May 2019 Reading & Blogging Wrap-Up

Goodbye May & hello June!

May is always a hectic month for us, so I didn’t have high expectations in regards to reading and blogging. Surprisingly, I finished 5 books off my May TBR and started the final book off the list. I ended up reading 10 books in total in May! Not bad considering everything that was going on.

Let’s see what I ended up reading in May…

» China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians #2) by Kevin Kwan

#YARC2019

I didn’t love this one as much as the first book, but still a solid sequel. While I enjoyed the new characters, I do feel like some of my favorites from the first book were really pushed into the background.

You can read my mini review here ⇒ China Rich Girlfriend

» The Familiars by Stacey Halls

*3.5 Stars*

With it’s beautiful cover & the premise of witch trials in the 17th century, I had high hopes for The Familiars. While it is well written & wonderfully atmospheric, there was something missing. The passing was too slow as well. My biggest issue was how certain transgressions were excused by the main character.

You can read my mini review here ⇒ The Familiars

» Liar by Rob Roberge

A memoir told in second person? I did NOT think this was going to work, but Roberge pulls it off. Liar is not told in a linear timeline, but rather jumps all over the place. Again, I didn’t think it was going to work, but somehow it does. Honestly, I was not expecting to enjoy this book, but I was pleasantly surprised.

You can read my review here ⇒ Book Review: Liar by Rob Roberge

» Winnie-the-Pooh (Winnie-the-Pooh #1) by A.A. Milne

*Family read together*

I adored watching the movie & TV adaptations of Winnie-the-Pooh as a kid, but had never read the book before. We listened to the audiobook as a family, but it wasn’t the hit I was anticipating. Unfortunately, we found the story to be very long-winded. We were also not big fans of this particular audiobook narration.

» Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy #1) by Emily A. Duncan

*3.5 Stars*

Wicked Saints was on my list of most anticipated books of the first half of 2019. I thought the magic system & the competing ideologies between Kalyazin and Tranavia in Wicked Saints was very compelling. This book started off with a bang but unfortunately slowly started to fizzle in the middle. Things did pick up towards the end, but I was not surprised at the plot twist in the slightest. I also wasn’t buying the romance… the angsty romance felt too forced.

» The Muralist by B.A. Shapiro

I do think The Muralist would interest artists, or anyone interested in art or art history. As someone who knows little to nothing about art, the writing came across a little pretentious at times. I also thought the pacing was far too slow.

You can read my mini review here ⇒ The Muralist

» Five Roses by Alice Zorn

This was actually a surprising little book. While I do not think this is going to be everyone’s cup of tea, I enjoyed it.

» Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

*4.5 Stars*

#YARC19

What a lovely little YA contemporary that addresses themes like mental healthy, identity, family relationships, and friendship. I also really enjoyed the setting of the book, Iran, and leaning more about Persian culture.

» Rich People Problems (Crazy Rich Asians #3) by Kevin Kwan

#YARC19

*4.5 Stars*

I thought this was a wonderful conclusion to the Crazy Rich Asians series. I really enjoyed how everything panned out in the end, and felt satisfied when I finished. I was appreciated that Kwan was not predictable, and kept me on my toes.

» The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease

*4.5 Stars*

After reading Sarah Mackenzie’s The Read-Aloud Family, I wanted to read this book as it was the inspiration behind Mackenzie’s podcast & book. Whereas The Read-Aloud Family was more about the logistics of reading together with your children & personal anecdotes about reading, The Read-Aloud Family is more about the the reasoning and the research/evidence behind why you should be reading aloud with your children. Both books are definitely highly recommended.

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Goodreads Challenge Update: 56/100 books in 2019

I know the picture says 57 books, but I finished Matilda in June and totally forgot to take a screenshot of my Goodreads Reading Challenge at the end of May. Let’s just pretend it says 56 books 🙂

#YARC2019 Update:

I’ve read 12 books for #YARC2019 thus far! I read 3 books in May that went towards this challenge: China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians #2), Darius the Great is Not Okay, and Rich People Problems (Crazy Rich Asians #3). You can see my progress here ⇒ Year of Asian Reading Challenge TBR + Progress Tracker #YARC2019

2019 Goals Update:

» 80% NetGalley feedback ratio = 15 backlist ARCs ⇒ 6/15 books read

I read 2 books off my NetGalley ARC backlist! I read Liar and Five Roses.

» 30 physical TBR books ⇒ 11/30 books read

I read 1 book off my physical TBR: Darius the Great is Not Okay

» No buying new books ⇒ Well…

So I had a Book Outlet order for some summer reading books and workbooks for my children and needed a few more books to hit the $35 dollar mark to get the free shipping… I did end up buying 2 Paper Mill Classics editions for Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility… #BookBanFail

» Read long books I’ve been putting off ⇒ 0/3

I’m starting to doubt I will ever even attempt this goal lol The idea was to read one long book every 4 months, but here we are 6 months into the year and I’ve yet to pick any of the 3 long books on my 2019 TBR.