#may reading wrap up

[godzilla-reads]

🌼 May Reading Wrap Up 🌼

In the last month I managed to read 11 books, bringing my yearly total up to 65 books! Here’s the list with my Top 3 having stars beside them:

🍄‍🟫 Mystical Mushrooms: Discover the Magic & Folklore of Fantastic Fungi by Aurora Kane

⭐️ [ . . . ] by Fady Joudah

🍓 Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti and Georgie McAusland

⭐️ Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

🐈‍⬛ Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat by Ursula Moray Williams

⭐️ Anarcho-Blackness: Notes Towards a Black Anarchism by Marquis Bey

🍄 The Adventures of a Brownie by Dinah Maria Mulock

🍵 The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O’Neill

🦎 Dorohedoro Vol. 2 by Q. Hayashida

🌸 The Flowers of Buffoonery by Osamu Dazai (trans. Sam Bett)

🎇 In the Forests of the Night by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

What was your favorite thing to read?

[franticvampirereads]

Oh my goodness, May has been filled with so many great reads! And I have another contender for my absolute favorite book of the year 😊. Here’s everything that I read this month:

Bonus Action 4⭐️ {review}

Sunny Disposition 4⭐️ {review}

Haikyu!! vol 2 4⭐️ {review}

The Magic Fish 5⭐️ {review}

The Sunshine Court 5⭐️ {review}

Lunatic 5⭐️ {review}

Lunatic Bonus Epilogue 5⭐️

Cosmoknights vol 1 4⭐️ {review}

All The Feels 5⭐️ {review}

Maniac -currently reading

My absolute favorite book for the month was The Sunshine Court. It’s one that will stick with me for a long while and it’s one that I’m gonna have to reread before the next book comes out.

[tolive1000lives]

2023 Reading wrap up through May

[bookloure]

Books finished in May| May has been a good month, but I'm also ripe for another social media break! When I took a month break last March, I decided I will do it periodically—quarterly, in fact. So I'll be gone again for a bit in June, from the third week (because I still have a book to review) up to the second week of July. Sana afford ko mag sabbatical chz.

Now let's talk about books—the highlight is I discovered that I loooove body horror because of a random eARC I got. The cheka part is that I gave my first 1star of the year. Anyway, here are the 10 books I finished this month, ranked:

4.5⭐

📱 Kindred by Octavia E. Butler - It has been forever since I stayed up late because I can't put a book down. This totally did it. Of course I felt shit the next day, but damn it's so worth it!

4⭐

📖 It's A Mens World by Bebang Siy - It's a collection of the author's personal stories chronicling her girlhood in Manila. Funny, relatable and quite charming, but also dark in places.

📱 Welcome To Your Body: Lessons in Evisceration, edited by Ryan Marie Ketterer - Before this book I already had an inkling that I like body horror—Grease by Junji Ito and Earthlings by Sayaka Murata are two of my favorites, but this book gave me different flavors of body horror and I enjoyed sampling every story. Of course, I like some stories more than the others, but as a collection I honestly will give this 5 stars. It reminded me of Deesha Philyaw's "The Secret Lives of Church Ladies" in the sense that it feels very much like a cohesive collection. Top tier!

📖 Tao Sa Prowa: Mga Tala, Mga Taon by Allan Popa - Another stunning collection. It's a series of seemingly random vignettes on different aspects and phases of life, that is, until I came to the titular piece—then it morphed into a rounded collection. And the theme is revealed. I would say it's similar to Saglit: Mga Ala-ala't Muni by Rofel Brion, but (10x) better.

📱 Frieren: Beyond the Journey's End Volumes 7&8 by Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe - I adore this series so much!!! It's starts in the end and shows the reader how we carry the people we meet to the future even though our time together is over. I tear up a lot reading this manga lol.

📖 Asintada: Mga Tula by Lilia Quindoza Santiago - Simple. Pero pag tinamaan ka bubukol for sure.

3⭐

📱 Giraffe and a Half by Shel Silverstein - Minsan trip ko lang bumasa ng children's book. Solid naman ito hehe.

📱 Sheets by Brenna Thummler - Loved the art style, the story, not so much.

1.5⭐

📱 🎧 Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - So disappointed with this because it's a highly anticipated read. I guess I'll just put my Goodreads review here: The writing is gorgeous because it's Ann Patchett, but I did not connect with this for some reason, so I was already planning to give it 3 stars... but then I found out what Peruvian historical event this book takes inspiration from and it just left a bad taste in my mouth the erasure and co-opting of POC stories and histories. I wouldn't have learned about the Lima Hostage Crisis if not for other Goodreads reviews. You'd hope that the telling of these stories would help shed light, but the author swept the Peruvians under the rug instead. In their own story. Very British Museum behavior.

And that's a wrap! 🌯 I already cried to LOTR: The Return of the King, so June is already going so well lol.

[theinquisitxor]

May 2023 Reading Wrap-Up

In the month of May I read 8 books and had 1 dnf. This month was fairly middle-of-the-road for me, with a couple of disappointments, and a couple good books. My average rating was 3.8/5 stars, and I read mostly fantasy, with 1 sci-fi and 1 romance.

1.The Mark of Athena (Heroes of Olympus 3) by Rick Riordan 4/5 stars. I continued by reread of the HoO series this month with book 3. Annabeth is honestly one of my favorite characters of all time, and the ending of this book is just the worst best thing ever. read on audio.

2.A Lady for A Duke by Alexis Hall, 4/5 stars. This is a queer regency romance with a trans main character. This book was delightful, sweet, and worth the 450 pages. I really enjoyed the premise and set up of this story, and I thought everything was handled and executed very well. Queer, regency romance.

3.A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding 1) by Freya Marske, 3/5 stars. This is a queer fantasy romance set during the Edwardian era England. I was a little disappointed in this, but I think I went into this book with super high expectations, and they weren't quite met. I feel very indifferent to the meta plot of this series, and I'm not sure I plan on continuing. Queer, historical fantasy romance.

4.The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Ann Older (DNF) This was the only book I dnf'd this month, and while I don't think this is a bad book by any means, it just wasn't for me. This is a queer sci-fi Sherlockian mystery set on a colony of Jupiter. It leans heavy into the Sherlock vibes, and it just wasn't my cup of tea. I also didn't love the audiobook narrator. Queer sci-fi mystery.

5.Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri 3/5 stars. This was also a disappointment for me. I liked this story, but it was not what I was entirely expecting, and I felt like this book never lived up to what I wanted it to be. I was expecting something like The City of Brass but got The Wrath and the Dawn instead. Not bad, just not what I was expecting. Ancient India, fantasy romance.

6.Bloodmarked (Legendborn 2) by Tracey Deonn, 5/5 stars. This was my only 5 star book this month, and I liked this even better than the first book. Now that we got a lot of the exposition and worldbuilidng done in book 1, I thought this even better and this is shaping up to be a new favorite series. I can't wait to see what the next book brings!

7.The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus 5) by Rick Riordan 4/5 stars. This is probably my favorite book of the HoO series, and this has many favorite scenes. The Percy and Annabeth chapters of this are just *so* good.

8.Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee 4/5 stars. This is a fantasy novella about Ruks and their handlers'. This book is about loving something that can't love you back, and knowing that one day you will have to let that go. I think I'll enjoy anything Fonda Lee writes, and she manages to create an emotional, impactful, detailed story in under 200 pages. I really enjoyed this novella, and the world building, story, and craft that went into this story really shines. It's bittersweet, and I really felt the emotional impact of this story.

9.Entangled Life: How Fungi make our worlds, change our minds & shape our futures by Merlin Sheldrake. This was my nonfiction this month, and I enjoyed this book all about fungi and mushrooms. I learned a lot, but I also have many more questions, and a new appreciation for fungi.

Next month I'm hoping to tacke and binge two series, as well as read the final HoO book.

[books-coffee-and-the-woods]

Slightly Late May Reading Wrap-Up!

May started off rough with 2 DNF's, but was a successful month overall! Ended up reading a bunch of longer books, which was unintentional but I'm glad to have them off the ol' TBR list. Also, somehow managed to be more productive reading-wise after TOTK came out, even though I've spent a ton of time playing it.

I don't usually make monthly goals, but for June, aside from finishing The Historian, my goal is to only read books under 350 pages long (to give my brain a break lol), and read some of the manga I acquired over the past couple months. Especially the reprints of old series, which (if I decide to continue the series) I want to make sure to collect before they go out of print and become ridiculously expensive and hard to find again.

Read:

Saga vol 10 - Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

Babel - R. F. Kuang

Paladin's Grace - T. Kingfisher

In the Night Garden - Catherynne M. Valente

Yume - Sifton Tracey Anipare

DNF:

The Secret Country - Pamela Dean

Fairies: A Dangerous History - Richard Sugg

Currently Reading

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

[princessofmanyfaces]

May Wrap-Up

My May Wrap Up!

📆: Read 7 books in total

⭐: an average of 3.7 stars, which is fine

📝: Read only stand alones, or didn't continue the series (that month)

📚 Books read in 2023: 47/52 - 90%

[mediashadowreads]

°․✶ MAY WRAP & JUNE HOPEFULS

[magpiex-reads]

Thank you Fable for offering an easy reading wrap up template! As usually library loans have messed with my May TBR plan 😅 the last book is covered due to the SMP boycott. A lot of the publishers differ in the UK so I do my best to check the American publishers but if I miss anything please let me know and I will remove them!

[kkayslibrary]

What I read in May.

[hootyhoowoo]

A little 15 min doodle but first post of the year has to be Bingqiu!

[franticvampirereads]

May has been a super busy month! It feels like it’s been an absolute whirlwind. But here’s what I read this month:

The Devil Takes 3.5 ⭐️ {review}

Deadbeat Druid 5⭐️ {review}

Bubble 4.5 ⭐️ {review}

Two-Man Team 5 ⭐️ {review}

Dekoboko Sugar Days 4⭐️ {review}

Unhinged -currently reading

Ghosts of the Shadow Market -currently reading (I actually started this one!!)

My favorite books this month we’re definitely Deadbeat Druid and Two-Man Team. They just had my heart in a vice grip the entire time I was reading them.

[fictionadventurer]

Potential November Reads

In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden

The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton

Something by Charles Dickens

A nonfiction book

A piece of classic Russian literature

[theinquisitxor]

December 2024 Reading Wrap Up

This is it folks! Last wrap up of the year! I read 8 books in December and had 1 dnf. I was able to complete the two series I wanted to before the end of the year, and finished my on-going goals.

1.Seer of Sevenwaters by Juliet Mariller, 4/5 stars. This is the 5th book in the series, and a solid installment. Not my favorite of the series, but not bad. I just didn't love it as much as the other books, and things felt very slow at times.

2.Conrad's Fate (Chrestomanci 5) by Diana Wynne Jones, 4/5 stars. I enjoyed this one more than the previous two I read, and really liked being with Christopher and Millie again on a new adventure.

3.The Pinhoe Egg (Chrestomanci 6) by Diana Wynne Jones, 3.5/5 stars. I finished this series-yay! This was a fun installment, and it was nice to catch up with Cat. I'm glad I was able to read some new DJW this year.

4.The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe by Matthew Gabriele. My nonfiction book for the month, and one of my Random TBR picks. I thought this was a good overview of the middle ages, debunking the "dark ages" stereotype around this time period.

5.Midnight In Everwood by Maria Kuzinar, 2/5 stars. This was my other Random TBR pick for the month. I was actually very happy I got this, as it is a christmas-y book and nutcracker retelling. I love the nutcracker fairy tale, so I was interested in this retelling, but this book was so bad. The writing was bad, the plot was bad, the ending was bad 😂

6. Flame of Sevenwaters (Sevenwaters 6) by Juliet Marillier, 4.5/5 stars. This was a good conclusion to this series and the second story arc. I liked Maeve a lot as a character and her journey. This one reminded me a bit of Heir to Sevenwaters. The romance in this book was the only thing that was a little weird to me.

7.The Fur Person by May Sarton, 5/5 stars. This is a novella from the perspective of Sarton's cat. It's one of the best representations of a cat's pov in my opinion, and follows Tom Jones as he goes from being a 'Cat About Town' to a housecat. It was a lovely little read.

8. A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold, 4/5 stars. This is a collection of essays about land conservation from Leopold's farm in Wisconsin. This is a foundational piece of nature writing that I wanted to read.

DNF: At the beginning of December I picked up The Virgin in the Garden by AS Byatt, as I've been wanting to read more Byatt books. I read about 20%, but I could just not get into it. Maybe one day I'll pick it back up.

[bookishfreedom]

may & june wrap up 📚

may was a fabulous reading month, in both quantity and quality of books. june was, unfortunately, lacking in both. here’s hoping july takes after may 🤞

Books read in May, * for new favorites:

✨Transcendent Kingdom (library book)

✨Immortal Longings* (library book)

✨The Miseducation of Cameron Post

✨Falling

✨In Five Years

✨Girl Gone Viral

✨title not included due to the SMP boycott*

✨The Honeymoon Crashers* (audiobook, not pictured)

✨The Deal (ebook, not pictured)

Books read in June:

✨Outrun the Wind

✨The Hunting Party

✨My Body

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2025: January Wrap-Up.

I read a lot this month! Finally got around to the novella kick I had been hoping to do after NaNo (thanks, Tor!), PLUS the weather was fabulous for reading through some Snowy Winter Books, and I managed to daisy-chain between them really well!

Photos and/or reviews liked below:

TIME'S AGENT - ★★★ I had outrageously high hopes for this one (Pocket Worlds?! dimensional fuckery?! scientist MCs?!? queer?!), and unfortunately it turned out to be Just Okay for me. Very much a grief-centered book, very much a corporate hellscape future (I suppose it does have some Murderbot overlap, in that regard). How time worked in the Pocket Worlds was wild and cool, but I found the grief-strained relationship between the MC and her wife exasperating--maybe it'll hit right for allos, but it was not my cup of tea.

WELCOME TO THE GODDAMN ICE CUBE - ★★★½ I don't usually peruse non-fiction, but I'm doing a subscription box of nature writing this year, and they sent me this! Interesting cultural window to far-north Norway, very winter-approved, and pleasantly surprisingly queer. Glad I read it! (CW for much sexual assault/abuse, though, broadcasted clearly in the first couple pages.)

CAMP ZERO - ★★★½ This near future cli-fi was comped to Station Eleven (which I loved) and The Power (which I have not read), and takes place in far north Canada where something sus is going on at a building project. I was really enjoying it up until the last hundred pages or so, when things suddenly felt very rushed and thrown together--I might've given it 4 stars if she stuck the landing. Another good winter read!

BLACKFISH CITY - ★★★½ I can't decide if this is 3.5 or 4 stars, but since I didn't slam the 4-star button on Goodreads, I'm going to leave it as 3.5. I really liked this one, though! Love a good futuristic floating city in the Arctic. The worldbuilding was very cool, and the polar bear was appropriately terrifying. Had a lot of POVs and jumped kind of rapidly between them, which I didn't have a ton of bandwidth for this month. Overall had a good time! Might reread when the time is right.

LOST ARK DREAMING - ★★★★ I thought this one was also about a floating city based on (not looking closely enough at) the cover art, but it turns out those are Super High Rise Skyscrapers where the first few floors are underwater. More climate fiction, but this one takes place off the coast of Nigeria, and the comp to Rivers Solomon's THE DEEP is absolutely loadbearing (affectionate). Enjoyed this one a lot, too, to the tune of Some Of The Interspersed Poetry Made Me Feel Shrimp Emotions, And I Busted Out A Sticky-Tab To Flag A Few Lines.

THE DEAD CAT TAIL ASSASSINS - ★★★½ This was a lot more fun than I anticipated! I've really enjoyed all of Clark's novella-length work, and this one was funny and surprisingly weird and perfectly fucked up and unfortunately I cannot state specifics without being spoilery. Definitely worth picking up, if you like assassins and mind-bendy plot twists.

ADRIFT IN CURRENTS CLEAN AND CLEAR - ★★★½ One of my favorite January Traditions is reading the latest installment of Wayward Children. I really enjoyed the waterworld in this one, and All Things Russian are my jam! I should go back and reread Sugar Sky, though.

OVERGROWTH - ★★★★½ I received an ARC, and it was SO GOOD HOLY SHIT!!! I actually wrote a Thoughtful Review about it. Out May 6, 2025! Great things to look forward to!!

THE LANGUAGE OF THE NIGHT - 94*/259 pages read; will report back. Really enjoying this so far! It's very thoroughly introduced, and I appreciate the thematic organization over chronological. (*asterisk: By the page numbers, I'm up to 94, but there are definitely xl pages of General Introduction before the book itself starts--I am not exaggerating about Thoroughly Introduced haha.)

Under the Cut: A Note About ~*★Stars★*~

Historically, I have been Very Bad™ about assigning things Star Ratings, because it's so Vibes Heavy for me and therefore Contingent Upon my Whims. (Example: I don't like that stars are Odd, because that makes three the midpoint and things are rarely so truly mid for me)(I have hacked my way around this with a ½, which is really only applicable for me at ★★★ and up). Here is, generally, how I conceptualize stars:

★ - This was Bad. I would actively recommend that you do NOT read this one, no redeeming qualities whatsoever, not worth the slog. Save Yourself, It's Too Late For Me. Book goes in the garbage (donate bin).

★★ - This was Not Good. I would not recommend it, but it wasn't a total waste or wash--something in here held my interest/kept my attention/sparked some joy. I will not be rereading this ever. Save Yourself (Or Join Me In Suffering, That Seems Like A Cool Bonding Activity).

★★★ - This was Good/Fine/Okay/Meh. I don't care about this enough to recommend it one way or another. Perfectly serviceable book, held my interest, I probably enjoyed myself (or at least didn't actively loathe the reading). I don't have especially strong feelings. You probably don't need to save yourself from this one--if it sounds like your jam, give it a shot! Just didn't resonate with me particularly powerfully. I probably won't reread this unless I'm after something in particular.

★★★½ - I liked this! I'll probably recommend it if I know it matches someone's vibes or specific requests, but I didn't commit to a star rating on Goodreads. More likely to reread, but not guaranteed.

★★★★ - I really enjoyed this!! I would recommend it (sometimes with caveats about content warnings or such--I tend to like weird fucked up funny shit, and I don't have many hard readerly NO's). Not a perfect book for me by any means, but Very Good. This is something I would reread! Join me!!

★★★★★ - I LOVED THE SHIT OUT OF THIS, IT REWIRED MY BRAIN, WILL RECOMMEND TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE AT THE SLIGHTEST PROVOCATION (content warning caveats still apply--see 4-star disclaimer). Excellent book, I'll reread it regularly, I'll buy copies for all my friends, I'll try to convince all of Booklr to read it, PLEASE join me!!