Most Anticipated 2025 - Part Two

I feel like we've crawled our way into April. The last three months have felt like nearly a year long, but here we are finally in April. Spring is officially here, we're a quarter of the way through the year, and I'm so ready to be reading outside! I'm so sick of being stuck inside to do anything between the cold and the rain. Our weather has hinted at nicer days, and I cannot wait for picnic blanket season! There is a cute little park by work, and with my new hours, it means I get peak afternoon reading in after work!

However, I digress because April means it's time for part two of my most anticipated reads of this year. These are books that are going to be published between May and August! Well, these are the top eight of those books. There are so many good books about to come out that I had a hard time narrowing it down to just eight. You all know the saying: too many books, so little time.

Without a doubt, I'm most excited for Song of the Lioness. It was one of my favorite books growing up, and George was my first fictional boyfriend. Which means I'm beyond excited to see that it's getting a graphic novel adaptation. I was thinking it was time to re-read this series and the one with her daughter! So this was perfectly timed!

And, I love that Samanatha Downing has a new book coming out! I loved For Your Own Good, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a weird read. Because it was weird but so freaking good. So I'm excited to see what her next book will be like. And, who isn't excited that Hollis has another cookbook coming? His first one was so much fun! 

So many of my favorite authors are releasing books over the next six months. Maybe I need to take a little reading vacation this summer. Just a couple of days away from the house distractions, and just read by some pool somewhere. Now that's a dream!

HAPPY READING!!

April Spotlight

 

My favorite ladies in one of my favorite genres!? I was all in the second I saw this book, and I had to resist the need to get an early copy. Because I want a physical copy of this book! I will be running to the bookstore to get this. I will put all other books aside when it comes in, and it will become my whole personality. I do hope this doesn't disappoint! 

The first novel in the all-new Golden Girls Cozy Mystery Series!

When Dorothy’s obnoxious date is found dead in a hotel freezer, it not only ruins a gorgeous cheesecake but threatens the elaborate St. Olaf–themed wedding Rose is hosting.

Things are heating up, and not just because of Blanche’s hot flashes. Rose’s cousin is eloping to Miami, and Rose is playing host. If she can't balance the groom’s family’s snobbery against the traditional St. Olaf wedding week guidelines, her hometown may never accept her cousin again!

Dorothy quickly realizes she needs a date with whom she can exchange wedding-related wisecracks. Turning to a newfangled VHS dating service, she believes she’s found the ideal conversationalist. Unfortunately, what looks good on TV can actually be a total jerk in real life. It seems she’ll just have to enjoy the company of Sophia, Blanche, and whomever Blanche has targeted for a hookup.

As the Girls all pitch in, Rose is thrilled that the tea-and-fish-themed kickoff event is perfect, not a herring out of place. That is until Dorothy’s date is found dead—face-planted in an otherwise scrumptious-looking cheesecake. With every guest a suspect (especially Dorothy) and a marriage on the line, the four besties must ID the real killer, get the should-be-happy couple down the aisle, and make sure nobody from St. Olaf gets lost in the wilds of Miami. It’s up to the Golden Girls to sleuth out a way for friendship and love to win the day!

HAPPY READING!!

March Wrap Up

Real quick. Non-book related questions. Remember back when January felt like it was never going to end, and then February flew by? Cool, cool. Now, why did March feel even longer than January? I remember writing the date on things at work and have two thoughts: don't forget to send dad's birthday card. Then, followed by, are we really still in March? This is odd because it wasn't like I hadn't been busy between work and actually going out and doing stuff. Yet, this month dragged alone for 8 weeks instead of 4, maybe longer. I don't know. Time is irrelevant, and nothing is real.

Anyway, back to book stuff. I did actually manage to do some reading. As in, I started a book and finished a book. I'm still working on my 'large' physical read. I'm really enjoying it, but other books keep pulling me away.  Mostly because there are so many books and so very little time.

I am still on my shtick of how many books I can read at once. I've got two audiobooks going that I've been bouncing between at work on my prep shifts, my physical read, a book on my phone, and two going on my Kindle. See, it's not the buying of books that's the problem. It's the ability to start half a dozen books at once, only to get overwhelmed and then read a handful of graphic novels. 

For about four days, I managed to actually decrease my library stack. Then I was left alone at the library before work, and wouldn't you know, it tripled again. At least it's free. So there's that. 

Books Read: 6
BINGO Books: 2

Pages Read: 1616

A quarter of the year has passed, and I've managed to cross seven squares off my BINGO board. Every single one of them is in the square part of the board, the joy of being a mood reader. I did manage two of the squares this month: Novella and Train Heist. The latter I was a little worried about, there wasn't a good online list of books with a train heist. So, I was thankful when I stumbled into a book with one. Two of my current reads are also BINGO books. So I'll at least managed two squares in April!

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

In Song of the Lioness, Book 1: Alanna, the first of four volumes adapting #1 New York Times bestseller Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness quartet, we meet Alanna of Trebond, a young noblewoman from the kingdom of Tortall. However, Alanna isn't like other girls from noble families—what she really wants is to become a knight and earn her shield, something women definitely aren't allowed to do.

But Alanna will not be deterred, and she arrives in the capital disguised as a boy to begin training as a page, the first step toward becoming a knight. Despite the tough conditions and grueling work, Alanna's skills and stubbornness win her friends amongst the nobility and the denizens of the lower city. But not everyone wishes her well . . .

Filled with magic and mayhem, adventure and action, swords and spells, book one in the Song of the Lioness quartet is the ultimate introduction to Alanna and Tamora Pierce's legendary Tortall universe.

Why I'm Waiting: I love this series and I'm so excited about the graphic novel adaptation!

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

Generations ago, the founders of the idyllic town of Lake Argen made a deal with a dark force. In exchange for their service, the town will stay prosperous and successful, and keep outsiders out. And for generations, it’s worked out great. Until a visitor goes missing, and his wealthy family sends a private investigator to find him, and everything abruptly goes sideways.

Now, Cassidy Prewitt, town baker and part-time servant of the dark force (it’s a family business) has to contend with a rising army of darkness, a very frustrated town, and a very cute PI who she might just be falling for…and who might just be falling for her. And if they can survive their own home-grown apocalypse, they might even just find happiness together.

Queer, cozy, and with a touch of eldritch horror mixed in just for fun, this is a charming love story about a small-town baker, a quick-witted PI, and, yes, an ancient evil.

HAPPY READING!!