A detailed look at last week’s reading habits: My first weekly wrap in three months lists my TBR list for June’s Massive Readathon set in Erilea and Pride-a-thon. I also discuss two recent 5-star reads and three books at the top of my Want-to-Read list featuring strong women.
Updates
| Last Week’s Blog Updates | Last Week’s Goodreads Reviews |
|---|---|
| 📖 43 Angsty Books Read in March 📖 Review: Breaking the Speed Limit by Melanie Moreland 📖 Review: Following Maggie by Melanie Moreland | 📚 None last week! |
Contents
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Weekly Review
What I’ve Read This Week
Key: 🔁 re-read | ❌ DNF | 📜 from my Up Next shelf | 📲 eARC
- Mari’s Mistake (Icehome, #) by Ruby Dixon 🔁 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Steph’s Outcast (Icehome, #14) by Ruby Dixon 🔁 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Burning Glass (Burning Glass, #1) by Kathryn Purdie 📜 ⭐️⭐️
- The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi 📜 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Beauty and the Billionaire by Lucy Darling ⭐️⭐️
- Veronica’s Dragon (Icehome, #2) by Ruby Dixon 🔁 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Say Yes to the Boss (New York Billionaires, #3) by Olivia Hayle ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Barbarian’s Seduction (Ice Planet Barbarians, #18) by Ruby Dixon 🔁 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Reading Progress
This is my first Weekly Wrap in three months! I forgot how much I enjoy reflecting on what I’ve read and unpacking my reading plans for the upcoming week. I’m hoping now that school has slowed down I can get back to posting more regularly. I finally posted my two Advance Reader Reviews of Melanie Moreland’s single-parent romance Breaking the Speed Limit and insta-love novella Following Maggie last week!
I’m making steady progress on my reading challenges, including reading books from my Up Next Shelf. Last week I finally read The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi which has been on my Up Next Shelf since January 2022. It was beautifully written and for a short book (under 300 pages), difficult topics of grief, complex family relationships, homophobia, and love were explored with depth and nuance.
I also read Tessa Bailey’s newest release, My Killer Vacation. This book was so fun and very lighthearted for a plot that centers a murder mystery! The opposites-attract romance was hot and adorable; I loved how the heroine, Taylor, who’s a 2nd-grade teacher, was able to make Myles, the tough-as-nails bounty hunter hero, second guess himself. Like all of Tessa Bailey’s books, this romance was also very steamy. I’m excited to see what her next release will be, and I’m hoping Taylor’s brother, Jude gets his own book!
Reading Challenges Progress
In addition to my regular reading challenges, I’ve added two for the month of June, which has made it a very busy month!
In June I joined the Pride-a-thon challenge organized by a group of YouTubers. My goal is to hit at least one BINGO on the board. So far I’ve read a queer age-gap romance, Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner, and a queer non-romance, The Death of Vivek Oji by Awaeke Emezi.
I’m also taking part in the Massive Readathon: All Roads Lead to Terrasen run by @the.bibliovert.podcast. There’s a great immersive website that leads the reader through the map of Erilea, with each location representing a prompt. To complete the challenge, the reader has to, at minimum, read a book to fulfil their starting location prompt and read the prompt for Orynth, which is the end of the journey (and challenge).
If you’re curious I’ve outlined my “route” below and included a table that details the books I’ve chosen for each corresponding prompt.
Key: ✅ Read | ⏳ Currently reading
| Location and Person | Book Title and Prompt |
|---|---|
| Banjali + Yrene | • Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (protective sibling) ⏳ • Burning Glass by Kathryn Purdie (oldest on Up Next Shelf) ✅ |
| Morath + Dorian | • My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey (skull on cover) ✅ • Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian (Shadow in title) ✅ |
| Anielle | • The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (short book) ⏳ |
| Ferian Gap | • The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne (dragons) |
| Ruhn Mountains + Manon | • Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer (star-crossed lovers) • The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (witches) |
| Perranth | • XOXO by Axie Oh (reminds me of a favourite musician) |
| Allsbrook | • Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (underrepresented author) |
| Orynth + Rowan | • The Lightning Thief by Richard Riordan (found family) • The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh (Rowan’s book) |
I’ve also started the Summer Reading BINGO challenge and fulfilled four of the prompts. I’m also slowly making headway on the Diversify Yo’ Bookshelf challenge (10 of 36 prompts complete). The Buzzread Challenge prompt for June is “all” in the title, so I’ll be reading All These Bodies by Kendare Blake. The TBR Knockoff challenge has two prompts for June, which I’ve already completed: Something To Talk About by Meryl Wilsner for an LGBTQIA+ book, and The Death of Vivek Oji by Awaeke Emezi for a trans character.
A reminder: my Up Next Shelf is comprised of all the unread books I want to read and have purchased.
Want to Read Updates
You will like The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh if you appreciate:
✨ Young adult fantasy
✨ Korean mythology retelling
✨ Found family
✨ Sweet romance
You will like My Body by Emily Ratajkowski if you appreciate:
✨ Debut book
✨ Memoir
✨ “exploration of feminism, sexuality, and power, of men’s treatment of women and women’s rationalizations for accepting that treatment”
✨ challenges beauty standards
The Upcoming Week
To Be Read
My June to-be-read list is comprised of all the books I’ve planned to read for the Massive Readathon: All Roads Lead to Terrasen. I’m currently reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Wright to fulfil my prompt for Banjali: read a book with a protective sibling. I’m also reading The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin which fulfils the prompt, read a short book, for Anielle.
Next in the readathon is the prompt for the Ferian Gap which is to read a book with dragons! Hence, The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne with the gigantic dragon on its cover. I’m so excited to get into this book now that I’m finally in the fantasy mood! It’s been a while since I’ve read a complex, adult high fantasy. I’m hoping the book lives up to the buzz around it. 😊
To Look Forward To This Week
Alix E. Harrow is the author of The Once and Future Witches which is also on my planned TBR list for the Massive Readathon. I’ve heard great things about their fairytale retellings series, Fractured Fables. A Mirror Mended is the second novella in the series and continues Zinnia’s story, subverting the damsel narratives of fairytales. The first novella in the series is A Spindle Splintered which is described by the author as “the spider-verse but with sleeping beauties.” Each of these books is just over 100 pages so I’m hoping to pick up the series soon!
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