What Am I Reading: May Book Releases + To Be Read

It is May 6, 2015.

I usually have this blog feature posted on the 1st of each month.

What the heck happened Danielle? Usually you are very meticulous with your deadlines and your writing! This is so unlike you! What the frell???

Now while the above statement is true, I just have one thing to say -- FUCK IT. Life happens. New hobbies happened. Spending time with the love of my life happened. Avengers 2 released!

But I could not leave my fellow readers without this faithful feature. So lets get this palaver started!

Here are the book releases for the month of May that I am excited about as well as what I will be reading this month.

New Book Releases for the month of May
1: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

A modern day retelling of Beauty and the Beast? Sign me up...well since I am the living and breathing Belle and I am getting my library from my own Beast. This book was released yesterday, literally, and here is the description: When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin-one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world. As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin-and his world-forever. Perfect for fans of Kristen Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

2: Day Shift (Midnight, Texas) by Charlaine Harris

Charlaine Harris has embarked herself onto another series, this one title Midnight, Texas. The first book in the series, titled Midnight Crossroad, came out last year in May and the sequel, which released yesterday, is titled Day Shift. If you are a fan of the Sookie Steakhouse series as well as vampires, you will enjoy this series. Here is the description: In Midnight Crossroad, Charlaine Harris “capture[d] the same magic as the world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, and [took] it to another level" (Houston Press). Now the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels returns to the one-traffic-light town you see only when you’re on the way to someplace else… There is no such thing as bad publicity, except in Midnight, Texas, where the residents like to keep to themselves. Even in a town full of secretive people, Olivia Charity is an enigma. She lives with the vampire Lemuel, but no one knows what she does; they only know that she’s beautiful and dangerous. Psychic Manfred Bernardo finds out just how dangerous when he goes on a working weekend to Dallas and sees Olivia there with a couple who are both found dead the next day. To make matters worse, one of Manfred’s regular—and very wealthy—clients dies during a reading. Manfred returns from Dallas embroiled in scandal and hounded by the press. He turns to Olivia for help; somehow he knows that the mysterious Olivia can get things back to normal. As normal as things get in Midnight…

3: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

This book has come up in my recommendations on Amazon a lot as well as receiving a lot of great reviews and it is inspired by the folk tale A Thousand and One Nights. When I read the description, it sounded interesting so why not give it a shot? This title will be released by May 12, 2015. Here is the description: Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend. She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

4: Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

Apparently this book is being touted as another version of Gone Girl, but instead the heroine is a teenager and not bat shit crazy like Amy in Gone Girl. I will admit, I was not a fan of Gone Girl at first but it grew on me, so upon reading the description of this I figured, yet again, lets give it a shot. Apparently that is my motto for this month of new releases -- hey lets give a shot! This books will be released on May 12, 2015. Here is the book description: HER PERFECT LIFE IS A PERFECT LIE. As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve. But Ani has a secret. There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything. With a singular voice and twists you won’t see coming, Luckiest Girl Alive explores the unbearable pressure that so many women feel to “have it all” and introduces a heroine whose sharp edges and cutthroat ambition have been protecting a scandalous truth, and a heart that's bigger than it first appears. The question remains: will breaking her silence destroy all that she has worked for—or, will it at long last, set Ani free?

5: ReJane by Patricia Park

Another modern day retelling of a classic; this time it is Jane Eyre. Out of all of the Charlotte Bronte novels out there, this one has to be the one that did not put me to sleep. So upon hearing of a modern retelling of this, figured...say it with me my faithful readers....HEY LETS GIVE IT A SHOT! This book was released yesterday. Here is the book description: Journeying from Queens to Brooklyn to Seoul, and back, this is a fresh, contemporary retelling of Jane Eyre and a poignant Korean American debut -- For Jane Re, half-Korean, half-American orphan, Flushing, Queens, is the place she’s been trying to escape from her whole life. Sardonic yet vulnerable, Jane toils, unappreciated, in her strict uncle’s grocery store and politely observes the traditional principle of nunchi (a combination of good manners, hierarchy, and obligation). Desperate for a new life, she’s thrilled to become the au pair for the Mazer-Farleys, two Brooklyn English professors and their adopted Chinese daughter. Inducted into the world of organic food co-ops, and nineteenth–century novels, Jane is the recipient of Beth Mazer’s feminist lectures and Ed Farley’s very male attention. But when a family death interrupts Jane and Ed’s blossoming affair, she flies off to Seoul, leaving New York far behind. Reconnecting with family, and struggling to learn the ways of modern-day Korea, Jane begins to wonder if Ed Farley is really the man for her. Jane returns to Queens, where she must find a balance between two cultures and accept who she really is. Re Jane is a bright, comic story of falling in love, finding strength, and living not just out of obligation to others, but for one’s self.

What I am Reading in the month of May
1: The Duff by Kody Keplinger

This is the book I am currently reading and is part of the "The Book is Better" campaign since it was made into a movie. I have not seen the movie yet and will not until I finish this book to give my opinion. Here is the description: Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper may not be the prettiest girl in her high school, but she has a loyal group of friends, a biting wit, and a spot-on BS detector. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush, who calls Bianca the Duff--the designated ugly fat friend--of her crew. But things aren't so great at home and Bianca, desperate for a distraction, ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him. Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

2: This stack of Farscape trade paperbacks. And maybe give them to my love, if he isn't being evil. Oh you know I am going to pass on the goodness...who am I kidding.

Now it is going to be hard to give a description for each and every trade paperback here so I will give you a general synopsis of what Farscape is all about: Thrown into a distant part of the universe, an Earth astronaut finds himself part of a fugitive alien starship crew. Sounds simple right? It truly is not and is one of those television shows that networks missed the mark on. Watch it on Netflix, get a copy of The Peacekeeper Wars, then get your hands on the comic trade paperbacks. You will be hooked. Sorry for ruining your life. ;)

I am pretty sure I will read other books but this is it...what are you reading in May?