Some new additions to my Current Reading TBR

 April is one of my favorite months, mainly due to my birthday coming up soon, which makes me more eager to stack new books upon my already staggering TBR pile.

Nonetheless, new reads are hard to resist especially when you’re surrounded by such fresh imaginative stories hitting the shelves. With that in mind, I decided to splurge on Book of the Month club’s latest selections  starting with Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel.

This debut novel is set in the realm of the classic epic poem Ramayana, where the title character is the third wife of a great king, determined to have her son take the throne when the time comes.

However,  each of the three queens have sons and when one of them,Rama, proves to have divine powers, Kaikeyi tries to show him how to properly use his gifts(having taught herself mystical skills over the years). Since he is not her child, the decision to have Rama banished is seen as an act of villainy on her part but what if Kaikeyi’s motives were truly for the good?

This retelling sounds promising and this trend of focusing on underappreciated female characters from classic literature is fast becoming a must read of mine:

I paired that up with Taylor Reid Jenkins’ The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,  which is now being officially adapted for Netflix as we speak.

The novel not only focuses on Evelyn, an aging film star with plenty of secrets and lies to share, but her interviewer Monique as well.

Monique wonders why this still legendary diva would choose her, a relatively unknown reporter, to spill her glamorous guts to and is curious about her subject’s motives here.

Regardless of why, the tales that Evelyn tells are just as intense as any of the movies that she starred but perhaps her true stories have a twist ending that not even the most savvy screenwriter would imagine.

Having loved Daisy Jones and the Six, this book seems like one of those “why haven’t I read this by now?” deals. Not to mention that old school Hollywood stories are very alluring , whether on screen or on the page for me:

Before I get to either of those books, there is an upcoming novel that I’m happy to report that my blog is on the online tour for.

As a fan of Natalie Jenner’s previous book, The Jane Austen Society, hearing that her next release is set in a London bookshop makes my biblio loving heart beat faster.

 Bloomsbury Girls takes place in post WWII England where three women are taking positions  at Bloomsbury Book, which was previously an all male run bookstore. Evie is a Cambridge graduate who takes up cataloging upon being denied the chance to be a research assistant at her alma mater.

Vivian lost her fiancé during the war and has many ideas to increase interest in the shop, frequently debating with Alex, who is the head buyer of fiction with very set notions about what is best for business.

Grace helps to support her family by working at Bloomsbury but comes to enjoy this new sense of freedom from her at home troubles. With the shop in danger of closing, can this trio of new friends save Bloomsbury Books from shutting its doors for good?

Jenner’s last book was such a gem that it’s a real treat to be part of this tour(my turn will be in May, more info to come!) and much thanks to Laurel Ann Nattress at Austenprose for extending me this most welcome invitation.

The premise of this book puts me in mind of 84, Charing Cross Road, that wonderful real life story of a New York City writer who made long distance friends with a lovely London bookshop and it’s endearing employees. If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, do so at once! You won’t regret it , trust me:

I know, having too many books on hand is a luxurious problem to be sure yet it’s one that brings more joy that sorrow, a rare thing these days. 

If you have the opportunity to escape for a little while into such great page turning delights, simply refuse to feel guilty about that and carry on with one of the best coping methods out there for emotional relief!

To wrap things up, I’d like to share a few brief thoughts about the new season of Bridgerton(which I will keep as spoiler free as possible).

Penelope Featherington is in my Top Five list of favorite characters and despite her flaws, she’s certainly more sympathetic than her best friend Eloise , who is very reckless and annoying at times. She is quite understandably frustrated by the expectations for women of the time period  but taking that out on Penelope is not right at all.

Perhaps Eloise will be less self involved in the next couple of seasons but I’m firmly Team Pen all the way here.

Otherwise, while I thoroughly disliked Anthony during season one, I must admit that learning more of his backstory made me think the better of him this time around. 

He and Kate do make a good pair and I personally can relate to their shared sense of responsibility as first born sibling there. I know some folks were less than thrilled with the pacing of this central story but I think that a good slow burn like this was refreshing after the fierce intensity of the first season.

All in all, Bridgerton was grand fun and the next two seasons should be well worth the wait, like any true love tale would be indeed: