Hi and welcome to the reading world!
Today, I’m wrapping up another month of reading. May 2022 had some great books in it for me, and I’m excited to share some new highlights.
What’s on the Shelves:
I got to enjoy some wonderful books last month. Two of the ones I wanted to highlight are I am Not Starfire, a graphic novel, and Queerly Beloved, a contemporary fiction romance.
From New York Times bestselling author Mariko Tamaki (Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass) and artist Yoshi Yoshitani (Zatanna and the House of Secrets) comes a story about Mandy, the daughter of super-famous superhero Starfire. Seventeen-year-old Mandy, daughter of Starfire, is not like her mother. Starfire is gorgeous, tall, sparkly, and a hero. Mandy is not a sparkly superhero. Mandy has no powers. She’s a kid who dyes her hair black and hates everyone but her best friend, Lincoln. To Starfire, who is from another planet, Mandy seems like an alien, like some distant, angry, light-years away moon. And ever since she walked out on her SATs, which her mom doesn’t know about, Mandy has been even more distant. Everyone thinks Mandy needs to go to college and become whoever you become at college, but Mandy has other plans. Or she did until she gets partnered with Claire, the person she intensely denies liking but definitely likes a lot, for a school project. When someone from Starfire’s past arrives, Mandy must make a choice: give up before the battle has even begun, or step into the unknown and risk everything to save her mom. I Am Not Starfire is a story about teenagers and/as aliens; about knowing where you come from and where you are going; and about mothers.
I Am Not Starfire by Mariko Tamaki
Published by DC Comics on July 27, 2021
Genres: Comics & Graphic Novels / Superheroes
Pages: 162
A people-pleasing baker tries to find her place as a bridesmaid-for-hire. Will she finally find her happily ever after—and her own voice? ONE OF BUZZFEED’S MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022 • “A delightful debut, perfect for any person who’s ever created their own place to belong.”—Casey McQuiston, bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue and One Last Stop Amy, a semicloseted queer baker and bartender in mid-2010s Oklahoma, has spent a lifetime putting other people’s needs before her own. Until, that is, she’s fired from her job at a Christian bakery and turns her one-off gig subbing in for a bridesmaid into a full-time business, thanks to her baking talents, crafting skills, and years watching rom-coms and Say Yes to the Dress. Between her new gig and meeting Charley, the attractive engineer who’s just moved to Tulsa, suddenly Amy’s found something—and someone—she actually wants. Her tight-knit group of chosen family is thrilled that Amy is becoming her authentic self. But when her deep desire to please kicks into overdrive, Amy’s precarious balancing act strains her relationships to the breaking point, and she must decide what it looks like to be true to herself—and if she has the courage to try.
Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond
Published by Random House Publishing Group on May 3, 2022
Genres: Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian, Fiction / Romance / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian, Fiction / Women
Pages: 400
What’s on the Blog:
I shared a review on the blog this past month for The Secret Lives of Church Ladies. This was one of my favorite short story collections I’ve read!
I also got to share 2 book lists on the blog this past month I wanted to highlight. One is a list of 12 Audiobook Recommendations from My First Quarter Reads of 2021 and then I shared my Summer Reading List for 2022, filled with 29 reads from various genres to check out this season. Summer reading lists are my favorite posts this time of year, so let me know in the comments what books you’d recommend reading this season!
Feel free to let me know your favorite recent reads in the comments!
Thanks for stopping by!
Rae