I just don’t seem to be getting any forwarder on my blogging!! Ah well, here’s a recap from May, which was a stupendously busy month at my greenhouse job – definitely reflected in the overall amount of reading I got done, my lowest month of the year so far.
Favorite May Read
Although it was technically Carry On, Jeeves, I like to choose a new read for this slot when possible, which means Project Hail Mary is going to take the win. This book ended up being funny, engaging, emotional, intense, and all game together in the end – a total win for me.
Most Disappointing May Read
Possibly Love at First by Kate Clayborn, which was honestly an okay read for me, but somewhat boring and just not that engaging. However, as you can see from my little pile of 3* reads this month, it could just as easily have been any of the other meh reads I had.
Other May Reads
- 3*
- 100 Years of Color by Kate Greenwood
- The Gin O’Clock Club by Rosie Blake
- The Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn
- Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne
- Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez
- 3.5*
- Living in Norway by Solvi Dos Santos & Elisabeth Holte
- 4*
- Anchored Hearts by Priscilla Oliveras
- The Dating Plan by Sara Desai
- Happiness Hill by Grace Livingston Hill
- The Marriage Game by Sara Desai
- Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie
- Unicorn Famous by Dana Simpson
- 5*
- Carry On, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
- The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
May Stats
- Total Number of Books Read: 18 (1 Kindle, 17 physical)
- Total Pages Read: 5361
- Average Star Rating for September: 3.75
- Longest Book: Project Hail Mary (476 pages)
- Shortest Book: Unicorn Famous (171 pages)
- Oldest Book: Happiness Hill (published 1932)
- Newest Book: Unicorn Famous, Second First Impressions, Project Hail Mary, Anchored Hearts, The Dating Plan, and Love at First were all published this year.
- Number of New-to-Me Authors: 5
May DNFs
None this month!!
TBR Update
This I keep updated as I go, so it’s current as of today, rather than as of the end of May. I am also making progress on winnowing down the unread blog emails!!! Under 800!!! LOL
For those of you who don’t know, I’m weirdly obsessive with organizing the TBR, and have it on a spreadsheet divided into six different tabs:
- Standalones: 509 (up one)
- Nonfiction: 125 (down one)
- Personal (which includes all books I own (fiction and nonfiction), but lists any series I own as only one entry…): 648 (holding steady)
- Series (each series counted separately, not each book within a series): 252 (up one)
- Mystery Series (each series counted separately, not each book within a series): 114 (down one)
- New Arrivals – (I have a lot of books that I have been gifted or that I pick up somewhere and they get put on my “oh I’m so excited about this shiny new book” shelf… and then of course don’t actually get read.): 143 (up six!)
Current Reads
- I’m trying to have one nonfiction book on the go all the time right now, just a chapter a day. It actually is helping me get through the ones both on my official nonfiction section of the TBR and some of the scores of nonfiction I already own! Right now I’m reading The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson, about a preacher in the 1960s who ended up moving from rural Pennsylvania to New York City to work with a gang ministry. This one has been on my shelf for literal years but I’m glad that I’ve finally picked it up as it’s thoroughly engaging.
- The PemberLittens group on Litsy is on our final Austen read – Persuasion. I quite like this one and am enjoying the gentle chapter-a-day pace.
- Another Litsy group is reading through the Emily of New Moon trilogy by L.M. Montgomery. Despite the fact that several of Montgomery’s books rate in my top books of all time, I’ve never read this series. I think when I was growing up Mom told me that it was sad, so I never bothered. But I’m probably old enough to handle the sad now haha So far, the first book, Emily of New Moon, has been okay, but it really does have a down tone compared to many of Montgomery’s other books. And Emily’s Aunt Elizabeth is just a terrible person. Like Marilla without any sense of humor or empathy.
- I’m also trying to check some classics off my list, also via the chapter-a-day method, and am currently read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, another of those classics I’ve just never gotten around to reading. It’s short and snappy so I’m really enjoying it.
- My “regular” book that I’m reading right now is The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan. A while back I read The Joy Luck Club and enjoyed it so much more than I was anticipating – I’m usually not a fan of novels. So far, this book is also drawing me in despite being a book it doesn’t “sound” like I should enjoy.
- Finally, last night I wasn’t feeling sleepy and just wanted something happy and fluffy to read before going to sleep, and ended up getting about a third of the way through My Lady Jane, which I have been meaning to read forever. So far, absolutely fantastic.
Up Next
The probably next five(ish) reads –
- The next free Kindle book I’m planning to check off the list is a collection of the first three books in the Lexie Star cozy mystery series. I can’t decide if I’m hoping that I enjoy them and read the whole series, or if I hope the first book is dreadful and I don’t need to read the rest! LOL
- I still have a handful of books from the Regency book box I bought off of eBay a couple years ago. They’ve ranged from “what even” to “pretty decent” so we’ll see what The Duke’s Disappearance has to offer.
- A while back I read Smoky the Cow Horse and found it surprisingly engaging. So, when we were in South Dakota in 2019 and I saw another of James’s books, Flint Spears, I decided to pick it up. And two years later, I’m planning to actually read it!! Actually not a bad timeline from purchase to reading for me.
- My next Wodehouse book is one I actually somehow haven’t read before – Sam in the Suburbs. I’m rather excited about it as I only have a tiny handful of unread Wodehouse books left.
- Still working through my personal collection of unread books – the next will be Holdfast by Patricia Beatty. Back in high school I purchased a bunch of library discards by Beatty but haven’t read them all (or at least not since the late 90s). She’s a mixed bag for me – I’ve kept a couple and gotten rid of a couple, so we’ll see how this one plays out. Many of her books are set on the west coast in the 1800s, so moving to early 1600s Ireland will be a definite change of pace!!
Well, that about brings you up to speed as well as summing up my May reading. On to June!!!
The Aroma of Books 