Hey friends!

I’ve been doing a lot of reading since the beginning of the year, but…it took me until April to finally read a few things that got me really excited!

So, excited that I wanted to share the wealth, just in case you are looking for some top reads to populate your May TBR. Let’s get into it, shall we?

Fantasy

Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

Oh. My. Word. This book. I could not get enough of it, and this is coming from someone who hasn’t been enjoying YA (this book is billed as YA Fantasy) and doesn’t normally enjoy fantasy. But this book was IT! Dragonfruit is about a young heroine, Hanalei, who returns to her island of Tamarind after years of exile for the crimes of her father, and ends up going on a quest to find a sacred dragonfruit to heal an ailing princess. There’s romance, adventure, and heart all throughout this fairytale that kept me turning the page. I loved the atmosphere of this story as much as I loved the characters. Definitely a great book to kick off summer!

Thriller

The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

Controversial hot take: I think that this book blows Good Girl’s Guide to Murder out of the water. There! I said it! The story is about Bel Price, who is part of a documentary being made about her mother, who disappeared sixteen years ago. No one has any idea where Bel’s mother went or even if she’s still alive. And then one day Rachel Price returns as if from the dead. (That’s not a spoiler. It’s literally in the title.) Again, this one, like Dragonfruit, is billed as YA, but it doesn’t feel like YA. Every chapter leaves you on a cliff hanger with tons of questions that keep you reading. And that ending! Woah! I did NOT see that coming. So good. 5 stars!

Romance

Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle

Listen. Rebecca Serle is one of my auto buy authors. However, I suggest you check trigger warnings for this before going in because I was blindsided about 50% through the book at one of the reveals and it may have triggered a bit of my own anxiety. But! I say all that to say that this is still worth a read. The novel is about Daphne, a young woman who receives slips of paper with the name of the next man she is going to date and how long they will date for. What I love about Serle’s books are the depth with which she treats her subjects. I always walk away feeling absolutely shattered by her stories in the best way possible. You fall in love with Serle’s characters, which makes the stories so much fun to read. Plus, she always infuses a little bit of magic into all of her tales.

Horror

Diavola by Jennifer Thorne

A ghost story that takes place on vacation in a Tuscan villa? Sign me the f–k up! Diavola is about Anna, who goes on a vacation to Tuscany with her family and things start to go a big awry when they realize they are staying in a haunted house with a ghost. All I can really say is that if you like Rachel Harrison, you will LOOOOOOOOVE this book. There’s the same kind of body horror that Harrison uses in her stories and the same dark, sarcastic humor. I actually found myself laughing out loud at points and rooting for Anna, who is billed as the black sheep of her family. It’s a great book for starting your summer TBR.

Non-Fiction

Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzenegger

Ok. Hear me out. This book was really good. My husband, Mark, and I watched Arnold’s documentary on Netflix, and I was so moved by it that I was inspired to read his book. Actually, I listened to it on Audible (Arnold reads it), and I loved it. It’s essentially a self help book that gives you actionable tools for making changes in your life. Keep in mind, this is Arnold. So there may be a line in there about “rest is for babies and relaxation is for retired people”. Overall, I think this is worth a read to get yourself going if you’ve been in a funk.

Life Updates

Me, my sister in law, and niece went on our annual bookcation a couple of weeks ago!

Last year we were in the Catskills. This year we were a bit closer to home and decided to rent a house on a lake. It was so wonderful. I highly recommend planning a bookcation with your people.

We spent two whole days eating delicious food, drinking delicious drinks, and reading delicious books while listening to cozy spring ambience videos on YouTube. The living room had a perfect view of the lake, which was where we sat all day just…reading. It was a dream.

TpT Store Updates

I am back to updating my TpT store…finally! The last few months with work have been SUPER busy. But I am currently working on a Frankenstein unit. Right now the anticipation guide is up if you want to check it and follow along to see the other resources that will be coming in.

Click here to see what’s new in TpT!

When introducing Frankenstein to my classes, I would do a whole pre-unit on Romanticism and Gothicism, so I’m currently deciding if I want to upload lessons in the order which I taught them, or just jump right into chapter one and worry about the introductory materials later. But I think I am going to go in order. We’ll see what I ultimately decide.

Final Thoughts

That’s it for now, friends! I hope you have an exceptional week. Let me know in the comments if you read any of the book recs above or just want to chat!

Until next time! Cheers!