Towards the end of the month I started reading a lot more. Part of it was receiving some comics I wanted caught up on, but another part was trying to shift my brain back into reading as a distraction.

That is working only so-so.

Oh! There were new releases I really wanted to read. By that I mean, I actually read two books that came out in the same month in which I read them.

Crazy, I know.

I was delighted by both  K.D. Edwards‘s third book in the Tarot Sequence, The Hourglass Throne as well as the first book in Charlie Adhara‘s Monster Hunt series. And actually annoyed I didn’t get another Oliver and Cooper book and so was grumpy about switching to Eli’s POV in Pack of Lies.

Silly me.

I’ve been reading up on the next series of posts I want to write about representation in fiction (I wrote several posts about mental health representation, and although it was good to do, it was also somewhat exhausting) so several of the books I read were ones I went delving into for quotes and ended up rereading the entire thing.

I was able to borrow the latest in Ashley Gardners Kat Holloway series, which I very much liked. I am not sure if the series is preparing to wind up or if it’s just the romance that is going to be settled, so I’m curious to see what happens next.

I did read one book that ended up pissing me off, mostly because they went with a power imbalance in the secondary character’s relationship. As I went through something similar my freshman year, I wasn’t delighted to see it seen as OK for a TA to date a student in a class he was currently assisting. No. Sorry. It’s not ok. Once the class is over, fine. But not concurrent.

Yeah, I’m still unhappy about it.

I got the newest Lacy Mechanika, which was good, but very dark, and a bit cliffhanger-y, which is mildly aggravating as those books are soooo slow to come out. Which isn’t the authors’ fault, but I do hate waiting.

And I had some comfort reads while I was flailing around. And Everything Nice is just a fun story that is full of baking–and no boinking. It’s very sweet. And I randomly got Glass Tidings in my brain and had to read that.

I also want to recommend (again) Loud and Clear by Aidan Wayne because it is sweet and cute and also has some amazing disability rep, making it clear (without preaching) just how much the luck of one’s birth affects whether someone with a disability can succeed.

Plus the romance is incredibly sweet.

I’ve got at least three new releases I coming my way; hopefully I’ll manage to read them immediately as well.

 

Fantasy

The Hourglass Throne (2022) K.D. Edwards (The Tarot Sequence) 8.5/10
Pack of Lies (2022) Charlie Adhara (Monster Hunt) 8.5/10
Human Enough (2019) ES Yu 8.5/10
Green Creek series by T.J. Klune: Wolfsong (2016) 7.5/10, Ravensong (2019)

 

Mystery

The Secret of Bow Lane (2022) Ashley Gardner (Kat Holloway) 8/10
Requiem for Mr. Busybody (2020) Josh Lanyon 7.5/10

 

Romance

Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne 9/10
Band Sinister (2018) K.J. Charles 9/10
Glass Tidings (2018) Amy Jo Cousins 8.5/10
And Everything Nice (2020) Ada Maria Soto 8.5/10
His Quiet Agent (2017) Ada Maria Soto 8.5/10
The Ruin of a Rake (2017) Cat Sebastian (The Turner Series) 7.5/10
Sympathy (2009) Jordan Castillo Price 7/10
The Other Side of the Roses (2017) R. Cooper
Lucky Charm (2019) Chace Verity
Adorkable (2020) Shane K. Morton

 

Audio

Rivers of London, Audio Edition by Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith: Broken Homes (2014) 9/10, Foxglove Summer (2015) 9/10, The Furthest Station (2017) 8.5/10, The Hanging Tree (2017) 8/10, A Rare Book of Cunning Device, Audio Edition (2017), Lies Sleeping, Audio Edition (2018)

 

Comics

Lady Mechanika Volume 7: The Monster of the Ministry of Hell (2022) Joe Benitez, Beth Sotelo, Michael Heisler
Rivers Of London: Vol. 8: The Fey and the Furious (2020) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Lee Sullivan, Vol. 9: Monday, Monday (2022) Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, José María Beroy 7/10

Random Stats:

I’ve read 52 books that were published since 2021, and it’s currently split evenly between the two years.

13% of the books have been audio books, which apparently comes out to 13 days, 4 hrs, and 2 mins worth of audio books so far this year.

The lowest I have rated a book this year is 4/10 while 43% of the books I rated have been 8/10

8% of this years reading has been library books.

And 41% of the books this year have been rereads.