Celeste, Author at A Literary Escape

June 2024 TBR

Published on June 6, 2024June 5, 2024 by Celeste10 Comments

Just like last month, I still have some older ARCs that I have yet to read. For the sake of brevity I only listed their titles this time. I also have a ridiculous number of books started, which I included here in the hopes of finishing them this month. My June 2024 TBR is light on ARCs, which I’m happy about. I have a grand total of one June ARC and I already read it. This gives me a little bit of breathing space (if I choose to ignore my backlist ARCs). My June 2024 TBR is also a little different than my typical TBR and includes books in genres other than fantasy. It’s good to mix it up sometimes! Onward!

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May 2024 Book Blog Wrap-Up

Published on June 5, 2024June 4, 2024 by Celeste13 Comments

May was a bit of a blur in terms of blogging for me. I scheduled an entire month of posting by the first week of May in anticipation of vacation time. As a result I didn’t post a ton of reviews. But thank goodness for Wyrd and Wonder with the event prompts! So this May 2024 book blog wrap-up is a smidge shorter than ones past. (But not by much, so don’t get too excited.)

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Wyrd and Wonder black dragon artwork by Ehtisham Sajid.

Wyrd and Wonder: Journey’s End

Published on May 31, 2024June 15, 2024 by Celeste11 Comments

After passing a bit of time on the Twin Peaks, I and everyone else are now at the Wyrd and Wonder Journey’s End. These are sad times, my friends. But it was another round of a lovely time celebrating all things fantasy.

This post is a hard one for me to write. Past me had to magic-eight ball what my favorite Wyrd and Wonder Read would be. Since I’m on vacation at the moment, I took a lot of time to schedule an entire month’s worth of content. That planning also included this post. Since my Kindle was my oyster, I only had access to e-books–the horror. (Even though I really wanted to read my physical copy of HOW TO BECOME THE DARK LORD AND DIE TRYING by Django Wexler.)

Anyway, I’m just rambling now. Let me seer this and guess that DREADFUL by Caitlin Rozakis is my favorite Wyrd and Wonder read. And it’s a standalone, hooray! It came out in the US on May 28!

Synopsis

A sharp-witted, debut high fantasy farce featuring killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, evil wizards and a garlic festival – all at once. Perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, K. J. Parker and Travis Baldree.

It’s bad enough waking up in a half-destroyed evil wizard’s workshop with no eyebrows, no memories, and no idea how long you have before the Dread Lord Whomever shows up to murder you horribly and then turn your skull into a goblet or something.

It’s a lot worse when you realize that Dread Lord Whomever is… you.

Gav isn’t really sure how he ended up with a castle full of goblins, or why he has a princess locked in a cell. All he can do is play along with his own evil plan in hopes of getting his memories back before he gets himself killed.

But as he realizes that nothing – from the incredibly tasteless cloak adorned with flames to the aforementioned princess – is quite what it seems, Gav must face up to all the things the Dread Lord Gavrax has done. And he’ll have to answer the hardest question of all – who does he want to be?

A high fantasy farce featuring killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, an evil wizard convocation, and a garlic festival. All at once. All in all, Dread Lord Gavrax has had better weeks.

And that’s a Wyrd and Wonder Journey’s End wrap! Expect my typical monthly wrap up and June TBR a bit later than usual!

Dreams of Fire by Shauna Lawless

Published on May 27, 2024May 1, 2024 by Celeste4 Comments

Today’s review is about DREAMS OF FIRE by Shauna Lawless. It’s a standalone prequel novella to the Gael Song series. It’s not necessary to read the CHILDREN OF GODS AND FIGHTING MEN or THE WORDS OF KINGS AND PROPHETS to enjoy this story. (Although, they’re great books and I do recommend them!)

Author: Shauna Lawless
Series: Gael Song #0.5
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publish Date: March 14, 2024
Print Length: 105

Those interested in purchasing Dreams of Fire can do so on Amazon.*

*This is not an affiliate link and I do not make a commission from any purchase made using this link.

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Wyrd and Wonder: Twin Peaks

Published on May 23, 2024May 1, 2024 by Celeste15 Comments

After indulging at the Fountain of Youth, my next stop is the Wyrd and Wonder Twin Peaks. This destination is all about featuring duologies. While I haven’t read that many duologies, I do love the relative brevity of them. That is, I love that I don’t have to commit to 3+ books in a series. Lately I’ve been avoiding longer series so that I can (try to) focus on my physical backlog. A description really has to grab me to start a new series.

So, with that said, let’s take a look at some duologies I enjoyed, need to finish, or want to read. The “want to read” section focuses on completed duologies.

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