Mashed-Potato Books | Reading Update 5.29.21

Hey hi hello friends, welcome back to my blog! 

Sorry I've been kind of AWOL this month, May always seems to be rough for me, both reading wise and mental-health wise. I've just been going through a low point but I feel myself coming out of it. 

As far as reading goes, it hasn't been terrible but it hasn't been great either. I feel like I didn't read a lot this month. However, I'm reading an amazing book right now, absolutely a mashed potato book. 

In case you don't know what I'm talking about, a mashed potato book is a concept that Ariel and Raeleen came up with in their podcast, Books Unbound. Basically it's a book that you tend to put off because you're so sure it'll be a favorite, that you want to save for last, like how you save mashed potatoes for last during dinner. However, if you wait too long the mashed potatoes can become cold and gross, so you need to figure out the perfect time to eat them. Same thing with books. The longer you put them off, the higher your expectations might become and therefore you could end up disappointed. 

My mashed potato book that I'm reading right now is Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa. In a fantastical Japanese-inspired world, where yokai, kami, and demons walk among humans, an ancient scroll is being sought after for a devastating wish. Yumeko, a half-kitsune, is charged with keeping the scroll safe. Along her journey she meets an incredible cast of characters, including Tatsumi, a samurai bound to a demon sword, who is after the scroll for his master. The book is heavily rooted in Japanese mythology and folklore, and I'm obsessed.

But it took me three years to pick it up! I originally got the book in OwlCrate's October 2018 box, and I tried to pick it up then, but I got distracted and then never finished it. To make matters even funnier, I then proceeded to buy the other two books in the series. So for over a year I've had this trilogy sitting unread on my shelves, mocking me. And to be honest, the only reason I managed to pick it up now and not wait another three years, is because I was out of books written by Asian authors on my physical TBR, and it was my last option. Well, aside from A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, but that book scares me and I'm not ready to read it. So my only other option to read was Shadow of the Fox. I'm kicking myself that it took me so long to finally read. 

I'm about halfway done with it, and I expect I'll finish it before the month is over. I don't know if I'll dive straight into book two, Soul of the Sword, or if I'll pick something else up after. I guess it depends on if this book ends in a cliffhanger or not. 

Well, that's all I have for today, sorry for the short post.

Until next time!