Looking back on April, looking forward to May (plus giveaway!)

April was a busy ass month for me in blogging terms! I read 12 books, attended my very first convention, had my first comment on a press release, saw the Arthur C Clarke award given to China Mieville - yep, a busy and GREAT month.

Topped by wearing moustaches of course!




Here is a list of the 12 books I read in April (with handy links to the reviews in case you missed them the first time round):

Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill
The Initiation by L J Smith
The City and The City by China Mieville
The Captive by L J Smith
Spirit by Gwyneth Jones
The Power by L J Smith
Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding
The Vampire Diaries Volume 1 by L J Smith
Far North by Marcel Theroux
Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan
Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts
Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson

Thanks to the Arthur C Clarke read (six books in 29 days! Bang! I am officially the fastest short list reader in the world!) and Mark Chitty's Sci Fi Appreciation Month through April, I definitely have a science fiction heavy month myself.

In May, I will delight in heading back to the refuge of some good old-fashioned fantasy, with some lashings of YA and urban fantasy. I have a whole HEAP of books that have been either sent through to me or donated recently (and intend on doing a separate post to highlight some of my favourites of these!) and really don't have a solid plan for my reading in May. I think I'm going to do some mood reading i.e. picking up whatever I fancy after finishing each book!

Some books I really want to hit are the following (I'm only picking three because in the past I have picked loads and then completely failed to read any of them! Also, I'm totally reading by mood this month, remember? *winks*):

This is a May release from Headline books (a review copy was kindly sent to me) and looks very exciting. A couple of early reviews by trusted bloggers have also got me salivating about the potential of this YA novel.










Here is the blurb - Charlotte Usher has always felt invisible at school. But now she has a plan to break into the popular crowd and nothing is going to stop her. Not even death. It's the first day of the rest of Charlotte's life. She isn't going to be invisible any more. And she's not going to stop at just getting noticed, she's determined that she'll be envied! Much to Charlotte's surprise her plan actually seems to be working: Petula, the most popular girl at school has finally acknowledged her existence and her lab partner for the rest of the term is none other than Damen Dylan, school heart-throb and object of Charlotte's desire. It's only a matter of time before she's accepted into their elite circle...that is until, in her excitement, Charlotte chokes to death on a gummy bear. So, OK, it's the first day of the rest of Charlotte's death - why should that change her plans? I choked with surprised laughter at the manner of Charlotte's death and simply couldn't resist buying this book!


Now, some of my very favourite bloggers have read and reviewed this book and - seriously - are saying that it is the best work Guy Gavriel Kay has written. Since I *adored* his other books, this makes me beyond excited.








Now, time to say a thank you. I have been blogging properly a mere four months now - and the support I have received is amazing to me. I have talked with discerning, intelligent and thoughtful readers. I have exchanged ideas with fun and spirited bloggers. I have met some of my favourite authors. I couldn't do all this without the knowledge that you are enjoying my words.

As a thank you, I'm hosting a giveaway. Courtesy of the team at Voyager, I have the following two books I would like to give to one lucky reader - those two titles being Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay and Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane. To win these two books, please drop me an email at magemanda AT gmail DOT com, putting "Voyager Giveaway" as the subject title, and detailing your name and postal address. This giveaway is open worldwide and I shall pick a winner next Sunday.