Bookworms,

It’s been quite a while since I did one of those, isn’t that right? I think the last one was back in January? Somehow despite trying my best, I have ended up with the quite the number of reading copies on my Kindle. (Thanks, Netgalley for being there, tempting as always)

I will only be talking about the books that have a June or July release dates for now, so as to lessen my burden and to not overwhelm/bore you with the titles and lists and such! Let’s dive in, shall we?

The Empire of Gold by S. A. Chakraborty

I can’t even put up the summary here because it’s spoiler-y. I am so sorry! You will just have to be happy with the pretty cover instead! Trust me when I say that this is a great series conclusion and I, frankly, couldn’t have asked for a better one. Throughout my read of the book, I was just hoping that it wouldn’t end in a disaster and it didn’t! The author did a great job of wrapping up and giving me a surprise in the end. So yay for that.

Yes, I have already devoured the book and it was great. Expect the review soon.

 

+++++

Tennis Lessons by Susannah Dickey

You know you’re strange and wrong. You’ve known it from the beginning.

This is the voice that rings in your ears. That worries you never say the right thing and you’re probably a disappointment to your parents. That you’re a far cry from pretty – and your thoughts are ugly too. It says no one will ever like you just as you are.

But you know what it is to laugh with your best friend until your stomach hurts, to feel the first delicious tingles of attraction, to take exquisite pleasure in the goriness of your ingrowing toenail.

There is a place for you out there. You just need to find it.

TENNIS LESSONS is the unflinchingly honest story of one misfit and her uncertain journey to something like happiness. Stopping by each year along the way, she navigates disastrous dates, dead pets, crashed cars, best friends and lost loves. Susannah Dickey reminds us that we’re all a bit weird. And that’s just fine.

+++++

This seems like something I should definitely read because it’s not my usual pick and I have been trying (badly) to improve my reading. To make it broader as far as genre goes. So here goes nothing, I hope it’s good.

+++++

Sin Eater by Megan Campisi

The Handmaid’s Tale meets Alice in Wonderland in this gripping and imaginative historical novel about a shunned orphan girl in 16th-century England who is ensnared in a deadly royal plot and must turn her subjugation into her power.

The Sin Eater walks among us, unseen, unheard
Sins of our flesh become sins of Hers
Following Her to the grave, unseen, unheard
The Sin Eater Walks Among Us.

For the crime of stealing bread, fourteen-year-old May receives a life sentence: she must become a Sin Eater—a shunned woman, brutally marked, whose fate is to hear the final confessions of the dying, eat ritual foods symbolizing their sins as a funeral rite, and thereby shoulder their transgressions to grant their souls access to heaven.

Orphaned and friendless, apprenticed to an older Sin Eater who cannot speak to her, May must make her way in a dangerous and cruel world she barely understands. When a deer heart appears on the coffin of a royal governess who did not confess to the dreadful sin it represents, the older Sin Eater refuses to eat it. She is taken to prison, tortured, and killed. To avenge her death, May must find out who placed the deer heart on the coffin and why.

“A keenly researched feminist arc of unexpected abundance, reckoning, intellect, and ferocious survival” (Maria Dahvana Headley, author of The Mere Wife) Sin Eater is “a dark, rich story replete with humor, unforgettable characters, and arcane mysteries. It casts a spell on your heart and mind until the final page” (Jennie Melamed, author of Gather the Daughters).

+++++

This frankly sounds amazing and weird enough to lure me in. I have no idea beyond the synopsis so I might not actually have any idea as to what’s happening. I can’t wait for the adventure!

+++++

Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce

It is 1950. In a devastating moment of clarity, Margery Benson abandons her dead-end job and advertises for an assistant to accompany her on an expedition. She is going to travel to the other side of the world to search for a beetle that may or may not exist.

Enid Pretty, in her unlikely pink travel suit, is not the companion Margery had in mind. And yet together they will be drawn into an adventure that will exceed every expectation. They will risk everything, break all the rules, and at the top of a red mountain, discover their best selves.

This is a story that is less about what can be found than the belief it might be found; it is an intoxicating adventure story but it is also about what it means to be a woman and a tender exploration of a friendship that defies all boundaries. 

+++++

This sounds pretty fun and I have peeked at the reviews (the non-spoiler-y ones, of course) and I am positive that I will love it. I am not getting carried away, I am not.

 

And those are the books I wanted to talk about today. There are more books I have on my Kindle and I will definitely be talking about them soon enough. Here’s to hoping I am actually following up on my word. If not, bully me, please.