May was an amazing month for reading, and not bad for my content. I ran into a bit of an issue with my wrist that prevented me from reading some physical books in my TBR, but I did read a lot, and I’m glad that it didn’t put the brakes on my reviews.
If you’d like to look at the TBR I set for myself, find it here.
Before I begin, here’s a table of contents to help you navigate easily.
Reading
I read seven books in May:
I picked all these books simply based on my mood. I’m currently in a phase where I have 2-3 books going on at the same time, but not really, because one of them takes precedence over the others at some point, and the rest get sidelined. I’m trying to be better about it, but I am trying hard to not fight my mood. Oh, and I’m in my historical fiction phase.
I was lucky to receive a proof copy of SONS OF DARKNESS, and though I’m into shorter books, I loved how the author treated the characters of the Mahabharatha and put them in a world inspired by Vedic India. While the chapters were long, I breezed through them without any trouble.
PARADISE-1 was a miss. For a few weeks before I picked it up, I kept hearing about how it was so much fun, and sadly, the pacing didn’t work for me. This was one of the hardest reviews to write.
“We shall be useful. But just as importantly we shall be defiant, occasionally ill-mannered, and completely indomitable”
THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETY OF ILL-MANNERED LADIES was an impulse request, and might be my favourite read of the month. It was simply so much fun, but didn’t shy away from talking about some abuses of power in regency England. I cannot recommend it enough.
STARTER VILLAIN by John Scalzi was a hit. It is fun, funny, and has C-level cats and working class dolphins. It is a snappy paced read. I opened it to sample a chapter or two, and before I knew it, I was halfway through.
A NECROMANCER CALLED GAM GAM by Adam Holcombe caught my eye during the cover reveal, and since it was just under 150 pages, I thought “Why not ask for a review copy?“. It was endearing in parts, but I had issues with the structure.
I loved ORPHAN PLANET by Rex Burke, and when an eARC of the sequel TWIN LANDING came along, I dropped everything and picked it up. Another one day read, and quite does what the first one did so well. It couldn’t do the magic of book one, and that’s solely because I went into this with high expectations. I know it’s a long wait for book three, which is on track to be released later this year, but I am quite confident that it will not disappoint.
THE FAIRY BARGAINS OF PROSPECT HILL was a pleasant surprise. I know a lot of my fellow bloggers did not like it, and I had been putting it off until then. I am glad I finally picked it up, because I loved how it portrays complicated family relationships. I have a weakness for stories that revolve around siblings, don’t I? I already pitched this to my sister.
DNF Books
Once all the entries in SPFBO9 were published, I went through them to create my own ambitious readalong, and picked this up since it looked charming. I had issues with the way the protagonist did not behave her age, and the setup did not work for me at all. It felt more like children at play, so into the DNF pile it went. I doubt I’ll give it another shot.
Blogging
Here’s a round-up of all the reviews and blog posts I put up last month:
- Review: Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller
- Review: The Book that Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence
- Review: Paradise-1 by David Wellington
- Review: The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao
- Review: The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman
- Review: Our Hideous Progeny by C. E. McGill
- Review: A Necromancer Called Gam Gam by Adam Holcombe
- Review: Twin Landing by Rex Burke
In addition to these reviews, I had the opportunity to interview three authors:
- “I read the original Peter Pan and I just felt that there was more of the story left to tell.” – Gama Ray Martinez, author of the Defenders of Lore series
- “Feel-good space adventure – with teenagers!” – Rex Burke, author of the Odyssey Earth series
- “One interesting thing I found was that one of the children who was listed on Charlotte (aka Maria Carolina)’s Wikipedia page doesn’t seem to have existed; for one thing, she’s never mentioned in Charlotte’s diary, not even on the day she supposedly died. After I tweeted about this, Wikipedia’s editors deleted the page, but last I heard, there was some ongoing debate about it.” – Kate Heartfield, author of the Embroidered Book
Around the blogosphere
- Kal @ Reader Voracious shared this article with 7 gift ideas for book-lovers, I particularly loved the idea of a book sweater. The next time you want to buy your fellow bookworm something that’s not a book, take a look at this list!
- Krysta @ Pages Unbound asks if libraries should be loud
- Book Riot published an excellent article about how sex-ed books don’t groom kids, but protect them
- Ginger Nuts of Horror, one of my favourite horror websites, had some hosting issues, and has moved. So if you’d like to keep up with their content, head here
- The Self-Published Science Fiction contest announced their finalists for the second edition, and I am delighted to see one of my favourite self-published reads of last year make it in. Follow the competition and the finalist reviews here.
- Olivia Atwater’s SMALL MIRACLES was crowned the SPFBO8 champion. SPFBO is back for a ninth edition, and if you’d like to follow it, Mark Lawrence’s blog is the best place to do so. The first 300 entries to the competition came in super super fast, in under 45 minutes! Remember I mentioned I picked a list of titles that I can hopefully readalong this time? Find the list, and more details here.
- If, you’re looking forward to THORNHEDGE by T. Kingfisher, read a free excerpt at the Tor/Forge blog
- There were two authors that made great threads I’d like to take a moment to highlight here. Ally Carter spoke about the importance of pacing, and momentum. Travis Baldree shared a list of rules he tries to follow when writing, and I agree with so many of them. I love simple prose, and his book ticked that box for me very well, and I find that almost everything on this list is what I personally like to read. Especially the bit about the usage of metaphors.
How was your reading month? If there are any posts you loved, feel free to link them below!
View my monthly wrap-up for April 2023 here.
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reader@work 
I have an arc of sons of darkness!! I’m glad it was an easy read for you, I desperately need that type of fantasy rn
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Ngl the chapters are longish, but they read pretty quick!
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Congrats on a great reading month – we love mood reading, especially when it works in your favor! I hope you are having an awesome June!
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