The Bronzed Beasts – The Bookish Mutant

Happy Wednesday, bibliophiles! Hope this month has treated you well.

How is it already the end of May? It feels like I was trying to get dust bunnies out of the corners of my dorm room just a few days ago…(so many dust bunnies 😭)

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Whew! May has been pretty busy, but everything’s…temporarily winding down. I finished up my finals and managed to make straight A’s this semester—I just found out I got on the dean’s list, too! Still can’t believe I’m already finished with my first semester of college; it was such a scary and jarring experience at first, but I’m already finding myself missing parts of it. What a weird and wonderful year it’s been. Now that I’m back home for the summer, I’ve just been trying to soak it all up—I’ve had a few quiet weeks, but I’ll be going back to the library soon, which I’m so excited about!

My reading and blogging have both still been slower, with all of the bustle of finishing…everything, but I’m starting to get back on track now that summer’s started. I’m slowly trying to get back on a writing schedule as well—I ended up deciding to write the sequel to my main sci-fi WIP, and once I finish outlining it (which I’m in the middle of right now), I’ll get back on my writing schedule. That’ll probably be what I end up working on for Camp NaNoWriMo in July…

Other than that, I’ve just been drawing more, playing guitar, watching Kindred (Octavia Butler deserves a better adaptation), committing to binge-watching my way through Taskmaster (there’s strength in arches, y’know), and enjoying being home. We’re still in the “summer, but not disastrously hot yet” stage here in Colorado, so I’m enjoying that while it lasts…

And more importantly, I’m going to a virtual Q & A with the one and only AMIE KAUFMAN tonight!! I CAN’T WAIT!!

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 18 books this month! My reading’s still a bit slowed down after finals and moving out (!!!), but I still feel like I read a good amount. It was a really mixed bag, though—two 1 star books (one was a DNF, the other would’ve been had I not been trying to wait out a lightning storm before going to sleep 🥴), but THREE 5-star (one rounded up from 4.75) books! Can’t remember the last time the former happened. Either way, I found a ton of great reads for AAPI heritage month, and finally got my hands on some of my most anticipated reads of the year!

If this month’s 1 star reads are any indication, maybe the word “monster” is the problem…?

1 – 1.75 stars:

Monsters Born and Made – Tanvi Berwah (⭐️)
Only a Monster (Monsters, #1) – Vanessa Len (DNF – ⭐️)

2 – 2.75 stars:

Where it Rains in Colour – Denise Crittendon (⭐️⭐️)
Dragon Pearl (Thousand Worlds, #1) – Yoon Ha Lee (⭐️⭐️)
Black Water Sister – Zen Cho (⭐️⭐️)
This Is Not a Personal Statement – Tracy Badua (⭐️⭐️.5)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion – Bushra Rehman (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Dangerous Play – Emma Kress (⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
The Bronzed Beasts (The Gilded Wolves, #3) – Roshani Chokshi (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Art of Prophecy (The War Arts Saga, #1) – Wesley Chu (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
All These Bodies – Kendare Blake (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

4 – 4.75 stars:

Stories of Your Life and Others – Ted Chiang (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Not Here to Be Liked – Michelle Quach (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
We Are Not Free – Traci Chee (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Memory Police – Yōko Ogawa (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Isles of the Gods (The Isles of the Gods, #1) – Amie Kaufman (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

5 stars:

The Stonewall Reader – edited by the New York Public Library (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
A Thousand Steps into Night – Traci Chee (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: The Stonewall Reader – 5 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

I had fun reviewing Star Splitter, Not Here to Be Liked, The Isles of the Gods, Only a Monster, and The Memory Police!
More music rambling! Here are my Sunday Songs for 5/7, 5/14, 5/21, and 5/28.
I made another list of recommendations for AAPI heritage month!
Another book tag—this time about Ben n’ Jerry’s!

POSTS BY OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

SONGS/ALBUMS I’VE BEEN ENJOYING:

[castanet insanity ensures]

NEW PALEHOUND LET’S GO

Kindred was a disappointment but this cover is great

✨𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙬𝙣✨

EXCELLENT album

NEW BLUR OUT IN JULY I AM NOT OKAY I AM NOT OKAY

I don’t know if I’m completely committed to listening to this album all the way through yet but I WILL EVENTUALLY IT’S JUST LONG

Today’s song:

I have not felt peace since this was uploaded to bandcamp on Sunday night

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Happy Thursday, bibliophiles, and for those of you in the U.S., Happy Thanksgiving! I’m thankful for all of your support, and I’m so thankful to have such a welcoming community here. 💗

I think this was a topic for Top Ten Tuesday a few weeks back, but I don’t usually do those since I do my book reviews that day. But it reminded me of a problem I often have—really enjoying a book, then never getting around to finishing the rest of the series. Too often, the sequel(s) immediately go on my TBR, and then…just disappear into oblivion and stay there for a few years. So this post is to call attention to some fun series—trilogies and duologies alike—that I need to finish, and a reminder for myself to finish said series.

Let’s begin, shall we?

SERIES I NEED TO FINISH SOON

Light the Abyss – London Shah

I had so much fun with London Shah’s unique take on dystopia, The Light at the Bottom of the World, so I was eager to read the sequel! Book 2 came out last year, and the sad part is that I regularly saw it at my local library and never got around to picking it up. Someday…

For my review of The Light at the Bottom of the World, click here!

Into the Crooked Place – Alexandra Christo

A lot of people didn’t seem to be as much of a fan of Into the Crooked Place as I was; I understand the sentiment that it was too similar to Six of Crows (Wes certainly was…), but I think it had a really inventive and twisty take on the YA heist fantasy genre. City of Spells came out last year, and it’s been sitting on my Libby wishlist for far too long…

For my review of Into the Crooked Place, click here!

Skin of the Sea – Natasha Bowen

I sort of have an excuse for having not finished this series yet, since Soul of the Deep only came out about two months ago, but I can’t wait to finish Natasha Bowen’s incredible mermaid duology!

The Bright Sessions – Lauren Shippen

I haven’t even listened to the podcast that these books were based on (although I’ve heard it described as “X-Men if they got therapy,” so you’ve sold me there), but I’ve had so much fun exploring Lauren Shippen’s tender, superpowered world. Some Faraway Place came out last year, and I’ve been meaning to put it on hold for so long…

For my mini review of The Infinite Noise, click here!

The Aurelian Cycle – Rosaria Munda

One of my best friends got me hooked on these fantastic books, and they’re proof that fantasy writers just don’t do nearly as much as they should with dragons. DRAGONS!!! (Also a protagonist that I imagine looking like a fantasy Black Widow…love Annie) Furysong came out this August, and I’m patiently waiting for it to be available on Libby…

The Gilded Wolves – Roshani Chokshi

Another incredibly inventive and twisty heist fantasy, The Silvered Serpents left me on a devastating cliffhanger, and now that The Bronzed Beasts is out, I might be able to get some closure at last…

Tell me what you think! What are some series that you want to finish, but haven’t? Are the sequels I’ve listed worth the hype? Let me know in the comments!

Today’s song: