I can finish the other post I wanted to get done this month. No promises, though.

January 2024 Reading Wrap-up

~ EMM ~ 2 Comments

We’re already more than a week into February, and I’m just wrapping up my January reading because I’ve been busy getting book two in my Mage Lore series published. Now that it’s out, I have a bit of a break, and I’m frantically trying to catch up on things like blog posts and house cleaning and errands, etc. But you don’t want to hear about that. You want to hear about what I read in January. 🙂

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Technically, I finished reading Kushiel’s Dart on the 4th of February, but I read almost all of it in January, and I don’t want to save it for next month’s update. I really enjoyed this book, despite the length. I think, if you can get past the content warnings (there are a lot), and you like Game of Thrones style fantasy novels (low on magic, minus the dragons, but with all the political maneuverings, warring houses, and complex web of character relationships), then you will probably also like this series. I thought I would be put off by the indentured servant / pleasure from pain stuff, but it’s pretty sparing on the page (except in specific cases where it’s relevant to the plot or character development), and I think it’s handled a LOT better than in Game of Thrones (the show). I especially liked the Sherlock / Moriarty vibes I got from the final chapter, which definitely made me want to read the next book.

The very first book I finished this year was Yellowface by R. F. Kuang. It was painful to listen to (audiobook), but in a very compelling way, if that makes any sense. The painful comes from the fact that main (POV) character is irredeemably terrible and the all the awful publishing stories are like non-fiction with the serial numbers scraped off. Reading this book is like if the Michael Jackson eating popcorn meme was watching a car wreak. It definitely deserves the hype.

After I finished Yellowface, I listened to Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis on audiobook. To say this was “good” feels a little strange. This book is a collection of speeches, so it is a little dated in some places. But for the most part, it’s also very frustrating how little has changed (and how some things have actually gotten a lot worse). I found it really helpful in filling in gaps in my education on these issues, and it gave me lots to think about, plus several more topics to add to my non-fiction reading list.

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I started but didn’t finish reading Faebound before the end of the month, mostly because my days (when I would be reading a hardcover) were pretty focused on editing my book. Now that it’s out, I have a bit of a break while I decide which of my many in-progress projects I want to focus on next. And I plan to finish reading this book during my break.

As for what’s on my Kindle, after finishing Kushiel’s Dart, I needed something else to read before bed. So went back to Nettle & Bone, which I’d started but only read about a chapter in before it was due back to the library. I am determined to finish reading it before it’s due back again.

In addition to those two books, I’m working on what else I want to add to my February TBR. There will definitely be a mystery novel (for my Adventure in Aeldia February prompt), plus whichever book we select for our Camp Book Club buddy read, and at least one more Fairyloot hardcover.

What’s on your TBR for February?

Top Five Favorites of 2023

~ EMM

Time for a top five list! Seems weird to be finally getting to this halfway through January, but I did want to wait until 2023 was fully over before declaring my favorite reads of the year.

My five favorites of all the (fiction) books I read in 2023 (listed in the order I read them).

I also want to give an honorary mention to one of the non-fiction books I read and loved. That was Good for a Girl by Lauren Fleshmen.

And, in case you (like me) are excited about Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherworlds coming out tomorrow, and you enjoy books with a connection to Celtic folklore and mythology, you don’t want to miss this book fair!

Happy reading!