Always Me

Happy Thursday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my fifth update for my May progress for the year long Beat The Backlist 2026 reading challenge, hosted by Austine Decker.  You can see my original tbr here .  In May, I completed 4 books for a total of 13 read so far out of 24 total books on my tbr.  I'm getting there!  Without further ado, keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read in May: 14. I reject your reality: a speculative fiction book ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ Windfall ( Weather Warden #4) by Rachel Caine  is an urban fantasy sequel I've been putting off for too long. It was good to be back visiting this unique supernatural story. I've missed seeing the characters and it really went by quickly. That said, I'm not sure if this installment needed to be quite as long though. I also can't say I was a fan of this British edition cover art though. Definitely prefer the American ones I'd read before. I'll have to get caught up on the rest of this series soon. My rev...

Happy Thursday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my fifth update for my May progress for the year long Read Queerly 2026 which is hosted by Alexx @ Enthralled Bookworm .  In May, I completed 2 books for a total of 11 read so far out of 16 total books on my tbr.  You can see my original tbr here .  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read this month: 9. Heists: A queer book featuring heists ❋ ❋ ❋ Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto  is a cyberpunk sci-fi story that I wanted to like more than I did.  Chiefly, I think my expectations were just far too high with the comparisons to Ocean's 8 , Blade Runner , Gideon the Ninth , and Six of Crows .  It does a good job of on the characters and romance, but I also wish I was interested in all of them a little more for the found family aspect to really get me.  I also wish there was more heist action - in terms of things going wrong or there being some kind of trouble in one way or another. My review i...

Happy Saturday everyone!  I hope everyone's had a nice May so far.  I've now completed 10 tasks for Book Riot's 2026 Read Harder Challenge .  The tasks I completed in May required me to read a   romantasy book with a queer and/or BIPOC main character   and a  work of magical realism or fabulism.   I selected  A Rival Most Vial: Potioneering for Love and Profit ( Side Quest Row #1) by R.K. Ashwick  and  White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi  respectively.   Read on to see my mini reviews and my plans for next month: ❋ ❋ ❋ A Rival Most Vial: Potioneering for Love and Profit ( Side Quest Row #1) by R.K. Ashwick  is a fun fantasy, but by the end I just wanted more. It's pretty low-stakes, but I wish more had happened and wanted more both for and from the characters, especially Ambrose. It has a lot of potential to improve as the story continues over the course of the series, now that we've gotten the introduction...

Happy Thursday everyone! Today I'm sharing my thoughts on the book I read in May for Choose Your Own Adventure: Year In Adelia 2026, The Boardgame , an additional challenge to G. @ Book Roast 's Magical Readathon .  You can see my full tbr here .  Without further ado, check out my mini review below: May - 5B - Enter cave (Darkmeadows surface is too harsh so you find the nearest cave and hope it leads deeper in to the intricate Darkmeadow underground network - read a dystopia ❋ ❋  ❋ It's been quite awhile since I've read or watched anything related to The Walking Dea d, but  Typhoon ( Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead #9) by Wesley Chu  was pretty good. The total change in setting with all new characters was the main draw for picking up this story. I like the author's style as well, but I wish Elena, a perfectly fine character, didn't have to be there.  I'm glad this reminded me that I want to read more from Wesley Chu. My review is also on Goodreads and...

        Happy Thursday everyone! Welcome back to  Books from the Backlog , the weekly linkup I'm taking part of which is hosted by  Carole's Random Life in Books .  This is a great way to put a spotlight on books that I've had sitting on my shelf for awhile.  I don't know when I'll get to my weekly featured book, but I hope to some time hopefully soon.   By the way, all this month I'm featuring fantasy books in  honor of  Wyrd & Wonder 2026  (a month long celebration of all things fantasy co-hosted by Lisa @  Dear Geek Place , imyril @  There’s Always Room For One More , Ariana @  The Book Nook , Annemieke @  A Dance With Books , and Jorie @  Jorie Loves A Story  with artwork by Varvara Gorbash). This Week's Neglected Book: The Story of King Arthur and His Knights ( Pyle's King Arthur #1) by Howard Pyle Published: November 1, 1903 Genre: Historical Fantasy Adventure My...

  Happy Tuesday everyone!  Al l this month I'm featuring fantasy in  honor of  Wyrd & Wonder 2026  (a month long celebration of all things fantasy co-hosted by Lisa @  Dear Geek Place , imyril @  There’s Always Room For One More , Ariana @  The Book Nook , Annemieke @  A Dance With Books , and Jorie @  Jorie Loves A Story  with artwork by Varvara Gorbash).  Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl .  This week's topic is Upcoming Fantasy Books I'm Looking Forward To.  There are a lot of great books coming up so it was difficult to narrow it down to just ten.  Here we go in order by release date: The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden - Release date: June 2nd, 2026 Endless Blue Beneath ( Daughters of Atlantea #1) by Shannon K. English - Release date: June 9th, 2026 The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones  by Lex Croucher  - Release date: June 9th, 20...

  Happy Monday everyone and welcome back to Music Monday!  Let's share some songs we've been enjoying!  If you would like to link up with me, please see the rules below. Rules: Every Monday share a few songs you've been enjoying.  It doesn't have to be a specific genre, new, or one of your favorites - just something you'd like to share with others.  If possible, share a music or lyric video of the song and your thoughts on the song(s), artist(s), and/or music video(s). If you would like to participate in Music Monday, please join the link up by sharing your post's url.  Happy Monday everyone!  In honor of  Wyrd & Wonder 2026  (a month long celebration of all things fantasy co-hosted by Lisa @  Dear Geek Place , imyril @  There’s Always Room For One More , Ariana @  The Book Nook , Annemieke @  A Dance With Books , and Jorie @  Jorie Loves A Story  with artwork by Varvara Gorbash), I'm sharing fantas...