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I do feel like I have had a good reading month, but I really only read a couple of books. One of them (Timber – Hades #4) started so good and then crashed and burned, which I feel really let down by after reading a four-book series. I’m not reviewing it because it’s an incredibly adult novel.

I started The Study of Poisons by Maria V Snyder, which is a retelling/reboot of Poison Study but from Valek’s point of view. And I am enjoying it, I just feel like I haven’t really had time to really get into it yet.

Honestly, I have been reading a lot more indie books this year, which has been really good for me, but I think I’m starting to miss YA. I’ve only read a few YA books this year and the rest have been indie, and although they’ve been very good, they mostly haven’t been five stars for me. I miss reading a fantastic five-star book.

I feel guilty about not reading YA because I have my bookshelves filled with 600 trad published YA books and the whole point of stepping back from the online YA community and especially ARC reviews, was so that I could easily just pick up one of my owned books off the shelf and curl up in my reading chair and just consume it, and get through my 3 bookcases of unread books instead of it taking me 10 freaking years to do it.

The Study of Poisons and my other YA book I’m reading at the moment, The Mirror Prince, which I’ve been reading for over a year, are both just a little bit too big and heavy to comfortably enjoy reading in bed, which is probably the best time for me to read. Instead, I’ve taken to audiobooks for that time.

I cut back on buying books because I’ve run out of room, and my bookcases, as much as I love them, are not sturdy enough to double stack.

I just don’t know what’s wrong with my brain. I work a full time job, I work a side hustle, I review (~~for free, I might add~~ – not it’s not even for free because I pay for hosting this site, so I’m actually losing money to review books). I took up painting during the pandemic but I haven’t painted anything in over a year. I took leave in April to work on my side hustle and I read 6 books that month, but unfortunately I need to work and I can’t just sit around reading all day, as awesome as that sounds.

I feel like maybe I’m out of balance at the moment and I need to try to figure out a way to get back into balance.

Stacking the Shelves

The Study of Poisons by Maria V Snyder

Fierce, determined, dangerous. No wonder her soul called to his.

As Chief of Security of Ixia, Valek has spent the last fifteen years keeping Commander Ambrose and his citizens safe. With his complex network of spies, informers, and soldiers, it’s his job to hunt down and capture criminals, including the intriguing Yelena.

Sensing there is more to the story of why she killed a general’s son, Valek arranges for Yelena to become the Commander’s new food taster, training her in the delicate art of detecting poisons. As mysteries and a devious plot to harm the Commander unravel, Yelena’s presence becomes crucial. Will her intelligence, stubbornness, and survivor instincts be a help to Valek’s investigation, or a hinderance?

A companion novel to Poison Study, The Study of Poisons reveals Valek’s side of the story. Return to the world of Ixia and discover just how the lovely Yelena got Valek’s cold heart pumping!

Of course I was going to get my own copy when Maria released this!

For Review

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.

So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: stay busy, work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.

And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.

Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.

Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.

After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.

An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.

So I may have taken advantage of my auto-approval on Netgalley, even though I literally haven’t requested anything for review from Netgalley in about two years, because I read Poston’s The Dead Romantics and LOVED it (no review because adult, sorry!), and having previously read and loved so hard the Once Upon a Con series plus Among the Beasts and Briars YA fantasy, I am what even I consider a Poston fan. I am FULLY supporting Poston moving into adult romcom. Also, since I have technically requested an ARC, I should provide a review for this! Yes, even though it’s adult!

Monthly Wrap Up

Book Stuff

Number of books read: 2
Finished a series: Hades by Tate James
Started a series: The Guild by Tate James
New to me authors: None
Favourite book: I’m counting The Encounter (Animorphs Graphix novel #3) even though I read it in April – I didn’t review it until May because life happened.