Booking Through 2022: April - May

     

  I realized I never announced April's book of the month. I had planned to announce our April author spotlight, but the book came from our May author spotlight, so I decided to hold off. 

  Madison Granger's The Rising of Amelia was by far my favorite book I read in April. Therefore, I had to choose it. It's the sequel to The Awakening of Amelia, which has vampires, magic, and a complex plot. Loved it. 

  For May...uh...well, I wish I could say I'm back on track to reach my reading goal for 2022. I'm not. I'm currently 25 books behind schedule. I'm seizing this opportunity to read some graphic novels and shorter works on my to-be-read lists. However, June is pride month and I'm trying to locate books with demisexual characters to read. I also have other LGBTQIA books on my TBR.

  May's book of the month was an easy pick. Like Granger's, I knew May's book would be out BOTM when I was halfway through its story. 

  Angelina Kerner recently released the book Glowing Kiss, a K-drama, and I found it fascinating, thus I've chosen it for our May BOTM. 

    Glowing Kiss is currently sitting at a five-star rating.  In my opinion, it's perfection. I was a little worried going into it that I'd be lost. I don't read much Korean or Asian-based literature. Nor do I listen to much of their music. Crazy Rich Asians is about the extent of my knowledge in this department. Kerner did such a great job at explaining phrases and customs within the book, however, my lack of knowledge didn't distract me from the story. Honestly, she explained things in a subtle enough way that it didn't interrupt the story's flow. 

    I greatly enjoyed Glowing Kiss. I believe it's one of Kerner's best books. You can tell from the way it reads that she put a part of herself into it; that this work was personal to her on some level.

  In other news, I'm planning on reviving an old series I did during COVID. This isn't a book series, it's a blog series. I started it to support small businesses on Tik Tok and Instagram during COVID but stopped after the quarantine lifted. Now, I'm bringing it back.

  Shop Small Summer will start this week. Every week (as long as I don't forget), I'll make a post on here, Tik Tok, Instagram, and Facebook about a small business. I'll include pictures of the items I purchased from them, links to their websites, and basic information. It'll be like a book review, but for shops. With inflation rising prices on resources, small business owners are having to increase their prices and limit their marketing. This series will be a way for me to give back to the small business community. 

  Some of the shops I have planned to take about during Shop Small Summer are: 

  -Stack Makes (Printed clothing)

  -Dee's Floral & Gifts (Florist and gift store)

  -Smells Like Summer (Soaps and wax melts)

  -Whimzadoodles (Stickers and cards)

  -Mary Kay (Makeup and skincare)

  -Presence Candles (wax melts, candles, bath bombs...other homemade things)

  -Spicy Sunflower Boutique (Clothing)

  -The Faerie Glen (Crochet)

  -Color Street (Nail strips)

  -Random Etsy shops