What’s On My Plate – May 2015

Wow, it’s already May?? May means school ends soon, and summer is almost here. I had a tough April, mostly because I had the flu for a couple of weeks (I guess I should have had that flu shot, LOL!), so I just didn’t read nearly as much as I needed to in order to stay caught up with review books. May looks pretty daunting, but I’m diving in head first, and I’ll try to read as many of these as I can. I’m also going to throw a purchased book into the mix this month, because reading nothing but review books is really making me depressed. I don’t know about you, but when I feel like I can’t keep my promises to publishers, I beat myself up. Better to pick a book off the pile that has nothing to do with a commitment to someone else, to reinforce my love for reading! So here’s what I have on tap this month:

For review:

The Awesome by Eva Darrows. This cover is awesome, and the Buffy vibe I’m getting from the story makes me want to drop everything and read it now.

The Shadow Revolution (Crown & Key #1) by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith. I haven’t read the Griffiths’ first series, Vampire Empire, but one of these days I’m going to get around to it. In the meantime, I was very happy to be approved for the start of this new series.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik. I haven’t read Novik yet either, but I hear she’s really good. This is a fairy-tale retelling, and I’m very curious to read it.

Illusionarium by Heather Dixon. This was one of those situations where I was so entranced by the beautiful cover that I clicked the “download” button before I had a chance to think about it. I may or may not get to this one, since I’ve seen some less that enthusiastic reviews already.

Undertow by Michael Buckley. I absolutely love stories that take place in or near the ocean, which is why I requested this title!

Boo by Neil Smith. The story description makes this sound like a middle-grade novel, but the publisher is Vintage, so I’m not exactly sure who this is targeted toward. But it’s an afterlife story being compared to The Lovely Bones (one of my all-time favorite books), so I’m in!

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan. I’m looking forward to this book because it’s got a strong literary vibe to it. The blurb is saying “in the tradition of Angela Carter and Margaret Atwood.” Yes please!

Blog events:

I hesitate to even use the words “Blog Tour” anymore. You guys, I just had a really weird and awful experience with a recent blog tour, and I may do a discussion post about it soon (but obviously I have to wait until the tour is over). Suffice it to say, I may be done with blog tours, at least the ones run by official blog tour companies. As far as these two books from Angry Robot, I’m participating in the “release frenzy” of the books, but I don’t think AR is even using the term “blog tour.”

Hidden Huntress by Danielle L. Jensen. This is the second book in the series, and I’m anxious to get started on it. I’ll be hosting Danielle with a guest post on May 26th, and there may be a giveaway involved as well. Not sure yet, but make sure to stop by and check it out.

Unseemly Science by Rod Duncan. Another book #2 that I’ve been looking forward to! I told the awesome folks at Angry Robot that I’d love to participate in whatever way they’ll have me, so I expect I’ll have something this month to celebrate the release of this book.

And of course, I’ll be reading and reviewing both books:-)

Backlist Burndown review/Women of Genre Reading Challenge/Purchased Book

Afterparty by Daryl Gregory. OK, this truly is a backlist book, because I’ve read Gregory’s two most recent releases. I’ve heard this is pretty damn good, has anyone out there read this yet? Look for my review on the last Friday of the month (May 29) when I’ll be joining Lisa at Tenacious Reader for her Backlist Burndown event.

Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear. I had this on the list last month so I could check off a book on my Women of Genre Reading Challenge. Let’s try again, shall we?

Vermilion by Molly Tanzer. I just bought this from new-to-me small publisher Word Horde. I’m determined to squeeze it in this month!

Giveaways: Check back on May 15th for my monthly Book Review Giveaway. If you haven’t entered yet, you really should! The winner will get to choose one of the books I reviewed the previous month.

That’s my May! Let me know if you plan on reading any of these books too!