May Wrap-Up // a little less reading, a lot more blogging

Who is ready for summer? I know I certainly am! I am enjoying warm weather for taking walks and lounging by the pool. You might think that being on break for most of May would lead to more books getting read, but somehow it resulted in less. I think when I have an inconsistent schedule it becomes easier to spend all day scrolling the internet instead of reading. I will say, it was looking truly dismal, but just in the last few days I finished a couple more books to get myself to a bit more respectable seven total books read this month. Definitely under my average, but not bad. And not to brag, but I did also manage to read many New Yorker articles this month, which don’t make it onto my list but that is, of course, still reading.

I read a few duds this month; they weren’t bad but they also weren’t great. However, I thankfully also read a few that I loved: Band Sinister by KJ Charles (my first KJ Charles book!), A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic by Yi Shun Lai, and Stateless by Elizabeth Wein. I duly enjoyed all of these and would definitely recommend them.

Finally, although I didn’t read as much as normal, I was very consistent with blogging this month, posting something every single week. So to get more details on what I read and blogged about this month, check out the content under the cut.

Books read

• Stateless by Elizabeth Wein – 4/5 stars ★★★★
• A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft – 3/5 stars ★★★
• Matilda by Roald Dahl – 4/5 stars ★★★★
• Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict – 3/5 stars ★★★
• A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic by Yi Shun Lai – 4/5 stars ★★★★
• To Woo and to Wed by Martha Waters – 3/5 stars ★★★
• Band Sinister by K.J. Charles – 4/5 stars ★★★★

On the blog

I do find it really interesting to take stock of my blogging habits, not just of when I’m posting but what I am posting. Where last month was a review month (I posted three reviews) this month was all non-review posts! I shared science fiction recommendations for people who don’t like sci-fi, which I loved thinking about because while I firmly consider myself to be “not a sci-fi person” there are still some science fiction books I have really loved. On the heels of two reviews of Pride and Prejudice retellings, I ranked all the Pride and Prejudice adaptations I have ever read. Finally, I shared some of the first book reviews I wrote, and wrote a joint discussion post with my boyfriend about memoirs. Whew, that was a lot! (And I apologize for the insane amount of hyperlinks).

Posts I loved reading

I read so many great posts this month! Marie Drizzle and Hurricane Books just posted a review of Heiress Takes All, which makes me really interested in reading this new heist book.
When I was catching up on some old posts, I found Robin’s review of Truly Madly Deeply, which was so positive that I think I will definitely have to pick it up.
Lila at Hardcover Haven shared 10 booktubers you should be watching, and webcomic recommendations, giving me an absurd amount of content to consume.
Elli at AceReader posted an ARC review of one of my most anticipated books of the year, The Girl in Question, which sounds like it won’t disappoint!
Finally, Fatma at The Book Place wrote a review of KJ Charles’ new book, which I am definitely going to be reading after loving my first KJ Charles book so much.

This month’s listening

After mentioning last month that I needed new music to listen to, one of my friends recommended Beth McCarthy’s IDK How To Talk To Girls which I have enjoyed, especially the title song. Other than that, Chappelle Roan continues to own my listening. I have been trying to curate a “summer daze” playlist, using songs like mxmtoon’s fever dream and Ralph’s Strawberry Meltdown. So essentially it’s indie pop with summer vibes. If you have good suggestions for that, please feel free to share!

I also started listening to the new season of the Serial podcast, which is about Guantanamo bay. It does some really important investigative reporting. I definitely recommend for USAmericans out there who need to be more educated on the history.

What’s up with me

It has been a busy month for me, but in a good way this time! I finished school May 2nd, so I had about a week to just do fun things with my friends at school. We had movie night, played mini golf, and did an escape room style puzzle. We also did a cocktail party where everyone brings a short story to read aloud, which was really fun. Then I went home and hung out for a week with my family, which was incredibly nice. I got lucky and the weather was absolutely perfect the week I was home so we spent a lot of time outside, playing games, and eating good food. And then for the last two weeks, I have been visiting my partner. I got the down time to read a couple books, and we did a ton of fun nights in and nights out. And we wrote a blog post together! I start my summer internship on Monday, and as nice as the break has been, I am really looking forward to getting into a routine and getting the summer rolling.