Hello, last day of April! Instead of publishing my monthly wrap-up, obviously I decided to go with WWW Wednesday instead. It’s been a slow reading week, mainly because I had a mentally trying week both with personal and work life. But it was also slow because I actually did non-bookish things like went to the ballet and took a cycling road trip for my husband’s birthday.
WWW Wednesday was revived and hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. The idea is to answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses.
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
Currently Reading
THE LAST TALE OF THE FLOWER BRIDE by Roshani Chokshi: Despite having a Fairyloot edition of this, I’m choosing to listen to this via audiobook. For me, it’s quicker to tackle my TBR if I can have one book going on audio and another going via physical or e-book copy. And, since it’s a gothic tale, I’m not sure it’ll be my cup of tea. So that’s another reason why I’m listening rather than spending precious sit-down time with it.
UPRIGHT WOMEN WANTED by Sarah Gailey: Someone on bookstagram mentioned this as an underrated read. It sounded different enough from what I usually read that it piqued my curiosity. I’m ~60 pages in and waiting to see where this novella goes. It’s got dystopian + Western + queer + librarian rebel vibes going and I’m here for it. “In Upright Women Wanted, award-winning author Sarah Gailey reinvents the pulp Western with an explicitly antifascist, near-future story of queer identity.“
Recently Finished
SKY IN THE DEEP by Adrienne Young: As I mentioned last week, the plot of this was fairly simple. It was fine overall, but I’m glad I listened to this rather than read it with my eyeballs. Can’t say I plan to continue the series. I’d heard good things about this author, but maybe this isn’t her strongest book.
THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA by T.J. Klune: I don’t think I’ll write an official review for this. But I enjoyed my first T.J. Klune book. It was a solid read (4 stars for me) about found family and acceptance. There were many times I laughed out loud (literally). For some reason Linus reminded me of Gru from Despicable Me and Arthur reminded me of Dumbledore. Lucy’s dialogue was very entertaining and Theodore just seemed so cute in my head.
MADDENING MAST CELL MATHEMATICS by Sarah Klein: I found this while perusing NetGalley and I figured I could squeeze in a short book of poetry. What intrigued me about it is that it’s a “collection of poetry about life with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and mast cell activation syndrome, two chronically neglected conditions.” It was a quick read and now I have to figure out how to review poetry, a first for me!
Reading Next
THE STARVING SAINTS by Caitlin Starling: I’m one novella away from starting this! I think, at the moment, I’ve been craving books that are less my norm to read. This sounds like it’ll fit that bill. It’s “a transfixing fever dream of medieval horror following three women in a besieged castle that descends ravenously into madness under the spell of mysterious, godlike visitors.”
That’s a wrap for my WWW Wednesday. Have you read any of these books? What are you currently reading?
Glad to see you liked Cerulean Sea! I haven’t read it yet but I keep seeing it everywhere lol
Here’s my WWW Wednesday: https://theinkboundreader.wordpress.com/2025/04/30/www-wednesday-april-23-2025-2/
Yea I’d had that book for years and finally got around to it, lol! It was a solid read & I hope you like it to if/when you get around to it.
I read Upright Women Wanted and enjoyed it, but can’t remember the details (it’s been several years). And looking forward to your thoughts on Starving Saints!
I just finished UPRIGHT WOMEN on Friday and enjoyed it. I haven’t decided yet whether to officially review it, but I thought it was pretty solid as far as novellas go.
How lovely to go to the ballet. I hope it was good. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what you think about Starving Saints. It doesn’t sound at all ljke a book that I want to read but I’m fascinated by your synopsis 😀
I’m trying to get more into the arts now that I know how easy it is to get to that venue where we saw the ballet. Plus it’s good to do something different every now and then. 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed House in the Cerulean Sea! It’s such a great found family book!!
Thanks, me too! I’ll definitely come back to read more Klune books.
Uh… “dystopian + Western + queer + librarian rebel vibes”?! That sounds amazing and I hope you end up enjoying it even though it’s outside of your comfort zone. I’m going to have to keep my eyes peeled for that because with that description, I defo want to give it a try! Glad you enjoyed Cerulean Sea. That was my first Klune book and I loved it—lots of heartwarming cosy found family vibes to enjoy!
Yea, it’s a nice blend of topics/themes! You should definitely read it. I think it was a good read for me, or a lot of people in the US, ahem. As for Klune, I’ll definitely be back for more at some point! I have one more on my physical shelf to get to by him.
The descriptions of Upright Women Wanted and The Starving Saints sound so good! I hope you enjoy them. 🙂
UPRIGHT WOMEN was a pretty solid novella. It was a bit open ended, but ended on a hopeful note. I’m about 25% into THE STARVING SAINTS now and I think I like it but I also wonder where it’s going haha.
Maybe someday I’ll read TJ Klune. Everyone seems to enjoy House on the Cerulean Sea.
I’ve been in that exact position until, obviously, just now! 😛 I’ll definitely be back at some point to read more of his books.
What do you think about The Last Tale of Flower Bride? It’s been on my TBR for a while now, but I’m not sure whether I should do a physical or audiobook.
I’m reading THE LAST TALE OF THE FLOWER BRIDE as an audiobook, which means at times it doesn’t have my full attention because I tend to multitask while audiobook-ing. So, that aside, I like the narrators. But I’m finding the plot to be a little slow which, in my limited experience with gothic novels, seems to be par for the course. The writing is nice, but I need the plot to get a little more interesting. BUT if you like gothic novels naturally (which isn’t usually me), you’ll probably appreciate it more.
So nice to see Upright Women Wanted get a mention!! I really enjoyed that book. I love TJ Klune’s books — glad you got to give Cerulean Sea a try. Hope you enjoy your next book!
I hadn’t heard of UPRIGHT WOMEN WANTED until I saw someone mention it on bookstagram. It was just the book I needed to read right now, given our current political climate. I also probably hadn’t heard of it because I wasn’t part of the online bookish world at that point in time.
I’ve also heard great things about Adrienne Young and though I haven’t read anything by her so I cannot comment, I have to say there was a lot of hype by that book but I hadn’t read any opinions on it, so maybe it was just this book because all her other books have great reviews. Hope you enjoy her other works if you give her another chance.
I have one more book of hers on my shelf (A SPELL FOR FORGETTING, I think it’s called), so I’ll definitely give her another chance!