May and June 2025 Reading Wrap-Up

May and June were extremely busy for me as I began my doctoral program and the first semester was intense. I did manage read some fiction but the majority of time I had to do a lot of reading and writing for school.     

May

The best read of May was probably The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton. It is book 1 in a new YA fantasy series. If you like the Cruel Prince trilogy and the Selection series, you might like this. I will definitely be checking out book 2. The biggest disappointment was The Rebel Witch. It was better than book 1, but still overall the Crimson Moth series is extremely overhyped and I honestly do not understand what all the fuss is about.

June

In June, I continued with Jennifer L. Armentrout's from Blood and Ash series and book 2 was really good. I read it during the busiest time and it was nice to immerse myself in a fantasy world each day before bed even if it was only for a few minutes. I also read the new installment in Kelley Armstrong's A Rip in Time series - in this book we follow our characters to the Scottish Highlands where they end up solving a murder.  The rest of the books I read were not super memorable even though I enjoyed them at the time of reading.

April 2025 Reading Wrap-Up

April is probably my best reading month for a while. In May I started graduate school so I expect that both May and June will be light in terms of reading fiction. But going back to April: I read 8 books and two of them are new favorites The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain and The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. 

The Dream Daughter is a suspenseful family drama that includes time travel. I listened to it on audio and was completely engrossed. The Villa is Rachel Hawkins' another thriller that includes an investigation into a murder that happened in the 70s at an Italian villa and involved famous musicians. Some say that Hawkins drew her inspiration from a time when Mary Shelley, Lord Byron and Percy Shelley vacationed together in Italy and where Mary Shelley on a dare wrote Frankenstein. I can definitely see those parallels.

To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose is a compelling fantasy novel that is rooted in Native American mythology. I read it for a bookclub and we had the author join our discussion, which was incredible. I am definitely planning to read the sequel. 

The other reads for the month were mediocre. The biggest disappointment was The Crimson Moth - a fantasy romance, overhyped on social media. I am happy to report that the second book is better (I read it in May). I have a separate longer review for Melania - what a disaster! And, I am glad I finally read Soulless by Gail Carriger. The entire Parasol Protectorate series had been sitting on my shelves for at least 10 years. After reading book 1, I decided I am not going to continue in the series and it's been donated to my local thrift store. I am sure if I read it when it was first published, I might have enjoyed it. But it does not hold up with time. The tone in particular seems trying to be funny way too hard, and characters seem more like caricatures than real personalities -- the book is just filled with stock images and twists. 

So I read Melania... Hear me out

I saw this book at my local library and decided to see if I can get a glimpse of Melania Trump’s personality. She always looks like a decorative art piece: beautiful and silent. As a fellow Slav from Eastern Europe, I was curious what she had to say about her upbringing in the communist Yugoslavia. The book is very short and it is badly written, at times sounding like a museum catalogue enumerating all the exquisite designer outfits and elaborate meals; and at times resembling a self appraisal or a college essay, aggrandizing her own accomplishments (my impeccable taste, my work ethic, my poise). Wow. If she wrote this in an attempt to be known, this is a failure. There is no personality that I can detect. I am not sorry I read it though. What you see is what you get: a carefully constructed mask with a huge ego who wants to be in turn a Jacky Kennedy or a princess Diana look alike but of course she is neither. She is also not a deep thinker at all. Jane Austen’s “improvement of the mind by extensive reading” is clearly not about her.

In addition, the descriptions of her childhood in Yugoslavia do not ring true at all. She was born in 1970 - the height of Soviet dominance in the region. Yet she waxes poetically about the picturesque country side and travels all over Europe. Not a single word about the decade long ethnic conflicts in the region - none. Then abruptly in the end she decides to compare the raid on Mar-a-Lago to surveillance under communism, “which her family was very familiar with”. So which one is it? What was her childhood like? Anyway the main sense I got is lack of authenticity and personality. Also curiously, no acknowledgements?

March 2025 Reading Wrap-Up

 

In March, I read quite a few great books. In terms of clear winners The God of the Woods and Death of the Author were by far the best books I read in March if not the entire 2025 so far.

The God of the Woods is a mystery involving disappearance of a child. It has two different timelines and a great cast of characters. I must admit it was a difficult read, especially in the beginning when we spend a lot of time with the grieving mother. Her anguish at losing her little boy is palpable and heart-wrenching. At about half-point, the book turns more into a police procedural and I found it much easier to read emotionally.

Death of the Author is a genre-bending novel with a Nigerian-American paraplegic woman as the main protagonist. The author explores the themes of heritage, and belonging. She also very skillfully zeroes in on the need for independence and independent decision-making for people living with disabilities. In this book, the main character seemingly overnight becomes a bestselling author, yet her family is so focused on protecting her and taking care of her that they try to keep her from opportunities that would improve her life and let her experience things she never thought were possible for her. This novel in particular is a strong contender to be the best of the year for me.

I read The Nickel Boys for my bookclub at work. The setting of the story is a reform school for boys in Florida in the 1960s. The racism, injustice and brutality the main characters have to go through is staggering. This is a very difficult, but a very important read.

Blood over Bright Haven is much talked about on BookTube Sci-Fi novel. I also read it for a bookclub, and it did not live up to all the hype. Even though we had a good discussion at the book club meeting, as time goes on, the plot is quickly fading from my mind. I did like the spunky feminist main character, and the magic was unique in this book. However, the book felt a little too basic. The world was not well fleshed out, and lacked the complexity that I would normally expect for such a hyped novel.

I finally finished The Wrath and the Dawn duology. I read the first book quite a few years ago. It is a 1001 nights re-telling. I really enjoyed it and if you are looking for a quick fantasy/romantasy read, look no further.

I read Medea by Euripides as I own a recently released retelling of this Greek play, so wanted to get acquainted with the original material. The other two books on the list were pretty mediocre romances, and I would not recommend them.

February 2025 Reading Wrap-Up

 

These were my reads in February 2025. I was still struggling staying focused on reading so finished another month this year with only 8 books. 

• I am pleased that I read 2 non-fiction books: one is about Victorians and the other about near-death experiences and research by medical professionals into that. 
• From Blood and Ash is a new fantasy series I started. It proved to be pretty fast moving so I am definitely going to continue. 
• The Soul of the Sword is the second book in a fantasy trilogy inspired by Japanese mythology that I really enjoy. 
• Orbital by Samantha Harvey is a short beautifully written book from the point of view of 6 astronauts orbiting the earth. It is a love song to Earth, a poem in verse. Here is a quote from it that I wrote out:

*** Art is a set of illusions and tricks and artifices within life. Life is a set of illusions and tricks and artifices within a consciousness that is trying to understand life through perceptions and dreams and art.***

• The Forest Grimm was a new take on well-known fairy tales. I think a sequel is coming out later this year, but the book can be read as a stand alone. I think it was mediocre and frankly quite forgettable so I don't think I'll be picking up the sequel.
• Alien Clay is probably the most thought-provoking Sci-Fi I've read in a long time. It challenges the Darwinian survival of the fittest, and posits instead that perhaps it is not the strongest that survive, but those who are able to get along with others.

January 2025 Reading Wrap-Up

In January, I managed to read 8 books, 4 were library check-out, 2 paper books from my own shelves and 2 e-books that I own. I definitely need to focus on reading books from my own shelves if I am to meet my goal of reading 50 physical books that I already have. Here are my brief reviews of the books I read: 

1. Kingdom of the Sweets by Erika Johansen was my first read of the year. It is a dark Nutcracker retelling. If you are a fan of the original story (or the ballet), definitely check it out. It was not my favorite ⭐️⭐️⭐️

2. A Rose by Any Other Name by Mary McMyne is historical fantasy set in Elizabethan England. I really enjoyed this one. The main character is a wise woman and a singer, determined to live her life the way she wants to. She is fiercely independent and I admired her resilience and strength. Will Shakespeare does play a role in the novel, and he is not a likable character ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3. Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa is a YA fantasy novel inspired by Japanese mythology and folklore. This was a re-read for me as I finally decided to finish the trilogy. I liked it the second time around even more than the first, and can't wait to complete the series. The main character is a half-human half-fox girl who has to go on a quest to save a precious scroll from falling into the wrong hands. On the way, she finds unexpected friends and meets powerful enemies, but through it all, her kindness and empathy really make her personality shine. She is the most unexpected hero and I love rooting for her ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4. The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo is a historical fantasy novel set in the time of Spanish Inquisition. Our main character is a Jewish girl forcibly converted to Catholicism. She is a lowly scullery maid dreaming of a chance for a better life. She also has magical powers and one day inadvertently reveals her talents to the mistress of the house. This book has a magical competition, court intrigue and romance. It also includes a redemption arc for one of the characters that I really enjoyed. Overall, this is a well-written and enjoyable novel. The only thing I was not a big fan of was the ending ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5. Gamayun Tales I by Alexander Utkin is a graphic novel based on Russian folk tales. This was a quick read. I spotted it in my local library and was curious to see what the artist did with the original material. It did not disappoint ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

6. The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel was the first non-fiction of the year. The author interviews renown scholars about evidence that the four gospels of the New Testament accurately narrate the story of historical Jesus. I thought this book was very informative and gave me some food for thought ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

7. Count Averin, the Wizard of the Russian Empire by Victor Dashkevich is a historical fantasy/mystery novel set in the alternative Russia. The time period is sometime after WWII, but Russia is a monarchy, the Bolshevik revolution did not succeed. In this world, demons sometimes breakthrough from their dimension and can be subjugated into serving humans by powerful wizards. Our main character is not just such a wizard, he is also a private detective called to investigate a murder that clearly had a supernatural hand in it. I really enjoyed this novel and am planning to continue with the series ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

8. Crumbs by Danie Stirling was another graphic novel I got from the library. It was a cute and heartwarming love story set in a fantasy world. Definitely recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

2025 Reading Goals

 For 2025, I decided to keep in simple. Here are the goals I am setting for myself:

1. Read 75 books

2. Read 50 books from my physical shelves

3. Read the entire Bible

4. Read 10 non-fiction books I own (physical or e-books)

5. Participate in the two book clubs I am a member of, but don't feel obligated to read every book. In fact, try to read those I already own if they are selected.