#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.

[sixofravens-reads]

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.

[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.

[demonslayedher]

I finished posting the unabashedly educational Sword Fic.

It includes a detailed (but hopefully beginner-friendly) explanation of all the steps of making a Nichirin blade from a sunny mountain like Mt. Youkou, a touch of swordsmith and metalworker folk lore (including demons), meta about what must make Kimetsu no Yaiba's swordsmithing methods different from real life methods, some character exploration for Haganezuka and his polishing method, vocabulary and additional resources in the chapter notes, and hopefully, an endearing, silly POV character to learn this all through.

[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

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

A Dark and Drowning Tide

gothic fantasy romance

a folklorist is chosen as the co-leader of an expedition to find a fabled magical spring for the king, along with 6 nobles

when her mentor, the other leader, is found dead on their boat in the middle of the night, she has to figure out who did it; while continuing the mission through the wilderness and navigating the potential political fallout

and the only one she can probably trust is her academic rival, a naturalist, who she hates

dark folktales & creatures

Jewish lesbian MC

arc from netgalley! out sep 17

putting both covers here because they’re both so beautiful!! (artists: Audrey Benjaminsen, & Erica Williams)

[tolive1000lives]

We’ve hit the halfway mark of the 2024 reading challenge! These are most of my 2024 reads and I’m excited to add to the stack!

[asexualbookbird]

Whoo boy. Lots of things going on here, many of them Not Good, so I threw myself into video games and reading. Played a whole bunch of Project Sekai, so much Project Sekai I have to now force myself to take a break from Project Sekai because my hands hurt so much. I was absolutely SPOILED by my friends on my birthday. I look at my little Miku figure everyday and it brings me SO much joy!! Got an embroidery machine and I already have a couple jobs lined up so hopefully I can make a little bit of Fun Money. At the very least I'm hoping to make enough to upgrade the program so I can make my own freehand designs! I read SIX (6) books this month and I annotated in the margins for the first time! It was fun, but I think it was only fun because I was leaving notes for a friend. I don't think it's something I would enjoy on my own so I won't be making a habit of it. Still! Fun and new and exciting!

Someone You Can Build A Nest In by John Wiswell ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- Okay Initially I rated this four stars, but sitting on it for a month I ADORED this. It left so many good feelings. Fun and silly and gross, I want more like this.

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - A reread! Still love it! I'd forgotten so much it was nice to revisit and about halfway through I remembered the ending which was fun. Opted for the audio this time which was absolutely delightfully done.

Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch ⭐⭐⭐ - Not my favorite, but still fun. I find it a Choice that the use of outdated slurs was a hint at a plot point. Peter made a promise to a child, so there's no way that will come back to bite him!

The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai ⭐⭐- I listened to the audiobook and I think that didn't help my enjoyment of this. I switched to a hard copy in the last 20% and found my opinions of the two main characters switching. I didn't like Nehal's narrator, so I didn't like Nehal. But reading it myself she was more tolerable. Aside from Giorgina having an abortion, this could have easily been a young adult novel, and even then it wouldn't necessarily have been out of place. The writing didn't feel like an adult novel, which I hate saying but I know of no other way to voice my feelings on this.

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- PERFECT. WONDERFUL. LOVED EVERY BIT! I know I just complained about a book reading like YA, but listen. Elatsoe was SO good. The love Elatsoe has for her family and her family for her is so refreshing. She's ace. Her loved ones love her. She loves them. And she's ace. It's not about Being Ace, but still! There she is! The audio was so easy and pleasant to listen to. I want my own copy because I KNOW I want to read this again. Absolutely delightful.

Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch ⭐⭐⭐- didn't enjoy it as much as the first, but enjoyed it more than the second. Typing the title out made a lightbulb go off and I Got It. The buried alive chapter had me squirming. Abigail returned. There are an awful lot of guns in this series for being set in London and here they still had to poke fun at the American being trigger happy (she was). I'm a little burnt out on this series for now, but I'll return to it in the future.

June is bringing a birthday tea party for my mom, finishing a knit hat for my mom, making a homebound sketchbook for my friend, and whatever books I feel in the mood for. I'd say throw suggestions at me, but the instant someone says YOU MUST READ THIS my brain goes hm. No uwu. I think I want to make Monthly Reading Goals photos again, that was fun! Only book set in stone this month is The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi which I've already started and am enjoying a lot so far. Good omens and good vibes for June, I am speaking that into existence.