A Literary Escape

On My Radar: May 2023

Published on May 30, 2023May 29, 2023 by Celeste11 Comments

Good morning, bookish friends! It’s time for another slice of what I read in the blogosphere during the month of May. I admit I felt a bit more crunched for time than usual in May, so I didn’t blog hop as much in the latter half of the month. (So sorry!) But I still tried to boost others where I could, mainly on Twitter. Anyway, here is a short list of what’s On My Radar for May!

The Legend of Korra (2012-2014) Season 4 TV Series Review by Lashaan at Roars and Echoes
World Defining Magic: Six Favourite Spells That Make A Story by Peat at Peat Long’s Blog
Crooked: The Roaring ’20s Tale of A Corrupt Attorney General, A Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American Political Scandaly by Nathan Masters by Krysta at Pages Unbound
DRUNK REVIEW: Arsenic and Adobo by Mia Manansala (Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery #1) by Sam at Will Read For Booze
They Asked, so I Answer (just about) Anything for My 10th Blogiversary by H.C. Newton at The Irresponsible Reader
When Do We Move From Advocacy to Preparation?: Book Censorship News, May 26, 2023 by Kelly Jensen at Book Riot
“With My Whole Heart and Soul”: Interview with Krystle Matar by Peat at Peat Long’s Blog
The Endless Vessel by Charles Soule–Review by Tammy at Books, Bones & Buffy
BBNYA Tour Review: Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani by Dini at Dini Panda Reads

ARC Review: Witch King by Martha Wells

Published on May 29, 2023May 29, 2023 by Celeste7 Comments

Today’s review is about WITCH KING by Martha Wells. This is Wells’s first fantasy in over a decade. It features demons, witches, and a float trip on a magicked broken down barge. All this is amidst a who-dunnit murder of the main demon, Kai, and why.

Author: Martha Wells
Series: None
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Tordotcom
Publish Date: May 30, 2023
Print Length: 432

Want to support local bookstores? Buy a copy of Witch King on Bookshop.org!*

*These are not affiliate links and I do not make a commission from any purchase made using these links.

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First Lines Fridays: May 26, 2023

Published on May 26, 2023May 24, 2023 by Celeste4 Comments

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? The rules are as follows:

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

If you’re using Twitter, don’t forget to use #FirstLinesFridays!

I feel like the last person who hasn’t read this book (even though I know it’s not true). However, I hope to remedy that next month and finally check this off my TBR.

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Wyrd and Wonder: Bite-Size Fantasies

Published on May 23, 2023April 28, 2023 by Celeste10 Comments

Todays’s Wyrd and Wonder prompt is “bite-size fantasies.” While this sounds delightfully fun, it is meant to focus on short story or novella-length fantasy stories. Since last year’s Wyrd and Wonder I have read quite a bit more fantasy books (obviously), some of which were on the shorter side. Here is a list of some bite-size fantasies that might be of interest. I loosely interpreted novellas as 200 pages in under, though I believe technically they are typically shorer than that.

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Wyrd and Wonder: Celebrate Celtic Mythology

Published on May 20, 2023January 14, 2024 by Celeste8 Comments

In lieu of participating in Wyrd and Wonder on my blog this week I’ve been reading FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros. Or, trying to, at least, in between other things that cropped up this week. Regardless, today’s prompt is mythology, or celebrate a subgenre. If I had planned better, I would have saved my recently-created list of Arthurian retellings for today. But alas. (Please check it out if you missed it!) Instead, my focus is to celebrate Celtic mythology, which is just as fun to read.

Allow me to be frank in that I don’t know much about Celtic mythology. However, I inadvertently many times a year seem to read fantasy books inspired by it. This inspiration usually isn’t evident to me when I read the synopsis. Or perhaps it’s not evident to me because I am not educated in it. (Highly possible.) Nevertheless, I do enjoy them when I read them. So allow me to celebrate Celtic mythology and share it via a list.

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