Good Evening,
It’s the start of another week. It’s Monday! What are you Reading is hosted by Kathryn from Book Date, this is a weekly event to share what we’ve read in the past week and what we hope to read, plus whatever else comes to mind.
I surprisingly finished three books last week! However, I am not sure what I will actually get to reading this week since the only thing I know for sure is I’m not in a fantasy mood and as someone that reads mostly fantasy I’m not sure how this is going to work out.
Recent Books
Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong | Foul Lady Fortune #1 | Young Adult, Historical Fiction | Add to Goodreads
It’s 1931 in Shanghai, and the stage is set for a new decade of intrigue.
Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back from the brink of death, but the strange experiment that saved her also stopped her from sleeping and aging—and allows her to heal from any wound. In short, Rosalind cannot die. Now, desperate for redemption for her traitorous past, she uses her abilities as an assassin for her country.
Code name: Fortune.
But when the Japanese Imperial Army begins its invasion march, Rosalind’s mission pivots. A series of murders is causing unrest in Shanghai, and the Japanese are under suspicion. Rosalind’s new orders are to infiltrate foreign society and identify the culprits behind the terror plot before more of her people are killed.
To reduce suspicion, however, she must pose as the wife of another Nationalist spy, Orion Hong, and though Rosalind finds Orion’s cavalier attitude and playboy demeanor infuriating, she is willing to work with him for the greater good. But Orion has an agenda of his own, and Rosalind has secrets that she wants to keep buried. As they both attempt to unravel the conspiracy, the two spies soon find that there are deeper and more horrifying layers to this mystery than they ever imagined.
Queen & Conqueror by Isabelle Olmo | The Queen’s Red Guard #1 | Fantasy, Romance | Add to Goodreads
How does one conquer a kingdom without spilling blood? You offer your hand in marriage to the king who killed your husband.
Almira was raised by a calculating father who forged her in political cunning. She’s prepared for this moment since childhood. Like pieces on a board, she lays out the players one by one.
One. King Alton, the brother-killer. The spare heir who killed his brother for lust of throne.
Two. The perfect seamstress. The people must admire a queen and welcome her with open arms. Even with a deadly armada behind her.
Three. The Queen’s Red Guard. The group of warrior women who have one purpose; to protect the queen at all costs. Even from her husband. Even from herself.
Queen & Conqueror is the first book in an epic feminist fantasy series told from the perspective of the women who rule and shape the future.
“Men will never be ready for women like us and it is not our job to ready them.”
Mao, Vol. 9 by Rumiko Takahashi | Mao #9 | Manga, Fantasy | Add to Goodreads
Exorcise your destiny in an era-spanning supernatural adventure from manga legend Rumiko Takahashi!
When Nanoka is transported back in time to a supernatural early 20th century, she gets recruited by aloof exorcist Mao. What thread of fate connects them? Together, they seek answers…and kick some demon butt along the way!
Secrets of Natsuno and Yurako’s past are revealed. Natsuno is compelled by a mysterious force to collect one grotesque item after another. Will she find what she seeks at a performance by a mysterious yokai theater troupe? Then, Yurako recalls how her family, the Goko clan, exploited her powers for profit. Plus, Mao and Nanoka investigate a teenager whose playful curses on her classmates come true…
Currently Reading
So because I have no idea what I am actually going to pick up this week, I am going to give a few options. However, I honestly won’t be surprised if I don’t read any of them. Sometimes being a mood reader is hard when you have deadlines.
A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Mark Dawidziak | Nonfiction, Historical, Mystery | Add to Goodreads
A Mystery of Mysteries is a brilliant biography of Edgar Allan Poe that examines the renowned author’s life through the prism of his mysterious death and its many possible causes.
It is a moment shrouded in horror and mystery. Edgar Allan Poe died on October 7, 1849, at just forty, in a painful, utterly bizarre manner that would not have been out of place in one of his own tales of terror. What was the cause of his untimely death, and what happened to him during the three missing days before he was found, delirious and “in great distress” on the streets of Baltimore, wearing ill-fitting clothes that were not his own?
Mystery and horror. Poe, who remains one of the most iconic of American writers, died under haunting circumstances that reflect the two literary genres he took to new heights. Over the years, there has been a staggering amount of speculation about the cause of death, from rabies and syphilis to suicide, alcoholism, and even murder. But many of these theories are formed on the basis of the caricature we have come to associate with Poe: the gloomy-eyed grandfather of Goth, hunched over a writing desk with a raven perched on one shoulder, drunkenly scribbling his chilling masterpieces. By debunking the myths of how he lived, we come closer to understanding the real Poe—and uncovering the truth behind his mysterious death, as a new theory emerges that could prove the cause of Poe’s death was haunting him all his life.
In a compelling dual-timeline narrative alternating between Poe’s increasingly desperate last months and his brief but impactful life, Mark Dawidziak sheds new light on the enigmatic master of macabre.
The Cloisters by Katy Hays | Gothic, Mystery | Add to Goodreads
When Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, she expects to spend her summer working as a curatorial associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she finds herself assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its medieval art collection and its group of enigmatic researchers studying the history of divination.
Desperate to escape her painful past, Ann is happy to indulge the researchers’ more outlandish theories about the history of fortune telling. But what begins as academic curiosity quickly turns into obsession when Ann discovers a hidden 15th-century deck of tarot cards that might hold the key to predicting the future. When the dangerous game of power, seduction, and ambition at The Cloisters turns deadly, Ann becomes locked in a race for answers as the line between the arcane and the modern blurs.
A haunting and magical blend of genres, The Cloisters is a gripping debut that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
A Guide to Being Just Friends by Sophie Sullivan | (Jansen Brothers #3) | Romance | Add to Goodreads
A playful and emotional romantic comedy from the author of Ten Rules for Faking It
Hailey Sharp has a one-track mind. Get By the Cup salad shop off the ground. Do literally everything possible to make it a success. Repeat. With a head full of entrepreneurial ideas and a bad ex in her rearview, her one and only focus is living life the way she wants to. No distractions.
Wes Jansen never did understand the fuss about relationships. With a string of lackluster first dates and the pain from his parents’ angry divorce following him around, he’d much rather find someone who he likes, but won’t love. Companionship, not passion, is the name of the game.
When Hailey and Wes find each other in a disastrous meet cute that wasn’t even intended for them, they embarrassingly go their separate ways. But when Wes finds Hailey to apologize for his behavior, they strike a friendship. Because that’s all this can be. Hailey doesn’t want any distractions. Wes doesn’t want to fall in love.
What could possibly go wrong?
What are you hoping to get to read this week?
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Sophril Reads 
I’m reading Free Love.
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I’m reading Free Love
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