a ridiculous number of books... I haven't read yet 📚

in this edition

• a LOT of books. seriously. so many books?!?!

• a quick (exciting... to me) writing update

• kitties. flowers. it's spring!

Books

for your TBR

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

Out Now!

Can I just take a moment to rave about this book?! I'm not really sure what I expected when I read it but whatever those expectations were, Black Sun exceeded them and then some. The writing is gorgeously immersive, the characters the sort of morally gray that actually is morally gray (and not just "dark and broody"). And the ENDING... well be thankful that the sequel, Fevered Star, is out now! Can't recommend Black Sun enough and super excited for the next one!

A Reckless Match by Kate Bateman

Out Now!

I do love a good enemies-to-lover romance, and this one delivers with a generations-long family feud in the vein of Romeo and Juliet. I had a lot of fun with this historical romance. Maddie is no stranger to getting her hands dirty (quite literally, she's been organizing archeological digs) to help save her family and Gryff is just trying to make the best of taking over as Earl and guilt of leaving his companions in the army. These neighbors have plenty of chances to get themselves in trouble, whether it comes to smugglers or their own feelings. A great start to a new series!

currently reading

April wasn't a great reading month. Honestly this whole year has been a bust when it comes to my TBR, but just have to keep pushing through! I have about 10-11 books going right now (being a mood reader sucks sometimes...) but at the top of my list are...

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. My writing group has 2 book clubs, one monthly and one quarterly for larger books so we're reading Priory for the quarterly one right now. It's been slow going but I haven't had a ton of time to dedicate to it either so hoping things pick up!

The Final Empire (Mistborn) by Brandon Sanderson. My first Sanderson book. Yeah, I know, I'm behind. I liked his YouTube lecture series on writing fantasy/sci-fi, and a lot of writer friends absolutely adore his books, so I decided to take the plunge and see what the hype is about. So far, I like the worldbuilding but am pretty meh about the rest. It's been my on again, off again book while reading other stuff.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. I am just starting this one as it's my book club's monthly pick for May. I've heard nothing but good things so I'm looking forward to diving in deeper!

new books!

This last month I received a lovely stack of books from some of my favorite imprints. Make sure to get these on your TBRs and pre-order lists!

• A Gentleman Says "I Do" by Amelia Grey (from Sourcebooks Casablanca)

• Face by Joma West (from Tordotcom)

• Self-Portrait With Nothing by Aimee Pokwatka (from Tordotcom)

• Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson (from Tordotcom)

• High Times in the Low Parliament by Kelly Robson (from Tordotcom)

• The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings (from Redhook)

• Forging Silver into Stars by Brigid Kemmerer (from Bloomsbury YA)

It was also a good month for book purchases! Pre-orders as well as some shopping at Barnes & Noble yesterday.

anticipated may releases

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

When We Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

Book of Night by Holly Black

Writing

Well. I set a goal to finish a very detailed outline for Project Thistle by the end of April and... it didn't happen. Because life (isn't it the worst?). And that's okay. I made a lot of progress and considering this outline is going to be nearly 40K words by the time I'm done, almost a novel in its own right, these things take time.

All that said, I did start drafting again. This will be draft attempt #3 for this project after the first two "failed" and I stepped back to reevaluate. But I think this time's the one. The plot is much stronger, the pieces interwoven in a way that they weren't before, I think it's ready.

In celebration (and also because of A Certain Announcement about the possible new owner of Twitter...), I revived my instagram! Left my bookstagram behind and just focusing on one account now to track my journey through this writing project and any future ones.

Everything Else

Spring is here! More accurately, the Season of Mud. We can add a fifth season, right?

It was a busy work month so by the end of the day, my mental energy was gone. Thankfully I was able to get some of my plants repotted and looking forward to warmer weather so they can go outside.

And we have a bear! I haven't seen it yet but it mangled the crap out of one of our bird feeders and tore into one of the bags of bird seed and dragged it all over the driveway. We haven't had an issue in the past but will have to get a bit more creative this year...

In better news, the late frost we had this year didn't kill all the flowers! The tulips are blooming and they are GORGEOUS. Fingers crossed they survive the next wave of cooler weather headed our way!

We also have some new kitties in the barn. We knew about them as kittens but couldn't catch them. Thankfully they're (ever so) slowly warming up to us now that they know we provide food. And there are four! But I can't seem to get a picture of the last one, sneaky kitty.

currently…

• playing… Pokemon Legends: Arceus

• listening… Worldbuilding for Masochists (podcast)

• watching… Our Flag Means Death

enjoy a magnificent may!

💜 austine