Last Week in Review
I fainted and fell on Monday. The exhaustion from my 30-mile commute to work is catching up to me. Not to mention planning for the three different classes I teach. I went to the doctor; no medical emergency came about from the fall, but my head and hip still ache. The closing date for our move got pushed back as well, so it’s been super stressful around here. I’m desperate for a shorter commute, even if only by half!
On the bright side, I’ve started catching up on reviews for all the books that I read this spring. Six reviews are available to read in two mini review posts, categorized by genres: asian-inspired fantasies and contemporary reads.
Posts You May Have Missed on the Blog
- Mini Reviews: Dragon Pearl // Circle of Shadows // The Girl King
- Mini Reviews: The Contemporary Edition Spring 2019
What I’ve Been Reading Lately
- Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb: I burned through the first two books, so I’ve been taking my time with this one. There’s a dragon on the cover; I’m excited to see how that’ll come about since dragons don’t seem common to the world.
- Spark by Sarah Beth Durst: I love the premise of a protagonist who is both quiet and strong. It’s so important to show girls that there are many ways to be strong; not every heroine needs to be loud or fight courageously on the front lines. (Sidenote: I also read and loved the first two books to the author’s Queens of Renthia trilogy.)
This Week on the Blog
- Science Fiction Reviews: Skyward // Aurora Rising (4/29)
- Monthly Musings: April 2019 (5/2)
New Arrivals
I spent a good amount of time browsing books on Netgalley and Edelweiss for the first time in a few months, so quite a few books came in this week. My reviews for Somewhere Only We Know and Hearts Made for Breaking are already live on the blog, and my review for Aurora Rising will be live tomorrow.
Middle-Grade Fantasy
- Briar and Rose and Jack by Katherin Coville
- Lalani of the Distant Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly
- Spark by Sarah Beth Durst
Fantasy and Science Fiction
- The Babysitter’s Coven by Kate Williams
- The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang – sequel to The Poppy War
- We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
- Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
- The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg
Contemporary
- Better Than the Best Plan by Lauren Marrill
- Fake It Till You Break It by Jenn P. Nguyen
- Hearts Made For Breaking by Jen Klein
- The How and the Why by Cynthia Hand
The Rest is Story by Sarah Dessen
Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo
This post is linked to the Sunday Post at Caffeinated Reviewer.
Anne - Books of My Heart says
Oh all the pretty books! I’m glad you’re getting all those reviews finished. I am at the exact same place as you Assassin’s Quest and don’t know when I will get back to it although I have purchased them all. I am also closing and moving at the end of June so things are hectic. I’m doing more sort and throw than packing at the moment.
I hope you feel better this week!
Here is my Sunday Post
Crystal says
Thanks, Anne. I’ve been having fun collecting the Elderling books. I’m looking forward to reading more of FitzChivalry’s adventures even before having finished the first trilogy 😂 It’ll also be interesting to read the books that don’t feature him. I’ve heard great things about Liveship Traders!
Life has been crazy with the moving in, but it feels so good now that most things are organized. I hope your closing/moving goes well!
Sophia Rose says
Crystal, I am so sorry that you are stressing and pushing hard so that it hits your health like that. I’ll definitely be rooting on that home closing to go faster.
Yay for getting to several reviews and getting to browse through the books again. I have Aurora Rising for review so I’ll have to catch your sci-fi reviews later.
Have a good week!
Crystal says
Thanks, Sophia. We actually just closed on the house and plan to move in over the next week! 🙂
I hope you enjoy Aurora Rising. Have a wonderful week!
Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight says
That’s terrible that you fainted! I’m glad it wasn’t anything serious. Yay for getting caught up on reviews! And it looks like you’ve got a lot of awesome new books to look forward to 🙂
Crystal says
Thanks, Kristen!
Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out says
Goodness, seems you need to find more time to relax, though of course that’s easier said than done!
Have a great reading week
Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out
http://www.bookdout.wordpress.com
Crystal says
Thanks, Shelleyrae. I hope you have a great reading week as well!
Ardis @ Pondering The Prose says
I want to read We Hunt The Flame so much! I hope it is wonderful. I’m finishing up Aurora Rising this weekend. It’s been a fun read, so far (I’m about 50% in). I hope you can rest up and feel better this week.
Crystal says
Thanks, Ardis! I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying Aurora Rising 🙂
Flora says
Goodness me, you need to look after yourself! I hope the stress you’re under reduces sooner rather than later, Crystal.
Looking at the positives, I happy to hear you got plenty of time to catch up on reading. You’ve reminded me that I haven’t taken a look at NetGalley for a couple of weeks…
I hope next week is a good one. x
Crystal says
Thanks, Flora! I’ve been having a great reading week thus far 🙂
ShootingStarsMag says
Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that you fainted! That’s no good – and that sucks you’re still sore. I hope you feel better and that you can alleviate some stress soon. I’m so curious to hear what you think of Aurora Rising!
-Lauren
Crystal says
Thanks, Lauren!