Hello May.
I’m planning on being pals with May this year, mostly
because March and April were both so shockingly bad
that I’m feeling pretty desperate for something that’s just, well, better.
With regards to books to read, then, it’s off to a pretty
good start. There’s some super fun books due for release this month that I
cannot wait to get my prettily painted nails on. [I say ‘prettily painted’ but
actually I painted them on Tuesday night, had to redo two of them because of smudging
and already had a chip by the time I woke up on Wednesday. This my friends, is why I will always advocate the
wonder that is the gel polish.]
Anyway. Books. New shiny new pretty books. The list is long this month and I’m not going to talk about
them all because that would be crazy so I’ve just chosen 5. HERE THEY ARE:
I was going to start with Kirtsy Logan’s The Gracekeepers which I have been immensely excited
about and will be reading in a book and
a half (yep, I have a list, that’s the level of organisation I work to these
days. I’m quite impressed by my own self) because I thought it was released in
May. It would appear I was wrong. I was lucky enough to receive a proof copy,
which might just be one of the prettiest books I’ve ever seen – seriously, some
of these proofs are just stunning – but
also must, at some point, have pre-ordered it in my sleep and as such was super
confused when it popped through my letterbox in all its hard-backed glory
proclaiming ‘look at me, I am beautiful and not at all released in May.
Stupid.’ I’m going to talk about it anyway because let me tell you a thing: The Gracekeepers sounds like all kinds of perfect. It’s
about a world divided between people who live on the water and those who live
on the land; it’s about floating circuses and a bear girl, and another girl who
has exiled herself to live alone on an island and take care of the dead and it
sounds magical and mythical and so freaking wonderful. I am
stupidly excited about it. Stupidly. 
If you don’t know that Kate Atkinson’s new novel A God in Ruins is out this month, well, you must’ve been
living under a rock because this book has had all the hype. All of it.
Deservedly so no doubt: I love Kate Atkinson. She’s one of my auto-buy authors,
which I’m going to talk about another time, and as such I am practically giddy
at the prospect of this book. If you read Life After Life
which was Atkinson’s last offering and was marvellous, then you’re in for a
treat with this one because it’s the story of Teddy. Teddy was a side character
in Life After Life, one you couldn’t not
love and now here he is, with his own shiny book and his own shiny story. It
was released yesterday. Love. 
I loved Steve Toltz’s A Fraction of the Whole (and
talk about it here) so I’ve been really looking forward to Quicksand
which is out on May 21st. It’s the story (and I steal this straight
from the blurb) of Aldo and Liam – lifelong friends, criminal and police
officer, muse and writer. So, it’s about a struggling writer – also a policeman, who
decides to write a book about his best friend (a criminal entrepreneur with
very bad luck and an ex-wife he’s still in love with). I’m expecting great
things, I’m expecting it to be gritty and honest and funny and
thought-provoking and I want it in my life. I am so excited about it, and God,
I hope I’m not disappointed.
A Court of Thorns and Roses was released
(I think) on Tuesday. Again, I’ve heard all the good things about it – Sarah J
Maas is talked about a lot on American book blogs I follow. I think her Throne of Glass series is kind of A Big Deal; I read that
she wrote it when she was just 16 which is really excellent. I’ve not seen her
name around much over here until now, but perhaps I’ve just not been looking in
the right places. A Court of
Thorns and Roses is the first in a YA trilogy, and is A BEAUTY AND
THE BEAST RETELLING OH GOD LET ME AT IT with a magical kingdom and hunters and
faeries and love and It’s described as ferocious and delicious and magical and
all of those things are things I like in my books. I also love
Beauty and the Beast so you know, this ticks all the boxes for me.
Hold Me Like a Breath makes me
want to clap my hands in delight; It’s another one of those fairytale
retellings I love so much. This time, it’s the Princess and
the Pea, with rare blood diseases and organ trafficking and rival
crime families all set against a New
York backdrop. How awesome does that sound? I feel
like it’s going to be either sublime or ridiculous. I can’t wait to find out
which. It’s published on the 19th and the cover, according to the
internets at least, looks super pretty. Lookit.
