I hope everyone has had a good week and you all have exciting plans for the weekend. Sadly I will be working on Saturday and Sunday but I am looking forward to a free day on the Bank holiday Monday.
My chosen poem this week is inspired by all the wonderful blossom I have seen this week. I love this time of year.
May Snow
May is a blue and gold and green,
Not a trace of cloud is seen;
Yet I find along the way
Snowflakes falling all the day.
Dainty snowflakes fragrant white,
And there's not a cloud in sight,
Snow you cannot truly be—
You're just petals from the tree!
Annette Wynne
I will be honest I my TBR plans for March went out of the window and April was just a struggle to read let alone stick to a plan. However, for May I am going to try and read some planned reads but maybe not as structured as my previous TBR posts.
Shorter books are best
One thing I have worked out is that currently when I am working I’m too tired to tackle big books. I’m not reading so much at night because I struggle to focus and so I’m only really reading in the morning. So I have chosen some shorter books to keep me occupied this month.
Comfort Reads
I have some current comfort reads at the moment in the form of two book series that I love reading and feel like I can trust to not upset me. These are the next two books I am due to read in the series.
These are my planned reads for May and hopefully I will get around to reading some extra books as well. At the end of the month I have half term so I might plan a longer read them.
I hope you all have some good reads planned for May.
The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?
Hello!
I hope you are all having a good week so far. I will be honest today has been rather a tiring day and I am thoroughly looking forward to getting into bed with my book later.
What I am Currently Reading
This is an interesting read and not what I was expecting. So far it is an excellent read.
What I have Recently Finished Reading
I found this an interesting read and will be writing and posting my review soon.
What I Think I will Read Next
I have bought quite a few new books recently and I can’t wait to read them. I just don’t know what to read first!
Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
It is awkward photo time! April was a better reading month for me than March and I also managed to read one big book so I’m really hoping that will help make up for the lack of height during March.
Here is the current book stack which contains 21 books.
I managed to get Lyra to participate this month for the photo. This meant being very stealthy and swooping her up before she knew it was cuddly photo time.
The book stack is now the height of 21 inches exactly. This means I have 46 inches to go. Happily I am still ahead of this time last year but only by 2.5 inches. I must keep pushing with my reading as I really don’t want to fail again.
Look at that book stack grow.
Hopefully Lyra will appear in more photos soon but she can be a very reluctant photo model sometimes.
Goodreads Monday is now hosted by Budget Tales Book Club. All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.
Hello!
Pinch, punch first of the month! Yes it is May, I’m not sure how we are already in May but I’m really hoping this means less rain and more sunshine. I want to get out and read in my garden!
Anyway, my chosen book for Goodreads Monday is one that I have recently added to my TBR list on Goodreads but one that I hope to read very soon and not just because the lady at Waterstones said it was her favourite book of 2023 so far.
New York is slipping from Cleo’s grasp. Sure, she’s at a different party every other night, but she barely knows anyone. Her student visa is running out, and she doesn’t even have money for cigarettes. But then she meets Frank. Twenty years older, Frank’s life is full of all the success and excess that Cleo’s lacks. He offers her the chance to be happy, the freedom to paint, and the opportunity to apply for a green card. She offers him a life imbued with beauty and art—and, hopefully, a reason to cut back on his drinking. He is everything she needs right now.
Cleo and Frank run head-first into a romance that neither of them can quite keep up with. It reshapes their lives and the lives of those around them, whether that’s Cleo’s best friend struggling to embrace his gender identity in the wake of her marriage, or Frank’s financially dependent sister arranging sugar daddy dates after being cut off. Ultimately, this chance meeting between two strangers outside of a New Year’s Eve party changes everything, for better or worse.
Cleopatra and Frankenstein is an astounding and painfully relatable debut novel about the spontaneous decisions that shape our entire lives and those imperfect relationships born of unexpectedly perfect evenings.
What are your thoughts on this book if you have read it?
Please drop me a link with your Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.
How are we already in May? I really can’t believe how fast this year is going or how far behind my book challenges are. I think I have been in a bit of a slump but I have been trying to push through but I am still way behind.
Anyway, here is how April went.
Statistics
As you can see the stats are far better than March but they still need work.
Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It is all about sharing the books that you have recently added to your bookshelves. These books can be physical books, ebooks and of course audiobooks.
Hello!
This year I have been determined to buy less books than I have in previous years. This is due to the amount of books on my TBR pile/house and also because I hoped to save some pennies. So far I have managed to cut back on my book buying and I am really pleased with my progress of reading my TBR pile. However, this week I might have gone slightly crazy and my resolve temporarily evaporated. So without further ado here are the books I have purchased this week.
Atalanta has been preordered since last year so I was really pleased when it finally arrived through my letterbox.
I used to read a lot of Garth Nix books so I decided to read The Left-Handed Booksellers of London and get back into my Garth Nix books.
Cleopatra and Frankenstein is a book I have seen so many good reviews about that I couldn’t resist buying it at Waterstones especially as it was on offer. I just love a bargain book!
Babel: An Arcane History is another book I have seen loads of good things about and couldn’t resist buying.
I have wanted to read an Owen King book for a while now and I really liked the sound of this one so it was another book that I bought during my Waterstones visit.
I really hope to get reading these books soon but I also plan to curb the book buying again. I must reduce the TBR house.
Have you added any new books to your bookshelves recently?
I hope everyone has had a good week so far. My chosen poem this week is by the poet, documentary maker and prolific chronicler of his own early life Laurie Lee (1914-1997).
April Rise
If ever I saw blessing in the air
I see it now in this still early day
Where lemon-green the vaporous morning drips
Wet sunlight on the powder of my eye.
Blown bubble-film of blue, the sky wraps round
Weeds of warm light whose every root and rod
Splutters with soapy green, and all the world
Sweats with the bead of summer in its bud.
If ever I heard blessing it is there
Where birds in trees that shoals and shadows are
Splash with their hidden wings and drops of sound
Break on my ears their crests of throbbing air.
Pure in the haze the emerald sun dilates,
The lips of sparrows milk the mossy stones,
While white as water by the lake a girl
Swims her green hand among the gathered swans.
Now, as the almond burns its smoking wick,
Dropping small flames to light the candled grass;
Now, as my low blood scales its second chance,
If ever world were blessed, now it is.
Laurie Lee
The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?
Hello!
I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I am back at work full swing and it has been rather a shock to the system.
What I am Currently Reading
I have only just started reading this and I have literally only read the first 10 pages but I am really excited to read my first Daphne de Maurier book.
What I have Recently Finished Reading
I finished both of these this week and really enjoyed them both. Reviews will follow shortly.
What I Think I will Read Next
As usual I never know what to read next but it might possibly be one of these.
Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
Lady Book Dragon 