I don’t know how all of your spring cleaning went for April, but I got a surprising amount of older books cleaned off of my TBR pile. AND I managed to not replaced the finished books with new ones this time! It wont last and I can feel the need to go find some new stories to dive into.
I tend to be the one who wants to own every book I can get my hands on – yes I know, I’m addicted. The library in my house is forever growing and it is wonderful! But this month, I have a lot of books showing up that have been on hold at my town’s library for me. (Some of them have been on hold for over a month!). Plus, I adore my public library! So, in honor of the books coming in and the library as a whole, I’m declaring May as:
Library Month!
And as the “declared” month, let’s make a challenge of at least visiting your local library and seeing what you can find on the shelves that peek your interest. Or you can even use the Libby app and borrow ebooks, magazines, audiobooks, news, and even podcasts remotely and straight to your devices (I think it is a USA based only app – so sorry my international friends!). I freaking love Libby! It is amazing and super simple to use. Just add your library card number and your off on finding so many things! One thing to remember though, use the knowledge you find at the library wisely.
“Libraries were full of ideas – perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons.”
– Sarah J. Mass
I am super excited to pick up these books! Hopefully some of the others I’ve been wanting to read are in too. I see many hours perusing the shelves in my future.
Have a great May everyone! Have fun exploring all the books you find!
My Reading List for May 2022:
An Eye for An Eye By Carol Wyer
A killer running rings around the police. A detective spiralling out of control.
DI Kate Young is on leave. She’s the force’s best detective, but her bosses know she’s under pressure, on medication and overcoming trauma. So after her bad judgement call leads to a narrowly averted public disaster, they’re sure all she needs is a rest.
But when Staffordshire Police summon her back to work on a murder case, it’s a harder, more suspicious Kate Young who returns. With a new ruthlessness, she sets about tracking down a clinical, calculating serial killer who is torturing victims and leaving clues to taunt the police. Spurred on by her reporter husband, Young begins to suspect that the murderer might be closer than she ever imagined.
As she works to uncover the truth, Young unravels a network of secrets and lies, with even those closest to her having something to hide. But with her own competence—and her grip on reality—called into question, can she unmask the killer before they strike again?
The Midnight Girls By Alicia Asinska
It’s Karnawał season in the snow-cloaked Kingdom of Lechija, and from now until midnight when the church bells ring an end to Devil’s Tuesday time will be marked with wintry balls and glittery disguises, cavalcades of nightly torch-lit “kuligi” sleigh-parties.
Unbeknownst to the oblivious merrymakers, two monsters join the fun, descending upon the royal city of Warszów in the guise of two innocent girls. Newfound friends and polar opposites, Zosia and Marynka seem destined to have a friendship that’s stronger even than magic. But that’s put to the test when they realize they both have their sights set on Lechija’s pure-hearted prince. A pure heart contains immeasurable power and Marynka plans to bring the prince’s back to her grandmother in order to prove herself. While Zosia is determined to take his heart and its power for her own.
When neither will sacrifice their ambitions for the other, the festivities spiral into a wild contest with both girls vying to keep the hapless prince out of the other’s wicked grasp. But this isn’t some remote forest village, where a hint of stray magic might go unnoticed, Warszów is the icy capital of a kingdom that enjoys watching monsters burn, and if Zosia and Marynka’s innocent disguises continue to slip, their escalating rivalry might cost them not just the love they might have for each other, but both their lives.
Breach By Kelly Sokol
The boundary between battlefield and home front blurs. Are there wounds love can heal?
Marleigh Mulcahy grew up in a boxing gym, the daughter of hard-drinking parents who didn’t keep a stable roof overhead. In the cinder-block Box-n-Go, amidst the sweat and funk, she meets EOD specialist Jace Holt, a highly and expensively trained bomb diffuser with three successful deployments behind him. With a heady mix of hope, carelessness, and a ridiculous amount of courage, they begin a family. When Jace returns to active duty, a roadside bomb resurrects ghosts from the couple’s past and threatens the life they’ve built.
An unflinching and timely gaze into the marriage of an enlisted special operator and his wife, Breach is the story of betting it all on love, a couple’s determination to change the trajectory of their lives, and one woman’s promises to the man she loves and the children they’re raising.
What choices will a desperate mother make to keep her family whole?
The Children on the Hill By Jennifer McMahon
1978: at her renowned treatment center in picturesque Vermont, the brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Hildreth, is acclaimed for her compassionate work with the mentally ill. But when she’s home with her cherished grandchildren, Vi and Eric, she’s just Gran—teaching them how to take care of their pets, preparing them home-cooked meals, providing them with care and attention and love.
Then one day Gran brings home a child to stay with the family. Iris—silent, hollow-eyed, skittish, and feral—does not behave like a normal girl.
Still, Violet is thrilled to have a new playmate. She and Eric invite Iris to join their Monster Club, where they catalogue all kinds of monsters and dream up ways to defeat them. Before long, Iris begins to come out of her shell. She and Vi and Eric do everything together: ride their bicycles, go to the drive-in, meet at their clubhouse in secret to hunt monsters. Because, as Vi explains, monsters are everywhere.
2019: Lizzy Shelley, the host of the popular podcast Monsters Among Us, is traveling to Vermont, where a young girl has been abducted, and a monster sighting has the town in an uproar. She’s determined to hunt it down, because Lizzy knows better than anyone that monsters are real—and one of them is her very own sister.
Realm Breaker By Victoria Aveyard
A strange darkness grows in Allward.
Even Corayne an-Amarat can feel it, tucked away in her small town at the edge of the sea.
She soon discovers the truth: She is the last of an ancient lineage—and the last hope to save the world from destruction. But she won’t be alone. Even as darkness falls, she is joined by a band of unlikely companions:
A squire, forced to choose between home and honor.
An immortal, avenging a broken promise.
An assassin, exiled and bloodthirsty.
An ancient sorceress, whose riddles hide an eerie foresight.
A forger with a secret past.
A bounty hunter with a score to settle.
Together they stand against a vicious opponent, invincible and determined to burn all kingdoms to ash, and an army unlike anything the realm has ever witnessed.
“The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.”
– Albert Einstein
Feel free to join me in my own book club in discord! It is a place where we can all just talk about the latest books we are reading, authors can share what they are writing, and everyone can chat about our book we’ve all voted on reading for that month. I slacked a little bit this past month when it came to getting the vote up before the 1st of the month. SO, we are actually working on voting for the next month’s book right now! I’ll put up a post shortly with the books we are voting between. But if you want to check it out before that post, come on over a join the book club!
Click the button to join us with the read!