What I'm Reading: Vol. 133. - Dealtyme Luxury & Travel

What I’m reading
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Hello darlings,

I can’t believe it’s June, can you? This year is flyyying by.

I’m excited to have a break from travel for a few months. As much as I enjoyed my recent adventures in Mexico, Paris, and NYC, I’m an introvert at heart and I’m excited to have some downtime in my cozy house to catch my breath for a while.

Mr. DitL and I have been working on a corner of our house that’s intended specifically for reading time and we’re both very excited to finally have our reading chairs in place. Mine is this petite recliner from West Elm that I find spectacularly comfortable. I’ve been visiting it in the store for literal years to make sure it’s really a good fit for me (a perfectly comfortable chair is no small achievement when you’re 5′ 2″ and have chronic pain) but now that it’s here I couldn’t be happier with it.

Are you gearing up for summer travel, my lovelies, or will you you be relaxing at home or perhaps at your neighborhood pool like me?

xoxo,
Becky

What I’m reading

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman: (Bookshop.org | Amazon).

These books are extraordinary. They’re my first ever experience with the LitRPG genre, which sort of feels like reading a video game. They’re irreverent, outlandish, and cartoonishly violent. There’s a talking cat that wears a tiara, an Uzi-toting Jesus, and a t-rex who dreams of being a ballerina.

They’re also the most astute commentary on the nature of humanity, the importance of community care, and what’s necessary to survive under the leadership of an oppressive regime that I’ve read in a long time. I finished the most recent book in this series last week and Mr. DitL and I started listening to the audiobooks together two days later. (The audiobooks are truly excellent: the narrator is incredible.)

Here’s a mini summary of the setup: a man in his late 20’s is trying to get his ex-girlfriend’s spoiled cat down from a tree when aliens abruptly take over Earth. The survivors are invited to enter something called a “World Dungeon” where they will have the opportunity to compete for the right to a future life while being broadcast to the galaxy on an alien reality tv show. But what is the true cost of survival, and what are the forces running this vicious game, anyway? One man and one cat are trying to find out.

The Saint of Steel Series by T. Kingfisher: (Bookshop.org | Amazon).

I’ve been on a mission to read everything T. Kingfisher has ever written since Swordheart made my Best Books of 2025 list and I have continued to love every single one of the author’s books.

The Saint of Steel series follows the final paladins of The Saint of Steel, a war god who mysteriously died, sending most of his highly trained sacred warriors into violent rages. Only a few survived, and the ragtag group of deeply broken ex-worshippers are now scrambling to figure out a new purpose in life now that their god has left them.

We follow the surviving brothers (and sisters) of the Saint of Steel as they find their new places in the world, each one encountering a mystery that brings them new purpose and discovering love one by one. If you love the trope of “this big dangerous warrior is actually a teddy bear but it only comes out around one specific person” this series is for you.

Not quiiiiite enough romance to feel like Romantasy, I’d call this fantasy with a love story in the center instead. Absolutely delightful. It’s set in the same world as Swordheart and there is a little bit of character overlap, but you do not need to read one to understand the other.

Want more? Visit my Books page here, or go straight to my ShopMy list of fiction I love here.