Happy May!
Another month gone in 2023 and May has been a wonderful start weather-wise, with lovely sunny days with a hint of a breeze. It really motivates me to get so many tasks done and read books!
This month, after so many months I will be taking part in a reading challenge, Wyrd and Wonder. A wonderfully large event that celebrates Fantasy as a genre.
For this event, there are no specific reading prompts, just read Fantasy which makes it easier to tailor your reading to what you want but there’s so many extras and the team behind it have worked so hard on!
From Instagram prompts to blog post themes, reviews, read-alons and more there is something for everybody with this challenge!
I hope to take part in more than just the Fantasy reads so look out for posts on the blog and why not follow me on Instagram too?
Five of the books on my TBR are fantasy focused reads and they are going to be brilliant!
Howls Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Young Sophie Hatter from the land of Ingary catches the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste and is put under a spell…
Deciding she has nothing more to lose, Sophie makes her way to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above her town, Market Chipping. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl, whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls…
There Sophie meets Michael, Howl’s apprentice, and Calcifer the fire demon, with whom she agrees a pact.
It is going to be brilliant to revisit Howl’s Moving Castle as part of the Wyrd and Worm readalong. This world keeps popping up in my life so often that it has an almost constant space in my brain. I rewatched the movie a couple of months ago and it only reignited my love for it so I am intrigued to see what I gain on the second read of Diana Wynne Jone’s beloved book.
One For My Enemy by Olivie Blake
In New York City, two rival witch families fight for the upper hand.The Antonova sisters are beautiful, cunning and ruthless, and their mother – known only as Baba Yaga – is the elusive supplier of premium intoxicants. Their adversaries, the influential Fedorov brothers, serve their crime boss father. Named Koschei the Deathless, his enterprise dominates the shadows of magical Manhattan.
For twelve years, the families maintained a fraught stalemate. Then everything is thrown into disarray. Bad blood carries them to the brink of disaster, even as fate draws together a brother and sister from either side. Yet the siblings still struggle for power and internal conflicts could destroy each family from within. That is, if the enmity between empires doesn’t destroy both sides first.
I didn’t realise after pre-ordering One For My Enemy that this would be heavily influenced by Russian mythology but this sounds like it will be a gripping tale especially with 12 families who seem to have it out for one another.
Shades of Magic Volumes 1 – 3 by V. E Schwab
Delve into the thrilling, epic tale of the young and arrogant prince Maxim Maresh, long before he became the king of Red London and adoptive father to Kell, the lead of A Darker Shade of Magic! The youthful Maresh is sent to a violent and unmanageable port city on the Blood Coast of Verose, on strict orders from his father, King Nokil Maresh, to cut his military teeth in this lawless landscape. There, he encounters an unruly band of soldiers, a lawless landscape, and the intoxicatingly deadly presence of the newly returned pirate queen, Arisa…
Yet another addition to my Wyrd and Wonder Fantasy reads. I am very behind on the Shades of Magic series which seems so silly considering graphic novels are so quick to read. I recently bought the third volume so why not catch up on them now as breaks in-between reading some of the bigger books on my TBR!
A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
It’s Zinnia Gray’s twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it’s the last birthday she’ll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no-one has lived past twenty-one. Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia’s last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.
I need another short book to help motivate me to read more and A Spindle Splintered has been sitting ob my shelf for too long. I really enjoy retellings, and portals within fantasy worlds always get a yes from me.
Rebel Skies by Ann Sei Lin
Kurara has never known any other life than being a servant on board the Midori, but when her party trick of making paper come to life turns out to be a power treasured across the empire, she joins a skyship and its motley crew to become a Crafter. Taught by the gruff but wise Himura, Kurara learns to hunt shikigami – wild paper spirits who are sought after by the Princess.
But are these creatures just powerful slaves, or are they beings with their own souls? And can a teenage girl be the one to help them find their voice – and change the course of an empire?
Rebel Skies is May’s buddy read with my friend, where we are going to start off strong this month and read it within the first week! My friend and I both met Ann Sei Lin at YALC (The Young Adult Literature Convention held in London each year) who was very lovely. There’s not many recent releases with skyships in Fantasy novels and I don’t think I’ve ever read any before so this will be a nice thing to explore within the novel.
Karate Chop by Dorothe Nors
In these glittering, very funny stories, the acclaimed Danish writer Dorthe Nors sketches ordinary lives taking unexpected turns: a son’s love for his father is tested when he suddenly discovers its fragility; a woman in an abusive relationship seeks to better understand the choices she has made; a man with dreams of self improvement is haunted by deceit; and a daughter watches on silently as her mother’s search for meaning ends in madness. Blending compassion with dark delight, Nors conjures up a flawed, unsettlingly familiar world with each cautionary glance – as fresh moments of wonder, romance and frail beauty are unexpectedly infiltrated by depravity, isolation and despair.
I saw someone return this to my local Library and I am always on the hunt for new novellas to read and like the idea of a short story collection in a short book. I’m not sure what to expect out of this or whether I will enjoy it but I can take a chance!
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet – from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley’s Comet to Penguins of Madagascar – on a five-star scale.
As I delve into more non-fiction, I have been looking around for any books that catch my eye and John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed seems perfect for me! I have started writing more essays on my blog and would like to improve upon that. This book has essays on Diet Dr Pepper, Super Mario and …., they are a few paged long but they are all things in this world that have captured John’s interest and it’s very similar to what I would like to do. All the topics sound intriguing and I can delve into something new but also gain something into my writing process.
I’m not expecting to finish thithis in May as I haven’t decided how often I will pick it up and read an essay but we shall see!
Camera Girl by Doreen Spooner with Alan Clark
Starting as a photographer in the 1940s, Doreen ended up in the male-dominated world of Fleet Street in the early sixties, when a personal crisis forced her to take her camera back out to work.
This memoir recounts, in her own words, her struggles with marital heartbreak, money worries, bereavement and working-mother guilt while she fought to establish herself in a cut-throat newspaper industry.
Leaving her children and domestic dramas at the front door each day, Doreen entered a world of political scandals, glamorous superstars and cultural sensations – shooting stars by day, cooking fish fingers by night. It’s an uplifting and touching story, and a hugely enjoyable portrait of postwar Britain.
In another attempt to read more non-fiction, I am finally picking up Camera Girl, a memoir about being a woman in photography from the 1940s onwards and the balance of Doreen’s personal life.
This book has been on loan from the Library for a few month now and it’s high time I finally read it and explore some history from one of my favourite hobbies, photography.
Future Releases
Welcome to the little (and new) corner of my TBR’s, a look at the releases of the given month. I chat a little about all the new books, games, and music coming out!
Cursed Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber
Cursed Crowns was pushed back a week or two by Waterstones so instead of publishing in April, it’s moved to May . .
I can’t wait to see the Exclusive Edition and hopefully it will motivate me to read this series sooner!
Yellowface by R.F Kuang
I believe Yellowface is one of the most highly anticipated novels of 2023, and it sounds brilliant. I love the idea of somebody stealing a manuscript and publishing it as their own and curious to see Kuang write a more literary novel but also she delves into white privileged and publishing as themes in the novel, which will be eye opening.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
This is my most anticipated thing of the year. I have eagerly been awaiting the release of Tears of the Kingdom, due out 12th May. I pre-ordered the game, which is a first for me as I tend to play games considerably later after release but I’m so excited to be joining in with everyone else who has ordered it and playing it incessantly for weeks. I wish myself all of the luck with my other hobbies because they may go on the back burner…
Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent by Lewis Capaldi
Lewis Capaldi returns on Friday 19th May, with his highly anticipated sophomore album, Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent.
I am very curious to see what the full album is like, as I’m not a bigger fan of singles leading up to an album and find I have had mixed reviews on his for this album. I very much prefer listening to an album in its entire context and will be enjoying it on the evening it comes out either on digital or cassette!
- What are you reading this month?
- Any releases you’re excited for?
- Are you taking part in any readathons during May?
GazerofBooks 
I think I reread Howl’s Moving Castle at least once a year. I love that story so much, the movie is adorable, but I think I prefer the book…
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