It’s the end of the month, which means it’s once again time to look ahead to some great upcoming book releases. April is a bit lighter on releases than March was. Thank goodness. However, it does have some of my most anticipated reads of the year, including Infinite Shores and Honor & Heresy. If you missed my list of March 2026 releases, you can find it HERE. Without further ado, here are 20 of my most anticipated April 2026 book releases (covers link to Goodreads):
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Hello, everyone! I’ve done this tag for the last few years (2023, 2024, 2025) and always have a lot of fun with it. So, I’m back again to talk about my firsts of 2026. It seemed like the right time since we are approaching the end of the first quarter of the year. This book tag was originally created by Tanya @girlxoxo.
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Hello, everyone! Today marks a pretty special day for me, my 5th blogging anniversary. It’s been exactly five years since I published my first post on this blog! If you’d asked me then if I’d still be blogging in half a decade, I don’t think I would have said yes. lol. I started the site on a whim after getting back into reading. I’d experienced a lot of major life changes in a short period of time, and reading and blogging helped provide some structure and consistency to my life in those early days. Since then, I’ve written over 400 reviews, built a home library of well over 1000 books, and gotten to know so many great people in this blogging community. I’m eternally grateful for all of the joy blogging has brought into my life, even on the days where I have little to no motivation to write. 😊
To celebrate this momentous occasion, I’ve decided to take a look back at my blogging journey so far. From some of the most popular posts and my most underrated reads to the posts that deserve more love and some disappointing books, let’s take a look at some highlights from the last five years.
Let’s start out with an easy one! My first post was a review of Into the Dark by Claudia Gray. When I first started blogging, most of my reading was Star Wars or Doctor Who books. So, it tracks that my first review would be from one of those two franchises. My last post was a review of Sister Svangerd and the Not Quite Dead by K. J. Parker. As you can see, reviews have been a major focus of my blog from the very beginning and continue to be so. I’m also super happy to report that blogging has seriously expanded the types of books I read and review. While Star Wars and Doctor Who are still important to me, they make up a pretty small portion of my reading these days.
I’ve read A LOT of books in the last five years, 869 to be exact. So, it was a herculean task to pick one underrated book from each year. I managed it though! So, here they are:
My pick from 2021 is A TOUCH OF DEATH by Rebecca Crunden. This book was the start of a fantastic dystopian series, and the fact that it only has 237 ratings on Goodreads is absolutely criminal.
My pick from 2022 is YMIR by Rich Larson. This was a sci-fi retelling of Beowulf. The whole thing was so inventive and interesting, and the prose was a work of art. It deserves so much more love.
My pick from 2023 is CHARMING YOUNG MAN by Eliot Schrefer. This historical coming-of-age queer YA story was fantastic. It made me a bit obsessed with Proust, who was a notable side character in this story.
My pick from 2024 is a book I talk about any chance I get, THE PHOENIX BRIDE by Natasha Siegel. I adored this historical romance, and it deserves way more attention.
My pick from 2025 is THE PALACE OF ILLUSIONS by Rowena Miller. The story did have some pacing problems and contrivances in the plot, but I adored the unique premise and how the setting was executed. It is worth the read alone for the setting of 1900 Paris at the World’s Fair.
I’ve written over 1,000 blog posts in the last five years. From book reviews and anticipated releases lists to weekly memes and bookish tags, I’ve done all sorts of posts. Some do a lot better than others. So, I thought it’d be fun to share some of my most view posts and others that I wish had gotten a bit more love.
I debated whether to include this section in the post because I didn’t want to be too negative. However, disappointment has obviously been a part of my journey over the last five years, and it felt a bit disingenuous to ignore it completely. So, here are five books that let me down in some way.
Graceless Heart by Isabel Ibanez, The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley, The Lure of Their Graves by Laura R. Samotin, Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao, Half Lost by Sally Green
The scope of my reading was rather limited before I started blogging. I’ve been lucky to find so many new to me authors over the last five years, but some of them stand out above the others. Here’s a look at five favorite authors/books that I might never have read if not for being introduced to them through blogging/ARCs. These are all pretty much auto-buy authors for me at this point.
Jade City by Fonda Lee, A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske, Babel by R.F. Kuang, The Hymn to Dionysus by Natasha Pulley, Dark Moon, Shallow Sea by David R. Slayton
Let’s wrap things up with one of the best parts of the blogging experience. I’ve been around long enough to see blogs be born and die out. lol. However, there are also some amazing blogs written by awesome people who’ve been in my corner consistently for a really long time. I don’t bounce around to visit other blogs as often as I’d like, but these five (actually six because I couldn’t narrow it down… lol) are ones I constantly gravitate toward when I’m in the mood to blog hop. So, go visit them and give them some love!
There you have it! My celebration of my 5th blogging anniversary. I still can’t quite believe it has been five years, but I hope to make it five more. I definitely have enough books on my shelves to last that long…😊
It’s the end of the month, which means it’s once again time to look ahead to some great upcoming book releases. I apologize in advance for the length of this post because March is absolutely stacked with books that I’m so excited to pick up. If you missed my list of February 2026 releases, you can find it HERE. Without further ado, here are 31 of my most anticipated March 2026 book releases (covers link to Goodreads):
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Today I have the absolute privilege of participating in the cover reveal for the forthcoming horror novel in Catamorphosis. You all know how much I love cats. So, I just couldn’t say no to getting a peek at this cover early, and it definitely doesn’t disappoint.
Let’s start things off with a little information about the book:
Cancer was the start of Jasmine’s life falling apart. Her body betrayed her, her husband left, and as she lay dying, the only one remaining at her side was her orange tabby, Otto.
Then something uncanny occurred.
…
At a fishing lake in the Oregon Coast Range, Jasmine is ready to reassess her priorities when a stranger catnaps Otto. One transgression leads to another, and Jasmine has never believed in turning the other cheek.
Jasmine is transforming, but whether the cancer still has anything to do with her mutating cells is beyond her. Otto has given her something, and anything from her sweet boy can only be a boon.
Jasmine may have died, but she came back.
And when a cat’s around, no one is surprised by a body count.
Shannon Knight is a fantasy, science fiction, and horror author living in the Pacific Northwest. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s in English. Her horror titles include Domestication and Catamorphosis. Sign up for her newsletter at https://shannonknight.net.
Without further ado, here’s what we’ve all been waiting for… THE COVER:
Doesn’t the cover just look the perfect combination of spooky and beautiful?! The cat is so gorgeous, too. The cover alone is making me want to pick this one up once it releases. What about you?
Today is my birthday! Last year, I celebrated by completing The Birthday Book Tag after seeing it on Celeste’s blog. It was so much fun that I’m hoping to make it an annual tradition.
The Birthday Book Tag was created by Antonia at Always Books, and it provides birthday-related prompts to complete with a book recommendation that fulfills it. Without further ado, here we go!
Read More »I can’t believe the first month of the year is almost over! With its end comes time to look forward to a new month of book releases. February has some pretty great new stuff to choose from, and I can’t wait to get my hands on so many of them. If you missed my list of January 2026 releases, you can find it HERE. Without further ado, here are 16 of my most anticipated February 2026 book releases (covers link to Goodreads):
Read More »This year is already off to a rough start. I’ve been sick with tonsillitis since last Tuesday, which is finally mostly better, and I started having car trouble over the weekend. That means I’ll be sitting at the mechanic all day today to (hopefully) get the problem diagnosed and fixed. Not to mention all of the unstable geopolitical nonsense of the last few days. It’s safe to say that I’m already over 2026 and its BS only five days into the new year. lol.
All that to say, this list is a little later than I’d usually like, and I promise I’ll begin working on my year in review for 2025 shortly. Things are just moving a little slow thanks to the randomness of life. Luckily, there are plenty of great books being published this month that’ll provide a great escape from the chaos. Without further ado, here are 15 of my most anticipated January 2026 book releases (covers link to Goodreads):
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Hello, everyone! Today I have another year-end list of top books, my favorite books of 2025. I managed to narrow the list down to ten books this year despite most of my reading being new releases. So, the ones I’ve chosen are definitely the best of the best. 🙂 These are all 2025 releases that I’ve managed to read this year. You can find my favorite backlist books in another post here. So, be sure to check it out, as well. All of the covers link to Goodreads in case anything catches your eye…
Read More »Hello, everyone! Today I have my first year-end list of top books, my favorite backlist reads of 2025. I managed to narrow the list down to 10 books this year. I read all of these in 2025, but they were published prior to the beginning of the year. I’ll have a post with all of my favorite new 2025 releases sometime in the next couple of days. So, be on the lookout! All of the covers link to Goodreads in case anything catches your eye…
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