Always Me

Happy Thursday everyone! Today I'm sharing my my fourth update for my April progress for the year long reading challenge called The 52 Book Club's 2026 Reading Challenge .  You can see my original tbr here .  In May, I completed 6 books for a total of 31 read so far out of 52 total books on my tbr.  More excellent progress!  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read in May: 13. Bookface ❋ ❋ ❋  The Last Legacy ( The World of the Narrows #3) by Adrienne Young  is the first book I've read from this author in a little while.  I liked being back in this world and seeing a little more of it than we had previously. That said I was not interested in the romance of this and didn't particularly like the ending a whole lot either. My review is also on Goodreads and The StoryGraph . 7. Title starts with the letter "P" ❋ ❋ ❋  ❋ ❋   The Privilege of the Sword ( The World of Riverside #2) by Ellen Kushner  is a new favorite. I loved the ...

  Happy Thursday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my my fifth update for my progress for the year long reading challenge called the 2026 Popsugar Reading Challenge .  In May, I completed 3 books for a total of 32 read so far out of 50 total books on my tbr.  I can't believe I've only got 18 left.  You can see my original tbr here .  Keep reading to see my thoughts on the books I read in May for this challenge: 8. A book about a sexless marriage ❋ ❋ The Miniaturist ( The Miniaturist #1) by Jessie Burton  has been on my radar for quite a while since I watched the miniseries adaptation back when it was new. At least I knew what to expect, and now I can say that the show followed the story pretty well. Honestly, though, I prefer the adaptation for the performances and the visuals (the dollhouse looked so cool). The book was just depressing and frustratingly answers very few of the questions in the central mystery of the title miniaturist. For that character,...

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 April, 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 r...

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 April, 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...

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 April 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 introducti...

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...