May Wrap-Up/June TBR:
Hello,
May has been an extremely busy month, though it has been good so far. I started a new job right after the Spring semester ended so I have been putting in a lot of hours so far. I also had a health issue come up the week after I got back from finals so I had to take a couple of days off work, but I am feeling a lot better now than I was. My online classes also started and I am now going to work and then coming home to work on homework. There have been times where it has been a little stressful but I am learning a lot about time management which is something that I have struggled with before. Whenever I come home for the summer I always try to go to the library every month so I can catch up on some reading that I have missed during the school year. This month I ended up getting 12 books but I read about half of my library books so far and I am working on some ebooks since I can read them while I am waiting to clock in and during my lunch break.
For June I won't be getting any new library books while I work on the ones that I still have to finish, so I will be working on a lot of ebooks that I need to finish. I mostly focus on ya fantasy, horror, and contemporary romance, though I do tend to read almost anything if it sounds interesting.
I use a site called Goodreads for my information so each title has a link to its respective page and summary).0000
Total books read: 12
1. Free to fall by Lauren Miller - I have to admit that I was wary of this one at first but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading it. I loved the characters and the romance was pretty good as well. There was a ton of action but there was also a mystery as well. I almost wish that this one had become a duology but it was also good to read a standalone in this genre as well. This one I would definitely recommend (4.5/5 stars).
2. Don't stop now by Julie Halpern - This one was a fast read for me but I wasn't a huge fan of the characters. I thought the plot was okay as well. I am glad that I read it though as it has been on my shelf for a long time and it helped with quite a few challenges on Goodreads too. (3 stars)
3. The Reflection: The stranger in the mirror (#1) by Rachel R. Smith - This one started out really slow for me as I wasn't entirely sure of what was happening in this story but I got to around halfway, the action really picked up and I really started to enjoy it more. I also really loved the characters as well (3.5/5 stars)
4. The haven by Carol Lynch Williams - I picked this one up thinking it would be really good but I couldn't really connect with the characters that much. This one was a fast read though, and it helped with a few challenges on Goodreads as well (3 stars).
5. The bone witch (#1) by Rin Chupeco - I was a little wary of this one as I have seen mixed reviews on it but once I started reading it, I definitely enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I wasn't sure if I would like the flashbacks as much but I found myself really enjoying both the characters and the plot. There were times where it seemed a little slow but I think it balanced out the action well. There were some things that I wished we knew more about but I'm hoping that we will find out more in the next books (4 stars).
6. We are okay by Nina LaCour - I picked this one up for a monthly challenge and it was ok. I wasn't really a fan of the characters but I thought the story was okay. (3 stars).
7. Immortal reign (#6) by Morgan Rhodes - This one was my most anticipated book of 2018 and while I thought that it could have been better I still enjoyed the story and was a little sad when I finished the series. I would highly recommend this series as well. (4.5/5 stars).
8. Panic by Lauren Oliver - I thought I would enjoy this one but I had a really hard time connecting with the characters and I thought the plot was okay. I will pick up more books by this author but I just wasn't really into this one that much (2.5/5 stars).
9. Salt & Stone (#2) by Victoria Scott - I really loved the first one but I didn't like this one as much as I thought I would. There was a lot of action in t and the story was okay. I did like some of the characters but there were times where I didn't really like the main character that much. It was a fast read once I got into it and I think it ended well too (3.5/5 stars).
10. Blackout (#1) by Robison Wells - I was surprised by how fast I read this one this time around. I picked this book up about a year or two ago and had a hard time getting into it, but this time it only took me a few days to read it. I do wish that there was a little bit more world-building in the story but I thought the characters were okay. I may pick up the second book at some point but I'm not sure when (4 stars).
11. Tiger's voyage (#3) by Colleen Houck - This one took me a lot longer than I thought it would. I loved the first two books in this series but I had a hard time with this one. I loved the characters and the story was good, though I did have a harder time with the romance in this one for some reason. I will eventually get the 4th book though (4 stars).
12. The Raven King (#4) by Maggie Stiefvater - I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this one. I wasn't a huge fan of the last couple of books in this series and there were some things in this book that I wasn't sure about but I thought it was a good conclusion to the series and was glad that everything worked out. There were some things that I was surprised by as well (4 stars).
June TBR list:
This month I will be focusing more on my ebooks than my physical copies as I seem to be reading those a lot faster.
Books I am still reading:
A lot of these are ebooks that i am hoping to read this month. My main goals are to finish The Shining (#1) by Stephen King and A storm of swords (#3) by George R.R. Martin.
The forever song (#3) by Julie Kagawa, You against me by Jenny Downham, and Uprooted by Naomi Novik are library books that I got from my local library. I haven't started Uprooted yet but I've heard a lot of good reviews about it so I am hoping to get to it soon.
Warcross (#1) by Marie Lu, and Gemina (#2) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff are both sci-fi books. I've read a little bit of Warcross and it is good so far. It's set in a video game/future kind of setting and Gemina is set in outer space. I've been struggling with Gemina for a while now as I have not been enjoying it as much as I thought I would, but I am hoping to finish it this month.
The Boxcar Children (#1) by Gertrude Chandler Warner - This one is a reread as I need a couple more classics for a challenge that i am hoping to finish this month.
So this is what I have planned for this month.I don't know if I will get to all of these this month but I am hoping to read a few of them. My major goals are to finish The Shining and A storm of swords, but I'm also hoping to finish a few others too.