The more I read about US history, the more amazed I am at how many children pretending to be adults there were in the government. Reading about these grown men behaving so childishly would be laughable if they didn't have the power they did so that their actions didn't carry so many consequences for everyone else.

And of course, even when things change, they really don't seem to change that much when you really start looking. The introduction even goes into some of the parallels including the fact that a recent congressman would threaten other congressman with knives with no repercussions apparently, so we're not even past the violence part. And we're certainly not past the bullying in the government, unfortunately.

I'll definitely be reading some lighter books this weekend.

Book source ~ NetGalley

Amorous Congress: A Collection of New Victorian Erotica is an anthology featuring a mouthwatering supply of tasty treats to tempt even the most jaded of palates. I should know. I’m kinda jaded. A little bit. But there’s not much I like more than naughty historical tales with great characters in wonderful worlds doing titillating things to each other. I know, I know, people have been kinky through the ages, but there’s just something about the prim and proper Victorian/Regency folks indulging in erotica that really gets to me. Nom nom nom!

Sense and Sensuality ~ T.G. Haynes ~ Very good

A Good Maid ~ Melina Greenport ~ My favorite

Sauce and Subtlety ~ Kaysee Renee Robichaud ~ Meh

Nancy ~ Charlie Powell ~ This is dark and violent.

Hard Work ~ Charlie Forrest ~ Okay

Hello, Victorian Ladies ~ Dulce Devine ~ This is a cheat. Not historical, just two women dressing in historical clothes for a fundraiser.

The Egg Timer ~ Brenda Clough ~ Nice!

Victorian Greeks ~ Bob Masters ~ Lovely

Caroline’s Escape ~ Catherine Guerrero ~ Whoa. Dark

Lessons ~ Margot North ~ Power play

Out of Mourning ~ Rae McGregor ~ Tugs heart strings

The Hidden Garden ~ Ivy O’Hara ~ Oooohhh…mmm…

Will You? ~ Jillian Boyd ~ Awwww

Works of the Flesh ~ Emmanuelle de Maupassant ~ Naughty!

Spellbound ~ Adrien Clark ~ Oh, a touch of paranormal. Nice!

Afternoon Tea ~ Marie Piper ~ Oh, my.

To Further the Cause of Science ~ Zak Jane Keir ~ Interesting  

These two titles are published by Bravo Your City, which I think in some cases works with tourism divisions of hotels.  Of the two here, the Austin one is a part better -three stars.  Though it doesn't really seem to suggest that there is much to Austin besides food and bats.  Though the bat bit was awesome.  I want to go to just see the bats leave the bridge.

The Albany one, two stars, is basically descriptions of cafes and such.  It doesn't make you want to go.

Both are still free for kindle.

In order to avoid setting the United States capital on fire, which would be bad because it might impact my good friend, Obsidian Blue, I indulged myself in a mini-book-buying spree. I'm also shutting down social media, avoiding the television, and am only allowed to check Booklikes until October. I need a mental health break from the world - I can't take this anymore.

I have decided that my second bingo card is going to be all women, in honor of this moment in history.

Smash the patriarchy.

I had 2 weeks of school holidays and Easter weekend in my favour this month, but unforeseen events put a hitch in my gitalong at the end of April.  Still I had a solid reading month and I'm not complaining at all.

28 books  / 7,511 pages read.

2 Five-star reads this time, although one of them is a re-read.  Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman  was so good in audio, I went out and bought a print copy for my shelves.  Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie is one of my all-time favourites and it never gets tired.

3 out of the 5 4.5 star reads were non-fiction, but one of those, Roger, Sausage and Whippet by Christopher Moore, a glossary of WWI terms, snuck a narrative in that was riveting, if only in its unexpectedness.  Her Brilliant Career: Ten Extraordinary Women of the Fifties by Rachel Cooke was great too, although as I said in my review, I'm not sure some of these women could be called roll models.  The Card Catalog: Books, Cards, and Literary Treasures by Carla D. Hayden, Library of Congress is one of those books you either appreciate, or you don't.  Obviously, I did.  

The Delight of Being Ordinary: A Road Trip with the Pope and the Dalai Lama by Roland Merullo is the fictional equivalent of The Card Catalog - it's not going to be for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and it left me chewing over more than a few things.

But by far, the breakout star of my month was The Haunted Grange Of Goresthorpe by Arthur Conan Doyle, a short ghost story that is believed to be one of the first Doyle wrote but was never published in his lifetime.  The only reason I dinged it 1/2 star is because the introduction is 30 pages longer than the story itself, and spends a lot of those 30 pages excusing the weakness of the story itself, which, by the way, isn't weak at all; it's a ripper of a ghost story.  If you like Doyle or ghosts, or both, you should find this story and read it.  

May your May be full of extraordinary reads.  And I don't mean maybe.  (sorry.)