Nightstand Books: May Edition

Here it is, the first Wednesday of the month again as we march into May, and you know what that means! It's Nightstand Books day! A day to celebrate a new month of reading. A day to share a list of the books you plan to read, perhaps discuss the books you've finished reading, or just talk about reading in general!As always, anyone is welcome to participate in this meme (and you don't have to post on the first Wednesday of the month, that's just when we do it!) Just make sure you give credit to me and DJ and have fun! (Also, if you want to let us know about your nightstand books post so we can read it and share about it throughout cyber-space, that's always fun, too!)So... read any good books lately?Here's my current stack!We'll start at the top and work our way down, shall we? As I said last month, I really didn't do much reading for myself from the end of March through most of April. Stone Curse consumed my life, and when that was finished and sent in, I found myself at a bit of a loss.It's not often that I find myself incapable of settling on something to read, but it does happen every now and then, usually when I've just finished an incredible read that would be hard to top, or when I've finished an intense writing project. Then you'll find me wandering around with a strangely forlorn and distant look on my face. My soul yearns for another story, but my heart isn't ready to venture back into the realm of words just yet.I had Orphan's Song all ready to go, waiting for me, but I couldn't make myself pick it up. I'd already read the first two pages before the editing started, and so I am pretty sure I am going to love it, but it wasn't the right moment. So, I went to the library, and as I wandered through those hallowed stacks, my eyes fell upon the solution to my problem: Beauty by Robin McKinley. I had read it before, when I was in jr. high, and remembered thinking it was one of the best Beauty and the Beast retellings I had ever read. I leaped upon it, cradled it, and took it home, where I practically devoured it. Unlike with my Cinderella story last year, I did no research on the story of Beauty and the Beast. I didn't read the fairy tale, I didn't watch the Disney version, I didn't check out all the children's book retellings... I wanted the story to be different, to be all mine, and I didn't want other versions creeping into my tale (they did anyway, a bit, but in a different way than they would have had I read the stories). Anyway, Beauty broke me out of my reading slump, and served as the gate through which I could re-enter the realm of reading.Being at the library was also a quick cure, because you'll notice that most of the other books are library books, as well.A Dragon's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Humans by Lawrence Yep. The title caught my eye (I mean, with a title like that!) and then I noticed that it was authored by the same person who wrote Dragon of the Lost Sea, one of my absolute favorite YA books. Of course I had to give it a whirl.Centaur Rising by Jane Yolen another author I've read before and enjoyed. Did you know she's written over 300 books? I'm in awe. No idea if I'll enjoy this story, but it sounded interesting.Orphan's Song is still on the list, and I plan to read it just as soon as I finish all these library books (the whole having to read on a deadline because someone else has requested the book and you can't renew it endlessly is always a good motivator to shove the library book to the head of the line)Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones. I don't even know what this book is about, but Allison, another monarch who publicly knighted her bookstand, last month had it listed and it sounded intriguing (and: Diana Wynne Jones... she's one of my favorites).And finally, The House of Many Ways also by Jones - and the book I'm in currently in the middle of (because it's due back at the library this Friday, AH! The pressure!) I grew up reading her Chrestomanci Chronicles, but have rediscovered her of late and realized she wrote a whole lot more books than I knew! Which is fun, because now I get to read them all for the first time! This is a sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, a book I discovered last year and LOVED. So far, it's quite good.And that's all I've got.So, dear Reader, what's on YOUR nightstand?