May 2023 Wrap-Up 🌂

Happy Wednesday, bibliophiles! Hope this month has treated you well.

How is it already the end of May? It feels like I was trying to get dust bunnies out of the corners of my dorm room just a few days ago…(so many dust bunnies 😭)

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Whew! May has been pretty busy, but everything’s…temporarily winding down. I finished up my finals and managed to make straight A’s this semester—I just found out I got on the dean’s list, too! Still can’t believe I’m already finished with my first semester of college; it was such a scary and jarring experience at first, but I’m already finding myself missing parts of it. What a weird and wonderful year it’s been. Now that I’m back home for the summer, I’ve just been trying to soak it all up—I’ve had a few quiet weeks, but I’ll be going back to the library soon, which I’m so excited about!

My reading and blogging have both still been slower, with all of the bustle of finishing…everything, but I’m starting to get back on track now that summer’s started. I’m slowly trying to get back on a writing schedule as well—I ended up deciding to write the sequel to my main sci-fi WIP, and once I finish outlining it (which I’m in the middle of right now), I’ll get back on my writing schedule. That’ll probably be what I end up working on for Camp NaNoWriMo in July…

Other than that, I’ve just been drawing more, playing guitar, watching Kindred (Octavia Butler deserves a better adaptation), committing to binge-watching my way through Taskmaster (there’s strength in arches, y’know), and enjoying being home. We’re still in the “summer, but not disastrously hot yet” stage here in Colorado, so I’m enjoying that while it lasts…

And more importantly, I’m going to a virtual Q & A with the one and only AMIE KAUFMAN tonight!! I CAN’T WAIT!!

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 18 books this month! My reading’s still a bit slowed down after finals and moving out (!!!), but I still feel like I read a good amount. It was a really mixed bag, though—two 1 star books (one was a DNF, the other would’ve been had I not been trying to wait out a lightning storm before going to sleep 🥴), but THREE 5-star (one rounded up from 4.75) books! Can’t remember the last time the former happened. Either way, I found a ton of great reads for AAPI heritage month, and finally got my hands on some of my most anticipated reads of the year!

If this month’s 1 star reads are any indication, maybe the word “monster” is the problem…?

1 – 1.75 stars:

• Monsters Born and Made – Tanvi Berwah (⭐️)
• Only a Monster (Monsters, #1) – Vanessa Len (DNF – ⭐️)

2 – 2.75 stars:

• Where it Rains in Colour – Denise Crittendon (⭐️⭐️)
• Dragon Pearl (Thousand Worlds, #1) – Yoon Ha Lee (⭐️⭐️)
• Black Water Sister – Zen Cho (⭐️⭐️)
• This Is Not a Personal Statement – Tracy Badua (⭐️⭐️.5)

3 – 3.75 stars:

• Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion – Bushra Rehman (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Dangerous Play – Emma Kress (⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
• The Bronzed Beasts (The Gilded Wolves, #3) – Roshani Chokshi (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• The Art of Prophecy (The War Arts Saga, #1) – Wesley Chu (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• All These Bodies – Kendare Blake (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

4 – 4.75 stars:

• Stories of Your Life and Others – Ted Chiang (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Not Here to Be Liked – Michelle Quach (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• We Are Not Free – Traci Chee (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Memory Police – Yōko Ogawa (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Isles of the Gods (The Isles of the Gods, #1) – Amie Kaufman (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

5 stars:

• The Stonewall Reader – edited by the New York Public Library (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• A Thousand Steps into Night – Traci Chee (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: The Stonewall Reader – 5 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

• I had fun reviewing Star Splitter, Not Here to Be Liked, The Isles of the Gods, Only a Monster, and The Memory Police!
• More music rambling! Here are my Sunday Songs for 5/7, 5/14, 5/21, and 5/28.
• I made another list of recommendations for AAPI heritage month!
• Another book tag—this time about Ben n’ Jerry’s!

POSTS BY OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

• My amazing brother now has a piece of flash fiction published in a magazine!! Check it out!!
• Hundreds & Thousands of Books had a great take on the Book Adaptation Tag!
• Lila @ Hardcover Haven made an excellent post about diversity and villains!
• Yolanda @ Past Midnight had a great take on the “I’ll Get Around to It Later” Book Tag!

SONGS/ALBUMS I’VE BEEN ENJOYING:

Today’s song:

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!