May Reading Recap

 In the month of May, I read 24 books. A total of 2,627 pages and 170.93 hours of listening. 

Here is a breakdown of the "moods" of books I read: 

A breakdown of the fiction vs non-fiction books 

And for audiobooks, here is a breakdown of the length of each listen. 

And lastly, a breakdown of the format of the books I read. 

This is a list of the books I read this month, reviews are all available on my book review blog. 

Physical books read: 

1. The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais (4 stars)
2. The Museum of Lost and Found by Leila Sales (3.75 stars) 
3. Good Girls Don't by Mara Wilson (3.75 stars) 
4. Skyward, Vol. 1: My Low G Life by Joe Henderson (4 stars)
5. Junkwraith by Ellinor Richey (3.5 stars) 
6. The Girl and the Glim by India Swift (4 stars) 
7. Thief Liar Lady by DL Soria (not yet reviewed) 

Audio books read: 

1. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (3 stars)
2. Starter Dog by Rona Maynard (3.5 stars)
3. Becoming a Queen by Dan Clay (4 stars) 
4. The Elephants of Thula Thula by Francoise Malby-Anthony (4 stars)
5. In The Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune (4.5 stars)
6. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (4 stars) 
7. Encore in Death by JD Robb (5 stars) 
8. Beach Read by Emily Henry (4 stars) 
9. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (3.5 stars)
10. The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges (4.5 stars)
11. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (3 stars) 
12. Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (4 stars) 
13. I Love You so Mochi by Sarah Kuhn (4 stars)
14. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (4 stars) 
15. The Astonishing Color of After by Emily XR Pan (5 stars) 
16. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (not reviewed yet)
17. Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron (not reviewed yet)

This month I did complete the "Mandatory May" challenge. 

I have read a total of 124 books this year which puts just shy of 50% complete for my yearly reading goal of 250 books. 

For my Ultimate book Nerd challenge, I finished the following prompts: 

• Read a book by a female author under a male pseudonym: JD Robb Encore in Death
• Read a book involving art: The Museum of Lost and Found by Leila Sales 
• Read a book from a child's point of view: Junkwraith by Ellinor Richey 

This makes a total of 21 prompts complete, 42% of the goal. 

For the StoryGraph Genre challenge, I read just one book: 

A Children's book you never read as a child: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry 

This puts me at 80% of my goal, 2 prompts left to complete. 

That's the recap of my May reading. 

The Astonishing Color of After

The Astonishing Color of After

By: Emily X. R. Pan
Narrated by Stephanie Hsu
Release date: 20 March 2018
Listening length: 11 hours, 52 minutes
My review: five out of 5 stars

"Emily X.R. Pan's brilliantly crafted, harrowing first novel portrays the vast spectrum of love and grief with heart-wrenching beauty and candor. This is a very special book." (John Green, best-selling author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down)

A stunning, heartbreaking debut novel about grief, love, and family, perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Celeste Ng.

Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.

Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life.

Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a stunning and heartbreaking novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love.

This book was so powerful for me. Most of my life, I've suffered with depression and though it isn't as severe as Leigh's mother's, suicide is something that is a concern. I loved that Leigh imagined her mother had changed into a bird. The fact that the bird was red is something that connected me to the story even more. My mom's favorite color was red and so anytime I see things in that vibrant shade, I am reminded of her. Leigh is just looking for answers. In Taiwan, she gets to meet her maternal grandparents. Due to the language gap, it is hard for her to communicate. 

I loved this story. Its beautiful imagery had me picturing even more in my head when reading. The way that all the little things tied together, just icing on the cake. 

Number The Stars

Number the Stars

By Lois Lowry

Narrated by: Blair Brown

Release date 16 April 2004

Listening length: 2 hours, 45 minutes 

My review: 

Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It's now 1943, and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated", Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life.

You can tell this book is meant for younger readers. I was left wanting a lot more. 

Most of the WWII books I've been reading follows the family through most of the war. This story is mainly about one incident in the young girls life. Something that forever changed her story. I loved it. It is perfect for the younger audience that doesn't need the real horrors of the war in full detail yet, but needs a glimpse of what the Jews were forced to endure.

I Love You So Mochi

I Love You So Mochi

By: Sarah Kuhn
Narrated by Natalie Naudus
Release date: 28 August 2019
Listening length: 8 hours, 7 minutes
My review: 4 out of 5 stars 

Perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Kasie West, I Love You So Mochi is a delightfully sweet and irrepressibly funny novel from accomplished author Sarah Kuhn.

"As sweet and satisfying as actual mochi... a tender love story wrapped up in food, fashion, and family. I gobbled it up." -- Maurene Goo, author of The Way You Make Me Feel Kimi Nakamura loves a good fashion statement.


She's obsessed with transforming everyday ephemera into Kimi Originals: bold outfits that make her and her friends feel like the Ultimate versions of themselves. But her mother disapproves, and when they get into an explosive fight, Kimi's entire future seems on the verge of falling apart. So when a surprise letter comes in the mail from Kimi's estranged grandparents, inviting her to Kyoto for spring break, she seizes the opportunity to get away from the disaster of her life. When she arrives in Japan, she's met with a culture both familiar and completely foreign to her. She loses herself in the city's outdoor markets, art installations, and cherry blossom festival -- and meets Akira, a cute aspiring med student who moonlights as a costumed mochi mascot. And what begins as a trip to escape her problems quickly becomes a way for Kimi to learn more about the mother she left behind, and to figure out where her own heart lies. In I Love You So Mochi, author Sarah Kuhn has penned a delightfully sweet and irrepressibly funny novel that will make you squee at the cute, cringe at the awkward, and show that sometimes you have to lose yourself in something you love to find your Ultimate self.

This was an adorable "find yourself" kind of story. Kimi seems to have had her life mapped out (for her) for most of her life, but in her senior year, she drops her art class. This begins the journey of finding out what she wants to do with her life. That journey takes her to her family's roots, in Japan. I love that the estranged grandparents are the ones to extend the invitation. When in Japan, she meets a mochi mascot... love is in the air! I loved the vivid descriptions of the areas she was visiting. Just a fun, light read.

Legendborn

Legendborn

By Tracy Deonn

Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt

Listening length: 18 hours, 54 minutes 

Release date: 15 September 2020

My rating: 4 out of5 stars

An Instant New York Times Bestseller!

Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award

Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy Legendborn offers the dark allure of City of Bones with a modern-day twist on a classic legend and a lot of Southern Black Girl Magic.

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

I loved this book. Didn't love how the end was so open, but there is another to come. 

I did love the strong characters, the way that Bree handled herself and her interactions with the people around her. The fact that she is a girl who recently lost her mom made her a very real character to me. I quite vividly remember some of those same thoughts in my head after my mom's passing. 

I've never read a book like this one, with the secret societies trying to protect the world from magic. The twist about its origins is pretty good and then to add in the "root magic" was perfect for me. I love that this author brings the issue of racism into the story, without shaming all of us. Felt like I was getting an education on things that I might not have seen that way before. Eye opening for sure. I will be reading the next installment of this duology.

Every Heart A Doorway

Every Heart a Doorway

by Seanan McGuire
Narrated by Cynthia Hopkins
Released 5 April 2016
Listening length 4 hours, 44 minutes
My review: 3 out of 5 stars

Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions - slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere...else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she's back. The things she's experienced...they change a person. The children under Miss West's care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world. But Nancy's arrival marks a change at the home. There's a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it's up to Nancy and her newfound schoolmates to get to the heart of things. No matter the cost.

I thought this book was just strange. The premise was really good, something different that I thought I would really enjoy. Even the murders of students didn't deter me from my enjoyment of the book. What killed it for me was the ending. The choice the main character makes. I wish it was another one... I guess it makes for a finality of this storyline, but I am left wanting more and there won't be any...

Random Graphic Novels

 I figured since my reviews of these graphic novels are shorter, I would publish a few of them together. I have borrowed all of the following from my library's service, Hoopla. If you use a local library, you should check it out and see if they offer this service. I love it! 

Unfamiliar 

by Haley Newsome

Published: December 6, 2022 

Read: April 26, 2023

My review: 4 out of 5 stars 

Based on the wildly popular webcomic from Tapas, Unfamiliar is an endearing and whimsical story full of magical mayhem, offbeat outsiders, and the power of friendships and found family.

Young kitchen witch Planchette gets an incredible deal on a new house in a magical town. Turns out, there's a reason: it's haunted! After unsuccessfully attempting to get these unwanted ghosts to leave, she realizes the only thing to do is to help them with their problems. Along the way, she befriends a shy siren who hates being popular, a girl battling a curse, and a magically-challenged witch from a powerful coven.

Collects Chapters 1-6 with bonus content!

Loved this adorable graphic novel. What does a which do when her house is haunted? This book will show you just what young "kitchen witch" Planchette does with her house ghosts. Cannot wait for the next.

Skyward

(volume 1 includes issues 1-5) 

Written by Joe Henderson

Illustrated by Lee Garbett and Antonio Fabela 

Published: September 25, 2018 

Read on: May 15, 2023

My review 4 out of 5 stars 

One day, gravity on Earth suddenly became a fraction of what it is now. Twenty years later, humanity has adapted to its new low-gravity reality. And to Willa Fowler, a woman born just after G-day, it's...well, it's pretty awesome, actually. You can fly through the air I mean, sure, you can also die if you jump too high. So you just don't jump too high. And maybe don't get mixed up in your Dad's secret plan to bring gravity back that could get you killed...

I found this book while browsing Hoopla (a digital service my local library offers) when I saw this cover. After I read the description, I knew I would probably like it so I read it all in one night. Good thing the next couple are also available on Hoopla because I need to know what happens to Willa and her friends! 

The Girl and the Glim

By India Swift (author and illustrator)
Illustrated by: Michael Doig
Published June 7, 2022
My review: 4 out of 5 stars

An original graphic novel about being the new kid in a different school, getting picked on by the class bullies, and what happens when a magical presence takes notice.

Starting out at a new school is tough, and Bridgette isn't having much luck, seeing as, well, she's not great at making a first impression. Or, maybe, any impression. For now the best she can manage is... awkward.

That’s when they appear. Creatures dark and scary… Creatures only she can see. But if she can’t even face down the school bullies, how is she supposed to overcome literal monsters? Well, Bridgette is going to have to figure it out fast, because she might just be her town’s only hope.

The Girl and The Glim is about accepting the fact that fear is okay, and that while letting other people see your vulnerabilities can be scary, it can also lead to closer friendships in the end.

This was a graphic novel about a girl. She and her family just moved and now she's the new girl in town, in school. When she sees something weird and figures out, she's the only one who saw it, she knows she will have to take care of it. I really loved the illustrations in this book, they made the story, literally, come to life for me. I look forward to more books in this series so I can see what happens to "the girl." I love this quote in the description: The Girl and The Glim is about accepting the fact that fear is okay, and that while letting other people see your vulnerabilities can be scary, it can also lead to closer friendships in the end.

Junkwraith

by Ellinor Richey

Published January 18, 2022

My review: 3.5 out of 5 stars

What she once possessed... now threatens to possess her. This vibrant Swedish debut graphic novel is an epic quest for the things left behind, with icy-cool artwork and astonishing sci-fi settings.

What happens when our most precious belongings... no longer belong? When something we loved suddenly becomes junk, a powerful energy is unleashed. One night, ice-skating prodigy Florence Sato is overwhelmed by pressure and throws away her skates. This fateful moment accidentally summons a "junkwraith," a terrifying ghost which seeks revenge for its abandonment by attacking the memories of its former owner. Before she forgets who she is, and to find out who she really wants to be, Florence must set off (with her trusty digital assistant Frank) on a long journey into the Wastelands to put to rest the monster she created.

This graphic novel is the story about how the things you throw away come back to haunt you. It was a little strange for me, but the overall story was good. I think I was distracted by the small pictures on my phone screen, so perhaps read either the paper copy or a bigger screen. I would read another book by this author. It was a solid story with a good message.