May was an excellent month. I finally feel like I'm getting back into the groove I was in last summer which was an awesome groove to be in. I've been looking for this groove ever since the first of the year! The Bout of Books 10 put me back on course with plenty of five-star reads.
The House at the End of Hope Street, by Menna van Praag wasn't the greatest for me, but it was a cute way to start the month.
Upstairs at the White House, by J.B. West was a significant step up. I can always count on good non-fiction to boost my reading.
The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri, was a stellar look at the Indian immigrant experience, and it wrestled with lots of issues of identity, and I'm always down for that.
The Enchanted, by Rene Denfeld, was a home run. Magical, brutal, and just an enthralling story.
Sweet Tooth, volumes 1 and 2, by Jeff Lemire were some of the best graphic novel reading I've done in a while. I liked 'em better than Saga. I know!
The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss, was a big change of pace. It's been forever since I read any epic fantasy, and I couldn't have picked a better book to rekindle that interest.
We Were Liars, by e. lockhart. Just read it.
When She Woke, by Hillary Jordan, is my book club pick for June, but I couldn't wait to pick it up.
As you can see, I have a lot of books from this month left to review, so stay tuned! I have much gushing to do.
How did your May reading turn out?
May seems to have been a productive month for lots of people. Way to go.
ReplyDeleteFor me, with school finally out (no side jobs going), it's finally time to frolic in the books!
DeleteAn excellent reading month! Looks like May was a winner for a lot of people. It was certainly good to me :) I've wanted to read When She Woke for the longest time (I loved her other novel - Mudbound?). I may treat myself to it as a summer read.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ellie! Mudbound is definitely the better of the two books, but I enjoyed When She Woke for some of the issues of identity and loyalty that it explores.
DeleteOh my gosh, what an awesome May! I'm so glad you ended up getting to We Were Liars and the Enchanted :)
ReplyDeleteHeck yeah! I'm glad, too. They were both excellent!
DeleteWhat a month!! Mine was better in quality than quantity... definitely agree the folks need to read We Were Liars.
ReplyDeleteI was so relieved that the quality and quantity went up this month. No more sea of threes!
DeleteWow, what a great month of reading!
ReplyDeleteI know! And now I'm back to not being able to choose a book. Damnit!
DeleteWoo hoo! Excellent month of reading!! Can't wait to read the reviews!
ReplyDeleteNothing compared to yours, my dear! So happy you had a great month!
DeleteGood month Andi! I'm impressed and looking forward to hearing all your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteThanks, doll! #ReadTheEnchanted
DeleteI am waiting for the right time to get to The Enchanted, its been sitting on the kindle for a while now. Good to hear that you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI've been considering a Rothfuss reread, but then again they are such big books, and there are so many others I want to get to... I might wait until closer to the release of the third book.
It was such a great, quick read. A magical combo for me!
DeleteI know what you mean about the pressure to read other books rather than re-reading. Especially with big books. But they are SO good.
I'm sorry to see that The House at the End of Hope Street wasn't great for you! I've been interested in reading it. Congratulations on a great month of reading. May was pretty good for me, too. I managed to finish several books I had wanted to read or re-read for a long time.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun, but I think I just wasn't in the right mood. It struck me as too cutesy. :( Thank you! I'm glad your May was productive!
DeleteSweet Tooth better than Saga?! I haven't read Saga yet but maybe I'll start with Sweet Tooth. Glad you liked When She Woke--though I can totally see how Mudbound would make it hard to live up to. I only finished one book last month. You guessed it...The Kitchen House. LOL! Oh well. I've been focusing more on blogging and just have to be happy with that. ;)
ReplyDeleteYES, heavens yes! Sweet Tooth is so good and the characters are so sympathetic and wonderful. #sigh I'm selfishly glad you're blogging more so I don't have to wait til book club meetings to "talk" to you! lol
DeleteHa! "Just read it" is exactly what I said about We Were Liars. I'm glad you had a good month - my monthly round-up will be coming on Thursday!
ReplyDeleteYES! What else is there to say, really? lol Looking forward to your recap, Sarah!
DeleteI really need to read something by Lahiri, I've been wanting to for ages. And I own The Name of the Wind - I'm really excited for it but the font size in my version is just so tiny that it's almost off-putting.
ReplyDeleteShe's freaking awesome. Just such wonderful detail. There's tedious detail and then there's LAHIRI detail. Masterful. Do you have the mass market The Name of the Wind? I couldn't handle it.
DeleteWoohoo, what a great month!! You had some fantastic reads. I actually recommended Upstairs at the White House to one of my flute students who wants to major in history when she goes off to college (in one more year, sob!). I want to read it sometime, too.
ReplyDeletePS - meant to specify, I recommended it to her because of your post!
DeleteThat's awesome that you were able to recommend Upstairs at the White House to your student! I hope she loooooves it! It was so interesting to get to know a whole other side of the presidency and the White House!
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ReplyDeleteSorry about the above--didn't realize kiddo had logged me out. What I was trying to say:
ReplyDeleteI love Sweet Tooth! So sad the series came to end. :( I've been wanting to read When She Woke for a long time! Pretty sure because of Heather. Can't wait to see what you thought. :)
Haha! No worries. I didn't realize the series ended! Did it end well? Ahem! lol When She Woke was really interesting....lots of bits to chew over.
DeleteMenna van Praag's book is the only one there I've read and I really liked it.
ReplyDeleteHappy June reading!
It was cute, but I think it was a mood thing for me. It struck me as too cute at the time I was reading. Blah to being a mood reader! I'm so fickle sometimes.
DeleteYou had a great month!! Yay for you. I read 8 books, a little short of my goals but it's all good. Loved We Were Liars...so so good!
ReplyDeleteI did! I really needed it, too. Good for you for reading eight! And I'm so glad you liked We Were Liars! I want to read more e. lockhart now!
DeleteYou had an excellent month of reading! Mine was meh but that's oak because I read a 5 star book. Since I don't give so many of those I consider May was a good one. 😃
ReplyDeleteAwww, I'm sorry it was meh. At least you got one 5-star in there! That's more than I had early in the year. lol
DeleteI'm glad you had a great reading month! I hope June is just as excellent.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kim! It's off to a rocky start but hopefully it's on the upswing.
DeleteGreat reading month, I am looking forward to hearing what you think of these books. I also read We Were Liars and didn't really like it as much as others did sadly. Here's to June!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jillian! I knew so little about We Were Liars, I think I was thrilled. I just never know what to expect from YA these days, and it sucked me in. Score!
DeleteOkay, everyone seems to love We Were Liars. I think I need to read it!
ReplyDeleteYes!!! Shannon and I will peer pressure you!
DeleteSweet Tooth better than Saga?!? I gotta get my hands on this one!!
ReplyDeleteDo it! I think you'll LOVE it! I thought of you and your graphic novel loving self as I was reading those first two volumes.
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