Monthly Round-Up: May 2018

I say it every month, but at this point I don’t even care — how is it already June?   Where did the last month go?  I feel like I’m missing a week or two of May because this is ridiculous.

May was a great month for reading — which may account for the time slip — and I managed to read 16 books this month!  What?  To be fair, half of those were graphic novels and the other half were novels, but whatever.  It all counts, right?

 

What I read

Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey

Saga volumes 1-8 by Brian K. Vaughn

Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Review)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

The Electrical Venus by Julie Mayhew

IT by Stephen King

Bonfire by Krysten Ritter

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

This month had some interesting ups and downs in terms of reading.  I loved most of the books I read, however there were a few that I didn’t particularly enjoy. Here are the highlights.

The best book of the month was The Poppy War, closely followed by Kings of the Wyld.  I absolutely adored Saga, which is a science fiction graphic novel series and is completely amazing.  It features my new favourite character who deserves his own spin-off series.

I also reread Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which was my least favourite of the Glorious Three (AKA the ones I reread until the spines disintegrated) but I really loved it this time around.  I think I liked it more than the first, which is surprising.

IT was a great read, but was spoiled somewhat by the ridiculously awful ending and some of the content that’s not quite appropriate when you’re reading from a modern perspective.  The lowest rated books of the month were The Electrical Venus, which just wasn’t to my taste, and Bonfire, which showed a lot of promise but fell flat.  Reviews for most of these books are coming soon!

 

What I am currently reading

Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

The Woman in the Window by A. J. Flynn

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

The Light over London by Julia Kelly

I’m doing this thing where I cannot stop picking up new books.  Seriously.  I  have a problem.  I’m reading five books right now, which is an improvement from the six I had going at the same time earlier this month.  They’re all pretty varied, so that’s nice.

Books I bought

Circe by Madeline Miller

I’ll Be Gone in The Dark by Michelle McNamara

The History of Bees by Maja Lunde

The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin

The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso

The Well by Catherine Chanter

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton

Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

I have a problem.  I don’t want to talk about it.

Okay, seriously though, I can’t stop picking up new books.  I’m trying my best (not really)!  I’m going to set a new policy that I saw on BookTube and do my best to read anything new within six weeks of buying or receiving it.  But the book avalance wont end anytime soon, as my birthday is next week and YALC is at the end of July.  Urg.

 

Book swap!

The Exact Opposite of Okay by Lauren Steven

Cogheart by Peter Bunzl

The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

White Rabbit Red Wolf by Tom Pollock

House of Ash by Hope Cook

I met up with some marvelous bloggers earlier this month in Birmingham!  We decided to have a little book swap and trade some ARCs and finished copies we had lying around.  I swapped out about five titles for these!  I cannot wait to dive in, and thank you ladies for being so generous with your books!

 

Book post

Vicious by V. E. Schwab

Beyond a Darkened Shore by Jessia Leake

Onyx and Ivory by Mindee Arnett

Deposed by David Barbaree

The Rising Storm by Ceri A. Lowe

This was a bit of a slow month for book post, which probably isn’t the worst thing given how many books I bought.  I actually thought my postman was hoarding my books for awhile, but they’ve started to trickle in now.  I received Deposed, a historical fiction novel, from Bonnier.  I received The Rising Storm, a YA dystopian novel, from the good folks at Bookoutre!  I’m really looking forward to both of these!

I also got two FairyLoot books this month, as April’s box shipped late.  Beyond a Darkened Shore is one I hadn’t heard of, but I’m down to read about vikings.  Onyx and Ivory is one I heard a little about, but don’t know much about at all.  I really love that they pick books that aren’t the most obvious choices!

Finally, I stuck Vicious in here because it didn’t really fit in anywhere else!  I was supposed to go to V. E. Schwab’s lecture in Oxford earlier this month, but was brought down by an ear infection.  My friend got me a signed copy of Vicious, and I can’t wait to read it!  I got her a signed copy of This Savage Song at YALC last year, so it looks like we are forever doomed to give each other signed copies of her books.  Not a bad deal.

 

I haven’t been around a lot this month, and that’s probably not going to change until July is over.  Life is absolutely crazy right now between work, holidays, my birthday, and hay fever.  I’ll do my best to get going on BookTube and here again, but no promises!  Hopefully I’ll have some exciting things to announce soon!

 

How was your month in reading?  Have you read any of these books?  Are you slowly being crushed under the weight of your TBR pile?  Let me know!