March 2021 TBR

I just can’t seem to stop requesting ARCs—somebody stop me!

At least I’m still a month ahead of requests, instead of scrambling to finish in the month of release.

But seriously, this is getting out of hand.

My 2021 goal was to cap my ARCs at 5 per month…and then soooo many interesting things are coming out and I’m just so excited and—and then I started requesting things I was meh about but requested anyway. Why do I do this to myself.

TBR

The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman (April 6, 2021)

Eighteen-year-old Nami Miyamoto is certain her life is just beginning. The only problem? She’s murdered before she gets there. When Nami wakes up, she learns she’s in a place called Infinity, where human consciousness goes when physical bodies die. She quickly discovers that Ophelia, a virtual assistant widely used by humans on Earth, has taken over the afterlife and is now posing as a queen, forcing humans into servitude the way she’d been forced to serve in the real world. Even worse, Ophelia is inching closer and closer to accomplishing her grand plans of eradicating human existence once and for all. 100% requested because I love Akemi Dawm Bowman.

The Widow Queen by Elzbieta Cherezinska (April 6, 2021)

The bold one, they call her—too bold for most. To her father, the great duke of Poland, Swietoslawa and her two sisters represent three chances for an alliance. Three marriages on which to build his empire. But Swietoslawa refuses to be simply a pawn in her father’s schemes; she seeks a throne of her own, with no husband by her side. The gods may grant her wish, but crowns sit heavy, and power is a sword that cuts both ways. Requested for the title and because I love Tor and haven’t read any Polish fantasies before. Feeling a little lukewarm on this one though, but it may surprise me.

Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders (April 13, 2021)

Tina has always known her destiny is outside the norm—after all, she is the human clone of the most brilliant alien commander in all the galaxies (even if the rest of the world is still deciding whether aliens exist). But she is tired of waiting for her life to begin. And then it does—and maybe Tina should have been more prepared. At least she has a crew around her that she can trust—and her best friend at her side. Now, they just have to save the world. This one has a rocking blurb but a 3.60 rating on Goodreads…so I’m scared. BUT I love Charlie Jane Anders so let’s see!

Defekt by Nino Cipri (April 20, 2021)

Derek is LitenVärld’s most loyal employee. He lives and breathes the job, from the moment he wakes up in a converted shipping container at the edge of the parking lot to the second he clocks out of work 18 hours later. But after taking his first ever sick day, his manager calls that loyalty into question. An excellent employee like Derek, an employee made to work at LitenVärld, shouldn’t need time off. To test his commitment to the job, Derek is assigned to a special inventory shift, hunting through the store to find defective products. FINNA was a surprise favorite, and I cannot wait for this one!

The Last Watch by JS Dewes (April 20, 2021)

The Divide. It’s the edge of the universe. Now it’s collapsing—and taking everyone and everything with it. The only ones who can stop it are the Sentinels—the recruits, exiles, and court-martialed dregs of the military. At the Divide, Adequin Rake, commanding the Argus, has no resources, no comms—nothing, except for the soldiers that no one wanted. They’re humanity’s only chance. I have heard absolutely nothing about this, and I am…intrigued by that premise.

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen (April 20, 2021)

After losing spectacularly to her ex-girlfriend in their first game since their break up, Scottie Zajac gets into a fender bender with the worst possible person: her nemesis, the incredibly beautiful and incredibly mean Irene Abraham. Things only get worse when their nosey, do-gooder moms get involved and the girls are forced to carpool together until Irene’s car gets out of the shop. Their bumpy start only gets bumpier the more time they spend together. Sapphic fake-dating, enemies to lovers, sportsball and revenge? Oh hell yes!

Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart (April 20, 2021)

Iraya has spent her life in a cell, but every day brings her closer to freedom – and vengeance. Jazmyne is the Queen’s daughter, but unlike her sister before her, she has no intention of dying to strengthen her mother’s power. Sworn enemies, these two witches enter a precarious alliance to take down a mutual threat. But power is intoxicating, revenge is a bloody pursuit, and nothing is certain – except the lengths they will go to win this game. A Jamaican-inspired fantasy about witches that has me pretty dang excited!

Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston (2020)

The world is changing. Poison desert eats good farmland. Once-sweet water turns foul. The wind blows sand and sadness across the Empire. To get caught in a storm is death. To live and do nothing is death. There is magic in the world, but good conjure is hard to find. Djola, righthand man and spymaster of the lord of the Arkhysian Empire, is desperately trying to save his adopted homeland, even in exile. This cover is fucking stunning, and the premise sounds absolutely fantastic. It’s been on my physically owned shelf for a while, and it’s high time I read it already!

The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter (2020)

Desperate to delay an impending attack by the indigenous people of Xidda, Tau and his queen craft a dangerous plan. If Tau succeeds, the queen will have the time she needs to assemble her forces and launch an all-out assault on her own capital city, where her sister is being propped up as the ‘true’ Queen of the Omehi. If the city can be taken, if Tsiora can reclaim her throne and reunite her people, then the Omehi might have a chance to survive the coming onslaught. I cannot wait for this—I’ve been on hold at the library for a hot minute and I think I’ll be getting this one in March.

Audiobook TBR

And here is where I try to guess what audiobooks are going to come off hold, nevermind the ones I already own after my millionth Audiobook trial (they just don’t seem to realize I’m going to get the free books and bounce).

I think both Caste and Frederick Douglass were on last month’s audiobook TBR, and while Caste came in I had to delay it because I already had two other audiobooks, and Too Much Lip was good but I kept putting off listening to it, which is why I listened to so few audiobooks last month. But Frederick Douglass is going to be something like 37 hours long, so…that’s basically an entire month of listening right there. I might have to push out the other things as they come in, but that’s okay. Audiobooks is where I get in my nonfiction, although I will sneak in a fiction audiobook there and there, although Concrete Rose is not narrated by Bahni Turpin and I’m really sad!

What are you planning on reading this month?