Funny how the month I was most optimistic about posting for since January turned out to be the month I posted the least… oh well! I’ve been busy with enjoying warmer weather, opening up the lake for the season, preparing for my own solo camping trips, spending time with family, and returning to kendo. On top of the usual time sinks like work, cooking, eating, cleaning, and sleeping 😉 I did fit in a few more reads than April, at least. I finally got started on my Middle-earth reread in May as part of Wyrd & Wonder, so that’s something!
Books Finished
- The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
- The Lottery and Other Stores by Shirley Jackson
- When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
- Daughter of Calamity by Rosalie M. Lin
- Sleeping Giants by Rene Denfeld
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Books Reviewed
- Tidal Creatures (Alchemical Journeys #3) by Seanan McGuire
Challenges Check-In
This section tallies up my annual goals. (Posts and views are the only two metrics which are per month.)
- 6/30 middle grade fiction novels (excluding rereads)
- Been dragging my feet with this one, but I read a lot more middle grade in the summer so I should be picking up the pace again.
- 3/9 Family Reads
- My sister and I did both read When We Were Dragons in May but didn’t have time to sit down together and discuss! We’ve booked time tomorrow to do so, at least, so expect two Family Reads posts this month. (My dad has already finished reading our June pick, and I’ve got a copy of it on my sidetable now.)
- 2/6 “I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Read that Yet”
- 31/82 books read
- Three books behind schedule now, but that’s still not too bad five months into the year and should be easily recoverable.
- Reviewed 42% (13/31) of what I read (goal = 40%)
- I’m counting two of the five ‘reviews’ I wrote in a Round Up post for this stat
- Reread The Silmarillion,
The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings- I read The Hobbit (my favourite comfort read) as part of Wyrd & Wonder!
- 2/8 posts in May
- 🫠
- 2,780/2,200 views in May
Around the Blogsophere
(I’m usually 2-4 weeks behind when it comes to reading everyone’s posts so please bear in mind that this is a limited selection 😅)
On My Radar in June
Representation indicated below AFAIK (I haven’t read these books). Please notify me of any errors or places where I can be more specific.
- 4 June – Release date of Fungal: Foraging in the Urban Forest by Ariel Gordon (Canadian nonfiction – review forthcoming), Tidal Creatures (Alchemical Journeys #3) by Seanan McGuire (speculative fiction – review here), and Asking for a Friend by Ronnie Riley (MG contemporary fiction feat a nonbinary protagonist)
- 18 June – Release date of Daughter of Calamity by Rosalie M. Lin (historical fantasy set in 1930s Shanghai – review forthcoming)
How was your May? What new books, or bookish events, are you looking forward to this month?
What did you think of Butcher of the Forest? That was one I was curious about, but didn’t end up requesting an ARC of it in order to keep some semblance of control with my ARCs at the time haha.
Probably a good call! I can’t recall the last time I was so disinterested in a story 😅 I took it with me when I was getting my hair done and it’s short so I read most of it then but the elements didn’t come together for me.
Oh no, I’m sorry it didn’t work for you!! I’ve seen a couple of other positive reviews, so maybe I’ll still keep it on my TBR.
I’d be curious to hear your thougths! Even if it’s not to your taste, at least it is a novella and therefore not too much of a time sink 😄
I’m very curious about When Women Were Dragons, I hope you enjoyed it. Also, “opening up the lake for the season” sounds like a lot of fun if it’s part of your job😁
Thanks Tammy! I did quite enjoy WHEN WOMEN WERE DRAGONS – more than I expected. Your comment makes me realize ‘opening up the lake’ is perhaps a bit of a local colloquialism, haha. Basically it means getting my family’s seasonal (ie the trailer stays there all summer) campsite ready for summer, after it was hunkered down throughout winter .
May is always a tough month with the end of the school year. Don’t you hate it when life interferes with, you know, reading! I’m just working my way through September middle grade titles and heading in October ones now that I have more time to read. I admire all of your different goals; I know that I wouldn’t keep on top of them!
Right! I forgot that US schools break for summer earlier than Canadian schools. So far so good with my goals this year… I usually set them based on what I’m already doing, so that makes things a little easier, haha. Have you yet come across any good spooky reads dropping Sept/Oct?
It’s been a hectic month for me with very limited blogging as well! Hoping some of the summer months are calmer and I can get back to it and reading
Yes, here’s hoping we can both have a good time with summer reading! 😊
Oh, I’m really looking forward to your Family Reads post on ‘When Women Were Dragons’ — sounds like a good one.
I hope you have a great time camping this summer, and good luck with your return to kendo as well!
Thanks Louise! 😊 Several folks have expressed interest in that Family Reads post – I’m trying to get it published before I go camping on Thursday, haha.
Jealous of your family read togethers. Hoping to do some camping too.
Oh how was When Women Were Dragons? I still have that one to read!
Surprisingly compelling! I read it in almost a single day.