#SBS April Wrap-Up

Welcome to our monthly feature where we talk about what we read, adopted into our libraries, and what’s on our minds. After hosting #SignedBookSundays on instagram for 5+ years, we have transitioned to this format as a way to share signed books and talk about bookish (and personal) highlights. Join us the last Sunday or last day of every month (or whatever day today is…)!

In Case You Missed It

We took an extended break from posting our monthly wrap up (yikes – we haven’t posted since November!) in favor of posting other content (and needing some time off) but it’s never a bad time to come back!

• Author Interview: Where Was Goodbye? by Janice Lynn Mather
• Cover Reveal: Lonely Places by Kate Anderson
• Author Interview: Finally Fritz by Marisa Kanter
• 5 Reasons to Read: DeadEndia: The Divine Order vol. 3 by Hamish Steele
• Author Interview: The Gay Icon’s Guide to Life by Michael Joosten & Illustrated by Peter Emmerich 
• Mixtape: Colton Gentry’s Third Act by Jeff Zentner
• Author Interview: Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens & 5 Reasons to Read!
• Review: Every Time You Go Away by Abigail Johnson
• Review: A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen
• And of course the best end of year post…Favorite Reads 2023
• Don’t forget to update your bookmarks for the Where to Buy Signed Books page, because the old one is still seeing traffic, but it hasn’t been updated in a long time as WP won’t let me update that page anymore.
• We curate a Bookshop page with most of the current YA New Releases – if you enjoy our content please consider supporting us by buying books through our links, or we have a Ko-Fi!

What We Read

Kelly: So far this year I have read 17 books…I am definitely not making my anticipated reading goals, but all reading is reading, and reading goals are only a motivational tool for me. So yeah…that goal is going down from 75 to 50, probably. And it is just the new normal I guess and if I read more that is wonderful, because in my head I want to read 100 books a year but whatever I read will be good for me. Some of the standouts so far have been:

• Only this Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian – 5 stars – I absolutely loved this intergenerational story told from 3 members of the same Iranian family set between Los Angeles & Tehran from 1939, 1978, and 2019. I loved how this story was weaved between all 3 members of this family and it’s queer, it’s about family, and it’s just so good. Stonewall Award was so well deserved.
• The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab – 5 stars – When this was released last fall I was extremely excited, but my brain wasn’t really into fantasy, so when I finally sat down with this spinoff – it felt like coming home to old friends, while making new ones. Honestly, I can’t get enough of V’s books and I am eagerly anticipating what’s next!

Christy: 8 books this month! I’ve only read 23 books this entire year so I am pretty thrilled with this.

• Lost to Dune Road by Kara Thomas – I could not put this one down. I am a long-time Kara fan but her 2nd adult thriller was *chef’s kiss*. It had me guessing right until the end!
• Fairest of All: A Graphic Novel (Whatever After #1) by Sarah Mlynowski with art by Anu Chouhan – A little YallWest prep but also of course I am going to read a book based on fairytales! This is an adaptation of a young reader’s series and was absolutely adorable! TY to Scholastic/Graphix for sending 🙂

What We Hauled

Where we share our gifted and promotional books from authors and publishers, as well as the signed books we purchased (this is #SBS after all)! You can check our Where to Buy Signed Books page for more!

Kelly’s Highlights

• True Love and Other Impossible Odds by Christina Li – Releases May 14th – Thank you Quill Tree/Sparks Books for the finished copy!
• Blood on the Tide by Katee Robert – Releases May 14th – Thank you Berkley for the finished copy!
• Past Present Future by Rachel Lynn Solomon – Releases June 4th – Thank you to Simon Teen for this ARC & finished copy!
• Camp Prodigy by Caroline Palmer – Releases June 11th – Thank you Simon & Schuster for the finished copy!
• It’s Only a Game by Kelsey Yu – Releases July 9th – Thank you to Bloomsbury YA for the advance copy!

Christy’s Highlights

• Against the Darkness by Kendare Blake – I can’t wait to see what the new Scoobies are up to in this finale!
• Heavenbreaker by Sara Wolf – This longtime fan of Sara can’t wait to check out her latest! TY Entangled for the ARC!

What We Hope to Read

Kelly: Summer reading is basically upon us, and I just want to consume all the queer romance I can get my hands on! You can follow me on storygraph or goodreads if you want to see what I am reading.

• A Shot in the Dark by Victoria Lee
• The Absinthe Underground by Jamie Pacton
• Triple Sec by TJ Alexander
• The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller

Christy: I have hopes for May but I also know it’s going to be super busy so keeping it simple.

• Something Kindred by Ciera Burch
• Dark Parts of the Universe by Sam Miller

On the Top of Our Minds

Kelly: 

I will admit towards the end of last year and the beginning of this one, I was seriously wondering why I am even still blogging after 12 years! It feels like a lot – but then I get invited to go to SDCC (!!!) and remember that putting in the work for the long haul is kind of fun. A lot of the drama in my head is that social media is so different now, and that and the blog is a lot of work. I do realize that if I don’t start doing reels on instagram, I am never going to grow there, and after 2 years of stagnant growth, if I never grow there that is okay too. This is what I make of it, but it is also time, money, and of course mental bandwidth. This is my hobby but sometimes the amount of time that can go into it all is work.

Since I don’t talk much about my other hobbies, might as well get started here. I am a big sports fan…my favorite sport is baseball and my teams are definitely my cities’ teams, like the Phillies! I have been a baseball fan my entire life, I have amazing memories of my dad taking me to games as a young kid, and this year my wife & I made it to opening day. We used to always try and go to opening day, but the team is so popular the last few years that’s not been financially worth while.

It is also full on gardening season! I love to grow my own vegetables, and since all my little dogs who loved to destroy anything planted, have passed, these last two seasons I have greatly expanded my gardening time and it really brings me joy. Also, if you never tasted the the literal fruits of your labor…you have no idea what you are missing! AKA most of my adult life I hated tomatoes, so gross…until I started growing my own heirloom varieties (or buying from our local organic small farmer) and now it has ruined almost all of the supermarket veggies. Call me an organic local veggie snob, because I am so proud of it! I can see myself in the future where half my yard is just a garden – such a dream but also my slowly failing body means I couldn’t accomplish that on my own, so I am happy to have so many local organic farms nearby. But it also means I rather spend my spoons in the dirt than say…making book reels (there it is…full circle!).

Christy:

The last few months have been…a time. It’s been the bulk of race season, work has been busy, and I went through a really rough breakup. I am working through a lot of emotions while also trying to find my new normal. And figure out celebrating my 40th birthday. Luckily I have a good therapist who is helping me reset and a bunch of amazing friends who have helped distract me.

I do get to go to YallWest this year – and we just found out we are going to Comic Con! Summer should be busy but exciting.







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