Is it really Whatcha Reading time again? Admittedly, with my recent travel, I haven’t been reading as much as previous months. But summer in the U.S. is fast approaching and I’m hoping that means some quality outside reading and lazing. Have you hit a lull like me or is your reading pace full steam ahead?
Redheadedgirl: I just finished the Romance Readers Guide to Historical London (what, you don’t read travel guides like novels?) and just started The Glassblower by Petra Durst-Benning ( A | BN ), which I bought during the Reader Rec party at RT. “How do you spell that? d-u-r..? Yeah, that’ll be waiting for me when I get home.”
Carrie: I just (as in, one minute ago) finished reading Carry the Ocean by Heidi Cullinan. It’s a romance between two young adults (18 and 19) who are gay – one has major depressive and anxiety disorder and the other is on the autism spectrum. I disliked the fact that the autistic character, Emmett, is a savant because I know that is a stereotype. I also noticed that all the main characters are white. Other than that, I loved the discussions of autism, depression and anxiety, and physical disability, I loved the interactions between characters, and I loved that the couple has an active sex life and insists on being respected as an actual couple, not something “cute.”
I will warn readers that at one point a character discusses suicidal ideation in a way that is very powerful but was also very triggering for me – on the other hand, that passage in addition to so many other conversations helped me think about my own disabilities in a more positive way. The book explicitly spells out that loving relationships are helpful and important but do not “cure” things. I don’t feel knowledgeable enough about the topics the book addresses to give a full review, but as a novice reader I loved it, moving on to the sequel!
Amanda: I’m currently listening to Wicked Intentions ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) on audio and I’m really loving it. I was just lying in bed listening to it the other night. It’s wonderful.
After that, I have no clue what to start. Right now, it’s between White Hot by Ilona Andrews ( A | BN | K | AB ) – EEEP! Or The Deep End by Kristen Ashley ( A | BN | K | AB ), which was the book I was desperately searching for at RT and mentioned in our Sleepy Bitches RT podcast.
Sarah: I’m reading Dragon Bones by Jasmine Walt and Ines Johnson. So much is revealed in the first six chapters or so I’m not sure what is and isn’t a spoiler!
Nia is an immortal archeologist, and there are a handful of other immortals in the world. There’s relics and history from multiple cultures and continents — and also some violence against animals so be ye warned. Nia teams up with a woman named Loren who has a relic that Nia can authenticate – likely because she wrote it a few thousand years before.
I’m not huge into urban fantasy, but this is a lot of fun, and a feminist, intelligent spin on the idea of Lara Croft.
Elyse: I’m reading The Day of the Duchess by Sarah MacLean ( A | BN | K | AB ). It’s about a Duke trying to woo his wife back when she wants nothing to do with him (for excellent reasons) and it’s both wonderfully angsty and funny. And there’s a cat named Brummell who is there for comic relief.
What have you read this month? Has anything surpassed your expectations? Let us know in the comments!
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@Julversia
I loved “Bad Judgement”! One of my top five from last year. Someone on an earlier post talked about competence porn and Embry is so amazingly competent. The author has started a new series- I really liked the first book and am waiting breathlessly for the next two. (Loose Cannon)
Next KJ Charles will be out in about two weeks – my brain keeps trying to fool me that June starts this weekend and I am so sad everytime I realize it doesn’t.
Finally a book I read in May and loved: Peter Darling by Austin Chant. a reselling of Peter Pan starring a trans man – my first trans book and just amazing – I will definitely be rereading it
@Nancy & Kareni: Amanda Bonilla’s Shaede Assassin series had a djinn as a major character. But, a word of warning, the most recent book came out in 2015, has a cliffhanger ending, and I don’t know if Bonilla is going to finish the series. This has happened to me more times than I can count and it’s one of the things that makes me hesitant to commit to new series.
On another note, I had a lot of books/audiobooks for this month, but then things blew up at work (and home) and I didn’t have time to post. I’ll have to save everything for an extra long post in June (assuming I remember). But I did enjoy catching up on everyone else’s comments this evening.
Susan, the Shaede Assassin series does sound intriguing. Curiously, only a couple of the books are available on Kindle. Hmm, I’ll be on the lookout for these, so thank you for the mention.
@Kareni: That’s odd because I have all the books/novellas in digital (Kindle) format and didn’t notice that they’re no longer available. Maybe that’s a sign to hold off. Sorry.
No need to apologize, Susan; the books may well return in that format. In the meanwhile, I’ll be keeping a lookout for them in other formats. I always appreciate hearing about a good author!
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