Shannon Kay's Blog

The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner is a historical fantasy, more toward historical than fantasy. It’s not really a romance, but contains love stories. It has multiple timelines and points of view.

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This year, I joined the choir at a small, local Presbyterian church. I sing Soprano 2! I grew up singing, but haven’t had a choir to sing in for years. 

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The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst was a delightful cozy fantasy. I’ve had the beautiful FairyLoot edition sitting on my shelf, but I’m glad I saved it for summertime. The inn was welcoming and cozy, but filled with things to explore and discover. A respite from the rest of the world.

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The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden was a beautiful book. It starts off leaning more historical with court/political drama than fantasy, and gradually moves into a story of enchanting legend. It grows to be a magical and romantic story. The writing style is lovely.

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Coldwire by Chloe Gong was fantastic. It felt properly sci-fi. It was fairly fast-paced with riveting mysteries. It deals with serious situations and has reasonably high stakes, but doesn’t feel at all dark. 

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I sing in a Presbyterian church choir(Soprano 2), and I wanted to share our performance of this anthem that I loved, United in Purpose. It has lyrics from the writings of Maya Angelou and music by Rollo Dilworth.

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Heir of Storms by Lauryn Hamilton Murray was a great fast-paced YA fantasy/romantasy. Magical powers! Court drama! Other lore! Good romantic tension. It’s the first book in the Storm Weaver series.

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My kids are on spring break, and I’ve just finished all three novellas in the Chaotic Orbits series by Beth Revis.

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I met Louis Sachar at Barnes & Noble in Huntington Beach, at a signing for his first adult book, The Magician of Tiger Castle. Louis Sachar is also the author of Holes. It was a delight to meet him, and hear him discuss his new book.

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Make and do things for your own enjoyment. Do it for the joy it brings you.

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I got to see Sarah Beth Durst and Sangu Mandanna at The Ripped Bodice bookstore in LA. Their newest books came out on the same day! It was a delight to see them in conversation together as they talked about their books and writing process for cozy fantasy and romance. 

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After a busy last couple weeks, I’m excited that today is the first day of Summer Break for the kids. Not waking up early to get kids ready for school this morning was pleasant.

Are you looking for something to read this summer? This list is a mix of old and new books that I can happily recommend. Not only do they all exist¹, but I have read them. They’re not all explicitly summer-themed, but I think they would be good for reading in the summer.

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Seasonal Vibe: Summer
Travel Location: South Carolina, Massachusetts, France
Historical Time: 2019, flashbacks to 1800’s and 1900’s
Genres: Literary, Contemporary, Historical, Multiple Timelines
Read: May 19-20, 2025
Format: Switched between Book of the Month hardcover and Audiobook
352 pages • Short Chapters • 🎧 Great Audiobook

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Today I finished reading Going Postal by Terry Pratchett. It was my first Terry Pratchett book.

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I listened to the audiobook for all of The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, and it’s a fun sci-fi that’s a contrast to most of my other books. It’s just weird and imaginative, and there’s no romance at all.

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