Caldryn Parliament

Recent Reads – May 2025

Written by

Jenny Schwartz

in

art deco painting of a reading nook

What have you been reading in May?

I picked up Inventing the Renaissance: Myths of a Golden Age by Ada Palmer. It’s a big book. I’ll be able to lose myself in it for a while.

I tried a couple of much-recommended fantasy and paranormal romance novels and … I did not enjoy them. Sigh. I won’t name names—and they weren’t new releases, so you won’t be able to guess—but they were disappointing. I think people fell in love with them for what they promised, but for me, after reading the rave reviews, I expected those promises to be met. Instead, the endings fell short.

A few years ago I read that we pick up the next book from an author when the previous book left us with a peak experience, some emotion that moved us and satisfied our expectations.

As a reader I agree with that. Disappointment is discouraging.

As an author, I try to honour the expectations I’ve set up throughout the story. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver!

In better news, I enjoyed Judith Tarr’s Dragons in the Earth. It was both beautiful and wyrd.

I’ve been reading Alice Coldbreath’s Karadock series, a medieval historical romance series set in a fictional kingdom. They are hot ::fans self:: They’re also a delight with banter, strong relationships, and an engaging writing style. I recommend starting with Book 2, His Forsaken Bride. Book 1 didn’t hook me anywhere near as much and it took me ages to try Book 2. I think my favourite is, appropriately enough, The Favourite, Book 6.

I’ve been waiting impatiently for The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott and it is finally out next month (June 10) with the sequel out in November.

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Comments

6 responses to “Recent Reads – May 2025”

  1. Dasha Marshall Avatar
    Dasha Marshall

    Thanks for the recommendations to check into!

    Reply
    1. Jenny Schwartz Avatar
      Jenny Schwartz

      I hope you enjoy them 🙂

      Reply
  2. carriebeanbfe7fd85b0 Avatar
    carriebeanbfe7fd85b0

    I had a similar experience recently – decided to try some wildly popular books and was disappointed. I don’t know if all the hype made me build it up too much in my head or if, as you say, people were just in love with what it could be and hyped up something the book doesn’t actually do.

    So I was just doing a re-read of Anne Bishop’s The Others series. It’s 10 years old, and I haven’t re-read it since that initial read, so it has been a fun rediscovery. It’s been fun, too, reading my reviews after I finish one to compare my thoughts now with my old ones. In this case, I’m still mostly of the same opinion as I was then, but there are times when I feel VERY differently and I’ve marveled at how much I’ve changed since the original read. I’ve ruined a couple of childhood favorites for myself that way, sadly – stuff where in my teens, I just didn’t notice / glossed over the misogyny and etc. Oh well.

    I agree with you, though, that we pick up the next book from an author when the previous book kept its promises. Sometimes I’ll try a second series when the first from an author disappointed me, but more often nowadays I wait until the whole thing is out so I can see what trusted friends think about how it landed the ending. It’s just hard to commit and emotionally invest in a story when I have felt like an author has previously not paid that commitment off.

    Thanks for the recommendations! Dragons in the Earth looks particularly interesting, so I think I’ll make that one my next up!

    Reply
    1. Jenny Schwartz Avatar
      Jenny Schwartz

      I picked up Dragons in the Earth because I couldn’t remember reading any Judith Tarr books. When I asked for recommendations, at least one of her books did ring some vague bells, but I enjoyed Dragons a lot more 🙂

      And now you’ve made me think of re-reading The Others. Lakeside maybe? I find her inspiration from quokkas irresistible!

      Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones is the book from childhood that I refuse to re-read. It was magical in its blend of fantasy and contemporary child/political issues. I couldn’t bear to re-read it and lose the original magic.

      Reply
      1. carriebeanbfe7fd85b0 Avatar
        carriebeanbfe7fd85b0

        Ah, I love Diana Wynne Jones, but haven’t read most of her books in 20 years. I’ve decided to leave childhood favorites alone after a re-read of the first Pern book utterly ruined it for me. Better to hold to the memories of magic that resonated with me as a teen than to revisit and lose that. Though not all re-reads have been tragic – I recently picked up an old Piers Anthony series I adored, and loved it just as much on the re-read, if not more.

        If you dip back into The Others, enjoy! I just finished re-reading the Lakeside books, and loved it. 🙂

        Reply
        1. Jenny Schwartz Avatar
          Jenny Schwartz

          I’ve had a similar experience with Patricia Wrede. I tried to jump back into her books which I read and reread decades ago and they were good, but I lost the magic from years ago. I changed, not the books. Sigh. Because The Raven Ring is sooooo goood!

          Reply

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