May Book Haul

**I know this post went up this morning and was half finished. I meant to finish it up Monday night but ended up having an embarrassing depart from work in the afternoon and had food poisoning the rest of the night and into Tuesday. It was already scheduled and I didn’t have near the wits to stop it from posting with how sick I was. So here’s the full post!

Of course my first post needs to be a book haul.

I have been in a very scattered mindset lately and really haven’t been reading too much. There have been a lot of things up in the air in my life, but I have finally got to a point where I am starting to get back into and enjoy my hobbies again. That being said, I still went a little overboard on the book buying. Here are the twenty books I bought in May!

1. The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King

I have wanted to read something substantial from Stephen King for a while now. He is such a fantastic writer, but how can I judge how good any other book is when I haven’t read much of the actual King?? My main problem is I don’t do horror AT ALL. I had heard this was his try at a Lord of the Rings type story, so after reading the first book I picked up the box set. I am avoiding really knowing what the story is about because I’m enjoying being surprised by each book (I’ve read books one and two), but it is a western, fantasy, sort of dystopian setting that I am enjoying.

2. Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

This is the sequel to Illuminae (and I have actually also bought the third book in this trilogy at the beginning of June). This story follows two new characters, but it does overlap and continue the events from the first book. There is a new adventure and new dangers as the space attacks continue. I absolutely flew through the first book so I am very much looking forward to getting to this book soon.

3. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

I have heard fantastic reviews for this book so I am very excited to pick this one up, plus the cover is absolutely stunning. Lazlo has spent his entire life dreaming the same dream but not really knowing what it is about. He knows it centers on the lost city of Weep, but he has to take a chance and leave his known life behind to travel with warriors to have any chance of discovering the meaning behind it.

4. Caraval by Stephanie Garber

This book is incredibly popular across BookTube and Bookstagram. The main thing I know about it is the story is centered around the circus. Our main character and her sister live with their cruel father, but they sneak away to go see Caraval, the legendary show where the audience gets to join in. Her sister is kidnapped to be the main feature of the show, and Scarlett must find her or face the serious consequences.

5. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

This book has recently been made into a movie so I had an idea of what the story is about. Maddy is a girl with an allergy disease that makes her unable to ever leave her house. When a new boy moves in next door, a love interest blossoms and her world is forever changed. I’ve wanted to pick this up because I think it will be a nice, light, quick summer read.

6. One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake

I really enjoyed Three Dark Crowns so I was excited to pick up the other books in this universe. I will probably read the first book over again before diving into this one because it’s been so long since I first picked it up. This book continues the story of three sisters with different abilities who must fight each other to the death. Whoever wins the battle will claim the throne. I expect we will learn more about each sisters’ abilities in this book.

7. Queens of Fennbirn by Kendare Blake

This is a shorter story also in the Three Dark Crowns universe that isn’t a full book in the series.. I wanted to go ahead and get this as well to know even more about the characters and background of the main story.

8. The Sun is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon

The synopsis on this book makes it sound like it’s going to be a really light and fun romance. It’s about a girl named Natasha and a boy named Daniel who meet on a New York City street. Both of them have never believed in dreaming or doing the unexpected, so it makes it sound like this is going to be a nice “finding yourself” sort of story. Plus, the cover is absolutely beautiful.

9. A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi

I really enjoyed The Star-Touched Queen, so when I saw this on Amazon I definitely wanted to give it a try. This sounds like something that is right up my alley; tournaments, magic, court politics, and characters with nothing left to lose. Guari is a princess and a prisoner of war, and she must team up with the unreliable prince of a neighboring kingdom. Together they enter a tournament to try and win- and the prize is a single wish.

10. Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

“I was the girl who loved The Ripper.” I have heard nothing but great things about this book. I don’t know much about it at all, but I’m putting it on my June TBR since it’s so popular and I’m really curious to find out more. From the synopsis, I’ve gathered this book is about a girl who is delving into the mystery of Jack the Ripper and that he may be a major person in her life hiding in plain sight.

11. Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

I picked up the box set of this trilogy, which includes Shadow & Bone, Siege & Storm, and Ruin & Rising. I know this fantasy series is very highly regarded and I’ve wanted to read it for quite a while. I haven’t gone into a series without knowing the main points of it in quite a while, so I have deliberately avoided learning much about this trilogy so I can go into it with no expectations. They look like relatively quick reads, so I’m looking forward to spending a long weekend getting through the entire series!

 

So there is my haul for May! Hopefully I won’t buy so many in June because I am literally about out of shelf space without reorganizing quite a bit. Let me know what you’re reading and if you have any suggestions on which of these I should read first!