Book Ishness April 2020!

Um, excuse me, HOW are we so far into April already? I blame Camp NaNo. *nervous laughter*

Anyway, I have a list of just a few upcoming book releases, and a recap of my March reads, to share with y’all today! ^_^

April Book Releases

I’m SO excited about this month’s releases! Look how pretty! ❤

(Titles link to Goodreads and I will also be unlazy and leave pre-order links too. XD)

Winter Spell – Claire M. Banschbach — (April 24) Faeries. Glorious winter vibes. Story of unlikely friendships and some of my fave characters! (Seriously, Dorian and August and Tonya and Princess Diane are absolutely delightful.) So much awesome! (Pre-order/pre-order goodies info.) Disclaimer: I was an editor for this but I adore it!
War Bound – Tara Grayce — (April 21) Sequel to Fierce Heart. (So, like, go read that if you haven’t. XD) Elves. A dash of steampunk with trains and steamboats and things. A marriage of alliance — which is ADORBZ. And Farrendel, who is the Most Epic Elf Warrior. ❤ Plus, Essie’s brothers! I just really enjoyed this one. 😀 (Pre-order link.) Disclaimer: Yes, I edited this, but it’s just really good!
The Last Atlantean – Emily Hayse — (April 28) Lighthouse and storms and Atlantis and all of the things? Yes please! It just sounds amazing and I can’t wait to read it! 😀 (Pre-order/pre-order goodies signup.)

Books I Read in March 2020

(Featuring blue flowers with my new Instagram theme for spring which is making me really happy! ^_^)

I had a stunningly good reading month in March — for which I mostly blame March Magics. 😉

Here are the things I read last month, by category!

(If you want to read more about any of these, you can find them on Goodreads here.)

PICTURE BOOKS

• Marigold and the Snoring King – J. D. Rempel — I won an ebook of this in a giveaway and aww! ^_^ Such a charming, adorable, fun, and funny picture book! 🙂 The pictures were great and the story was so much fun. It made me smile! I loved it. ❤
• The Four Donkeys – Lloyd Alexander — I’ve been wanting to read this for YEARS but never prioritized it since it’s just a picture book. But I finally got it for my birthday last month and it. was. delicious. Lloyd Alexander’s wry humor and gentle wisdom and alive characters are simply the best! It’s like a comical fable and the pictures are delightful. AND it had an adorable otter in it, which I didn’t know until I read it, so it was just PERFECT for my birthday! I loved it so, so much. ^_^
• Saint George and the Dragon – Geraldine McCaughrean — I also got this for my birthday and enjoyed it — particularly some of the stunning art. I felt like the end was sad, and it was more historical-based than the delicious picture book of the same title with Trina Schart Hyman’s amazing illustrations — so I prefer that one, but I’m glad I got to read this one. I adore McCaughrean’s writing!

RE READS

• Scoundrels (Star Wars) – Timothy Zahn — I re-read this aloud and had an absolute BLAST! If you only read one Star Wars book, ever, make it this one. 😀 I don’t care what you think about the canon or non-canon books, or about the new or old movies, or anything — just know that this book is a blast. XD It’s a DELIGHTFUL heist story set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, featuring Han, Chewie, and Lando! It’s a favorite and I had way too much fun re-reading it! (And doing the voices. XD) I need to read more Zahn. I loved this and his Heir to the Empire trilogy!
  
• Fire and Hemlock – Diana Wynne Jones — I re-read this for March Magics and it. was. incredible. I got so much more out of it on the second read, but it still had that magic the first time did. I just love it so, so much. ❤ (Thomas Lynn is the best!)
  

MARCH MAGICS (NEW READS)

I recapped these in my March Magics wrapup post, so I won’t be detailed here.

• The Islands of Chaldea – Diana Wynne Jones — Delightful! Islandssss!
• Thief of Time – Terry Pratchett — A blast, and I love all the time stuff. XD
• A Hat Full of Sky – Terry Pratchett — The Feegles! XD

OTHER BOOKS

• Emberhawk – Jamie Foley — (ARC) This was definitely a new favorite and I had so much fun reading it! Awk! Full review here.
• Adorning the Dark – Andrew Peterson — (Non-fiction) I’ve been reading at least one nonfiction about writing each month this year. I loved Adorning the Dark and totally recommend it to all creatives. I’m turning into a serious Andrew Peterson fan. XD I’ve still only read the first Wingfeather Saga book (but hope to read the second one soon), but I heard so many good things about this that I had to read it. It was inspiring and I adored it. I’m starting to listen to his music, particularly this Easter, and I’ve been really enjoying that too.
• If Wishes Were Curses – Janeen Ippolito — (Audiobook) I finally finished this! (It takes me an embarrassingly long time to finish audiobooks sometimes. XD) I don’t read much urban fantasy so I didn’t know what to expect, but I quite enjoyed this, and the narrator was sooo much fun! I loved the otter shifter character, and somehow I keep ending up reading about vampires but for some reason I didn’t mind. XD It’s a smidge more NA so there’s a bit of language and stuff if you mind that but it’s cleanish (I hear a lot of urban fantasy is NOT. XD) and I didn’t really notice since I was listening to the audiobook. XD Anyway, it’s really fun and I had a blast! I’m starting to listen to the second one. 🙂 So yeah, this is imaginative and fun and totally worth checking out if you love urban fantasy!

MISC

• And of course I’ve been reading a few serials, and things for copyediting work or beta-reading. 🙂
• So much reading! I’m very happy. ^_^

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This month I’m focusing a lot on editing work and Camp NaNo, but if I have time to catch up on review books as well, I would love to do that . . . since I’m low-key planning to take a sort of semi-vacation in May, stepping back from social media and just hoping to recharge some. We’ll see if I catch up this month and earn it! 😉

If you need me, I’ll be trying to keep up with Camp NaNo! XD

Any familiar books or books you’re excited about in this post? And are you reading anything good these days? Let me know in a comment! Thanks for reading! 🙂

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“Totally Should’ve…” Book Tag

The lovely Madeline @ Short & Snappy tagged me ages ago for the “Totally Should’ve…” book tag! Yay! Thanks ever so muchly, Madeline! It looks like fun. ^_^ (And be sure to check out Madeline’s blog as well, because it’s a delight! <3)

So I will now answer the question with books that totally should’ve . . .

Gotten a sequel:

Illusionarium by Heather Dixon. You knew this one was coming. 😉

Had a spin-off series:

How about the Heist Society series? I want a spin-off all about Hale! 🙂

(An author who totally should) Write more books:

Gillian Bronte Adams! I’ve loved what I’ve read so far and want more. ^_^

(A character who totally should’ve) Ended up with someone else:

Is it weird I can’t think of anyone for this one?

Ended differently:

Let me count the ways . . . Ahem. I could probably be here all day but off the top of my head from books I read this year, I’ll say The Thief Lord and The Last Dragonslayer.

Had a movie:

I’m going to be lame and say Illusionarium again. XD Seriously though…

Had a movie franchise:

The Star Wars Heir to the Empire trilogy by Timothy Zahn… >.>

Had a TV show:

The Rising Shadows trilogy by Ashley Townsend (Rising Shadows, Chasing Shadows, Defying Shadows). Maybe a mini-series? But Defying Shadows especially would be FANTASTIC on-screen. 😀 And since they’re a series and kind of long and somewhat episodic (plus I wouldn’t want ANYTHING to be cut out so it would have to be long) a TV show would be fabulous. It would be gorgeous and epic and sweet and medieval and modern and time-travel-y and just yes. Somebody make this happen.

Had only one point of view:

I can’t think of one for this either! I love multiple POVs. It gives the book more scope.

Have a cover change:

How about several Diana Wynne Jones books…? There are a few very nice covers for her books, but it does seem like she got more than her fair share of bizarre, kind of icky covers… o.o

Kept the original covers:

I think I liked the original cover of The Seahorse Legacy better than the remade one… I like them both but the original was just kinda perfect to me. ^_^

(original left; new version right)

Stopped at book one:

Not at book one, but I would have been happier, I think, if The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede had been just the first two books (Dealing with Dragons and Searching for Dragons). I enjoyed the other two but they weren’t the same. (Of course, I hear that the first three were written as prequels because the fourth one was published first, so I guess this wouldn’t have worked out! XD)

I’m tagging anyone reading this who wants to do it. 🙂 What do you think? Any books that “totally should’ve…” something?

Thanks for reading!

Dream away in those Pages . . .

~ The Page Dreamer

Top 12 Books Recently Added to My TBR

The Broke and the Bookish‘s Top Ten Tuesday prompt of the week: Top Ten Books I’ve Recently Added To My TBR (inspired by Jamie’s New To The Queue posts).

It’s usually top ten, but for myself I’m going just a liiiittle over.

I glanced at my latest books added to my To Be Read list on Goodreads, and there are quite a few intriguing morsels I’ve added lately!

They also have almost all been from recommendations or books people mentioned in blogs and such. This is the time of year when everyone’s posting their lists of favorite books of the year before, etc., so I’ve been gathering a lot more books on my forever growing TBR pile…

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

I’ve been wanting to perhaps read some of this famous mystery author, but I never know where to start, so I had once asked someone who mentioned she liked this author which was her favorite. She just got back to me and I promptly added this to my TBR. It sounds like an awesome mystery.

The Floating Admiral by Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, G. K. Chesterton, etc.

Blogger and author Kelsey Bryant mentioned this to me recently: a mystery novel where each chapter is written by a different famous mystery author! How cool is that? Now THIS I have to see.

Blood Ties by Hazel B. West

When the author mentioned on Goodreads that she’s having a blogtour for this soon and I read the description, I couldn’t resist adding this to my list. The description starts with: “In an Ireland that mixes high kings, faeries, and modern warriors who drive fast cars, Ciran, a descendant from the famous warrior Fionn Mac Cool…” and that’s all I need to know. SIGN ME UP.

The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

I noticed this in a summary of 2015 books post by Deborah Dunlevy, and it sounds like so much fun. Definitely want to try it out.

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett is another author who I hear good things about and never know where to START. So I asked Sarah and she recommended this one and the following one. They sound humorous. Count me in. I love humor and slightly crazy-sounding whimsical fantasy stories. Yes please.

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

Same story on how I came to add it as above.

The Silent Songbird by Melanie Dickerson

BECAUSE MELANIE DICKERSON! And this one is coming out this November and will be the final Hagenheim book, and is a Little Mermaid retelling set between The Merchant’s Daughter and The Princess Spy. I saw on Goodreads Shantelle add this and went AAAHH IT’S ON GOODREADS! And instantly clicked “want to read”. Yes. (Because Melanie Dickerson.)

The Map Across Time by C. S. Lakin

Again, Kelsey Bryant listed this on her top reads of last year on her blog. It sounds like a delightful fantasy which I’m itching to get my hands on…

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Cait has been after me (and everyone) forever to read some Maggie Stiefvater… So when I finally saw a review by Lisa Pickle in which she mentioned it has Welsh-ish stuff (and then I read the summary on Goodreads)… yep, had to add it.

Black Spring by Alison Croggon

Jenifer Freitag mentioned this in her list of books she read last year, saying it was recommended her by Mirriam Neal and that it’s like Wuthering Heights but better and with fantasy. I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE. (No, I haven’t actually read Wuthering Heights yet. Shush. I just need it on principal because I like the sound of the “feel”. So. Just pretend I make sense.)

Playing With Fire (Skulduggery Pleasant, #2) by Derek Landy

Because I recently read Scepter of the Ancients, the first Skulduggery Pleasant book, and I’m dying to read more. I need more of that humorous witty banter in my life. (Now I just need to FIND more of these books… Why don’t you have them, library mine??)

The Icarus Hunt by Timothy Zahn

Jenelle Schmidt mentioned this in her list of books she’d want on a deserted island. I’ve only read a few of Zahn’s books (Star Wars ones) and loved them… I promptly looked this up on Goodreads, and as soon as I’d read the summary I added it to my TBR so fast I think I got whiplash. It sounds like a Firefly-esque book, by Timothy Zahn, and basically I just need it right now, okay?

What have you recently added to your TBR? And is it as ever-growing as mine? (I fear it’s a booklover thing…)

Dream away in those pages…!