May was the month of progress, even if it didn’t feel like it at times. I finished thirteen books, two romances, two science fiction, and nine fantasy or some mix of fantasy with another genre. 🙂 I still have several review requests to get through, but I made a dent and knocked two off my list so now I’m down to six? From eight? Uh, I must have counted wrong last month since I didn’t take on any new ones, whoops. Also, I got caught up on reviews! No more reviews in my drafts folder, woot! This is a great relief to me, you don’t even know, some of those reviews had been hanging around unwritten for MONTHS.
One of the other things on my list was to read Good Omens for my book club, and I finished that up, so yay, check that off the list. I’ve also been slowly but steadily catching up on new releases from earlier in the year and finished up four books on my list from previous months in 2019: Enchantee by Gita Trelease, The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo, A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, and Mist, Metal, and Ash by Gwendolyn Clare.
So, overall, May was a great month for me. I got some reading in, I went to Balticon (so much fun), and I caught up on a lot of blogging stuff (finally!). I also had a heck of a lot of fun with the Wyrd & Wonder event, celebrating all things Fantasy.
Favorite Reads of the Month:
I read many great books in May! Here are a few of the highlights.
- A Magical Inheritance by Krista D. Ball. I had SUCH high expectations for this book, and let me tell you, it did NOT disappoint. If you’re a fan of Austen, women friendships, historical fantasy, dastardly villains, or sorting books—this is a book you’re going to want to pick up. I’ve also summarized it as: fucking delightful. 😉
- The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards. This is one of those books I read and was like ‘where have you been all my life?’ because I LOVED IT SO MUCH. Atlanteans, a society based on the tarot, tons of magic, fun relationships, a whole new urban fantasy. LOVED THIS.
- In Dreaming Bound by J. Kathleen Cheney. This is the follow up book to Palace of Dreams, and the series is just fantastic. The world is really complex, but the stories are usually mysteries mixed with a little politics, and romance. I love how Cheney blends all these elements in her books, but especially here. Looking forward to the next one.
May’s Book Reviews:
I got a lot of reviews out again in May, somehow, despite being behind on things. Here are the ten reviews I posted in case you missed them the first time around.
Enchantée by Gita Trelease – 4/5 stars
Shin by T. Cook – 4/5 stars
Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold – 3.5/5 stars
The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards – 5/5 stars
In Dreaming Bound by J. Kathleen Cheney – 5/5 stars
Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler – 3/5 stars
A Magical Inheritance by Krista D. Ball – 5/5 stars
Fair Isle and Fortunes by Nancy Warren – 4.5/5 stars
The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo – 4/5 stars
Straight Outta Fangton by C.T. Phipps – 3.5/5 stars
Other Posts and Wyrd & Wonder:
I had a good amount of other posts this month due to a few things, but mostly due to Wyrd & Wonder. I finally did a discussion post! And not just one, but two! Oh my! Could this be a trend? I don’t know, we’ll see. I might fall back into old habits too, haha. Overall, I had a fun month, especially because of Wyrd & Wonder–the event really helped me to branch out as far as my blogging goes and it was fun to promote my favorite genre. 🙂
- Wyrd & Wonder – Tentative TBR Pile
- Why I Love Fantasy – A Rambling Essay of Sorts (Wyrd & Wonder)
- Discussion Post: In Which I Talk About Book Blogging
- Favorite Female Character (Wyrd & Wonder)
- Five Mini Book Reviews
- Spring Cleaning Tag
- Tales From the Con: Balticon 53
I also used a couple of Wyrd & Wonder challenges for my Friday Favorite Five posts.
Plans for June:
June is going to be a bit tricky for me because I have events planned pretty much every weekend. This weekend we have a graduation party and the next day we’re going down near DC to meet up with some of my moderator friends. Next weekend is my tea party book club. There’s something happening mid-month but I really don’t remember what it is right now. And at the end of the month we have a concert to go to. Oh, we also have DnD in there somewhere, on a Friday night. And I’ll probably have one or two baseball games to go to with my friend. Summer is here! It’s super busy running around all the time season!
With all that in mind, I’m still going to try to do as much reading and blogging as possible because I’m me and my TBR pile isn’t getting any smaller (in fact, it mysteriously seems to be expanding).
Let’s look at my ongoing list of things I need to get done.
- Catch up on review requests, making progress, but somehow still have 6? Okay then.
- Read and review my eARC of The Dragon Republic.
- Continue catching up with new releases I’m behind on – made some good progress in May! (But I think I’m still 20 books behind–alas, there’s only so much time!)
- Work on my series tracker bullet journal.
- Work on updating my yearly reading tracker spreadsheet.
- Continue working on reading ongoing series / sequels.
Well, that was my May! Hope you all had a great month. What are your June plans? Leave me a note in the comments, I’d love to chat!
Way Too Fantasy 
You had a fantastic month! I’m amazed at how many books you managed to read, and still be so busy with life. And I agree, summer is usually when I have less time to read, I guess well see what happens😁
Thanks Tammy! I don’t know how I did it, but I’m sure lack of sleep played a part, lol. June is going to be crazy, all reading plans are tentative! LOL
Looks like a good month.
I have a question:
How did you add the “More in” section onto your page?
I cannot figure out how to do it….. I’m not the best technology person lol
Thanks? “More in”, not sure exactly which section you mean. It could possibly be the theme, or it may be a page I added. If you send me a screenshot I can take a look and let you know. You can hit me up on twitter @waytoofantasy or email me theunicornblues@gmail.com
Sounds like June will be fun for you. I hope it goes well.
I’ll most like be crazy busy for June & July. I’m looking forward to August already lol.
Yeah, Summer is always busy times, people are out and about! Hope you get some relaxation in somewhere!
I wish I could have joined W&W this year, but I sucked at planning. Once I realized it was almost upon us, my month was already booked up with a ton of sci-fi and thrillers I was obligated to read/review. But I’ll be more on the ball next year for sure!
I joined on a whim and it somehow worked out because I read mostly Fantasy anyway. It was a lot of fun though, definitely joining in again next year, with more of a plan. 🙂
My biggest goal in the coming months is to really actually truly continue on series. I let May slide because I was starting multiple series that have been on my TBR for ages, but now I need to stop just reading book ones!!
I have the same problem. It’s a real issue! I don’t know how to stop reading new books though, they look so good.
13 books is amazing, well done! Also CONGRATS on getting caught up on reviews, that is always such a wonderful feeling. I hope you have a wonderful June, Lisa.
Thanks, Kaleena! I hope you have a great month, too! Getting caught up on at least one thing has been a huge relief. 🙂
You’re catching up – it’s a great feeling isn’t it. I’m catching up a little bit too although I find that once I start to get on top of things my momentum lessens as I start to feel like I’m doing okay – so it becomes a catch 22. I’m doomed.
Lynn 😀
Well, yesterday I grabbed that one book you messaged me about and also got approved for another one that I didn’t think I would so…not behind yet but we’ll see how things go. But yes, exactly with the momentum, that’s what happens to me too! lol
Looks like it was a really good month for you!! And I hear you on the neverending pile of review requests. I knock out one and another magically appears (due to me being too click-happy on Netgalley :P) June so far has been kicking me to the ground and stomping for good measure, so I’ve not been reading or blogging as much as I’d like to. Sigh.
I’m convinced we all need time turners at this point. May kicked my butt, there were days when I was super behind. But, looking back I actually managed to get quite a lot done so it ended up being a good month. I’ve been super busy in June so far, after today I’ll have a bit of a break at least. This week I’ve been struggling to finish even one book, so I feel ya. Here’s hoping for better days ahead!
Glad May was a month of progress for you and that balticon was fun 🙂
Thanks! I’m glad I got to go, it was a really fun experience.