Hello, everyone! April is almost behind us, which means it is time to look forward to what I hope to read in May. I’ve decided to prioritize eight books this month and just stick with a regular TBR. Typically, I participate in the May the Force Read with You Readathon in May, but I’m honestly feeling a bit burnt out on readathons after Tropeical Readathon in March and Magical Readathon in April. Hopefully, I’ll also get some mood reading done in addition to the eight books I’m prioritizing. We’ll see, though, because I’m headed out for vacation in a couple of days. So, I’m not sure how much reading I’ll be getting done over the next couple of weeks. Here are the eight books I’ve chosen for this month:
I was really hoping to slow down on getting new books this month. I was actually doing pretty good until I became obsessed with The Raven Boys and ordered the entire series and an associated trilogy. Then things really went off the rails with two B&N visits within the last week in addition to ordering several special editions online. I was so close to making it until the end of the month. I went over 20 DAYS without going into a bookshop. Unfortunately, it only seems to have made the rebound even worse. lol. I did check fewer things out from the library, though, and only bought a few ebooks/audiobooks that were on sale or could be purchased with credits. ARCs weren’t totally out of control either, but I did get a few more than last month. All in all, I’m happy with what I’ve got. I just wish I’d managed a little more self control, which is the story of my life when it comes to books. 🙂
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
There are SO MANY great books releasing in May 2023!! The publishing gods must have been hard at work. lol. It was difficult to narrow down this list to 12, but I managed it. 🙂 Here are all the releases I’m most excited about for next month:
Hello, everyone! It’s Wednesday! That means it is time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. I’ll be answering the following questions:
Hello everyone! Today’s prompt is top 5 books with war / battle. I read a lot of fantasy and historical fiction. So, I think it might be easier to pick books without war in them. lol. Here are five with warfare that I really enjoyed but haven’t talked about quite as much recently. The covers all link to the book’s Goodreads page, and I’ve included the official covers and synopsis when available. Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm, and is now being hosted at Meeghan Reads!
Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing Dragonfall by L. R. Lam, which is the first book in The Dragon Scales Trilogy. I’ve been looking forward to reading this one for a while, and it releases next week (May 2, 2023).
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
I’ve had this tag in my drafts for a REALLY long time. Dini tagged me almost a year ago, and I’m finally getting to it. Better late than never. Right? At first, I found it really daunting, but it actually turned out to be a lot of fun. Without further ado, here are my answers to the A-Z Book Tag.
The author I’ve read the most is Cassandra Clare at 18 books. Terry Goodkind comes in a close second at 17 books. I honestly find this answer a bit hilarious because neither of these authors would be in my list of favorites. They just happened to write series I started when I was really young and haven’t wanted to give up on since I’m too invested now to stop. lol. Although, I actually just put my entire collection of Terry Goodkind books for sale on Pango a few days ago. I know I’m never going to read them again now that I’m done with the series. There are so many books with much better writing to spend my time on now. 🙂
B: BEST SEQUEL EVER
I tend to have a hit or miss relationship with sequels a lot of the time, but Ryan Cahill hit it out of the park with Of Darkness and Light.
C: CURRENTLY READING
The Dragon Republic by R. F. Kuang, Dragonfall by L. R. Lam, The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
D: DRINK OF CHOICE
It has to be Dr Pepper. That is my drink. When I’m trying to be healthy, I’ll have ice water, but I’ll be wishing it was Dr Pepper. lol.
E: E-READER OR PHYSICAL BOOK
My thoughts on this have changed drastically since I started blogging. I used to only read physical books. Since I’ve started getting eARCs, I’ve grown increasingly more reliant on my Kindle. Now I don’t really have a preference. Looking at this year’s stats so far, the number of digital versus physical books I’ve read is pretty much the same. The actual winner is audiobooks by quite a bit, which is also a huge change from just a couple years ago considering I would almost never read that way. Now I pretty much always have an audiobook going. So, I guess the answer is neither. 🙂
F: FICTIONAL CHARACTER YOU WOULD’VE DATED IN HIGH SCHOOL
I really had to stop and think about this one. As a teenager, I was super nerdy and awkward as hell. I probably would have dated just about anyone who asked. 🤣 I recently read Right Where I Left You by Julian Winters and identified so much with Isaac. I could definitely see myself dating his best friend turned boyfriend, Diego. We could have been nerdy together, and he would know how to deal with my awkwardness and social anxiety without making me feel bad about it.
G: GLAD YOU GAVE THIS BOOK A CHANCE
Initially, I didn’t really want to read this book. The description didn’t appeal to me, and I was wary of all the hype. I only read it to fulfill a POPSUGAR prompt, and I’m so glad I did. I ended up loving Daisy Jones & The Six.
H: HIDDEN GEM
Ymiris a book I rarely see anyone talking about, which is a real shame. It is a sci fi re-telling of Beowulf, and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. It was super gritty and fascinating, and I cannot recommend it enough.
I: IMPORTANT MOMENT IN YOUR READING LIFE
There isn’t really one moment that stands out as the ‘most important.’ However, the start of my blog in March 2021 would definitely be a big one. I wouldn’t have read most of the books that I did in the last few years if it wasn’t for blogging. So, my reading life right now would look very different without it.
J: JUST FINISHED
The last book I finished was Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher. I absolutely loved this book. The banter was sublime, and I liked the murder mystery and the cute pet.
K: KIND OF BOOK YOU WON’T READ
There’s not really a kind of book I won’t read, but I don’t read a ton of classics or horror. They just aren’t usually my jam unless I’m in a really particular mood.
L: LONGEST BOOK YOU’VE READ
I was not surprised by this at all because this chonky thing comes in at 1006 pages. I enjoyed the story a lot, but Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell definitely felt its length.
M: MAJOR BOOK HANGOVER BECAUSE OF…
Y’all. This book broke me. I was in a horrible mood for almost a week after finishing it because it just had me all in my feelings way too much. Definitely read More Happy Than Not if you need a good cry.
N: NUMBER OF BOOKSHELVES YOU OWN
Hmmm. Hold up a second while I go count… seven. That’s just the ones with my books. My wife has three more for her books, as well. What can I say? We like our books. 🙂
O: ONE BOOK YOU’VE READ MULTIPLE TIMES
The Dark Is Rising is one of my favorite books. I don’t even know how many times I’ve read it since I was a child, but it’s probably more than five times at this point.
P: PREFERRED PLACE TO READ
My favorite place to read has a tendency to shift with my mood. Right now it is probably my bed, but I also enjoy reading on the patio when the weather is nice or upstairs in my media room where most of my bookshelves live.
Q: QUOTE THAT INSPIRES YOU
I think happiness is fleeting. It’s not a state of being, it’s moments. Contentment is better to strive for as a state of being.
A History of Madness by Rebecca Crunden
R: READING REGRETS
I don’t really have any reading regrets other than not reading more in my twenties. I was super busy with work and school and didn’t really make the time to read much of anything at all. I missed out on so much in that time, and it has led to me struggling to balance all the backlist books and new releases I want to read.
S: SERIES YOU’VE STARTED AND NEED TO FINISH
This is a joke right? The answer here is obviously ALL OF THEM. 🤣 Here’s some of the ones I consider most pressing at the moment:
The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang, A Chorus of Dragons by Jenn Lyons, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, Swords and Fire by Melissa Caruso
T: THREE OF YOUR ALL-TIME FAVOURITE BOOKS
How am I supposed to choose only three?! OMG. This is so hard… Some of my favorites have been mentioned as answers already. So, I’m going to pick three of my faves that haven’t been mentioned yet.
Babel by R. F. Kuang, Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee, The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
U: UNAPOLOGETIC FANGIRL FOR
I freak out over pretty much anything Star Wars. I consume every piece of Star Wars media that gets released, whether it is books, movies, TV shows, comics, or video games. I love it all and am so grateful that there is so much new content set in that universe.
V: VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS RELEASE
I loved Little Thieves so much. So, of course I’m very excited about Painted Devils releasing soon.
W: WORST BOOKISH HABIT
I think my worst habit has to be buying/borrowing/requesting way more books than I can realistically read. My backlog is SO HUGE, and it has honestly gotten a bit stressful.
X: X-MARKS THE SPOT. PICK THE 27TH BOOK FROM YOUR TOP SHELF
Revelle is a recent release I’m hoping to read soon. I love the cover so much and am so intrigued in the premise of Moulin Rouge set during prohibition with magic.
Y: YOUR LAST PURCHASE
The last book I purchased was the ebook of Revenant Prince. I loved the first book in this series and am looking forward to reading this one soon (hopefully).
Z: Z SNATCHER. A BOOK THAT KEPT YOU UP WAY TOO LATE
I stayed up so late listening to Engines of Chaos. I could not stop because everything was so tense, and I just NEEDED to know what would happen next.
Hello, everyone! It’s Wednesday! That means it is time for another WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. I’ll be answering the following questions:
Biblio Nerd Reflections 