Two bingos in May.

#bookspin #doublebookspin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

audiobook: When Among Crows by Veronica Roth
ebook: Cold-Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

4/5

This started off a little slow for me, and I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this pirate romance set on in a realm between realms and ruled by the Cŵn Annwn pirates, but I ended up loving where the story went. I can't wait to read the rest of the series and learn more about what's really going on in this realm.

June #bookspin list

#doubebookspin #bookspinbingo

4.5/5

When Jack “Duke“ Orsino tears his ACL, he's forced to sit out his senior year football season and instead starts playing the game Twelfth Knight. Viola also plays Twelfth Knight, but when she ends up playing with her school rival Duke, she pretends to be her brother Bast, so that Duke doesn't realize who he's really playing with.

I loved this twelfth night retelling.

4/5

Charlie's billionaire uncle has left him with an inheritance that turns out not to be a parking garage empire, but instead a villain operation complete with a volcanic island as the headquarters. Charlie's thrown into the deep end dealing with his new employees and the other villains of the world.

This was a super fun read. I especially loved the hyper-intelligent cats and dolphins.

4/5

After Katherine gets a concussion, she wakes up to learn that not only does she need to be monitored for 48 hours, but she forgot to remove her ex, Tom, as her emergency contact. Now she and Tom are on their way to celebrate Christmas in Chicago so Tom can propose to his new girlfriend.

Katherine was such an unlikable character, and yet I was quickly rooting for her and Tom to make it to Chicago and figure out their relationship.

4/5

After finding out her coworkers don't take her seriously and a crush on bartender Sadie that's going nowhere, Max is ready for some big changes. When her roommate offers Max the chance to try out a self improvement app, that seems like a perfect opportunity.

I loved the journey Max went on figuring out how to get what she wanted out of her life, and I loved that part of the romance with Sadie was about exploring Los Angeles together.

4.5/5

I love Kingfisher's fantasy world, and this was such a fun read within it. I loved the characters, and would love to read more books about the other two servants of the sword.

ebook: At Her Service by Amy Spalding
audiobook: Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

@rachelsbrittain #weekendreads

4/5

When Madeline invents a fiancé in Captain Logan Mackenzie to get out of social engagements, she certainly doesn't expect him to appear on her doorstep 10 years later demanding that she marry him.

This was a very fun, marriage of convenience romance.

4/5

Lillian and Blue both have their own reasons for entering their groups into a dance competition, but the connection they feel for each other is only going to make things complicated.

I thought the competition aspect of the book was fun, but it was mostly just a backdrop to relationship that slowly grows from just physical to something more between Lillian and Blue, as well as their complicated relationships with their respective mothers.

4/5

Jeff Babauta goes undercover into a ring of alligator poachers. His fascinating story is about nature and humanity and what it takes to truly protect the environment. It was an interesting look into the world of alligator farming and poaching.

I thought the audiobook really brought the story to life.

e-book: Second Night Stand by Karelia Stetz-Waters and Fay Stetz-Waters
audiobook: Gator Country by Rebecca Renner

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

4/5

This fascinating books traces the history of the word OK from it's invention to how it become a common and essential part of everyday communication.

#bookspin: Second Night Stand by Karelia Stetz-Waters and Fay Stetz-Waters
#doublebookspin: At Her Service by Amy Spalding

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

My strategy of focusing on novellas and audiobooks paid off because I had a great reading month, despite welcoming the newest member of my family in April and all the sleep deprivation that comes with it.

#bookspin #doublebookspin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

Got close, but didn't quite manage an #ispybingo this month.

My best read of April was also my first read of April.

readingbracket2024 #bookbracket2024 @CSeydel

May #bookspin list

#doublebookspin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

3.5/5

A ship's crashed and if someone doesn't come rescue Ada's broken ship soon, she won't be any better off. When a government ship finally answers her call, it's clear that both she and the crew of the ship know something about the crash.

This sci-fi with a romantic sub-plot felt like a fun set-up to a larger series. I'm excited to read home about Ada and Rian and to hopefully get some of my questions left by this novella answered.

4.5/5

Cleric Chih finds themself in the middle of a story instead of the one telling the stories. This novella had more of an element of horror than the others in the series as monsters reveal themselves and Chih begins to ask questions. It was a really good read, and I continue to love this series.

4/5

I loved this conclusion to the Clocktaur Wars. Many of the twists continued to surprise me. And as always, I love anytime Gnolls show up in T. Kingfisher's White Rat books.

3/5

When Rosie and her sister go for a spa day, the last thing she expects is to be trapped in a float pod and to make a connection with the firefighter who rescues her. This is a very short story that just focuses on these two characters meeting. I found Rosie a little annoying, but I think it's hard to get a lot of personality into such a short story.

It is free if you have amazon prime, but it's so short I wouldn't recommend it otherwise.

4.5/5

This novella picks up where the last left off, with Reid arriving at Howse university, but the question of why Howse is inviting outsiders in still needs to be answered. I loved how this book delved into isolationism and in a climate crisis what societal values are and are not utopian. I enjoyed learning a little more about CAD in this novella, but I hope the series continues because I certainly have more questions about this world.

e-book: We Speak Through the Mountain by Premee Mohamed
audiobook: The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

4/5

I really enjoyed this conclusion to the Bright Falls series. Iris has writer's block, so when there's an opportunity to fake date Stevie and practice some romance for inspiration, she figures nothing can go wrong.

Iris Kelly was desperate.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

4.5/5

The monster Shesheshen is awoken early from her hibernation by monster hunters and forced to into a fight that leads her straight to Homily. Homily is a kind woman who helps Shesheshen recover from her wounds with secrets of her own.

This was is a fantasy horror told from the perspective of the monster, who learns monsters aren't the most monstrous thing in this world. It was full of twists that I really enjoyed.

3.5/5

After 200+ lives, Davi is tired of failing to defeat the Dark Lord on behalf of the Kingdom. She decides it's time for a new strategy. In this life, she's going to become the Dark Lord, since she'll just reset at the beginning again when she dies.

I thought this was a very fun read with a strong narrative voice, but it still created a interesting world that left me full of questions and anxiously anticipating the next book in the series.

#bookspin: Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne

#doublebookspin: We Speak Through the Mountain by Premee Mohamed

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

5/5

When Gav wakes up surrounded by fire in a dark wizard's lair, he panics. When Gav realizes that he is the dark wizard, he panics more. Now Gav's got to figure his way through this situation with a castle full of goblins, a princess in his dungeon, and no memories of who he is.

This was an incredibly fun read. Gav is a fantastic character grappling with what it means to be someone who was evil but is now trying to be something a little better

This was a hard one because I had three 5 star reads this month (Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Bride by Ali Hazelwood), but Here We Go Again talked about grief so beautifully and made me cry, so it gets the spot for March.

readingbracket2024 #bookbracket2024 @CSeydel

I managed 3 bingos in March!

#bookspin #doublebookspin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

My theme for April is novellas and audiobooks, since I know once my baby arrives in the next week or two I won't have the time or focus for any other kind of reading.

#bookspin #doublebookspin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

audiobook: Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
ebook: Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

5/5

Long time rivals Logan and Rosemary are forced to spend a summer together when their dying mentor ask them both to take him on a final road trip across the country. Along the way they find out that maybe they've misunderstood each other and themselves for too long.

This book was wonderful and heartbreaking. I absolutely loved Joe, Rosemary, and Logan and their trip across the country.

Each year when Shesheshen hibernated, she dreamed of her childhood nest.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

4.5/5

The crew of the Ambit find themselves in the middle of galaxy wide conspiracy, and they've got to find a way to stop it before more planets and their inhabitants die.

I love found family on a spaceship. This was a fun sci-fi adventure with a great cast of characters.

4/5

When Athena's left with a broken off engagement and a spite house in-between her ex-fiance and his brother's houses, she's ready to extract some revenge. But the more she learns about her ex's brother, the more difficult revenge becomes.

CW: realistic depiction of depressive episode and historical infant death (I probably should have passed on this one while pregnant, it made me cry way more than I expected)

4.5/5

I thought this was a great conclusion to this duology. Even as the avatars of New York have survived their first battle, the Woman in White is still out there in her terrible otherworldly city hovering above Staten Island. The avatars still have to figure out how to save their city and the world from multidimensional horrors.

print book: The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin
audiobook: Cascade Failure by L.M. Sagas

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

“Call me Neek.
No, I'm not hunting no fucking whale. Giant squid, maybe.“

#firstlinefridays @shybookowl

3.5/5

This is a very interesting look at language used within Black culture. I really appreciated the context that was added to different phrases, and the intersectionality with the language within Black LGBTQIA+ culture. The book also touches on how these phrases have been used within American culture without the underlying cultural context.

audiobook: Running Wild by K. A. Tucker
e-book: Historically Black Phrases by jarrett hill and Tre'vell Anderson

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

5/5

Misery Lark's marriage to the werewolf alpha will cement a treaty between werewolves and vampyres, but she has her own reason for agreeing to risk her life by entering this marriage.

I devoured this book in two days. Hazelwood's first paranormal romance was super fun with a very different plot, but with a lot of the tropes she's known for using in her romcoms.

5/5

This was a fascinating read about about plants, the natural world, and indigenous culture, from the perspective of a Potawatomi scientist.

4.5/5

In order to inherit her father's estate, Cam has two choices: marry a man or disguise herself as a man so that she can inherit as his son. Cam disguises herself as a man and moves to the capital, but quickly runs into issues keeping a low profile when she enters Princess Brie's inner circle.

This is cute read about love, identity, unjust laws, and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Thanks @peanutnine for putting this on my radar!

physical book: The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz
audiobook: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

4/5

Briar has to make a deal with a demon to save her life and ends up in another realm, married to a literal dragon man.

I needed an audiobook I could get through quickly while I was waiting on a library hold, and I knew I could count on Katee Robert. I thought this was a fun, wild read.