Hello everybody!
Welcome to another wrap up for May where I read so many books before my reading dropped because of new things going on in my life (aka Dungeons and Dragons).
I had a very fun reading month in May with a variety of books read!
The Stats, The Books and The Reviews
| Books Read | 12 |
| Pages Read | 2397 |
| Mediums Read | Books: 3 | Graphic Novels: 4 | Manga: 5 |
| Categories Read | Adult: 4 | YA: 8 | Children’s: 0 |
| Genres Read | Fantasy: 5 | Contemporary: 6 | Non-Fiction: 1 |
Shades of Magic Vol. 1: The Steel Prince by V.E Schwab, Andrea Olimpieri
Step back in time of the Shades of Magic world as we see Maxim Maresh, in his 20s, not yet a king but a prince fixated on the four Londons and finding any Antari who can move between these Londons. When his father sends him to Verose, a port city where there is danger and trouble and the infamous pirate queen, Arisa pulls into port and rules.
The Shades of Magic series is a very complex and highly detailed world and I absolutely loved learning more about the magic system and the Londons and wanted to see this explored more in a graphic format.
I loved how Andrea Olimpieri bought this world to life with their illustrations. They also illustrated the Dishonored novels and their style really lends well to a steampunk-esque world that fits in perfectly for Red London. The tones tend to be on the darker side with the flashes of bright colour being the magic various people have in the series. Certain people develop an affinity for fire, earth, water, metal and bone. Seeing these bought to life was honestly magical, with each affinity having a different colour. Maxim and his affinity for metal is golden and bright, and bone is purple and it made the fight scenes more intriguing.
Learning more about Maxim was so cool too. In the Darker Shades of Magic, he is older, a father and has ruled for a long time and is very strict and stern with his children. Seeing him in his 20s was a very stark contrast and he is very brash and impulsive but you see the qualities of a yet to be ruler.
Camera Girl by Doreen Spooner, and Alan Clark
Back in the 1960s, Fleet Street was the corner of London for all the newspapers where each day was a slew of taking photos, writing articles and choosing the best ones day in day out.
It was a man’s world but Doreen grew up around the camera thanks to her dad, who worked on Fleet Street and eventually followed his footsteps into a world where it was hard for a woman to break into and she became one of the only women news photographers for years.
This was such a fascinating look into a person who changed a lot of the game for women photographers and how she did the best she could trying to get the perfect shots and how she travelled photographing the Queen, Twiggy, and more!
A lot of the books and Memoirs about photographers I find are about men and its very refreshing to get an insight into how it was for Doreen, how she balanced being a mother and her husband who struggled over time and turned to alcohol and it changes this to a very moving but positive story about achieving your dreams!
Read my review of Mamo by Sas Milledge
I took part in Wyrd and Wonder’s readalong for Howl’s Moving Castle – Week One and Week Two
Check out my essay on Motion in Photography
I took part in a blog tour for If Tomorrow Never Comes by Jen St. Jude
Check out my recreation of Breath of the Wild’s Meat Pies!
Favourite Photos I Took This Month
I went to a local town near me, it is such a beautiful area and has a good mix of charity shops, arcades and nature spaces. The highlight is this small garden in a church courtyard with the most beautiful flowers. Whenever I visit I always take the chance to take photos and the rain didn’t stop me this time, I was getting those photos1
What Books Did I Buy This Month?
I only received one May pre-order this month, the highly anticipated and hyped, Yellowface by R.F Kuang. I am hoping to read this in June as it arrived towards the end of May and I had no time to read it.
My Waterstones edition of Cursed Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber also arrived at the beginning of the month and it is gorgeous!
I also picked up The Observer’s Book of Wild Flowers from a vintage store, it was published in 1963 and was cute to have a more vintage vibe for photos, I will be using it to learn the flowers I photograph.
She’s Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard was found on the same trip, for £1.50 and saw that photography was featured in it and knew I had to read it.
I also picked up some books off Twitter like Untamed Shore b ySilvia Moreno-Garcia and a few arcs of The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White, House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson, and The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco
What Happened This Month?
May was a relatively quiet month in terms of events. I saw the Dungeons and Dragons movie and absolutely loved it, and that it is fun for those who haven’t played the game before.
Since then I also joined a D&D group and it has been very fun creating a character, meeting new people, and experiencing the joy of verbal storytelling. I am three weeks into our campaign and have already entered combat and our party miraculously survived and I am riveted to find out what happens next.
I also visited my first theme park of the year, I went to Chessington because they introduced a new themed area based on Jumanji. It was very cool to try their new ride and I am always a fan of themed rides, and the jungle theme fits the theme park perfectly.
- What have you been reading this month?
- Have you watched anything new?
- Have you bought any books lately?
See you tomorrow with my June TBR!
GazerofBooks 
The Girl From The Sea was so charming!
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It really is 🥺
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