Four ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reads in May!
I went into May overly optimistic about the reading time I’d have going away for a 4 day break in Carcassonne with my partner and his parents! But slow as my book reading has been, I have got back on the audiobook train while I’m doing chores and gardening.
As usual I have linked the title to my full review.
Four 4 Stars!
Watching You by Lisa Jewell ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I loved this one! It had everything I want from a Lisa Jewell – smart and twisty and with string themed. It really kept me in my toes in susprising ways right up to the end. In this review I also decided to rank the 7 Jewells I’ve read so far (not counting the one DNF!).
The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The book I wanted to read when I ended up reading Cultish! This one was much better, in my opinion. I was prepared for it to be half memoir this time, and also it works a lot better at making psychological concepts relatable and digestible. The audiobook was also read by Amanda and that definitely helped as well. It gave me lots to think about and I’m spotting my own cognitive biases everywhere now!
Shift (Silo #2) by Hugh Howey ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐
I loved booked two maybe more than book one! I couldn’t get enough of learning more about the world of the silos from inside the command centre in Silo 1 – who’s is behind it, why did they do it and how? I also loved going back to the fall of Silo 17 and getting to know Jimmy. It does a great job of fleshing out the world more and escalating the stakes for the conclusion of the trilogy.
Persuasion by Jane Austen ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I first read Persuasion in 2022 in ebook format. I loved it but the prose are hard going for the modern day reader, it was a struggle to make sense of at times. It’s written in a very conversational style with very, very long sentences, and many commas, and I often got lost along the way. When I found the audiobook in Spotify I decided to give it another read in a format hoping it might make it easier to absorb (like Shakespeare, maybe it’s best performed!). It definitely helped (though the narrator did struggle at times!) and I appreciated Anne and Captain Wentworth all the more.
I would like to do a litererary analysis of it but I don’t know when I am going to find the time!
Currently reading
I just finished Dust (Silo #3) to complete the trilogy! I think next I am going to start Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson next. This is book 1 in the Malazan series which are my partner’s favourite books. From everything I’ve heard about them I’m 90% they are not going to be for me.. But he read The Expanse so I’m going to give it a shot. It is our 4 year anniversary this month so it feels like a fitting gift!
Adding to TBR
Apparently I bought My Husband by Maud Ventura and Betty by Tiffany McDaniel and forgot about it! I think I got them on a travel day! They were both on my reading watch list and had been for a while.
TBR Pulls
Right now I still have 45 books waiting on my Kindle in my “to read” collection! Each month I browse through and pick the 3 that are calling to me most.
Last time I picked out The Luminaries, Shift and Weyward. Not much has changed!
FOE and Weyward are holding their places and you can read my reasoning for both in March’s round up.
Gardens of the Moon (Malazan #1) by Steven Erickson
Vast legions of gods, mages, humans, dragons and all manner of creatures play out the fate of the Malazan Empire in this first book in a major epic fantasy series from Steven Erikson.
The Malazan Empire simmers with discontent, bled dry by interminable warfare, bitter infighting and bloody confrontations with the formidable Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, ancient and implacable sorcerers. Even the imperial legions, long inured to the bloodshed, yearn for some respite. Yet Empress Laseen’s rule remains absolute, enforced by her dread Claw assassins.
For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners, and for Tattersail, surviving cadre mage of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the many dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, yet holds out. It is to this ancient citadel that Laseen turns her predatory gaze.
However, it would appear that the Empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister, shadowbound forces are gathering as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand…
Conceived and written on a panoramic scale, Gardens of the Moon is epic fantasy of the highest order–an enthralling adventure by an outstanding new voice.
This kind of fantasy is very much not me. That blurb was hard enough to read with so many made up places and fantasy names that I know I’ll find impossible to remember (I have a friend who just read them all after about 3 years and said he had to use references to remember who is who!). In general I find world building boring. However I am told that this is meant to be more character driven though so hopefully I’m not in for long dry pages of description and fake history!
I did/do love A Song of Ice and Fire so it’s not the fantasy genre that turns me off it’s just fear of the long winded tropes I find boring! This could surprise me…
What books are you excited to read at the moment?
