Earl Grey Books

Tomorrow is time for my summer TBR, so that means we’re here to wrap up my spring TBR today. I don’t have much else to add here, so let’s jump in and see how I did this season.

What I Read

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

I read this one towards the end of October, and honestly, it’s complicated. It’s basically a scene-for-scene retelling of The Great Gatsby but from Jordan Baker’s point of view with some vague magic. It was kind of boring and confusing, and I still don’t really understand the point of the book, but Nghi Vo’s writing was pretty fantastic—it did really feel like Fitzgerald, and I liked that. So yes, complicated.

Five Little Pigs (Hercule Poirot #22) by Agatha Christie

I read this one in November, and as per usual with Christie, I enjoyed it. This is told in a really interesting way that’s quite different to the other Poirot’s so that was fun to read. I don’t really have too much to add to that.

Forrest for the Trees (Green Valley Heroes #1) by Kilby Blades

I read this one in November as well. It was a cute enough romance, and I enjoyed the wildfire aspect of this—it’s the romance between a park ranger and a fire marshall as they investigate deliberately lit fires. I was hoping for a bit more smutty goodness in this one but it ultimately fell flat there.

Twelve Caesars by Mary Beard

I read this one at the end of November too. I was a little disappointed in this one as well. It was really interesting, but it was hard to follow, and I had to reread sentences multiple times to try and work out what was being said. I loved Mary Beard’s book SPQR, but I’ve felt let down but her others—her writing in that one is just so fantastic and accessible, and this feels like the opposite.

What I Didn’t

A Secret Love (Cynster #5) by Stephanie Laurens

I’ve just not been in the historical romance mindset lately, and then I ended up switching this out to focus on a different series instead. I’ll try and some back to this series in early 2023 instead.

Kiss of Steel (London Steampunk #1) by Bec McMaster

I really didn’t do much reading on my Kindle these past few months, so I kind of regret making the decision to pick five Kindle books for this TBR. I still want to get to this one, if I can get to it this month, I definitely will.

Dead of Spring by Colette Rhodes

I didn’t even get around to borrowing this one off KU. I definitely won’t be getting to it by the end of the year, but I do still really want to read it.

Blood Laws (Immortal Curse #1) Lexi C. Foss

I did start this one, so that’s something at least. I read the first 25% of it, and I was enjoying it, but it’s a little slow to start and I was feeling a bit slumpy at the time. I just needed something a little more fast-paced to push me out of that slump, but I’ll come back to this one as soon as I can.

Reject Me (Immortal Vices and Virtues #1) by Kel Carpenter and Aurelia Jane

I didn’t even think about this one either. It’s pretty low on my priority list right now so I don’t imagine getting to this even in January, ut maybe later down the track.

The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus #3) by Rick Riordan

I regret picking this one because I still haven’t even finished The Son of Neptune. I’d hoped to reread this entire series before the end of the year, but again it’s not been super high on my list of priorities. Instead I think I’ll try and knock this series out in the first quarter of 2023.

And that’s it for today. Honestly, getting through four of them isn’t too bad and hopefully I can improve on that for Summer, but we’ll talk about that tomorrow!