On soon-to-be- or just-released books with my seal of approval

Meet my seal of approval. This majestic being is a tough guy to please, but here are the upcoming releases or book that have just barely been released that he deigned to approve of:

• How to Stage a Catastrophe by Rebecca Donnelly (April 1st) - I don’t often read middle grade books, but this one caught my eye and captured my heart. The story follows Sidney Camazzalo and his friends as they work to save the children’s theatre they love. The characters are hilarious, the story is ridiculously far-fetched (which is exactly what I liked when I read a lot of middle grade books), and the storytelling is wonderful and memorable. I laughed aloud several times. A must-read for any kids interested in theatre.
• Change of Seasons: A Memoir by John Oates (April 4th) - Rock ‘n’ roll biographies and histories are some of my favorite books to read and this book was no exception. The first half of it took me a long time to get through - I kept having to convince myself that it was worth finishing. The second half was different - I breezed through it in a night because it was so funny and it was wonderful to learn more about one half of the famous Hall & Oates duo. This reignited my interest in H&O and might have caused a slight crush on John Oates (that stache, though!). I highly recommend this to any H&O fans and anyone with an interest in classic rock/pop should enjoy this as well.
• A Tyranny of Queens (Manifold Worlds #2) by Foz Meadows (May 2nd) - The second book in the Manifold Worlds series was much better than the first. A fairly straightforward portal fantasy, this series feels like it stepped out of the 1980's in some ways. Full of political intrigue, magic, dragons, and worldwalking, it's a fun and easy to read series. I look forward to reading more by this author - Meadows seems to be getting better with more practice and has a lot of potential in my mind. I recommend this for anyone who loves portal fantasy and who enjoys knowing about up-and-coming fantasy authors first.

• It’s All a Game: What Board Games Tell Us About the World and Ourselves by Tristan Donovan (May 30th) - This book is AWESOME. As a lover of board games, I felt obligated to try this out and I absolutely adored it. In addition to giving the history of various popular board games, Donovan offers some theories as to how the world was altered because of these games. Tabletop games are growing in popularity these days, so this is a well-timed and delightful book for anyone with an interest in board games (especially if you like chess a lot). If you’re feeling inspired to get into tabletop games, Board Game Quest has some suggestions.