Two very different historical novels going on this weekend. #WeekendReads

Repost and share what you're reading! Be sure to tag me and use the hashtag #WeekendReads

I loved a number of Alyson Stoner's movies growing up, but I don't think you need to know her work to get something out of this book. Like "I'm Glad My Mom Died," it explores the exploitation and abuse child actors. Even more so than McCurdy's book, though, Stoner's account is noteworthy in the ways it exposes an industry (not just bad actors within it) that seems to be inherently abusive toward the children working within it. TWs hidden below.

T. Kingfisher knows how to write a fairy tale reimagining like no other. Snow White, but from the perspective of a poison expert brought in to try to save the young princess who her father suspects is being poisoned after the death of her mother and sister. It's dark and suspenseful and evocative and a touch romantic, and I utterly loved our poison obsessed narrator.

A once powerful witch who lost her magic after bringing her aunt back to life discovers there may be a way to get her powers back--but it will take the help of the cold historian staying at her family's inn to translate the spell she needs. This was such a sweet, cozy fantasy romance. I could read a hundred of these if Sangu Mandanna continues to write them!

This dark medieval romp was sent to me by a publisher and then turned our to echo various parts of my journey to Ireland and Norway, during which I was reading it. Wild happenstance that made reading it truly unique and personal. Anyway, this is a darkly funny, gorey meditation on survival and faith and relationships. Not for the squemish or anyone unwilling to read a book that opens on a horrific Viking raid. I like it quite a lot, though.

Review catch-up! This was a lovely little novella about a fantasy version of pre-modern life in the fens of a Celtic culture (not sure if it's meant to be more Irish or Scottish). The kidnapped daughter of a neighboring clan is raised alongside the children of a rival chieftain, forbidden from acting on the feelings she shares with his daughter. But when the clans go to war, both women will have to decide where their loyalty truly lies.

Just couldn't help myself at the Nobel Peace Center. They practically had a whole bookstore in the gift shop! And I learned about a few other books I definitely want to put on my tbr, primarily The Witness of Those Two Days about the memories of the survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by Nihon Hidankyo (the recipients of the 2024 Novel Peace Prize for their ongoing advocacy against the use of nuclear weapons).

Audiobook knitting. Having traveled by boat, plane, and car the last few weeks, I've gotta say train is by far my favorite way to travel. I wish there was more infrastructure to support it throughout the States!

I've been working on the start of the Purl Soho pocket scarf while road tripping on vacation with my friends. When we haven't been chatting, I've also been listening to A Witch's Guide To Magical Innkeeping #ShowandTellTuesday #LitsyCrafters @Catsandbooks

Post-hike hot cocoa and rainy fjord views

An appropriately medieval bookmark for this book.

The ideal morning

First travel read down, on to the next!

Squeezing a little reading into my day (along with a blackberry Italian cream soda)

The dangers of self-righteousness and herd mentality come to a head in this tense historical novel about a community who descend into a fervor over the rumor-turned-belief that 5 odd sisters are turning into dogs. This novel says a lot, including in the things it doesn't explicitly say. It's all too realistic in the ways in which people are quick to turn on others they feel are different. Haunting and evocative.

A gorgeous climate dystopia where Alcatraz is used as one of the last zoos in the world for the dwindling species of animals. Camille has worked there for years and prefers animals to people, but when a new coworker shows up, her disruptive commitment to the animals pushes Camille into trouble for the first time in her life. It's sad and propulsive and all too plausible a future to feel remotely escapist, but that's much of what I loved about it.

When I tell you this book surprised the heck out of me! Started it on a road trip with a friend who was checking it out for her recently retired dad, and we were shocked to find ourselves laughing out loud. Had to finish it when I got home. I learned so much I didn't know and found the stories of John Quincy Adams and Taft particularly fascinating. Your dad and grandfather probably need to read this book!

Went into the local bookstore to get some presents for my friend's birthday and somehow came out with this book for myself. I couldn't resist the sprayed edges! Oops 😅

Spent the weekend reading, crafting, and relaxing with some of my favorite people including @TorryK

To coincide with the big Best Books of 2025 (So Far) list, here are some of the best historical fiction books of 2025 so far! I would wholeheartedly add Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, which I read shortly after writing this.

It's here! The best books of the year (so far)! I love these big lists of the best books that Book Riot puts out twice a year. Find my picks and so many others in this awesome list:

https://bookriot.com/best-books-of-2025-so-far/

One of the most inventive Cinderella retellings I've ever come across! When Ella is killed by her stepmother, her spirit lingers. Bound by ghostly limits, Ella is unable to leave the house for years. But when she discovers a means of wandering farther, she discovers 3 people who change her life forever: a fairy selling wares, a young man at the ballet, and a mage from a neighboring country. You've never read a Cinderella story like this before.

Jet was murdered--but she's not quite dead yet. With only days to live after a brutal assualt fractured her skull, Jet is determined to find who killed her. Whew this book was a wild ride. It took me a minute to warm up to Jet who is a bit of a privileged asshole, but I also realized eventually that I was only seeing Jet as her dying self, someone who didn't need to worry about consequences. This was a truly unique premise that worked so well!

A bride runs away on her wedding night only to be mistaken for a boy everyone seems to be looking for--and some people clearly want dead. I loved the explorations of gender identity and Jewish culture in a historical setting.

Trying to fit in a few more cute LGBTQ romances before Pride Month is over. I'm listening to Kiss Me, Maybe on audio and reading Isn't It Obvious and The Entanglement of Rival Wizarda on ebook. #WeekenReads

I was not expecting a Taylor Jenkins Reid novel to start off by giving The Martian vibes, but I am *not* complaining. If you're expecting a nonstop thrill ride, though, that's not what this book is. Atmosphere is still very much a character study, romance, and exploration of what life was like during the 1970s and 80s: for queer people, for women, and for people working on the space shuttle program at NASA. Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best.

Impromptu library book haul 📚

I had to start the sequel to The Darkness Outside Us as soon as I finished it. That and my new arc of Lady's Night are my current #WeekendReads

This incredible sci-fi novel reminded me of The Stars Too Fondly and Some Desperate Glory, 2 of my favorite space operas in recent years. When Ambrose wakes without memories of the launch on the Endeavor, he discovers he's not alone. Stranger still: there's evidence of past violence on the ship that can't be attributed to him or his new shipmate, and the AI who speaks with the voice of his mother is clearly keeping secrets.

Any other Murderbot fans watching the new TV show? I was very dubious at first and wasn't sure if I was going to watch it, but I've been pleasantly suprised so far. It's not the books, but it's good. It really nails the humor which is key. I might have to do a Murderbot reread now.

This excellent sci-fi novella follows a group of Human Equivelent Intelligence (HEI) bots who start their own noodle restsurant when their bosses abandon them. A malicious anti-bot review campaign threatens to destroy their business but their skills-- and their community--help them win out in the end. I think fans of Becky Chambers will find a lot to love in this one.

A renowned CIA agent and her techie girlfriend are in the midst of a breakup when an op goes wrong and they suddenly realize they're both spies--and the agency has been keeping their identities from each other. Now, forced to work together right as they reckon with all the lies they've been keeping, they'll have to decide what matters more: being the perfect spy or living the life they've always wanted. Cute, but dragged on a little at the end.

No Body No Crime took the top spot for May #BookBracket2025 @CSeydel

In honor of Pride Month starting tomorrow, here's a rainbow themes #WeekendReads template.

This is a lovely historical romance retelling / follow-up to Pride and Prejudice in which Charlotte Lucas Collins and Mary Bennet get a chance at love. I loved the development of Chatlotte and Mary as characters and the exploration of queer life during the Regency period as well as the language of flowers.

This is a fascinating read for fans of linguistics and language history about the origins and dissemination of Proto-Indo-European, the language that developed into many of the languages spoke historically and today in North America, Europe, and East / Central Asia. The book is fairly academic to the point I'm not sure how much I really absorbed in audio, but I found the topic fascinating nonetheless.

Romance and thriller #WeekendReads

This dreamy historical fantasy novel features a Puerta Rican metalworking musician who begins working with a sideshow menagerie after helping capture a siren for their new show. Bennie soon regrets the part he played in the siren's capture and vows to help free him. Falling for the siren wasn't part of the plan. Gorgeous and drenched in historical events and atmosphere. I love all the thought and research Vida Kelley put into this.

Get ready for summer with BR's list of the best beach reads of all time!

https://bookriot.com/best-beach-reads

A mountain lion living under the Hollywood Sign observes the strange lives of humans around him. This was a quick and quirky read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Physical book: Open Throat by Henry Hoke
Audiobook: Proto by Laura Spinney
E-book: Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson

#WeekendReads

I loved this thriller romance from the author of The Girls I've Been. PI Mel has a lead on the girl who ran out of her life six years ago, but when she finds her hiding in the Canadian wilderness, it's clear she's on the run from something big. Claire never expected to see Mel again, but when the private plane they're flying home in crashes, the truth about what sent her running all those years ago finally comes out. I couldn't put this one down.

So obsessed with this audiobook already! It feels very much like a grown up version of The Girls I've Been. I just love Tess Sharpe's thriller romances.

This was an adorable foodie NA / YA romance about a food blogger in Saigon and the college freshman studying abroad to try to reconnect with her culture and family. Sweet and full of mouthwatering descriptions of food.

A lot of what I write for Book Riot is fun list posts. Not so much today. Check it out:

https://bookriot.com/a-banned-1920s-book-and-a-nazi-era-filmmaker/

Afternoon reading and bubble tea break

Check out some fun new meet-cute romances over on Book Riot:

https://bookriot.com/new-meet-cute-romances/

A woman who lives her whirlwind of a life by luck and a by-the-book man who left med school to take over his grandfather's donut shop fake a relationship for PR, but soon their feelings become more than show. This was cute. Sybil's difficulties with undiagnosed neurodiversity were super relatable.

A cute YA romance about a trans teen starting at an elite boarding school, only to discover that instead of the single room he paid for he's rooming with the boy who broke his heart a few years earlier. I really appreciated the explorarion of how intense academic environments and pressure (internal or external) to perform very highly can be really hard on teens. The book is just as cute as the cover.