I designated my April 2025 TBR open for mood reading and I’m so glad I did that. It was a nice reset and now I feel like I can tackle a few more ARCs. So my May 2025 TBR is back on that ARC wagon, but I still hope to do a little bit of mood reading. I know Jak Laurel at Lost in the Narrative wants me to get my butt in action and read A MONSOON RISING by Thea Guanzon. 😛
This is also Wyrd and Wonder month. I’m feeling a little burnt out from blogging, so my participation this year will be smaller. Basically I’ll probably just stick to fantasy/speculative fiction reviews, which I tend to do anyway. Without further ado, here’s my May 2025 TBR.
Priority Reads
THE STARVING SAINTS by Caitlin Starling: This is my only May ARC left to read and I’m really looking forward to it. I don’t usually read a lot of horror, but the medieval setting piqued my interest. I really hope this is good! This will be the very first book I tackle this month because I want to write my review before I head across the pond. Once again, 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.”
ORBITAL by Samantha Harvey: This hold finally came in from the library, so I absolutely have to read this as soon as possible or back to the line I go. It’s not very long, so I hope I can get to it after THE STARVING SAINTS.
CLOUD WARRIORS by Thomas E. Weber: This is an early June nonfiction ARC. I really like watching weather stuff on YouTube (Ryan Hall Y’all is my channel of choice) and the Washington Post has an excellent weather team. So when I saw this book I couldn’t resist. “The unprecedented inside story of the people pushing boundaries of science and technology to build better weather forecasts—providing life-saving warnings and crucial intelligence about nature’s deadliest threats.”
THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING by T.H. White: Since we’re traveling to Tintagel this month, I thought this would be the perfect book to bring along. I’ve been meaning to read this for a long time now. This is the perfect occasion to dive into it. For a self professed fan of Arthurian tales, I’m really behind on reading all the related books I bought!
Hopeful Reads
THE LAND OF THE LIVING AND THE DEAD by Shauna Lawless: This is a September 2024 ARC that I’m woefully behind on. I wasn’t in the right headspace to jump back into a well-written story with lots of moving parts. But I’m feeling up to it now and might end up starting this while I’m on my trip to England and Wales.
A MONSOON RISING by Thea Guanzon: All right, let’s see if I can actually read this book this month. I wanted to get to it last month, but given I decided to mood read, well, my preferences shifted.
SIX WILD CROWNS by Holly Race: This is a June 10 ARC that caught my eye because it’s historical fantasy set during Henry VIII’s reign. I don’t read much of that era now, but I used to be super interested into historical fiction set during that time when I was in high school. It’s “a breathtaking epic fantasy of dragons, courtly intrigue, sapphic yearning, and the wives of Henry VIII as you’ve never seen them before.“
The Starving Saints looks so interesting!
At 25% in at the moment, it’s certainly different! Still too early for me to make a decision yet.
I bought a copy of Orbital after I saw some rave reviews last year, but it’s still in a pile somewhere. I hope it works for you. Enjoy your books!
And that’s exactly why I didn’t buy ORBITAL even though I was tempted several times, especially in airports lol.
Low-key participation is the way to go this year I think, but glad you’re still joining us for W&W this year 😊 I’ve just started Six Wild Crowns and finding it very fun so far! Based on your reads and reviews of other books I think it will be one you enjoy
Thanks, I just don’t think I have the mental bandwidth this year to plan out my posts, etc. But I’ll try to check the master list & bop around. 🙂 I’m glad you’re enjoying SIX WILD CROWNS…I hope this means I’ll like it, too! It’s also a slightly different read for me, which I seem to be doing lately, so clearly I need a little fantasy genre shakeup.
You make it sound like I’m bullying you!! (I kinda am, for the best reason 😁). Hope you have a great month friend!
Hahaha you’re bullying me in the best way! 😂 I need to read it at some point!
I’m looking forward to Six Wild Crowns and The Starving Crown too. Happy May!
Thanks! I hope you have a good reading month. 🙂
Good luck!! I hope you get to all of these and love them. 🙂
Thanks!
Enjoy your TBR!
Thanks!
Land of the Living and the Dead is book three, right? I’m waiting for my library to get it in so I can read it.
You’ve got some good variety on your TBR, I hope you enjoy them all
Yep, it’s book 3! It’s a great series. I assume book 4 comes out later this year, but I haven’t looked it up yet to confirm.
I loved the beginning of Orbital but then I lost interest. Hope you have a better experience!
I hope I do too!
Okay The Starving Saints sounds like a banger. And I’m very overdue on trying TH White. So v. interested in what you make of both.
Just started THE STARVING SAINTS…now far enough along yet to have an opinion, but it’s easy to read which I like.
Also hoping to read Six Wild Crowns soon, looking forward to trading thoughts!
Always happy to trade thoughts! I probably won’t start it until much later in the month.
Any kind of participation is always good 😀
Thanks, Annemieke. 🙂
I remember trying to tackle The Once and Future King in middle school, when I became deeply obsessed with Arthurian legends. I honestly can’t remember if I ever made it through! Hope you enjoy it.
To be fair, I think it’ll probably take me a while to read THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING. It’s a classic, so I don’t know how accessible I’ll feel the reading is. So I strategically plan to bring it on my trip as one of my only reading options to force myself to get to it, lol. I’ll bring my Kindle as a backup in case I just need a break from it.
I hope you feel less burnt out soon 🥰 I really wanted to join in with Wyrd and Wonder but I felt like I needed a break more (as I kept putting it off, and still can’t 100% until my last May arc is shared 😅) So I totally get the burn out feeling.
I hope the horror arc goes well. It’s on my TBR too (not as an arc though) and I’ll definitely be watching out for your review as I’m curious about it. I hope you have a fantastic time at Tintagel and I love your related reading plan. I finally got to Dracula when I made a similiar choice knowing I was going to be visiting Whitby a few years ago 😅 I hope the books good as it sounds fantastic.
I really want to read Six Wild Crowns too 😍 fantasy set within that time period sounds divine to me. I hope the hopefully sequels are successful reads for you too.
Have a wonderful time in England and Wales 🥰 are there any other sites that you’re particularly planning to see?